Wibbitz, the leading AI-powered video creation company, today announced the opening of a new office in Paris, France. The expansion enhances Wibbitz's presence in Europe, strengthening relationships with existing partners and introducing its automated video creation technology to help publishers in the region simplify video creation and distribution processes.
Digital video viewers in Western Europe are expected to surpass 235 million by 2020, an 11% jump from 2016. While the UK and Germany currently have the largest number of video viewers, France is experiencing a high growth rate in digital video consumption. By the end of 2017, digital video viewers will amount to over 50% of the population, signifying a booming opportunity for both publishers and advertisers to engage their audience with video.
Wibbitz has seen significant traction in the French market as more publishers prioritize digital video, and is already working with premium publishing partners including Prisma Media, Le Parisien, Le Figaro, and LCI. With full language support for English, French, German, and Spanish, Wibbitz's platform automatically produces videos by analyzing text-based content, then matches the storyline with high-quality, licensed media from sources including Reuters, AFP, and Getty Images for both local and international news. The platform offers various video formats with full customization for each publisher with unique branding and graphics.
"We are in the process of transitioning from a well-known print publication to a digital media outlet, and video is the most important aspect for us," said Anne de Kinkelin, Director of Le Parisien TV. "Wibbitz's automation platform and video players speed up creation and distribution processes for our video content, which also opens up new monetization opportunities for us. We are publishing 300 videos to our website and social platforms every month, covering our own stories and with our own branding. This scale would have been difficult to achieve during this transition period without Wibbitz."
Leading the French office and European expansion will be Laurent Lasserre, a local media industry veteran with over seven years of experience developing strategic partnerships for Yahoo France. Lasserre will oversee daily operations, manage existing relationships, and implement strategies to develop new partnerships in the European market.
"Through my experience, I've observed a growing demand for digital video in both France and Europe as a whole. For publishers who lack the resources and experience needed to scale video production, Wibbitz's automation technology will become a pillar in their digital strategies," Lasserre commented. "I'm thrilled to join the Wibbitz team to help accelerate the company's growth in the European market and to introduce the benefits of video automation to more publishers in the region."
Wibbitz has seen an 86% increase in video views since the start of 2017, with 40 thousand videos published through its platform in just the first quarter. As the demand for digital video skyrockets, Wibbitz expects to see these numbers multiply as it expands its European clientbase and helps more publishers implement AI technology into their video strategies.
For more information, visit www.wibbitz.com and follow on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.
About Wibbitz
Wibbitz is the leading automated video creation platform for publishers. Partners including Reuters, CBSi, Bonnier, and Time Inc. use its text-to-video technology to automatically produce custom branded short-form videos at scale. Wibbitz supports video creation and distribution for over 400 publishers, helping to increase audience engagement and ad revenues across desktop, mobile, and social. Founded in 2011, Wibbitz has offices in both NYC, Tel Aviv, and Paris.
