Walkaround Videos: platform from Columbia’s Authntk looks to perfect car dealers’ sales pitch

Updated 2:38 p.m. 7/5/12: Added how Walkaround differs from YouTube
Forget reading through automobile reviews and testimonials online before venturing out to purchase a new car. The web is due for a more compelling way to get potential buyers excited about a car, says Len Ostroff, the CEO and co-founder of the cloud-based video recording platform Authntk,
“It’s through the sight, sound, motion, and emotion of video,” he says.
Last week, Ostroff unveiled Walkaround Videos, a particular implementation for Authntk’s video-capturing platform that allows automotive dealerships to create video “postcards” of vehicles available on their lot. These postcards, which feature the contact information of a dealership’s sales team as well as an embedded video of a virtual walkaround of a specific vehicle, can then be mailed out to potential car buyers.

“This really is a way for dealers to differentiate themselves in the marketplace,” Ostroff says.
Of course, one of Authntk’s clearest competitors is also the most obvious: YouTube (and other all-purpose video-hosting services). Ostroff says his service differs in three ways: built-in moderation, customized, dealer-branded landing pages and stricter commenting permissions. Though all of those roles can somewhat be handled by YouTube, the point here may be that it comes pre-packaged for the car sales experience, and the audience is looking for that specific content, instead of, say, cat videos.
Walkaround Videos will eventually work in concert with Authntk’s mobile app, which is scheduled to launch on the iPhone and Android devices in the next five to 10 days. The service will cost roughly $399 per month. Ostroff says that two car dealerships “that are part of a very large group” are using Walkaround Videos right now, and he’s in talks with three other local groups, although he can’t reveal any names just yet.
“The interest is very high,” he says.
Through Authntk, based in Columbia, Md., and founded in February this year, marketing specialists at companies set up social campaigns whereby consumers can generate their own video testimonials and product reviews.
Once consumers upload their recorded videos onto a single webpage hosted by Authntk, companies can edit and approve these videos before posting them online. At the core of it all is allowing consumers the opportunity to tell their own stories about products and services through videos they create.