Marketwatch discovers a little bit of the obvious as it remarks upon Sotheby’s online marketing plans. Video isn’t a new emphasis for the auction house, Sotheby’s has invested much more in video production than its rivals and featured that video content as a central focus of its online marketing since the financial crisis:

The company produced 300 videos last year, marking a 50% increase from the year before, Sotheby’s spokesman Andrew Gully said. He added that video views last year on its website saw a 58% increase with data showing that viewers gravitate toward multiple, shorter videos. To place greater focus on video, Sotheby’s in 2011 created a position that’s responsible for all of its worldwide video content. The company has also allocated more internal resources previously geared toward print marketing to videos.

“Video is incredibly powerful,” Sotheby’s Chairman and CEO William Ruprecht said in an interview. “It’s an increasingly essential tool for telling short powerful stories to a customer base that maybe doesn’t like to spend much time in any place. Just as in the newspaper you create many news stories, you watch what resonates and what gets traffic in an online environment.”

Video also is a key part of Sotheby’s agreement to host its online live-acutions on Ebay as both seek to expand their customer base.

In addition to video, Sotheby’s said it’s also designing its web pages better, including adding still imagery, slideshows and “rich text.”

Sotheby’s believes video will help win over younger customers (MarketWatch)