Clikthrough in Interactive Video Partnership with Japanese Media/Recording Company, Avex Marketing

San Francisco-based interactive video and video analytics company, Clikthrough (note: for some background on the company, see the article published on itvt.com, July 20th), said Tuesday that it has signed a partnership agreement with Japanese media and recording company, Avex Marketing.

Initially, the partnership with the Japanese company--which, according to Clikthrough, produces, records and represents some of Japan's biggest "J-Pop" stars--sees Clikthrough powering an interactive video site (http://www.misakosakzume.com/clikthrough) for singer-songwriter Misako Sakazume's new single, "Kitto Daijyoubu." The single is the theme song for the new Channel 8 TV drama, "Real Clothes," which tells the story of a young sales assistant in an upscale department store, who is struggling with fashion challenges, romance and her new job. The single's Clikthrough-encoded interactive video features footage from the drama, and enables viewers to click on various hotspots to learn about the drama's cast and the costumes worn by its female cast members, as well as to purchase featured articles of clothing. "Thanks to the work of Makiko Allum of IPSO Licensing, who helped put this deal together, we are excited to work with a company as prestigious as Avex in Japan," Clikthrough CEO, Abe McCallum, said in a prepared statement. "With this partnership, Clikthrough will now support Japanese, as well as 25 other foreign languages, and we plan to continue expanding. We're building the ubiquitous platform to support interactive videos no matter what language you speak."

Clikthrough also said Tuesday that the latest iteration of its Clikthrough Theater player will be the third-lightest and fastest video player on the market, behind the JW Player and the YouTube Player. "I tip my cap to our outstanding engineering team," McCallum continued. "After extensive optimization, the sheer speed and small footprint of the Theater alone is a tremendous achievement; including all the features the other players consider as plug-ins or optional. They worked around the clock to get the Clikthrough Theater where it is today, and we are excited to share it with the world."