In a closely watched quarterly report titled  Advertising Expenditure Forecasts, the big media agency ZenithOptimedia has just reported that online video grew last year at a blistering rate of 34% to $10.9 billion globally – and it is on track to double by the end of 2017.

In Austin last week, at the annual 4A’s conference, we sat down with Amanda Richman, President of Investment and Activation of Starcom USA.  She talks about the growth of the medium and its momentum from data, cross-screen consumption and by an increasing creative content creation process.

Our coverage is of the 4A’s summit was sponsored by Videology.  Please find more coverage from the conference here.

“We should no longer think in ‘channels’ anymore – we think in connectivity and user experience,” according to ZenithOptimedia north America corporate development EVP James Shoreland.

Shoreland is working on breaking down silos between technology, data, brands and content: “This is the very best time to be in our industry. I love putting our clients and their budgets together with technology companies to work out how they can create genuine value exchanges for their customers. Technology can be used together with paid, earned and owned media to bring that to life.”

We spoke with him as part of our series, “The Road to Cannes.”