Weblog Consulting Register Login Subscribe to Free Influx Emails Join our Facebook Group Branding Street Cred Technology Lifestyle Style Entertainment Interviews Art InfluxTV Map Widgets RSS — All Subjects RSS — More Feeds

Search

Advanced Search

Contact Privacy Policy

As online video explodes and fragments, new entrants are emerging to lead new niches. One interesting example is Firebrand, who've decided to focus on advertising as their lead form of content. I emailed Shari Leventhal, the company's Chief Marketing Officer to learn more, ahead of the site's launch on October 22nd.

1. Why is now the time for Firebrand?
 
Firebrand enters the media landscape at a time when the commercial interruption is coming to an end. Firebrand believes that by taking commercials out of its second-class position as an interruption and creating a destination where consumers can choose to watch and are guaranteed to find the best in creative advertising, that users will seek it out. The research supports this demand indicating that over 33% of our target market is already downloading TV ads from the Internet and that 68% would watch Firebrand on TV, opt in on the web or do both.
 
2. Don't most people hate ads, why would they want a channel dedicated to them?
 
To the contrary, our research shows that 81% of our target demo feel that some ads are more entertaining than TV programs, while 74% said they would like to watch some commercials even though they have seen them before. Additionally, Firebrand offers the full depth of brand experience where users can Watch, Win, Shop and Share.
 
3. Who do you see as the audience?
 
Our primary audience is the highly desirable “Gen Y/Millennials,” a wired and media-savvy generation, loosely defined as ages 12-34.  
 
4. How will the ads be selected?
 
Firebrand has developed a panel of in-house programmers who curate and program the “coolest” TV commercials the way MTV used to program music videos, creating the first multi-platform network to go “live” simultaneously on TV, web & mobile…You can’t pay us to air a bad commercial.
 
5. Will people be able to buy the products advertised?
 
Whenever a user is interested in a product featured on Firebrand, they will have a one click option and can go directly into that brand’s online environment where they can make their purchase.
 
6. Will other advertisers be allowed to advertise on your site?
 
Firebrand will program and curate video advertising as content so users can opt in and choose to watch and interact.  There will not be any interruptive ads like banners or pop ups anywhere on the site.
 
7. What happens if their ads suck?
 
You won’t see it on Firebrand. Firebrand has a commitment to its users to program only the best in creative advertising. This means an advertiser can’t pay Firebrand to air a bad spot.
 
8. Give us some examples of your favorite ads of the moment that you would like to have up on your site?
 
 JC Penny – It’s Magic
 Sony Bravia, “Balls”
 Bud Light, “Swear Jar”
 Nike, “Free Style Basketball”
 Coke, “Happiness Factory”
 Skittles, “Touch”
 Ikea, “Lamp”
 
9. Is your idea to show the ads alone or will there be any opportunities to showcase behind the scenes material?
 
Firebrand features “Commercial Jockeys” or CJs that contextualize commercials as art and entertainment and guide viewers through the spots, contests and promotions.  Moving forward, credits to directors, and “best director” cuts will be just some of what Firebrand offers. 


Posted by Ed Cotton Given the growth of online video, it's surprising that no one has really thought of the opportunity with product placement.

However, it looks like BrandFame is one company looking to exploit the space by matching producers with brands.



Posted by Ed Cotton google needs creative (37.42371880648809 , -122.08694458007812) The Google machine needs ideas, it needs creativity, it needs everything that Madison Avenue has got and it needs it now. To the salivating masses of agency business development heads, sadly this isn't a rallying cry to send your books and reels to Mountain View because they need an ad agency.

Cancel your FedEx packages!!

Google wants to creative talent to help its own clients out, yes your clients.

We're all aware of the potential power of online video and what it can do to TV and TV ads, well get this, Google wants to create this stuff.

Here's some copy written in typical Googlish style ("Guys bear with us, we are just trying out this little experiment").

"Creating your video ad is the first step to launching a video campaign. Using the Google Ad Creation Marketplace, you can find a video production professional to create your custom video ad, at whatever budget you set.

We're now signing up advertisers interested in trying out the Ad Creation Marketplace. Everyone who signs up will be accepted. Once you sign up, we'll contact you with instructions on how to launch your first video advertising campaign.

Note: Response times may vary because we are still testing this service. We'll notify you by email once you've been given access to the Marketplace. We appreciate your patience."

If you're Jon's Rib Shack, it might take time for them to get back to you, but it could be faster than some of the holding companies out there.

How long before Google's Ad Creation Marketplace becomes a global agency network with 5,000 employees in 35 countries worldwide?

Via Scott Karp at Publishing 2.0
Will Ferrell's Landlord film has been an incredible success, generating over 15 milion views in a short period of time. Interestingly, the film isn't available on You Tube and can't be embeded in other sites. The only way to view it is on Ferrell's new site Funnyordie.com.

Forbes Magazine has an interview with the Funnyordie.com's founders.

Here are a couple of highlights.

I'm sure there's something to the instantaneous piece of it too. This stuff doesn't have to sit in development for years.

Absolutely. You just go do it. Grab a video camera and do it. You don't even write a script; you just get the beats for it and do two takes, three takes at the most. And because of that, some of them aren't going to be great, and some are. But the whole spirit of it is, Who cares, let's just do stuff and have fun with it.

Do you see a trend emerging? Will other celebrities start to make their way online too?

Yeah. And I hope they do it in this way, kind of messing around and loose. I think if celebrities start entering it with a team of professionals, agents and executives, and the Internet short becomes really thought out, I think instantly people will smell that out. So I think the spirit of it has to be sort of screwing around, to be real and not overly premeditated. If you want to see that, you go to big movies or television--and that's a great thing, but the Internet has a looser form to it.

It's surprising few celebrities have gone down this path, but we can obviously expect hundreds of films to be hitting the pipes in the next few months, to compete directly with user-created content. Celebrities clearly have the name recognition advantage and a fan base, but can they be as creative as everyday folk and can they generate more than one hit?

Again, it's another example of doing more stuff, for less money and experimenting to see what sticks.
Mojiti is a new site that provides all kinds of possibilities for consumers to play with existing content and maybe even for brands to annotate and add to their communication materials.It's user-created pop-up video and shows the oppoortunities that exist to add layers and depth by adding additional content elements.
YouTube is a billion channel universe, but explore it by brand and you quickly notice that this ecosystem has different component parts.

Influx went through a hypothetical exercise; we tried imagining a “channel” for Sony’s PS3.

Exploring some of the 44k videos on the site and trying to organize them into themes, it breaks down into something like this:

1.    Instructional Information

Set-up videos have become alternative instructional manuals. Here’s how to set up and use your PSP with your PS3.



View count: 20k

Here’s a video on how to use the console’s web browser.



View count: 122k

2.    Hacking the System

How to run more on your PS3.



View count: 118k


3.    Brand destruction as entertainment and edutainment

Some people destroy the unit just for the hell of it.



View count: 3.5 million, this film with the most views of any PS3 film

Others, open it up, so you can learn what’s inside



4.    Community Conversation

Here’s a group of YouTubers debating why and why not PS3 is better than other consoles.

5.    Brand meets culture-news

Dozens of video showing launch chaos from around the world.



6.    Game and feature trailers

Here’s one for Sony’s new Second Life type environment for PS3 users.



7.    Advertising

Somewhere in all this, lies the advertising.



Obviously, all this might not be ideal content for an officially sanctioned PS3 channel from Sony, but there are clearly more areas they can play in.

-    Creating video-based instruction manuals

-    Highlighting new features

-    Game trailers and previews

-    Videos that explain the technology behind the system

In essence, brands could be doing more with YouTube by producing and distributing content, other than just advertising; material that could have broader reach and usage in this new ecosystem.