As production companies have sought TV, film, and video on-demand projects that harness the influence of social media stars, they have often utilized plotlines that satirize the online video community and the peculiar characters who reside within it. Now, a new TV show on BBC Three is offering up its own parody of digital culture, but this one will be different. Pls Like, a series written by and starring comedian Liam Williams, will make fun of YouTube without featuring any YouTube stars among its cast.
In Pls Like, Williams will play a man who wins a vlogging competition. In order to claim his £10,000 prize, he must ingratiate himself within a world of (fictitious) YouTube stars and complete a number of challenges. “It’s been fun and rewarding getting to work with some of my favourite comedians and a very talented creative team to lampoon a world which I find baffling and envy-inducing in equal measure,” said Williams.
The fact that a performer with no YouTube experience of his own feels comfortable lampooning the online video world may show that Internet culture has reached a level of mainstream recognition it had not previously attained. At the same time, it’s interesting to wonder who Pls Like’s intended audience is. Will it feature referential humor to appeal to the digital-native crowd? Will it view online video in the terms of consumers who don’t regularly watch YouTube? Or will it lie somewhere in between? It will begin to answer those questions on February 11th, when the first of its six episodes will hit British airwaves.
Filed under: Articles, BBC, Featured, News by Sam Gutelle Comments Off on BBC To Premiere TV Series Satirizing YouTube, Without Any Stars Present
Snapchat is officially going to Wall Street. The messaging app’s parent company, Snap Inc., has publicly filed for its IPO, which seeks a valuation of $25 billion.
Snapchat has been prepping for its IPO since at least October 2016, just days after it announced its plan to reorganize itself under the Snap Inc. banner. USA Today notes that the $25 billion figure will be the biggest IPO for an American tech company since Facebook’s $81.2 billion IPO back in 2012. In seeking such a big valuation, Snapchat is banking on the growth of its ad revenue business, which spans multiple formats. “Our advertising business is still young but growing rapidly,” reads the company’s SEC filing. “For the year ended December 31, 2016, we recorded revenue of $404.5 million, as compared to revenue of $58.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2015, representing a year-over-year increase of more than 6x.”
While there are many reasons to be excited about Snapchat’s future, the past few months have cast some doubt about the app’s long-term viability. The most significant threat comes from Instagram, which has used a well-executed clone of Snapchat’s Stories feature to eat into the messaging app’s market share. A chart shared within Snapchat’s SEC filing shows that the rate at which the company is acquiring new customers has slowed significantly over the past year.
Still, with innovations into wearable products like Spectacles supporting its core business, Snap Inc. hopes to make good on the lofty promises of its IPO. Once it becomes publicly traded, Snapchat will need to share more of its financial information than it currently does, so us prognosticators will be able to see with much more clarity the direction in which the company is headed.
Filed under: Articles, Featured, News, Snapchat by Sam Gutelle Comments Off on It’s Official: Snapchat Has Publicly Filed For An IPO With A $25 Billion Valuation
Amazon announced its fourth quarter earnings today, reporting revenues of of $44 billion — a 22% increase over the same quarter last year. However, the figure fell short of analyst expectations and sent shares in the retail giant falling this evening.
In announcing its earnings, however, Amazon also took the opportunity to boast about its media business, noting that Amazon Prime members consumed video, books, and music “at a voracious rate” in 2016 — more than doubling consumption in 2015, the company said.
Amazon also reiterated that Prime Video is now available in 200 countries and territories around the world, and shouted out a few notable original programming highlights, including The Grand Tour, which was its biggest show premiere ever, as well as Manchester By The Sea and The Salesman — both of which are nominated for Academy Awards this year. The company also took home two Golden Globes last month — one for Manchester By The Sea and one for the Billy Bob Thornton-starring series Goliath.
Amazon does not disclose its total number of Prime subscribers, but CEO Jeff Bezossaid on the earnings call that “tens of millions of new paid members joined the program in just this past year.”
Filed under: Amazon by Geoff Weiss Comments Off on Amazon Says Media Consumption By Prime Members Doubled In 2016
Welcome to YouTube Millionaires, where we profile channels that have recently crossed the one million subscriber mark. There are channels crossing this threshold every week, and each has a story to tell about YouTube success. Read previous installments of YouTube Millionaires here.
One of the many rags-to-riches stories available on YouTube can be found on the channel run by Alonzo Lerone. Lerone, a 26-year-old who hails from North Carolina, has found an audience on YouTube by scouring through social media and offering his commentary on the best, funniest, weirdest, and most fail-worthy posts he and his fans can find. Thanks to his success, Lerone has been able to recover from losing his job by dedicating himself to YouTube full time. After he passes one million subscribers, we talked to him:
Tubefilter: How does it feel to have one million subscribers? What do you have to say to your fans?
Alonzo Lerone: I actually didn’t know I reached a million subscribers until one of my supporters tweeted me. As soon as it was confirmed I was ECSTATIC! I still am to this day. I reached a milestone I never imagined I would reach when I started my YouTube journey. I’m not one to say “fans” but I would have to say “thank you” for not only supporting me but also sticking with me.
TF: What made you first decide to launch your own YouTube channel?
AL: I only launched my account to save music to my playlist. One day I signed on to my YouTube account that I had for many months and realized the platform also included people who actually voiced their opinions. When I realized YouTube was much more than music, I decided to turn on my laptop and record my rant about my friend canceling on me the last minute. It was cool to discover that I had a place where I could express myself and voice my opinion, too. I was making YouTube videos on the side for a while but when I lost my job, I took that as an opportunity to dedicate myself to making videos full time!
TF: What is the most significant way in which you feel your videos have changed since you first started making them?
AL: I feel my videos have changed for the better. The quality is more up-to-date. The audio is in sync and the production is more engaging.
TF: Similarly, what advice would you give yourself if you could go back to the time when you first started on YouTube?
AL: I would tell my 2008 self to let loose. Stop being so professional. Add more visuals to your content and DO NOT LOSE FOCUS!
TF: What’s the most heartwarming response you’ve ever received from a fan?
AL: I’m grateful to say that my subscribers send me numerous heartwarming responses. I actually save them to give me that motivation to keep providing the content that they love. One of my supporters stated that her father was terminally ill and she put on one of my videos that made him smile, making them forget the situation they were in at that very moment. Getting those responses from my subscribers and supporters means the world to me.
TF: How do you source the material that you comment on in your videos?
AL: People actually send me the majority of my content and I react to them. At times, I find them by checking my Instagram tags, scrolling down my twitter timeline or my active Facebook feed.
TF: Do you have an all-time favorite fail video?
AL: Although I would love to say my first Fail video I did (in 2011) was my favorite, I would have to say my all time favorite FAIL video, thus far, has to be “Wendy’s ROASTING EVERYBODY!” just because I almost died from laughing so much!
TF: Do you see yourself branching into new types of content as your YouTube career continues?
AL: I have actually already been doing “new” things and also see myself providing improved content all the time. The worst thing that people can think of my channel is that it’s a one-trick pony. I love that my channel caters to everyone. Although I am very organized (with my video/series playlists) I don’t stick to just one thing..that’s just not how my mind works.
TF: What’s next for your channel? Any fun plans?
AL: I’m moving into my new house this month! By making YouTube videos I’ve been fortunate to make a living that has allowed me to buy a house, pay off my car, and also pay off my student loans. After seven years in this one bedroom apartment, I am really excited to do a house tour and even more excited that my subscribers get to see a new background. My plans are to keep on being consistent, engaging, and never forget where my channel came from.
Filed under: Articles, Featured, Millionaires, News by Sam Gutelle Comments Off on YouTube Millionaires: Alonzo Lerone Uses YouTube To “Express Myself And Voice My Opinion”
The Dude Perfect Show, a television series that debuted on CMT last April featuring YouTube’s most popular sports entertainment collective, is officially coming back for a second season.
The series, which follows Dude Perfect members Tyler Toney, Cody Jones, Garrett Hilbert, and twins Coby and Cory Cotton in their daily lives as they dream up high-flying viral video ideas, has been picked up for 20 additional half-hour episodes at CMT’s sibling network Nickelodeon. (Both are owned by Viacom). The Dude Perfect Show will also feature guest appearances from athletes and celebrities, and is set to premiere later this summer.
“We all grew up on Nickelodeon and it’s a dream come true for Dude Perfect to find a home on Nick,” the guys, who count 40 million followers and 2.5 billion lifetime views across all social platforms, said in a statement. In addition to their television ventures, Dude Perfect have also launched a hit mobile game and a line of co-branded sports toys with Hasbro-owned Nerf.
Beloved for their record-breaking stunts, season two of the TV series is slated to include feats such as a slam dunk into the world’s biggest basketball hoop, a circumnavigation of a mousetrap minefield, and various blind trust obstacles, Nickelodeon said. The Dude Perfect Show is produced by Rob Dyrdek and Shane Nickerson of Superjacket Productions.
And even before season two premieres this summer, fans will be able to glimpse the Dude Perfect crew on Nickelodeon. This Sunday, ahead of the Super Bowl, Dude Perfect will be participating in a Nickelodeon special dubbed the Superstar Slime Showdown — a competition pitting NFL athletes against Nickelodeon stars in various football-themed challenges.
Filed under: Nickelodeon by Geoff Weiss Comments Off on Nickelodeon Picks Up ‘The Dude Perfect Show’ From CMT For Second Season
Your pizza is delivered. Your spot on the sofa is reserved. You’re rooting for a team (or, perhaps, rooting against one). It’s Super Bowl Sunday, a hallmark in American culture and a day where marketers place million dollar bets. While football is the spotlight, commercials are the highlight – it’s the only day of the year when people see advertising as part of an experience, not an interruption for them to tune out.
In the digital world, many of us have heard, “It’s the Super Bowl Ad of the internet!” countless times. The claim’s appeal is, of course, understandable. From the first AOL keyword to full screen takeovers, each big digital innovation has promised that all its reach and technology would be the one to make small screens as impactful as the big screen.
I have some personal experience with this. As a General Manager, back at mid-aughts’ Yahoo! (in an era I now call: “when we thought it would always look good on our resumes”) the claim was supported not just by reach but by revenue. Yahoo’s front page takeovers commanded both Super Bowl-sized audiences and prices. At the time, takeovers felt like digital’s main and most important stage. Movie studios booked Thursday takeovers to push big opens on Friday. CPG marketers believed that a homepage takeover was as key to a new product launch as retail shelf space.
But, there was one big problem with the Super Bowl ad analogy: no matter how many people viewed the takeovers, not one person ever loaded that front page thinking “I cannot wait to see what the takeover ad will be today!” The takeovers, like so many other digital and analog formats, didn’t shift user expectations.
As we know, Super Bowl ads are different. Decades of exceptionally creative commercials have conditioned viewers to give the ads a chance. They don’t fast-forward past commercials on the DVR or see ads as a cue for a bathroom break. Even if just for a few hours, the Super Bowl has been marketers’ biggest stage.
Which brings us to the daily stage that is the Snapchat lens. For those old enough to catch my earlier AOL keyword reference, a definition might be helpful. The lens is a Snapchat format that doesn’t just overlay a filter, but adds special effects to selfies. Open Snapchat, frame your face, tap the screen, and down below will appear a swipe-able menu of lens options. While there are several lenses that are standard and always remain on the menu, the first spot is reserved for the daily sponsored lens. Price wise, a Super Bowl ad is to TV what a lens reportedly is to digital. Lens pricing has been quoted at upward of $350,000 for a daylong national placement, above the price of most pieces of digital real estate.
Why? Lenses are finally a format people look forward to. Whether branded or not, Snapchatters check for what is in that first lens spot. Like a Super Bowl ad, they expect it to be good. The average Snapchatter spends 20 seconds playing with a sponsored lens. Lenses are the perfect blend of technology and digital communication. They put Hollywood-like special effects at people’s fingertips everyday as they transform users’ expressions, attire, voices, or even the environment that surrounds them.
Taking it a step beyond Super Bowl ads, consumers don’t only give lenses a chance, but fully embrace them as part of the platform. During the normal games of football season, consumers tune out advertising. Yet, on Snapchat, lenses are part of the daily experience that makes Snapchat the ephemeral, experimental and exciting place it has become.
Last year, Gatorade ran a Super Bowl lens which let Snapchatters dunk a virtual tub of Gatorade over their head. The lens got over 160 million impressions – more than the 115 million television viewers who watched the game. Like a Super Bowl ad, it was a special part of a single day. For those Snapchatters, however, this was more than a single moment. When the pizza boxes were gone, when they got off the sofa and the final score of the game was posted, they knew their stage would still be there – and they were excited to see what lens would be available on Monday.
Paul Marcum is President of Truffle Pig, the integrated content marketing agency launched as a joint venture between WPP, DailyMail, and Snapchat in 2015. Email oink@trufflepig.farm to get in touch.
Astronauts Wanted, the digital studio behind A Trip To Unicorn Island as well as Kian Lawley and JC Kaylen’s forthcoming H8TERSseries, has tapped industry veteran Jonny Blitstein as its new VP of business development for branded entertainment.
Blitstein will be based in Astronauts Wanted’s New York offices, where he will dually report to founder and president Judy McGrath and chief creative strategist Nick Shore. Blitstein will be in charge of broadening the studio’s mission to create zeitgeist-y premium content — but within the branded marketplace.
“Putting the branded entertainment powerhouse team in place, of first Chris Murphy (SVP of branded entertainment) and now Jonny, speaks to our commitment to innovate and head the pack in this medium of branded storytelling,” McGrath, a former top MTV exec who launched Astronauts Wanted in conjunction with Sony Music Entertainment, said in a statement. “Additionally, it demonstrates our desire to partner with the world’s leading and most forward-thinking brands.”
The company announced its appointment of Murphy — a former Studio71 exec — to the position of SVP of branded entertainment in May, when it also tappedKim Rosen as VP of development.
Prior to joining Astronauts Wanted, Blitstein served as the senior manager of sales for branded entertainment, media, and social influencer programs at Disney-owned Maker Studios. Before Maker, Blitstein led agency partnerships for CrowdTwist, a tech startup.
Filed under: Astronauts Wanted by Geoff Weiss Comments Off on Astronauts Wanted Broadens Branded Entertainment Division With New Hire
With its recent moves, Facebook has telegraphed its plan to move into long-form video by funding original programs, distributing them across multiple platforms, and prioritizing lengthier video content within its News Feed algorithm. During its most recent earnings call, however, the social media giant reminded investors that its “primary focus,” as far as video is concerned, is still short-form content.
“Over the longer term…people will experiment with longer forms of video as well as all kinds of different things,” said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. In the present, however, short-form content will remain Facebook’s bread-and-butter. The social media site plans to pay producers in order to create clips that will “seed” its recently-launched video tab, thus matching the strategy it used when it was first promoting its Facebook Like platform last year.
As it builds up its video tab, Facebook is also working on its advertising infrastructure, which will allow content creators to generate revenue for themselves. The company is rumored to be favoring “mid-roll” ads that will be served up in the middle of its videos. “We need to be able to support that with a business model that we’re working on with ads,” said Facebook CFO David Wehner.
Facebook’s most immediate goal, as far as its video is concerned, is to get users excited about the new video tab. As Zuckerberg noted, “The early trends are good.”
Filed under: Articles, Facebook, Featured, News by Sam Gutelle Comments Off on In Earnings Call, Facebook Reminds Us Short-Form Video Is “Primary Focus”
Late last year, it was announced that three of the UK’s biggest YouTube stars — Marcus Butler, Alfie Deyes, and Joe Sugg — would appear in an episode of the hit British reality series Release The Hounds, a horror-themed competition airing on ITV2 in which contestants are dropped into ominous scenarios and must endure scary challenges in order to win cash.
Now, a trailer for Release The Hounds: Famous And Freaked — a celebrity edition of the show in which Butler, Deyes, and Sugg will be pelted with a paintball gun drone and trek through an assault course as faux explosions are detonated all around them — has finally arrived.
While Release The Hounds premieres this evening, the date of the episode featuring the influencer trio has yet to be revealed — though the trailer says it’s coming soon. This season will also feature contestants culled from other hit British reality series, including The Only Way Is Essex, I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, and Geordie Shore.
“That was insane,” Deyes said in a recent vlog posted to his channel in which he reacts to the trailer. “I’m more excited to watch this than anything.” When it airs, he said, he plans to live-tweet or live stream the episode along with his followers.
Check out Deyes’ reaction to the trailer, beginning at the 4:45-minute mark, below:
Filed under: ITV by Geoff Weiss Comments Off on The Trailer For Marcus Butler, Alfie Deyes, And Joe Sugg’s Reality TV Debut Has Arrived
In a house nestled somewhere in snowy suburbia, adults dressed as cartoon characters and superheroes — Spiderman, Elsa, and the Joker — are enacting a mind-bogglingly surreal video skit. In one scene, a smitten Spiderman gifts Elsa with a beautiful pearl necklace. Then, in what plays out as a silent movie of sorts — complete with royalty-free music and shoddy special effects — Catwoman attempts to kill Elsa with a poisonous gumball, ultimately setting into motion an earnest bubble-blowing battle to the death (below).
This isn’t some weird hallucination. It’s YouTube‘s hottest new trend for kids — perhaps serving as a successor of sorts to toy unboxing videos, which are also massively popular among younger audiences. On a platform where who’d-have-thunk-it content formats, including shopping hauls and gaming walkthroughs, have spawned full-fledged industries and careers, videos of adults costumed as superheroes are drumming up staggering views.
At the top of our Tubefiltercharts, which track the most-viewed YouTube channels in the world, Webs & Tiaras — arguably the most popular such superhero channel — has placed within the top five most-viewed channels since last April, garnering more than 100 million views every week. To date, the roughly one-year-old venture — which is part of a family of channels that also includes Toy Monster, Superfriends, and I Love Superheroes — has already amassed more than five million subscribers and 4 billion lifetime views.
Little is known about the creators behind these channels — especially given that the astronomic viewcounts seemed to appear out of nowhere, and most of the stars of the videos are silent and masked. There has also been some speculation within the YouTube community that superhero creators are forging views with bots — since ‘likes’ and ‘dislikes’ on many of the videos have been disabled, and a majority of the comments appear as gibberish.
Today, however, these conspiracies have largely been debunked. Toy Monster, for instance, has explained to skeptics that the majority of its views are coming from ‘suggested videos’ rather than subscriptions — which is how children, who also watch the same videos over and over again, tend to consume YouTube. In addition, the channel claims that oddball comments are a result of kids simply banging on their keyboards.
In an email interview with Tubefilter, one of Webs And Tiaras’ creators, Eric (who declined to provide his last name), insisted that the team has “never used any bots or any other method to increase our views.” Given the channels’ substantial numbers, he says, “If we were not respecting the rules, YouTube would certainly have taken notice.”
Black Cat, Maleficent, Riddler, and the Joker.
Eric, who says his team is based in Canada, claims that there is no larger company behind the four channels, and that it represents a grassroots project among friends. They started their first kid-friendly channel, Toy Monster, in 2014, he says — which initially consisted of similar skits but using toys and action figures rather than costumed humans. “In the summer of 2015,” he explains, “we noticed a handful of channels that were doing superheroes in-real-life videos, and we thought that this would be a perfect fit for us.” It’s now their full-time careers.
The channels are partnered with leading MCN Studio71, whose COO, Phil Ranta, says the phenomenon came onto his radar roughly a year ago. Ranta attributes the success of superhero videos to a magical marriage between silent film and fan-fiction. “International audiences appreciate that there are no spoken words, which also forces the characters to represent the narrative physically and broadly,” Ranta tells Tubefilter. The fact that they are non-gender specific also helps.
And while there are many channels operating in the space today, Ranta notes that Toy Monster — serving as a progenitor of sorts — has pioneered unique formats, including the silent approach, the surreal storylines, and unmissable, neon-hued thumbnails. That said, “the roots of the trend can be drawn back to cosplay channels and fan-fiction videos, which have been around since the start of YouTube,” Ranta says.
Today, the superhero category has become so popular that established creators are hopping on the bandwagon. Davey Orgill, the patriarch of Christian family vlogging channel April And Davey, for instance, was perusing YouTube last year when he stumbled across the format and was blown away by the viewership stats. “So I showed my wife,” he said, “and we ordered some costumes and started making them.” In just three weeks, their channel, SuperHero Reality TV, was clocking 20 million views within a 48-hour period — and, Orgill says, the money started pouring in.
The Orgill family.
To what does he attribute this overnight success? “Kids’ stuff is huge right now,” he says. “The videos are pretty much bringing together all the things that kids like — giant candy, fun music, squirt guns, lasers, flying, Spiderman, Elsa — it’s just all things kids like wrapped together into one. It’s absolutely mesmerizing to them.”
But not always. More recently, as noted by YouTube commentary channel h3h3Productions, some creators within the superhero space have taken a fetishistic turn with content that verges on pornography. Channels like Toy Family and Dennis Cee, for instance, frequently post giddy videos involving superheroes and feces or other sexually-charged scenarios. And while a handful of these videos boast seven-figure viewcounts, like the Webs & Tiaras videos, the majority are only clocking tens of thousands of views thus far — suggesting that they either aren’t as popular as more wholesome iterations or are being consumed by a different audience altogether.
To this end, while it’s natural that the category would devolve into different forms as it becomes more popular, parents would be remiss not to keep a watchful eye on what their children are watching.
Check out h3h3Productions’ deep dive into the darker side of this phenomenon below:
Filed under: Featured, Uncategorized, YouTube Kids by Geoff Weiss Comments Off on YouTube’s Latest Bizarre Trend Has Adults Dressing Up In Spider-Man And Elsa Costumes
Unlike traditional media, social media is not bound by geographical barriers and is, therefore, capable of reaching a much bigger audience than most other forms of advertising. According to one study, influencer content delivers an ROI that is 11 times higher(!) than traditional forms of digital marketing. It’s a big world out there and with business globalization, world market share becomes increasingly more obtainable.
As we go about our day, it can be easy to have an ethnocentric view of culture and customs. That same tendency applies to media and our perception of it. As social media and its influencers grow in stature and audience to take up a greater share of our time and attention, individuals like Superwoman, King Bach and Markiplier are quickly becoming households names here in the U.S. But what about CaELiKe, Cyprien and HIKAKIN?
Global brands are catching on to the power of utilizing influencer endorsement and production, and in conjunction require either a direct knowledge, or a partner with experience, of how to execute campaigns across several different countries, languages, and customs.
Global companies have an unprecedented opportunity to utilize social media influencers to build their brands and capture market share in developed countries and emerging markets; however, it is important to have relationships and a presence around the world in order to execute global influencer campaigns. Here are a few tips on how to get it done.
Know The Countries You Are Working In
When approaching global influencer campaigns, language, cultural norms, the existent social landscape, and disclosure or other mandatory requirements should be major considerations. Although familiarity with English is somewhat common to many large global influencers, it shouldn’t be relied upon when trying to scale a campaign. This becomes increasingly important once contracting begins, as it is easy for misunderstandings and misinterpretations to arise.
Although the general process for a partnership is the same regardless of country, some unique factors such as payment schedules, value-added negotiations, and urgency of communication exist across cultures. The frequency and manner of communication that is normal for your region could appear overly-assertive, or not collaborative enough, when compared to that of a different culture. Presuming the negotiated fee is the full amount of compensation, when the other party feels additional fees/taxes should be included on top (e.g. VAT in the UK), can lead to tricky situations and budget concerns. Understanding of these items comes through experience, and working with partners who understand how these cultures prefer to work.
Preferences and common practices vary from country to country, as well as the genres of content and their respective popularity. Never assume that because one market is heavy with gaming or daily vlog influencers, that the landscape is identical in other countries. Other questions to ask include “Is Facebook and/or Twitter used the same way in country X as country Y?”, “Is YouTube a strong video platform in this country, or is there an alternative service that is more popular”. It would be foolish to sell in an Instagram or YouTube campaign, composed of influencers that exist in a country where those platforms are shadowed by more popular services.
Lastly, be aware of how disclosure requirements vary by country. The FTC and ASA, for example, generally aim for the same standards, but have more specific guidelines and requirements that differ from one another.
Make Sure You Are Prepared For The Time Differences
With all the components and alignment that go into a full campaign, the timeline from beginning to end can go by much faster than initially thought. You must give yourself, the brand, and each influencer ample prep time, especially as urgency and adherence to timelines vary across cultures. Presuming that you can’t always match the ideal of time zones aligning amongst all parties, it becomes essential to create a flexible infrastructure that allows for work around the clock. It is also important to recognize that legal work, especially when dealing across country borders, can significantly slow down the contracting and approval phase.
Our teams in Utah, NYC, LA, and London are designed to have many bilingual employees that can progress the campaign in all areas. Tight-knit teams in constant communication allow for continual momentum and campaign developments, ensuring they are delivered according to schedule. Although the ideal is to have a physical presence in each of the areas represented by the campaign, establishing flexible teams that are comfortable adjusting to the time schedules of the brand or influencer is key in order to execute campaigns across several countries.
Have Universal Processes That Everyone Can Understand
The same standards that allow for scaling campaigns across large numbers of influencers, also apply for broadening campaign scopes across varying countries. This includes an effort to standardize and simplify all elements of the campaign process. The best approach is to set a standard level of expectations for each type of placement, such as a pre-approved themes, talking points and basic concept across all videos. Those expectations should be packaged into a solid contract, which is simple enough for a variety of people to understand.
Maintaining this standardization and simplicity allows you to replicate the process across various languages and individuals. You could even consider composing simple one-sheeters that outline the phases of the project (from negotiation, to concept submission and approval, content review and posting, and reporting) so that each party knows what to expect next.
Executing global influencer campaigns (let alone domestic campaigns) is still a relatively young practice in the world of marketing. Methods and processes continue to refine themselves as brands learn how to better identify influencers and measure success, as well as creators maturing in their understanding of how to best work with brands. These challenges are compounded when working internationally, as additional items like language, time zones, and culture complicate the effort to continuously be aligned in all aspects of the campaign. If adequate research is done, paired with both a flexible infrastructure and universal processes, brands and agencies alike can take their campaigns to the next level, and across borders.
Jake Maughan currently serves as Vice President, Client Services, Digital at Branded Entertainment Network (BEN) where he oversees all influencer campaigns. Previously, Jake served as Vice President of Operations at Plaid Social Labs, the leading social media influencer product integration company, which was acquired by BEN in 2015. BEN Digital focuses on brand integration to increase awareness, establish product credibility and build an active community of brand advocates.
Jake holds a BS from Utah Valley University and an MBA from Utah State University.
Brad Davis serves as the Director of Digital Campaigns at Branded Entertainment Network (BEN), a Bill Gates Company. A valuable member of Plaid Social Labs, which was acquired by Branded Entertainment Network in May of 2015 to expand reach into the digital influencer community, he has a portfolio of hundreds of social media influencer campaigns that have reached over 1B individuals across YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Brad has been a key player in the influencer space working with thousands of content creators to produce excellent branded content for leading brands. Brad currently resides in Provo, UT.
Welcome to the Fund This column! Each week, we’ll look at a planned web series or other online video project currently in search of funding on crowdfunding sites. We’ll tell you what the series is all about and explain why it is worth your money. Do you have a project that’s currently being crowdfunded? Contact us to let us know and we may feature it in upcoming installments and check out previous installments righthere.
Description: A proposed web series is looking to tackle the “three G’s” that are currently affecting the Bay Area: Gentrification, global warming, and gluten-free donuts. The show in question is titled The North Pole, and it is hoping the raise the Kickstarter funding it needs to explore the changing nature of North Oakland.
The North Pole‘s title refers to the local nickname for North Oakland, whose long-term residents are referred to as “polar bears.” In recent years, as a wave of Silicon Valley money has swept through the Bay Area, the makeup of North Oakland has shifted dramatically, and The North Pole hopes to explore those changes through a series of characters who have watched their home change before their eyes.
The goal of The North Pole is to be both poignant and funny. The project’s pitch video begins to touch on some of the issues its creators plan to explore; it also features a talking polar bear.
Best Perk: All of the backers who pitch in at least $25 will be able to attend The North Pole‘s premiere, which will take place — where else? — in Oakland.
Why You Should Fund It: The creative team behind The North Pole has put together some creative and politically-conscious work in the past. In particular, its members thought up sketches alongside an organization known as the Movement Generation, with 2014’s “Brother Earth” serving as one of the most clever entries. The latest web series on their docket seems like it will be smart, witty, and relevant, and I am curious to see how it turns out.
Got a crowdfunding campaign you’d like to see featured in Fund This? Be sure to contact us here.
Filed under: Articles, Featured, Fund This, Kickstarter, News by Sam Gutelle Comments Off on Fund This: ‘The North Pole’ Remarks On A Changing City In Its Own Terms
