Tag: branded content

Swedish Chainsaw Company Develops VR Lumberjack Game

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Swedish chainsaw brand Husqvarna is trying a unconventional way to promote its products. Working with DigitasLBi Nordics, the company created a virtual reality game that lets people safely experience what it feels like to be a chainsaw-wielding lumberjack. The VR game, which runs on HTC Vive headsets, is part of the company’s on-site activation at this weekend’s World Logging Championship in Poland. Attendees will play the game with actual chainsaws attached to the HTC Vive controls to achieve a more authentic experience.

What Brands Need To Do
This is a good example of how brands may leverage VR technology to deliver a fun experience that doubles as a virtual product demo. As consumers get increasingly familiar with VR and 360-degree video content and mainstream social media platforms start supporting the immersive formats, it is time for brands to start working with content creators to develop interesting branded VR content.

The Lab currently has four VR headsets — an Oculus Rift, an HTC Vive, and two Samsung Gear VRs — ready for demos. Virtual reality is something that has to be experienced to be understood, so come by the Lab and ask for a VR demo to get a hands-on experience and figure out how your brand can use it to excite and engage with consumers.

Source: AdWeek

Header image courtesy of Husqvarna UK’s YouTube Video

Facebook Rolls Out Star Trek-Themed Reactions To Celebrate 50th Anniversary

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Facebook is honoring the 50th anniversary of Star Trek with a custom set of Reaction emojis. The social network says only users in the U.S. and Canada who have shown interest in the sci-fi franchise or interacted with Star Trek-related content are able to see the themed emojis.

What Brands Need To Do
While it appears that there’s no involvement from the owners of Star Trek’s IP on this initiative, this move shows a new possibility for brands to integrate their IP with Facebook’s platform. In an age of peak distraction and ad avoidance, such native integrations can provide brands with a better chance at effectively connecting with their target audiences. If your brand would like to consider similar integrations on popular digital platforms to reach consumers, please contact our Client Services Director Samantha Holland ([email protected]) to schedule a visit to the Lab.

 

Source: AdWeek

Header image courtesy of Facebook’s Vimeo Video

eBay Receives Positive Results From Branded Podcast

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Brands have been jumping in on the podcast bandwagon since Serial blew up in 2014, and now they are getting some positive results from their branded audio content. Brands including eBay, GE, and State Farm all created their own podcasts as a way to reach potential customers and drum up customer engagement. eBay, for example, partnered with Brooklyn-based Gimlet Creative to develop a branded podcast series called Open for Business, a “curriculum-style” guide to starting a business. It landed on the No. 1 spot for business podcasts in iTunes when it launched in June, reaching more than 200% of its initial download goal.

What Brands Need To Do
Branded podcasts may be costly to produce, but it is a good way for brands to connect with targeted niche audiences and capture their attentions. At a time when ad blockers and ad-free streaming services are helping millions of viewers avoid ads, brands should consider working with content creators to experiment with new ways, such as sponsored content and native ads, to win back the consumer attention.

For more information on how brands should leverage interesting branded content to earn consumer attention, check out the Ad Avoidance section of our Outlook 2016.

 

Source: AdWeek

Imgur Debuts New Native Ad Product

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Popular image-sharing site Imgur is rolling out a native ad product that aims to help brands effectively reach its predominantly millennial male users on mobile. The new Promoted Post does not feature any targeting capability as the posts will appear in all Imgur users’ shared content stream, but it does support autoplay videos besides GIFs and still images. Launch partners for this native ad product include eBay, Square Enix, and New Form.

What Brands Need To Do
Dubbed “Pinterest for guys,” Imgur reaches a specific set of nerdy, young male online audience that could be difficult for brands to reach. To help brands better connect with its audience, Imgur has an in-house creative team that works with brand advertisers on creating that kind of branded content that would resonate with its users. As our study on branded content has shown, native ads are less intrusive and more effective than most other ad units, which is only more significant in the context of consumers’ growing aversion to ads.

For more information on how brands should leverage interesting branded content to earn consumer attention, check out the Ad Avoidance section of our Outlook 2016.

 

Source: AdWeek

Tiffany Becomes The First Luxury Brand To Buy Snapchat Lens

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Upscale jewelry retailer Tiffany has become the first luxury brand to buy a sponsored selfie lens on Snapchat in an attempt to connect with a younger audience. The branded selfie lens transforms the eye color of users into Tiffany’s signature blue and adds heart-shaped branding on top. The lens received some extra exposure after scoring an unsolicited Snapchat post from Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian.

The branded selfie lens is just a start for Tiffany as the NYC-based company says it has more Snapchat campaigns planned. Throughout August, a branded Snapchat Geofilter will be made available at all 93 of its U.S. stores, and it will also be running video ads on Snapchat that appear in between users’ stories to amplify its brand presence.

What Brands Need To Do
With this initiative, Tiffany joins a growing list of brands that have tried out Snapchat’s unique ad products such as Sponsored Selfie Lenses and Branded Geofilters to connect and engage with users on the fast-growing social messaging app. Last week, both Maybelline and L’Oreal bought Sponsored Lenses in celebration of National Lipstick Day and leveraged the lens’ AR technology to virtually showcase how their products would look on users. For brands that wish to reach millennial consumers, Snapchat is a social channel with some great native ad units that should not be overlooked.

Source: Glossy

Header image courtesy of Tiffany’s Twitter

Mondelēz Inks Deal With Fox To Tackle Ad Avoidance

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Snack giant Mondelēz International has struck a deal with Fox to tackle the increasing usage of ad blockers. Beyond simply buying ad inventory, the deal will center on an effort by Mondelēz to leverage Fox’s TrueX ad platform and content initiatives that cut through the clutter. As part of the deal, Mondelēz is working with Fox to create new ad formats for VOD and streaming on Fox’s website and Hulu, and it is experimenting with TrueX’s engagement ads, which allow viewers to interact with one ad at the start of viewing in exchange for watching content ad-free. Also, Mondelēz will be developing branded content to reach the Fox audience.

What Brands Need To Do
The latest study from the IAB reports that 26% of desktop users and 15% of mobile consumers are using ad blockers to avoid seeing ads on websites. This Mondelēz-Fox deal is representative of some the necessary steps that brands can take to collaborate with media companies to improve their ad experiences and ensure their ads are viewed. For more information on how brands can fight the increasing usage of ad-blockers, check out the Ad Avoidance section in our Outlook 2016.

 

Source: AdAge

History Channel To Air Ad-Lite Programs Backed By Yeti’s Branded Content

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Continuing an industry trend of networks trying to appease viewers by reducing ads, A&E Networks’ History channel is set to air a Saturday programming block sponsored solely by outdoor equipment brand Yeti. During the weekly “Wild History” block, which starts on July 9 and features reruns of History’s original series, a series of short-form branded content videos from Yeti will air during the limited breaks in between programs. The deal also includes a dedicated Yeti films playlist featured on History’s YouTube channel and History.com.

What Brands Need To Do
Yeti’s branded content is a natural fit for this programming block as they both target the outdoor enthusiasts, thus creating an environment where Yeti’s short videos seem less intrusive than regular commercial breaks. At a time when ad blockers and ad-free streaming services are helping millions of viewers avoid ads, brands and media owners need to take proactive measure and experiment with new ways, such as sponsored content and native ads, to win back the eyeballs.

For more information on how brands should leverage interesting branded content to earn consumer attention, check out the Ad Avoidance section of our Outlook 2016.

 

Source: AdAge

How Condé Nast Is Leveraging Attribution Data To Improve Branded Content

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Condé Nast is adopting a data-driven strategy to improve its branded content and appeal to its ad clients. The leading publisher has created a new unit named Condé Nast Spire, which focuses on connecting its first-party behavioral data with insights from 1010data to establish links between readers’ content consumption and their purchasing activities. Condé Nast will then leverage those attribution findings to create “micro-segments” that advertisers can target with certain types of content. For example, the company cites that humor, design, and political videos work well on potential computer buyers, whereas “big beauty spenders” over age 25 are more engaged with culture and celebrity content. Armed with those insights, the company will work with advertisers to create branded content that caters to the “micro-segments” of their choosing.

What Brands Need To Do
With more and more advertisers trying their hands at branded content, partly as a response to the rise of ad avoidance, it is important for brands to work with publishers and content creators to figure out what types of content work best for their intended audiences. This initiative from Condé Nast should be helpful for brands in that regard as it helps make branded content more targeted and accountable.

To learn more about the effectiveness of branded content, especially branded videos and how they stack up around the world, click here to read the report from our joint study with Google.

 

Source: AdWeek

How Intel Is Embracing Facebook’s Instant Articles

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Intel has become the first brand to publish on Facebook’s Instant Articles as the brand seeks to reach more people with its branded content. Starting in 2012, the company has been operating a tech-focused digital publication, iQ, to showcase its expertise in cutting-edge technologies and build its brand equity. Now, Intel has started posting content from iQ on Facebook using Instant Articles which does not restrict brands from publishing content as long as they have an existing publishing operation that puts out content that meets Facebook’s standards on a regular basis.

What Brands Need To Do
According to Intel, the U.S. editions of iQ reach its one to five million monthly readers mostly through paid social distribution. So it makes perfect sense for Intel to take advantage of the fast-loading publishing program to make their branded content easier to access on Facebook. Brands looking to distribute their branded content on social channels should take a cue from Intel and start exploring Instant Articles, whereas brands that simply wish to make their ads load faster and provide a better user experience can look into Facebook’s Canvas ads, which are basically “Instant Articles for brands.”

 

Source: Digiday

Publishers Bullish On VR And 360-Degree Videos At NewFronts

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Another year, another round of NewFronts where digital publishers tout their viewership numbers and hawk their video ad products. This year, a number of publishers seem to be quite bullish on virtual reality tech, choosing 360-degree video as a main selling point to attract advertisers. Refinery29, for example, plans to develop a weekly immersive video series on topics like music, sports, and travel starting this June via its new VR production arm VR29 Studios. The New York Times plans to double down on its VR commitment by shipping 300,000 more Google Cardboard headsets to its subscribers this year so that more readers can experience the NYT VR app it launched last year. Similarly, AOL and PopSugar are also among publishers that are incorporating immersive video content into their pitches at this year’s NewFronts.

What Brands Need To Do
As more publishers start to produce VR and 360-degree video content, it offers brands more opportunities to work with them to create new types of branded content. The New York Times, for example, has created half a dozen VR videos for brands like BMW Mini and Tag Heuer, and the publisher says some of those branded VR videos have been more successful than the non-branded VR content that it produced. As VR and 360-degree content continues to gain traction among consumers and publishers, brands have more options in choosing the publishers whose audience best matches with theirs to create immersive video experiences to engage with consumers.

 

Source: AdAge & AdWeek