Youtube selling web series/ branded entertainment - 100 million views anyone?

Lady Gaga

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YouTube's Premium-Content Strategy Starts to Take Shape

Talks of Providing $2M-$5M Seed Funds to Agents and Producers Who Commit to Episodes

YouTube has pitched advertisers on funding big-budget web shows featuring stars like Kobe Bryant, Lady Gaga and "Dancing with the Stars" host Brooke Burke, asking millions of dollars to make them happen.

The pitches are part of YouTube's foray into Hollywood for polished, TV-style web video that can attract the kind of advertisers that devote most of their ad budgets on TV. The concepts were pitched as branded entertainment, shows created for or in conjunction with advertisers. YouTube is separately trying to seed the market for professional web video by funding as much as $5 million in startup costs for producers to create YouTube content channels around advertiser-friendly categories like food, fashion, sports and comedy.

The celebrity shows that YouTube recently proposed to advertisers -- so-called YouTube Originals -- would make the video site, best known for user-generated content and music videos, look more like a traditional TV network than ever before, according to pitch documents obtained by Advertising Age.

For instance:

• "Dream Makers," a series in partnership with "Big Brother" producer Endemol that would feature Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant rewarding "outstanding young people" with with the "dream of a lifetime." YouTube is asking marketers for $1.7 million to exclusively sponsor a run of six to eight five-minute episodes.
  
• "The Incubator," a series from Ben Silverman's Electus featuring 36 short webisodes with 10 entrepreneurs as they turn ideas into businesses. The price tag: $3.5 million for six months of exclusivity.
  
• And, most ambitious, a live Lady Gaga concert in New York proposed for 2011, streamed on the web through YouTube and Vevo. Price tag to sponsor the one-off event? Nine million dollars for a sponsorship along with Samsung, including a presence on Lady Gaga's YouTube channel and Facebook page.
  

  Some of the series pitched by YouTube will never see the light of day, or a studio may opt to get their own sponsorship and proceed on their own. Some have already come to fruition: Howcast's "Chief Household Officer," pitched by YouTube as a 10-week series for $2.8 million, is running on YouTube with a sponsorship deal from HP.

  An exec close to the deal said these series are distinct from the "channel" strategy being pursued by former Netflix exec and now YouTube VP-Programming Robert Kyncl. Rather, they are pitched as branded entertainment that wouldn't get the go-ahead without a big-ticket advertiser attached.

  YouTube has been in the branded entertainment business for some time, but its involvement in selling the shows and working with Hollywood studios signal new ambition to win major marketing budgets. Indeed the price tags suggest YouTube is seeking higher ad rates than seen typically on TV. Assuming YouTube can deliver a hefty 100 million views to a series for $3.5 million in six months, that's still a cost-per-thousand viewers of $35, higher than a typical TV ad rate of $20, and more in a league with Hulu, which sells TV spots on the web for $40.

  YouTube can't be faulted for a lack of ambition. Top YouTube execs like to say they're creating the next generation of cable TV, built and scaled for the web. But instead of 500-odd channels on TV, YouTube is making a play for the "next 10,000," appealing to all sorts of niches and interest groups.

  Despite all that, outside executives involved in the talks argue that YouTube still isn't thinking big enough. "I'd rather see them take a more aggressive approach, and get brands involved earlier, rather than re-create the cable model," said one marketing exec involved in the talks.

  Key to driving views to shows, and revenue to producers, is a redesign of YouTube itself, which hasn't changed much since it was founded in 2005. YouTube has already released an iteration of the redesign, Cosmic Panda, which owes a lot to Hulu in its look and feel. This relaunch, targeted for January, will redefine navigation to rely less on search algorithms and more on human curation of video.

  While not unheard of, YouTube's asking price is significantly higher than the typical budgets for web series. If YouTube can get its asking price, it will change the economics of online video and add another significant player in the market, along with Hulu, Netflix, and perhaps soon, Amazon.

  "Every time you see a YouTube or Hulu or Netflix move into original content creation, it's more opportunity for brands," said one agency exec. "It's a bigger playing field and more ways to reach an audience."

via adage.com

Interesting article about Youtube's premium sales strategy; it remains to be seen how many of these they are able to sell and whether the audience on Youtube is going to be watching lots of branded content. The comparison to regular TV CPMs is misleading though as sponsoring branded content is an entirely different proposition from buying 30 second spots.

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Alloy Digital and KMART launch Branded Entertainment show First Day

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Alloy Media & Marketing

Teen-Centric Company Behind 'Gossip Girls' Partners With Kmart for the Launch of 'First Day'

by Andrew Hampp
Published: August 30, 2010

Madison & Vine, Ad Age's original cross-section of the New York ad community and Hollywood, will be taking a broad look over the next year at the key players, projects and platforms in the digital branded-entertainment arena. Check in with M&V as we keep tabs on established players; check in with the media agencies and marketing firms that continue to staff up their branded-content divisions; or profile the newest studios and media companies entering the space.

The Player: Alloy Media & Marketing
Location: Los Angeles and New York
Key Execs: Matt Diamond, CEO, Alloy Media & Marketing; Sean Horvath, exec VP-branded entertainment, Alloy Media & Marketing; Josh Bank, president, Alloy Entertainment, East Coast

Teen.com

'Haute and Bothered'

--> Key Projects: "First Day," a branded web series for Kmart that launches Aug. 31; "Haute & Bothered," a scripted web series sponsored by LG Mobile; "Private," a web series based on the Kate Brian novels; upcoming web series "Talent" and "Hollywood Is Like High School With Money"; Alloy Entertainment's CW series "Gossip Girl" and "The Vampire Diaries" and their respective book series; and the ABC Family drama "Pretty Little Liars" and its accompanying book series.

The Background: For more than a decade, few media companies have shaped the way tweens and teens consume franchise properties quite like Alloy Media. Since the 2005 release of Alloy Entertainment's movie adaptation of Alloy's hit young-adult novel series "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" and the 2007 premiere of "Gossip Girl," based on the books by Cecil von Ziegesar, the company has accomplished a cross-platform pop-cultural relevance other publishing houses could only dream of achieving.

Next Steps: Whether fans tune in to the televised versions of their favorite books on TV, discover the books by following the TV series or films, talk about characters and storylines on Alloy's network of websites (ranked No. 1 among teens in June by ComScore, with 16.8 million unique visitors) or tune in to in-school network Channel One in more than 8,000 schools nationwide, Alloy has quietly become the new arbiter for teen-entertainment trends. It's a distinction recently noticed by ZelnickMedia and Chairman Gerry Laybourne (founder of Nickelodeon and Oxygen), which acquired Alloy in June for $126.5 million.

Now Alloy is turning to the web as its latest development vehicle, bringing brands along for the ride. In 2009 it launched "Private," a web series sponsored by Johnson & Johnson based on an Alloy's private-school mystery novels, and "Haute & Bothered," an original scripted series sponsored by LG Mobile. This week, Alloy debuts "First Day," its first wholly original series for the web and a branded-entertainment vehicle for Kmart, which will use the program to promote three of its back-to-school product lines: Bongo, Rebecca Bon Bon and Dream Out Loud (the latter from Disney Channel star Selena Gomez).

Josh Bank, Alloy Entertainment's East Coast president, saw "First Day" as a creative challenge to build a series' concept around Kmart's brand brief. The eight-episode series follows main character Cassie (Tracey Fairaway) as she's forced to relive her first day of high school over again, "Groundhog Day" style.

"We wondered, 'How could we showcase three different clothing lines?' A girl living the same day over and over again in different ways seemed like the best way to do that," Mr. Bank said.

Although Kmart and its products are never addressed by name in "First Day," each episode will be supported by display and video pre-roll video ads highlighting the participating retail lines, with links to Kmart's own micro-sites to purchase the products seen in the series. "First Day" will also receive heavy promotion via click-to-expand video ad units from Alloy properties such as Gurl.com, Alloy.com and Teen.com, and exclusive web partnerships with Meez.com, Candystand and Fanpop among others. Kmart's media agency, MPG, and digital agency, Digitas, helped broker the deal and create the media plan with Alloy.

'First Day'

--> Mark Snyder, Kmart's chief marketing officer, saw a compelling case to be made for the integrated marketing of his retailer's clothes.

"A lot of these kids didn't grow up with Kmart the same way the boomer generation did. It didn't have the fashion credibility Kmart does now, so including it in the storyline felt very relevant to their day to day," he said. "Alloy is an expert on this particular segment and we knew they could deliver the audience we were looking to reach."

And as the teen segment in particular develops more fickle media habits, Mr. Snyder and his marketing team will evaluate the relative value of "First Day" compared to its other media buys later this year. Like Kraft, Procter & Gamble and even Poise incontinence pads have learned before him, original web series can sometimes be tied directly to positive sales results.

"It's hard to say if a 30-second TV spot is more valuable than a 15-minute webisode with incredible integration of product, so we'll have a lot of information to figure out about our targets," he said.

For Alloy, the business model for creating digital entertainment can be break-even if not profitable from the get-go by recruiting brands such as Kmart to underwrite the production costs of the series. But to the viewers, the show has to look as good if not better than a TV series, or they'll have no incentive to tune in.

"We're kind of under the belief that there has to be a variety of ways to deliver a unique experience, so that when you're distributing a show you make sure that views are enabled and interacted with at the highest quality," said Sean Horvath, Alloy Media's exec VP-branded entertainment. "The process is no different than how we would develop something for TV or film, and utilize a lot of the same people we've worked with in the past."

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via adage.com

Good article about our latest branded entertainment campaign for Alloy Digital and Kmart - launching this week.

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Branded Content: Why Long-Form Ads Are Wave of the Future

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Why Long-Form Ads Are the Wave of the Future

Short Films, Music Videos Featuring Products Engage Viewers With Brands by Providing Entertainment

by Rupal Parekh
Published: May 03, 2010

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Since Lady Gaga's nearly 10-minute video "Telephone" made its debut a few weeks back, it's garnered 28 million views on YouTube, been watched on MTV.com nearly 500,000 times and shared on Facebook and tweeted directly from the pop star's site some 150,000 times.

-->

LET'S MAKE A SANDWICH: Gaga pauses to whip up lunch with Wonder Bread, Miracle Whip.

--> The video-slash-short film is easily one of the most-popular pieces of longer-form content in recent times, boosting visibility for brands like Miracle Whip and dating site PlentyofFish.com that made appearances in the video. But it's also just one in a growing batch of examples that signal marketers' desire to engage with consumers for longer than the standard 30 seconds.

"We've definitely seen an upswing in longer-form ads," said Matt Miller, president and CEO, AICP. "While advertisers are looking for efficiencies in short-format/multiple platforms, they are also looking for new ways to engage consumers. ... One way to do that is through short films and fun pieces that create awareness of the brand, and reward consumers."

While long-form certainly has precedent -- from Michael Jackson's "Thriller" in 1983 to BMW Films in 2005 -- industry-watchers all agree there's been a spike in such pieces. Kraft Foods recently created a 27-minute crowdsourced film to advertise its Lacta chocolate bar in Greece; electronic brand Philips collaborated with Ridley Scott Films to create "Parallel Lines," a set of short movies that acted as a global ad campaign to tout the cinematic viewing experience offered by Philips' range of TVs; and U.K. grocery store chain Waitrose ran a three-and-a-half-minute spot that took up the entire span of commercial breaks and featured the country's celeb chefs Delia Smith and Heston Blumenthal. That's in addition to the laundry list of luxury fashion brands -- from Oliver Peoples, Pringle of Scotland, Opening Ceremony and Rodarte -- that are increasingly using movie-like ads featuring celebrities donning their clothing and accessories.

"We all are learning the rules, and it's that entertainment is king," said Roger Camp, chief creative officer at Publicis & Hal Riney.

That insight is a key one that agencies and their clients are using in their quest to triumph over consumers' shrinking attention spans, a particularly acute challenge with younger demographics. A Kaiser Family Foundation report earlier this year found that while media consumption is increasing overall -- it's gone from six hours and 21 minutes spent with media in 2004 to seven hours and 38 minutes today -- more multitasking is going on as media gets more fragmented. The foundation, in fact, estimates that because more people are using more than one medium at a time, consumers are actually managing to pack 10 minutes and 45 seconds of media content into those 7 and one-half hours.

Shrinking attention spans have dictated the shrinkage of media segments too, from 60-second spots to 30-, 15- and five- and even one-second spots to a degree that now there's a bit of a pushback to create work that really stands apart, according to industry execs. "That common rule of trying to keep it under a minute and half at the long end of the spectrum is being demolished and now it's about making sure that the entertainment value is there," said Mr. Camp. "And rather than having the brand talk about itself for a minute and half, what we've learned as advertisers is that the hard sell can't be a component of something you watch for a long time."

Enjoyable viewing experience
Luxury eyewear maker Oliver Peoples recently released its third branded film, an online ad in which rock star Shirley Manson and actor Elijah Wood model a variety of sunglasses and fancy frames while swimming in a pool and walking about a posh home. "The feedback was incredibly positive and people genuinely seemed to enjoy getting to experience the brand in a new and different way," said Michelle Lynn Walnum, senior director-brand image and communication at Oliver Peoples. "Cut to today, where the internet, social sites and viral media in general are growing wider and faster, we found that this was an opportunity to engage with our current customers as well as introduce our brand to new potential clientele. This film gives us the opportunity to create marketing with discreet branding that has always been central to our brand."

Three reasons you should consider doing more long-form ads It's a way to stand out among the sea of 30-second spots and deliver entertainment value to consumers. The economics are changing; longer spots don't necessarily cost more because they can be repurposed and there's less need to buy media. There are a number of good case studies to reference in making your long-form ads more successful.

Said Matt Bijarchi, executive producer of media arts at TBWA/Chiat/Day: "With the proliferation of media, very few things are good, and when it's good, you get more attention."

When Hulu did an experiment about 18 months ago, giving consumers the choice of ad to watch, either a two-minute ad before an online program or a couple of 30-second ads in the midst of a program, a whopping 88% of Hulu viewers opted for the two-minute ad. A bevy of marketers bought the long-form opt-in ads on Hulu, including Sprint, Capital One, Hyatt, Paramount Pictures, American Express and Columbia TriStar. The high opt-in rates suggested that because consumers are selecting the ads, they are more likely to be engaged with them. "The opt-in rate is proving this is something people want," Hulu told Ad Age at the time.

Besides consumers' willingness to watch, there are other practical factors fueling the growth of long-form ads, industry execs said, citing the ease of distribution of long-form content in the digital era and a growing number of case studies marketers can point to that allow others to jump on the bandwagon. And then there's the cost. At a time when marketers' ad budgets are squeezed and agencies are being asked to do more work for less, the cost proposition of long-form work becomes more favorable.

According to Mr. Bijarchi, the average cost of a 30-second ad today is about $380,000, and agencies are learning that longer than that doesn't have to be looked at as more expensive, particularly if the ads are spread on the internet and the cost of buying media is negligible. "It doesn't have to be looked at as more expensive ... you're spending the money on the long-form stuff and then you're cutting to make the commercials," he said. TBWA recently created a 30-minute film for Absolut Vodka shot by celebrity director Spike Jonze that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, but was later repurposed into 30-second and 60-second segments to be used as trailers, or for other ad purposes.

So with all this increased time consumers are spending with ads, is it really driving connections with brands, and more importantly, purchases? According to Ms. Walnum of Oliver Peoples, yes.

"The traffic to our site has doubled each of the last three years and we attribute this in part to the demand for our short films. More importantly to us, the time a potential consumer is spending on the site continues to go up, which we believe leads to a better and deeper brand experience, and of course an increase to our e-commerce sales."

Brands get creative with long form

Brands are learning that even though media segments are getting smaller and smaller, consumers enjoy engaging with long-form content -- when it's good, of course. Here are some recent examples of what brands are doing when it comes to making advertising that's longer than a 30-second spot, and a lot more subtle to boot.

PRINGLE OF SCOTLAND
The iconic brand presented the spring/summer collection with a film starring Academy Award-winning actress Tilda Swinton, who walks through the Scottish highlands wearing the expensive clothes.

ABSOLUT VODKA
The booze brand created a 15-minute commercial for Absolut featuring Jay-Z. The ad-slash-documentary, which was called NY-Z, was by TBWA/Chiat/Day and directed by Danny Clinch.

RODARTE
Photographer Todd Cole created a thriller-cum-high-fashion drama called "Aanteni" as a way to promote Rodarte's spring 2010 collection. Set in California on property belonging to PayPal founder Elon Musk, it shows the designer clothing throughout the film.

NIKE
In a ploy to reach its fans who are also music lovers, Nike, with the help of agency Wieden & Kennedy, Tokyo, created a three-minute ad that shows us the art of dropping beats using sneakers.

WAITROSE
In March, high-end British grocery store chain Waitrose broke an ad that took up an entire three-and-one-half-minute commercial break. It took the form of a mini-cooking show featuring celebrity chefs cooking a meat dish, and offered tips on how consumers can make it.

KRAFT FOODS
For Lacta, a chocolate brand popular in Greece, Kraft and Ogilvy One crowdsourced a 27-minute branded movie that initially was going to run only online but spurred so much talk that a local TV station offered to air it for free.

OPENING CEREMONY
Jason Schwartzman and Kirsten Dunst star in this short film featuring clothes by hip store Opening Ceremony and music by Schwartzman's label, Coconut Records.

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via adage.com

Excellent article with an overview of the current "long form" (i.e. more than 30 seconds) video initiatives some brands are putting out. This is definitely a growing business, both on the production as well as the distribution side.

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