BRANDED ENTERTAINMENT
YouTube Branded Channels Get A Boost In Interactivity – wireWAX’s Taggable Videos Given Green Light Tech Crunch 08.21.12
In what looks like a pretty big win: wireWAX, the taggable video startup, has secured approval for its interactive videos to be placed directly on YouTube brand channels — meaning that its bigger known clients can now fully embrace the company’s technology. Prior to this, YouTube integration was limited to a ‘wrapper’, with the resulting video files only embeddable on third-party sites, thus somewhat limiting their exposure.
Behind the Work: James Franco Directs and Acts in Cheil’s Latest Samsung Film Ad Age 08.20.12
James Franco can tick off a couple more items on his list of accomplishments with the debut of an online film for Samsung from Cheil USA, promoting the Galaxy Note 10.1, which dropped in the U.S. last week.
Deal or No Deal agrees to product placement with PG Tips Product Placement News 08.21.12
PG Tips has teamed up with Deal or No Deal for product placement and branded entertainment. UK’s popular tea brand will now be visible on Channel 4’s game show with the help of a new, innovative technology. The tea logo will be embedded on the mugs used by members of the show. sThe first PG Tips appearance took place during the first week of August.
ADVERTISING
Memorable Ads Employ Humor, Supply ‘Upbeat’ Storyline Media Post Publications 08.22.12
It doesn’t take much for Super Bowl viewers to conclude Madison Avenue believes humor is a winner. Nielsen research found “audience-appropriate humor” is one of five “common characteristics” that yield successful TV spots based on viewer “memorability.”
Conde Nast Grabs a Piece of the Cloud For Ad Delivery brandchannel 08.20.12
Condé Nast has joined the cloud and will use Flite to enhance delivery of rich media display ads across its portfolio. Flite lets brands build, measure and update interactive ads real-time, integrating social, video, reviews, movie show times, weather, buy now, and live chat functionality, plus in-unit analytics, while the underlying technology includes the ability for ads to carry sharing icons for Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest. “These ads are essentially mini Web pages,”said Flite CEO Will Price.
Non-sponsors Junping Onto the Olympic Brandwagon brandchannel 08.20.12
Just before and during the London Olympics, athletes were not allowed to tweet support for advertisers and marketers unless they were official sponsors of the Games. This led to a few of them being so irked that they tweeted with such hash tags as #wedemandchange and #rule40
ENTERTAINMENT
Grammy Nominations Concert Special Headed To Nashville Huffington Post 08.21.12
This year’s Grammy Awards nominations will come with a Southern accent. The Recording Academy is moving its annual live nominations concert special to Music City. The show will air Dec. 5 live on CBS from Bridgestone Arena. This is the fifth time The Recording Academy has held “The Grammy Nominations Concert Live,” but the first outside Los Angeles.
Starbucks Facebook Game Decides Who Gets Pumpkin Spice Latte First Mashable 08.20.12
You know fall is coming when Starbucks starts promoting its Pumpkin Spice Latte, but no one knows what city it will appear in first. However, if you’re determined to get the drink in your hometown, you may want to alert your friends to a promotion the coffee chain is running. Starting Monday, the cities that really want the drink can compete at the brand’s Facebook Page; the U.S. and Canadian city that get the most points will get the drink first.
Pivotshare Eliminates The Video Distribution Middleman brandchannel 08.17.12
Indie video producers have been waiting for the moment when they could eliminate the middleman and market and distribute direct to their fans. Digital media startup Pivotshare, which just closed $1 million dollars in Series A funding, offers the next step in disintermediating audio and video distribution, filling a gap in the market between free services relying on advertising and expensive online platforms.
MEDIA & TECH
Vail Resorts Ski App Gets Racing With Lindsay Vonn Mashable 08.22.12
Vail Resorts is gearing up to release the third edition of EpicMix, a web and mobile app system that lets visitors track their activities and share them with their friends using radio frequency-enabled chips embedded in their access passes. The app, which is slated for a mid-December release, is perhaps best described as Nike+ for skiing and snowboarding.
Volvo wants You Inside Brand e Biz 08.22.12
Volvo has joined car brands Citroen and Nissan in turning to the wisdom of the crowd with the launch of a new Facebook app, You Inside. The crowdsourcing application enables fans to post images of the things they keep inside their cars along with info about their vehicles and lifestyles.
YouTube Wants to Be Your Go-To for Election Coverage Mashable 08.22.12
YouTube launched the “YouTube Elections Hub” Wednesday, providing a one-stop spot for live footage and video news coverage of the 2012 presidential election. On the Elections Hub, YouTube users will be able to watch the biggest moments of election season — including speeches from the upcoming conventions and the presidential and vice presidential debates — live from their computers or connected mobile device.
