Paid distribution on the Ad Network

The ad network is there for you to buy your audience impressions. Brands increasingly expect distribution guarantees from WebTV producers. Paid distribution and distribution guarantees — where shows cut deals to get placement as if they were ad campaigns — are phenomena we’re seeing more and more these days. To be distributed like an ad, a video doesn’t necessarily have to be branded content, though any integrated sponsorship would travel along with the video itself. This guarantees a minimum number of viewers and appeases the demands of sponsors, easing the process of finding investment.

Mindshare Entertainment produces new Web Show

Breyers ice cream is encouraging Americans to re-discover classic films with the help of "30 Rock" star Jane Krakowski in new webisodes created and produced by Mindshare Entertainment for its Smooth and Dreamy brand. The webisodes feature Krakowski in modern takes on two of Hollywood's most iconic romance films -- "Gone with the Wind" and "King Kong" -- in which technology enables Krakowski to come face-to-face with Rhett Butler and King Kong.

Interactive Web series more successful

What do top Internet video series The Guild, Diggnation, The Gap Year and Sofia’s Diary all have in common? They use social media to engage their audiences, making the viewing experience more interactive and luring in viewers and advertisers, according to a new case study, “WeVision: The Four Steps to Online Media Success,” from digital media research company Futurescape. Futurescape looked at 50 original series produced for the Internet in different regions of the world and chose to follow six that had attracted major sponsors and had run for more than one season to understand what they did right.

CSR Is The New 'Branded Content'

Diana Verde Nieto, CEO of Clownfish in London had a great blog entry last month in MediaPost on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Branded Content which I forgot to add, but it stayed with me. In it she writes, "CSR provides a goldmine of stories that can form the basis of branded content. The benefits of using CSR as part of branded content are endless; foremost it helps to build a brands reputation and is a point of differentiation. It also encourages consumer interest and helps to build consumer trust and loyalty. If consumers see that brands are addressing the issues that are important to them, it follows that they are likely to continue to buy their products".

Online Video rivals Traditional Broadcasting

Over 70% of US web users watch video clips on the internet, making online video the leading social media platform, ahead of blogging and social networking, according to the Global Web Index. The US data from the Global Web Index has been released ahead of the full report, which covers 16 countries. It is compiled by Lightspeed Research for social media research consultancy Trendstream. According to the data, in the US online video now rivals traditional broadcasting and is the fastest growing media platform in history.

Unilever's Alchemist for Lux

Unilever has rolled out a seven-minute Hollywood-style mini film starring Welsh actress Catherine Zeta-Jones to market its Lux shampoo in China and Japan. The film, called 'Alchemist', features a motorcycle chase at a high security laboratory where a youth-enhancing beauty product is being produced. The product turns out to be Unilever's Lux Super Rich Shine shampoo and its benefits are demonstrated by Zeta-Jones's shimmering hair when she attends a red carpet ball. 'Alchemist' was created by agency JWT from an original screenplay by Jeffrey Caine, who also wrote the screenplay for James Bond film 'GoldenEye' and thriller 'The Constant Gardener'.

Frucor Launches In-Game Ad campaign

Frucor, the company behind the popular energy drink V, is about to launch an advertising campaign for a new drink utilising in-game advertising space in popular Xbox 360 and PC titles. Advertisements for INK will run on 24 Xbox 360 and PC games for six weeks during May and June. The Ink campaign is a first for a New Zealand brand. Using in-game billboards and other such spaces, a company’s advertisement is seamlessly displayed via the player’s internet or Xbox Live connection.

Australia's IPTV Race

Just as Foxtel is poised to accelerate its plans for an IPTV service following the launch of its heavily revamped website, created by digital services company Hyro, Telstra is gearing up to launch its own ambitious national IPTV service before Christmas. Telstra will be taking on Foxtel, TiVo, and any nascent IPTV plays from the broadcast sector in launching a service that will provide a combination of digital FTA, a full Personal Video Recorder, a range of BigPond content services via IP, customised web sites like YouTube and Flickr and open access to high speed web services. The carrier is said to be looking at a range of options in monetising the core products that BigPond offers via the web, whether ad supported, pay per view or subscription based. These products include BigPond Movies, TV, Music, Games, News, Sports and Photos.

YouTube issues brand integration advisory

YouTube in recent weeks has issued written notifications to several of its more popular content producers who have inked branded integration deals directly with advertisers, gently reminding them that according to its Terms of Service, users are not to post commercial videos on YouTube without permission. At stake is the Google-owned video giant needs to monetize as much of its content as possible. YouTube will soon announce a new formalized process for branded integration videos.

Microsoft pitches new Web series

Microsoft presented a handful of new online series concepts to a gathering of media buyers on hand for the company’s second annual digital showcase event at Le Parker Meridien Hotel in New York last week, as the company’s sales executives looked to send a clear message that Web video is core to the software giant’s ongoing media strategy. Microsoft plans to let whatever advertiser that comes on board guide the direction, storylines and format of the shows, based on that brand’s target audience.

Branded Entertainment's Big Role in China

Scorched scoops digital Emmy

Australian online interactive drama Scorched picked up an International Digital Emmy Award for the best multi-platform production at MIPTV in Cannes last month. Set in 2012 in a world ravaged by an environmental crisis that leaves 2 million Australians without water. When Scorched aired on the Nine network it won the ratings in the 25-54yr demographic group. The online component, scorched.tv boasted 300,000 video views in less than 8 weeks.

The Web Series Producer's Guide

The Web Series Producer's Guide

Reckitt Benckiser pumps $20M into online video

Major advertising agency Reckitt-Benckiser announced it is shifting $20 million of its TV budget to online video this year, confirming the trend recently shown by an IAB report that found 126 percent year-over-year growth in online video ad revenues. Reckitt-Benckiser, which has a $475 million measured-media budget for TV, moved the $20 million to online video advertising after negotiating aggressive CPM deals with around a dozen online video ad networks.

Web Series show Advertisers ROI

YouTube comes to TV

There's a blizzard here in New York, but something tells me YouTube for TV is already warming the hearts of fans worldwide. If you're a gamer like me, YouTube for TV can be accessed via your Wii and PS3 console and watched on any LCD TV screen. Right now, YouTube for TV is broadcasting beta in 22 regions and 13 languages worldwide.

Massive stays Alive

It's not uncommon for a title series today to support more than $1 million in dynamic advertising. Imagine a disaster scenario where damaged video billboards or street signs explode, crack or fizzle out and make noises. Technology, through Massive, will give video game enthusiasts this experience. Massive has tapped Microsoft to create behavioral targeting technology, reaching gamers between sessions, online chats with friends, even when they enter MSN or Hotmail.

MySpace Gets Hitched

MySpace has tapped Endemol, the producers of "Deal or No Deal," to create a 13-episode reality Web series, "Get Married on MySpace." Slated to debut on MySpace TV this spring, the show will bestow a free wedding upon one lucky couple in exchange for letting MySpace users--and several brand sponsors--plan and experience the big day with them. MySpace is in discussions with a number of advertisers about brand integration opportunities for the show, which will debut on MySpace in May.

Sprint joins Microsoft Web Series

Sprint will sponsor 12 episodes of the hotly anticipated Web series The Guild, to be released simultaneously on Microsoft’s triple platform: Xbox 360 Live, MSN, and Zune media player.

Interview: James Grant Hay, MD at InShot

Video Games outsell DVDs and CDs

Video games are expected to outsell music and other video products this year for the first time, research by retail experts said on Wednesday. Verdict Research UK, predicts that the video games market would grow by 1.37 billion pounds or 42 percent in 2008, outstripping music and video sales which were expected to stagnate.

Machinima Secures Funding

Machinima.com has secured a $3.85 million investment from MK Capital and other private investors. The funds will support future development and business expansion plans for its advertising network that provides film making, animation and video game technologies for companies like EA, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Microsoft, Paramount, Sega, Universal Studios and Warner Bros.