Robert Andrews

BuzzFeed’s announcement today of a $50m new funding from Andreesen Horowitz comes with a new strategy for the wildly popular publisher’s video ambitions. The release puts it best, in its own words: “BuzzFeed will expand its video division and become BuzzFeed Motion Pictures. Ze Frank will lead the division as President of BuzzFeed Motion Pictures and […]

The world’s biggest digital newspaper site wants to fast-forward its video ambitions – not just for editorial, but for advertising. “We’re an absolute giant,” says Mail Online sales VP Matt Kaplan. “We drive more video consumption than any other player in our space – upwards of 50m streams per month – and yet it’s less than 2% of our total […]

Online video ad technology group Ebuzzing reckons nearly a third of its business will be made up from automated ad trading, as it increasingly creates private ad marketplaces with trading desks. “We work with Xaxis, Accuen, Vivaki and these trading desks to build our specific, high-quality marketplaces,” according to the company’s north America GM Jim Daily. “Our […]

Automated trading of standard online display ad units is becoming commonplace. But fancier, more engaging new ad formats can also now benefit from this technology. “IAB rising star units are often though of as upper-funnel, very branding, engaging tactics that aren’t associated with programatic,” says Sarah Warner, trading manager of GroupM’s programmatic unit, Xaxis. “But we can […]

There’s “too many cooks”, and then there’s “not enough cooks pulling in the same direction”. For the new branded content opportunity, multi-disciplinary teams must all work together on clients’ creative projects, according to a Beet.TV panel of agency folk. “Creative by committee is death, creative by small SWAT team works really well,” says Mindshare Entertainment’s chief content […]

Brands shouldn’t just make content that reflects a particular message, they should create participative campaigns, says an innovative marketing exec. “Storytelling is something everybody talks about in this space,” says JWT executive creative director Eric Weisberg. “I’m most empowered by story-doing and story-building The best brand campaigns are when a client “had a goal but they […]

In the interactive era, just raising the initial profile of a brand using a campaign just doesn’t cut the mustard anymore, according to media agency Havas’ global strategy director Rori DuBoff. “I don’t think we have a single client who says, ‘I am happy if you just get awareness’,” she tells Beet.TV. So she is building […]

At this point, many brands will have heard enough about the “branded content” craze that they might seek out a “native” campaign. But decisions about which campaign tactics are used are best left to agencies, says one agency division exec. “Clients want to tell brand stories – they’re more open to us helping them figure […]

If marketers want to make a splash with their own own content, it needs to be socially shareable – and that means giving people something that can reflect their identity, according to a branded content production agency. “People are consuming content and thinking ‘Is this something I’d like to share to reflect my knowledge of […]

The wall between editorial and and advertising is lowering a bit at  Time Inc, as writers and ad salespeople collaborate on native advertising, says the publisher’s video and mobile sales director Mark Marvel. “The two can function in a way that’s meaningful,” Marvel tells Beet.TV. “There’s no longer that separation – there’s a little bit […]

After agreeing to merge this spring, video ad tech firms Ebuzzing and Teads see a big future for publishers out there. “Publishers can put preroll ads in front of the videos content they create,” says the companies’ North America GM Jim Daily. “But a finite number of impressions are available – they sometimes struggle to […]

The booming video advertising segment stands an even better chance of ringing up success on mobile devices than it has on desktop so far. That’s according to one video ad platform boss. “Seventy percent of the video views we did were on mobile devices,” says Jun Group CEO Mitchell Reichgut. “The performance is better, counterintiuitively, than […]

Nevermind your product, what do you stand for? That’s what OgilvyEntertainment’s senior strategy and operations director Abby Marks tells her clients, channeling her agency’s late founder. “David Ogilvy was always about research and treating the cons as an equal, thinking about what’s of value to them,” Marks tells Beet.TV. “We work under the creative umbrella of […]

Brands need to mimic the characteristics of millennial-age consumers to curry their favor, according to research, The Reset Generation, conducted by media agency IPG’s Initiative group. “Their expectations of brands are what they think people expect of them,” says Initiative’s US chief strategy officer Sarah Power. “They’re comfortable with brands trying to change who they […]

Yahoo has bought itself a role in the advertising ecosystem that comes after the desktop web by acquiring mobile analytics firm Flurry last week. That’s the assessment of one cross-platform video ad tech vendor CEO. “A media company that was based on the web is now struggling getting in to the mobile space,” Jun Group […]

Tacoda and Simulmedia founder Dave Morgan is just back from a fun week chewing over the TV ad tech revolution at Cannes Lions with Beet.TV He is interviewed on stage by digital media investment banker Terence Kwaja. In this AdAge article, Morgan concludes channel fragmentation, a desire for accountability and digital envy are finally moving TV folks to […]

LONDON –  He told us he would buy companies – and today that guidance came to pass. Charlie Muirhead’s Rightster is taking a big step to consolidate the video ecosystem by buying two of its biggest protagonists. Eight months after going public to raise £22.4m, the firm is acquiring viral video management firm Viral Spiral for up […]

CANNES, France — Ads on a mobile phone have to pull off the twin feats of being both smaller and more engaging than their desktop forebears. MediaCom’s global media head Ben Phillips tells Beet.TV mobile ad formats have moved on significantly over the last decade: “We’re seeing a lot more branding opportunities come in, like […]

CANNES, France — Real-time marketing campaigns like those now being executed during the World Cup are now a mature opportunity; next, they must become a regular fixture, says one agency unit online boss. “There’s been a year or two of euphoria over it – Super Bowl, Oreos, these things,” Mindshare chief digital officer Norm Johnston […]

CANNES, France — Forgive him if you think “the year of real-time marketing” was 2013, when Oreo dunked in the dark – but Mindshare’s north America strategy chief thinks 2014 is the real deal. “Real-time has been about owned and earned,” Jordan Bitterman tells Beet.TV. “Tent-pole events like the Superbowl – ‘how do we get someone […]