Social | Page 94 of 182

Internet Celebrities Fine Bros. Debut New React Channel

July 25, 2014, 12:00AM

In an effort to generate new original content with an innovative format, internet celebrities The Fine Bros. have debuted a new React channel which will coexist with one of the biggest channels already present on YouTube. The comedy duo’s new channel will run programming five days a week and incorporate talent from all of their shows.

React will feature more than 100 cast members from Fine Bros.’s Elders React, Teens React and Kids React series showing people’s responses as they watch viral videos. The popular React series will continue to post twice-a-week on their main channel, which has over 9.3 million subscribers on its own.

“What drives us is what drives anyone: We want to create and share content with people,” said Benny, one of the two Fine Bros. to Variety. “We have a big audience, and the end goal is not just to make a living but to grow into a big media company.”

The company Fine Bros. Entertainment currently has 13 full-time employees based in Burbank, Calif.

The other Fine Bro, Raffi, insists the two Brooklyn natives still work “18 hours a day, seven days a week” working to launch new projects. “Instead of slowing down, we’re saying, How far can a company that could never have existed in the old system go ” he said.

Similar to other popular YouTube creators, the Fine Bros. earn a majority of their money through advertising on the site as well as from brand sponsors. For example, the company has created branded content for big-name companies like Universal Studios. While they declined to disclose their revenue, they did say their main channel accumulates more than 100 million views per month.

“We have a series that is something brands can be organically integrated into,” said Benny.

The Fine Bros. work with YouTube multichannel network Fullscreen and are repped by WME and managed by Max Benator.

Source: Variety

When Facebook Ads Aren’t Ads

BY Steve Peterson

July 25, 2014, 12:00AM

Facebook’s revenue reached new heights in the last quarter, propelling its share price to a post-IPO high, as ad sales have surged on the social giant. Meanwhile, Facebook has also been dialing back the viral reach of brands on its news feed algorithm, which has reduced organic reach. So far, though, Facebook hasn’t treated native ads as advertising, and brands and publishers jumping through this loophole with glee.

When a publishers posts one of its native ads to its own Facebook page, Facebook registers that as an editorial posting rather than as a brand post. “As far as the algorithm goes, they are not treated as ads,” said Facebook spokesman Tim Rathschmidt. Major publishers are not shy about using this to their advantage, as the native Netflix ad in The New York Times showed. If Netflix had just put that on its own Facebook page, it wouldn’t have gotten the reach seen when The New York Times‘ in-house team created it, which meant it was treated like editorial when it was posted to Facebook.

So The New York Times is busily posting these ads to its T Brand Studio Facebook page, where they are getting good reach. The Netflix piece saw 4,952 Facebook likes, 1,053 Facebook comments and 1,860 Facebook shares for a total of 7,865 Facebook interactions as of July 22, according to social media analytics company SimpleReach.

Other publishers like Forbes simply post the ads to the same Facebook pages where they post editorial, so the reach for native ads is even greater. Forbes’ chief revenue officer Mark Howard said reach on Facebook posts for Forbes’ native ads is “comparable” to the reach Forbes editorial posts typically see. “There’s no statistically significant difference,” Howard said. Because “the social Web is a meritocracy,” brands have as much of an opportunity to generate a readership as publishers do, he added.

Source: DigiDay

Best Cinematic Trailers Of The Week

BY Robert Workman

July 24, 2014, 12:00AM

Welcome to the Best Cinematic Trailers of the Week, where we look back at some of the greatest clips from upcoming movies, TV shows and video games that are sure to get your heart pounding with excitement. Whether reintroducing familiar brands or staking new ground, these trailers are guaranteed to keep you entertained. Let’s get started!

Following its run of Star Wars: The Clone Wars on Cartoon Network, the next animated series in the popular franchise will make its debut on Disney’s XD channel later this year. In Rebels, some young new heroes are introduced, battling the unstoppable Empire at every turn. Even though the footage is still early yet, it’s definitely looking, well, out of this world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2bj8e9_zjo

The new extended trailer for Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy has arrived, and it goes into more detail about the ragtag criminals that come together to become unlikely saviors of the universe. There’s a lot of hype going into this film, which features an all-star cast that includes Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana. It should make quite an impact when it hits theaters August 1st.

The latest trailer for Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed: Unity does an outstanding job showcasing what the new Anvil engine can do in terms of recreating the French Revolution era in the game. The gritty streets, the fluid animation and the brisk action all come together into one unique experience, which gamers will be able to get their hands on when the game arrives later this year.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=S5CjKEFb-sM

Actor Benedict Cumberbatch returns to the big screen later this year in The Imitation Game, a new film from The Weinstein Company. In it, Cumberbatch portrays Alan Tuning, a genius British mathematician who leads the charge to crack the German Enigma Code that helps the Allies win World War II. This drama, also featuring Keira Knightley and Mark Strong, will debut on November 21st.

Finally, Batman: Assault On Arkham, the latest animated Batman film from Warner Bros., will make its debut on August 12th. The film ties in with the events from Rocksteady Studios’ Batman: Arkham games, telling the story of the infamous prison and the nightmarish scenario that unfolds surrounding the games. It should make a big impact this week at San Diego Comic-Con.

Source: YouTube

The Return of the ‘Ninja Rap’

BY Robert Workman

July 24, 2014, 12:00AM

Back in the 90’s, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise was kept simple when it came to movies, with folks hopping into animatronic suits and doing damage with ninja moves. It also left its mark with the debut of a “ninja rap” song in The Secret of the Ooze, with Vanilla Ice debuting the “Ninja Rap” number while the Turtles were fighting off the Foot Clan. You can witness this for yourself below.

With the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie set to arrive on November 8, the producers thought it would be wise to bring a new song for this generation of the Turtles, brought to life through a combination of CG and motion-capture. For this go-around, however, Vanilla Ice is out, and Juicy J, Wiz Khalifa and Ty Dolla $ign are in.

The song is called “Shell Shocked,” and, as you can hear in the video below, it’s a far cry from what Vanilla Ice did over 20 years ago. Still, it sounds like a new song for the Ninja Turtles generation, which is exactly what the filmmakers were going for.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=zss1EHSuT1A

The vibe for the new film is definitely going for a more action-packed approach than the old 90’s ones, as the Turtles once again face off against the Shredder, who’s taken on a much larger – and more dangerous – form. The Turtles will once again work with ace reporter April O’Neill, this time played by Megan Fox, with Will Arnett as her wise-cracking cameraman Vern Fenwick. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is directed by Jonathan Liebesman (Clash of the Titans) and written by Josh Appelbaum & Andre Nemec (Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol). Paramount Pictures releases the film everywhere on August 8th. It’s being produced by Michael Bay, so we can probably expect a few explosions along the way.

The era of the “ninja rap” may be gone, but as you can see, the Turtles still know how to “go, ninja, go, ninja, go.”

Source: First Showing

INTOUR Event Launching With YouTube Superstars

BY Robert Workman

July 22, 2014, 12:00AM

The team at Fullscreen is looking to bring the best video talent from today away from the camera, and out onto the main stage for all to celebrate. There will be live performances, social media interaction, games, and more, all with some of the top talent from YouTube and Vine. It’s taking some of the mobile, social, online interactive experience and putting it on stage, where fans can get their favorite interactions with online personalities delivered piping hot. It’s the ultimate fusion of online, mobile and IRL to create an unforgettable experience.

On September 13th, the INTOUR event will kick off in Padadena, which is a co-production between Fullscreen and Kevin Lyman, creator of the uber-popular Warped Tour. The event takes place at the Pasadena Convention Center, and of course the information is all over social media (Instagram, Twitter, Vine and YouTube) and theINTOUR.com web site.

With INTOUR, Fullscreen wants to showcase its top talent in a compilation of live sketch comedy, musical and dance performances for thousands of fans to see live and in person. It’s a great way to get the talents out from behind the camera, so they can interact directly with their fans.

The event will bring together a number of popular personalities from both YouTube and Vine, including Connor Franta, Ricky Dillion, JC Caylen, Sam Tsui, JennXPenn, Alx James, Brent Rivera, Crawford Collins, WeeklyChris, Dylan Dauzat, Charity Vance and FreshBigMouf.

The tickets will sell for $42 for general admission, and special VIP tickets are also available, providing fans access to meet and great certain stars from the tour. VIP tickets give superfans access to meet and greets, and there will also be a few tickets available for an exclusive INTOUR After Party experience, although details weren’t revealed.

Interested parties – and fans alike – can buy tickets here.

Source: Fullscreen

Why Instagram Isn’t Interested In Your Links

BY Lauren Arevalo-Downes

July 21, 2014, 12:00AM

Unlike nearly every other social site, the particular frustration of interacting as a brand on Instagram is that you cannot put a link in your post. At best, you can hope that your followers will jump through the hoop of going to your profile page to click on a link placed there.

Recently a piece in Digiday, appropriately titled ‘Instagram’s War Against the Click’ spoke about how The Onion’s recently launched mock-Buzzfeed site, ClickHole, has been using Instagram as a way to direct traffic to the site this way, updating their Instagram profile’s main link with each post. Whether or not this is ClickHole’s satirical commentary on the inefficiency of such tactics or a component of their actual traffic strategy is hard to discern.

Social sites like Facebook and Twitter have taught us to think of social media as a way to direct traffic to other sites. It does this effectively, but as we proceed into a mobile-first world, there is a clumsy segue from app-to-web. The fact of the matter is those on Instagram aren’t there to be hounded by brands to click on links to open to mobile web browsers. Instagram knows this and has no plans to implement external links anytime soon.

We are seeing a rise in the popularity of self-contained apps. With marketers increasingly interested in how to leverage brand advocates on platforms like Snapchat, Whisper and so forth, how best do you utilize these apps, knowing full well that they aren’t traffic drivers or even more difficult, an unquantifiable “dark social” app

“Instagram isn’t going to make the mistake of most digital advertising and be hostage to the click because there are no clicks to count. Rather, Instagram wants its ads to be the kind of upper-funnel brand images consumers would typically find in a Condé Nast glossy,” said Digiday’s John McDermott.

As Instagram is courting brands now, marketers must be seeing the value of Instagram as an upper-funnel or at least testing its waters. With high rates of engagement, perhaps one can eschew a link after all.

What do you think?

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