Timely Rolex Faceook post wins at Oscars 2019
What a week. There’s now 3.6bn mobile internet users worldwide, according to eggheads at the annual gathering of mobile digital in Catalonia #MWC. I traded Barcelona for Hollywood this year to cover a data story on the Oscars 2019 which my brilliant Mediacells colleagues have transcended into a stunning visual narrative. Cadillac lit the touchpaper … Read More
What on Oeuf is going on!
There are lots of predictions at this time of year, particularly in digital circles. Google is predicting that users will spend more time watching online video in 2019 than in front of the television. Is this a surprise to anybody? Mediacells anticipates pioneering media experiences, like Netflix Original’s format-subverting Bandersnatch, will transform traditional viewing habits … Read More
Will football always be the #1 global sport?
By BRAD REES Is football breakable? That’s the question writer Janan Ganesh eloquently answered in a recent thinkpiece for the Financial Times. On the surface football is in rude health. Mr Ganesh gives the example of how obtainable a European ‘soccer’ game now is in the USA, ‘even Atlanta, down in gridiron country, has become … Read More
MTV Case Study: Influencer social media narratives
Our Brief To produce an influencer narrative and compelling content for the MTV European Music Awards & Viacom Leadership Summit. The Work We created consumer-facing content to encourage media interest in the Geordie Shore influencer story. The Results Wrote Social Telly story hook for journalists and influencers Delivered script and visuals for Leadership summit keynotes … Read More
Red Bull Case Study: Gen Z content experience
Our Brief To inform Red Bull on content excellence from the Generation Z perspective. To reference video stories which resonate with the target demographic. The Work We identified and measured favourite content for Gen Z audiences in Extreme Sports and Music arenas. We produced a playbook for Red Bull to set guidelines on global content. … Read More
UEFA Case Study: Engage fans everywhere
Our Brief To optimise content performance in multilingual, digital and social output by providing data-driven recommendations. The Work We designed fan panels to provide insight on why they would visit UEFA digital destinations. We then aggregated audience data in x8 languages across mobile and online platforms and created a performance benchmark to identify and deal … Read More
Adidas success is about keeping it real with fans
Social audiences are influenced by authentic posts that make them feel an affinity with the author. Mediacells can reveal that social media folk respond less to celebrity endorsements and more to meaningful recommendations made by trusted commentators who make them feel special. We analysed the latest adidas influencer campaign and awarded a lesser-known volleyball player … Read More
Artificial Intelligence-defying writing from Esquire
SECTOR: Entertainment CLIENT: Hearst, Esquire WOW: Power of the human word DATE: November 2017 Progressive US magazine Mother Jones recently reported that Artificial Intelligence (AI) experts are predicting we will have ‘full human-level AI’ by 2045. Artists? Surgeons? Writers? There’s an app, well, a robot for all that in less than 30 years. The New … Read More
What is it with Austrians and diving records?
There are no two words in the English language more harmful than ‘good job’, said Terence Fletcher, the rhythm-dictating fascist drumteach in 2014 Hollywood blockbusting outlier, Whiplash. It’s alright being good at something but being the best at something is a huge ask for the individual. Not so for countries, according to David McCandless and … Read More
Your money or your life – what would you stand and deliver?
A mugger accosts you in the street ranting, ‘YOUR CASH OR YOUR PHONE?’ what do you give up? If you hand over your cash, there’s no recompense, you’ve lost your dosh. If you hand over your phone, chances are it has a lock on it and you can cancel it and get a replacement. There’s … Read More
Prepare to be thunderstruck by the 2016 Champions League final
By Brad Rees As the Atlético Madrid team bus rocks up to the San Siro stadium on Saturday, the Blaupunckt stereo system will be blasting out ‘Thunderstruck’ by Ozzie MetalGods, AC/DC. It’s an Atléti tradition. Torres and chums will be chanting, ‘Thunder, thunder, thunder, thunder, I was caught in the middle of a railroad track.’ … Read More
GEORDIE SOARS… as MTV reality show celebrates 5th birthday with record audience on TV and online
Love it or hate it, MTV’s licence-to-ill DocuSoap has wiped the floor with all previous traditional ratings records and amassed a vibrant, engaged social audience in the process. An army of digital natives gorge on content, not just for the 42 minutes per episode but 24/7 – as new and old habits collide and somehow … Read More
How to retain unloyal millennial audiences as media owners
Start by understanding what makes them tick at work, says Deloitte We’ve all had that job that never makes it to the CV or LinkedIn halls of fame. Mine was working for Alternative Corporate Entertainment PLC or ‘ACE’, where I was tasked to sell ‘Novelty Entertainment Acts’ (NEAs) to global business monoliths from the boss’s … Read More
Can digital longform content talk to the Buzzfeed generation when under the social media influence?
By Brad Rees Last week I realised the true value of being a follower when I discovered an amazing story by Hillsborough survivor, Adrian Tempany, after it was promoted in a tweet by sportswriter David Conn. It was 5,000 words long, which meant a lot of iPhone thumbscrolls on a Sunday afternoon when I should have been helping … Read More
Is Apple on the precipice of going Nokia-wards?
Tim Cook will have woken to the news that Facebook has tripled its advertising revenues. The news has stunned Wall Street in much the same way that Apple’s revenue-drop news, 24 hours previously, had shocked the media world. The surprise came despite an apparent expectation management exercise, masterminded by mister Cook in January. Apple soothsayers … Read More
Don’t be evil, try telling that to the robots!
It’s 1977. The Goblin Teasmade advert is on television screens, Punk is hitting the UK streets and Clifton Country Primary (CCP) are engaged in the dying embers of a grudge soccer match against arch pre-teen rivals, Mayfield. It’s nil-nil. CCP have just brought on a substitute, Steven Roundtree. He’s new to the team and it … Read More
Machine-learner difficulties
Google’s Al might have stuffed the Go champ but youthful instagrammers are sticking it to the machine. Google’s Al beat the top player of the ancient and complex game, Go, at the DeepMind Challenge, recently. It didn’t so much beat the South Korean champion, Lee Sedol, as wipe the board with him 4 straight wins … Read More
Is it ‘time to die’ for print?
Last week’s launch of a print-only newspaper excited journalists – but is it sustainable in a digitised consumer world? When I started my newspaper career in the late nineties ‘digital’ was called ‘the bloody internet’. “Forget about the bloody internet,” my ink-stained tabloid boss would argue, before resting his case on some surreal, qualitative Hollywood … Read More
Microsoft Case Study: Podcasts with Vic & Bob team
Our Brief To create an innovative, retail-focused social media destination for Microsoft mobile products on Facebook. The Work We created a fortnightly podcast that presents engaging and humorous consumer-facing insights in association with the award-winning BBC Shooting Stars sound production team. The Results Viral content that reached younger audiences on Facebook as well as on … Read More