Social TV | Liberty842 - The Digital Content Company

October 4, 2013

Building brands socially? You’d better believe it

James Deeley of Amaze talks about The Utopia Inquiry for Channel 4

Another Social Media Week has come to an end in London and it’s been great to see so many people sharing their experiences of working on a huge range of projects as well as speculating about what the future holds.

Social Media Week 2013 brought with it plenty of practical insights from those in the business – as well as the threat of being included in the brilliant but rather brutal This is not an insight Tumblr.

As for Liberty842, we were privileged enough to host our own event at Gateley LLP’s magnificently positioned offices beside St Paul’s Cathedral (thankfully no mid-evening bell-ringing session to contend with this year).

Guess who? Brands, identity and reputation aimed to give those attending some practical advice on managing digital content, covering the creative process as well as the legal considerations of putting a brand out there on social media.

A strong theme of the evening was suspension of disbelief, as demonstrated by the character-driven Twitter accounts I and Liberty842 co-founder Tayler Cresswell manage for Chatty Man and Mr Selfridgeand Somethin Else’s StoryFarm publishing platform that, Trevor Klein explained, has brought to life characters from dramas Skins and Hit the Floor on social media.

These characters not only allow you to create a very distinctive tone of voice for your brand but they also offer followers a greater sense of engagement by giving them an identifiable person to communicate with as opposed to an anonymous company employee.

Taking a TV drama even further beyond the realms of its scripted storyline, James Deeley showed how viewers of Channel 4’s Utopia were invited to explore the issues raised throughout the series. The Utopia Inquiry provided many extra layers of entertainment, rewarding those with questioning minds for their efforts by taking them deeper into the story.

From TV to the biggest sporting event in the world, we got an insight into the creative challenges and opportunities of producing digital content for London 2012 as Darren Groucutt showed us the work he did for the games. Particularly interesting to note was how the works in progress – not just the finished material – captured the imagination of many and reached a huge audience when recommended by creative community online. A valuable lesson to learn here was about setting out to make great content – not to aim for viral exposure in the first instance.

Creativity and experimentation are always to be encouraged but there’s a definite need to have the legal essential covered before putting content out online. Thankfully Gateley LLP’s Lisa Logan was on hand to give an overview of brand protection for social media and how to be transparent about advertising and sponsorship through your accounts. Being upfront about paid-for posts is always advisable to ensure you’re not breaching CAP code guidelines.

Lisa also touched on the new Defamation Act and how all of us should be aware of its implications, whether in a professional or personal capacity.

Thanks to everyone who came along on the night – especially to our speakers Lisa Logan, Trevor Klein, Darren Groucutt and James Deeley.

Look forward to seeing you again at Social Media Week 2014 but if there’s anything Liberty842 can help you with before then just drop us a line.

August 16, 2013

Guess who’s back at Social Media Week 2013?

Liberty842 returns to Social Media Week for the third time with a session called Guess who? – all about brands, identity and reputation.

It may seem hard to imagine a time before Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest to name a few platforms, but we’re still at a relatively early stage in the social media game and the rules remain a work in progress.

Thanks in no small part to some notable slip-ups from individuals and brands, the sometimes unruly world of social media is getting to grips with much clearer guidelines on what is and isn’t permissible for organisations as opposed to individuals. Those rules are relatively recent additions so we’ve asked Gateley LLP Partner Lisa Logan to explain the latest developments, including the all important new Defamation Act as well as the CAP code.

Legal matters aside, there is no single set of instructions about what your content should be and how you should manage it – which makes it all the more exciting to try new things out.

Two people with no shortage of experience in that department are Darren Groucutt – Creative Director at Relative, award-winning animation director and man behind the digital content for London 2012 – and James Deeley – Creative Director and strategist at Amaze who has previously worked on Harry Potter website Pottermore and multiplatform project The Utopia Inquiry for Channel 4.

Darren and James will show you the possibilities for engaging your audience using content, giving a taste of the creative opportunities for getting followers genuinely involved in a one-off campaign or for the long term.

Demonstrating how fictional characters from TV drama can step outside the boundaries of a show and draw the audience in further, Somethin’ Else Head of Development for digital projects Trevor Klein will talk about the work he’s done with broadcasters on projects including Skins, Emmerdale and new US drama Hit the Floor.

Taking another angle on the characters theme, Liberty842 Co-founder and Editorial Director Tayler Cresswell will talk about identity on social media, using case studies such as Alan Carr Chatty Man and Mr Selfridge to explore how a distinctive tone of voice can have a powerful effect in strengthening the relationship between a brand and its audience.

With some help from me, Writer and Content Producer, Tayler will also look at some of the ways you can protect your brand in the event of negative feedback or if another social media user is damaging your brand’s reputation by assuming its identity.

Go to the Guess Who? event page on the Social Media Week website to book tickets (if the event is listed as fully booked then simply use our contact form to join the waiting list in case of any cancellations). Follow Liberty842 on Twitter for updates from Social Media Week and on the industry in general.

We look forward to meeting you on Monday 23 September at 6.30pm.

June 3, 2013

The future of TV? It’s already here

Screenshot of smart TV internet services menu

I recently came across an Observer supplement entitled “The Future of TV” from back in 2007 which predicted that “The broadcasting dinosaurs like ITV, Sky and the BBC will be challenged by newer, more nimble opponents, including YouTube, MySpace and Google.”

While we can probably count MySpace out of the running (for now at least), it’s clear that YouTube in particular is acting more like a TV broadcaster than ever before thanks to its Comedy Week programming (complete with peak-time ads on Channel 4 and an accompanying print campaign) and its increasing commitment to web-only content for its Original Channels project.

YouTube’s Original Channels first launched in 2011 and have enabled over 100 partners, including Pitchfork, Vice, The Onion, Jamie Oliver and Mixmag to create standalone video content that has the potential to reach a huge audience in a way that hadn’t been possible unless you were on traditional TV.

According to Advertising Age’s YouTube Original Channel Tracker, the top 20 channels regularly achieve more than a million views a week (an impressive 10million in the case of SoulPancake for the week ending May 25 2013) and have subscriber numbers between a considerable 100,000 (EntTV) and a highly covetable 2.2million (RedBull).

The opportunities are certainly huge, though success is by no means a sure thing, as Robert Kyncl, YouTube Global Head of Content, pointed out in an interview back in 2012: “We are in uncharted waters, and of course failures will come with that. If we don’t have failures, then clearly we are not trying hard enough.”

In which case, what are the best ways to minimise the risks when getting started with your YouTube channel? It’s important to consider three fundamental factors.

Content
Getting an audience to watch your programming and keep coming back to it requires good material that’s consistently relevant. High quality production values are certainly desirable – not obligatory in all cases – though you do need to know your audience, what content they’re after and how you can provide it.

It’s particularly heartening to see that many of the most successful channels currently broadcasting online have capitalised on what might usually be considered niche content by the TV industry so it certainly doesn’t hurt to deviate from the mainstream.

Funding
Even low-fi productions take time and money to create so you’ll need a model that will pay its way – and ideally make a profit. The launch of paid subscriptions on YouTube is an interesting development to keep an eye on, though advertising and sponsorship will continue to play an important role for most content publishers.

Promotion
So Jamie Oliver can just move across to YouTube and expect an instant hit and boost in income? He’s already working at it, though it’s not necessarily guaranteed. While established TV brands undoubtedly have an advantage thanks to their existing visibility, they still need to put in the effort to increase awareness and build engagement using all available means, especially social media. The web is full of distractions demanding your attention after all.

And where does this leave traditional TV if its shows and stars can go it alone online? Despite the growing number of alternative entertainment platforms, TV remains the most powerful medium to reach a large audience quickly and that’s not going to change any time soon.

When it comes to shows or people that already have a TV presence then think of it as a head start that can be used to great effect, though is still no substitute for a sound multi-platform strategy that gets the most out of all your digital properties.

At this early stage there’s plenty of scope for experimenting, whether you’re working with a known brand or a complete newcomer. You’re not limited by a remit or by country boundaries so once you’ve got the basics covered, get broadcasting.

February 21, 2013

Social TV: the next 12 months

Yesterday I attended Social TV: The next 12 months hosted by Digitas. (You guessed it, I’m in New York attending events at Social Media Week.)

Panelists included Digitas Social Media exec Jordan Bitterman, Bravo TV Exec Lisa Hsia, Greg Rivera from Xbox and Lost Remote writer Natan Edelsburg .

Host Jordon Bitterman kicked off the session with the question “What is social TV?” – my favourite response being “A million square foot living room… with everyone watching TV in it”. Throughout the seminar, each panelist highlighted interesting examples of where they had experimented using social media to amplify TV content and grow audience interest. Lisa spotlighted Bravo’s Top Chef: Last Chance Kitchen where they had online only exclusive episodes and voting to allow the audience to save contestants, while Greg Rivera showed how they had made a Toyota advert a two way experience.

On the subject of commercial investment, Lisa Hsia commented that the Bravo shows that have the most active social media following are the least lucrative when it comes to sponsorship. Her reason for this, she said was because both the fans’ comments and content may not be “sponsor friendly”.

This was rather depressing to hear as for those of us who deliver social media services to TV clients, the trickle-down effect of this lack of investment (or interpreted value) means that we will continue to fight for ever-tightened budgets.

The panelists all agreed that Neilson’s forthcoming Twitter rating will be one of the most important developments for the future of social TV. Natan Edelsburg predicted global TV launches with global sponsors, as a way of combating illegal downloads. He also said that community managers will become editors (as Liberty842’s already are!), as they will be expected to deliver the very best quality content, to stay ahead of the game. Music to my ears!

Lisa wished “in her ideal world” that the future of mobile be aligned with a realistic commercial model – but for now, however, TV execs still struggle to execute mobile applications due to lack of people and money to keep them updated. She said with so many second screen apps, it raises the question of where to focus investment.

The title of this event suggested we were going to be enlightened with the answers to burning questions around methods, new technology, viewer behavior and commercial value of social TV. The reality is that no one had the answers but that we are still experimenting, feeling the way towards a more proven social TV future.

The great news is that with experimentation, we learn and have fun in the process. We have our work to do.

By Daisy, 21 February 2013

September 25, 2012

Social Media Week: The good, the bad and the ugly

Best practice for using social media in TV and radio was the theme for the first of our Social Media Week events, ‘The good, the bad and the ugly’, at Gateley LLP on Monday 24 September.

First up was Simon Poole from Somethin’ Else, producer of Radio 5 Live’s Kermode and Mayo’s Film Review, who spoke about the increasing importance of social networks in enhancing the radio show and keeping momentum going in the days between episodes. He explained how Facebook in particular has become ‘a crucial part of a radio producer’s tool box’, giving him valuable insights into audience demographics and enabling him to tailor the show to listeners’ tastes and even create new features for the weekly podcast and online-only content based on social media feedback.

Picking up where Simon left off, our own Tayler Cresswell talked about the role community plays for two very different, well-loved shows for which Liberty842 manages social media feeds: BBC Radio 4’s The Archers and Channel 4’s Chatty Man. She told guests that engagement goes far beyond simply monitoring feedback and allows media companies to ‘get in among your audience and be part of the conversation’, tackling negative comments while making the most of talent and fan networks to increase awareness, generate excitement and encourage loyalty.

Gateley LLP Media Partner, Lisa Logan, gave an overview of the legal issues that social media producers should be aware of, highlighting some of the most common pitfalls and areas of risk. Citing recent examples where social media posts had become the subject of legal action, she demonstrated the importance of ensuring that advertising, privacy and copyright guidelines are followed.

On hand to help make sense of the huge amount of data available from online activity, Station10’s David Ellis rounded up the session by telling guests that insight is critical to proving the value of social media for brands. If the magical glow of social media has dimmed a little over the past six months, thanks largely to the shaky Facebook IPO, then Ellis believes we should consider it good news and welcome a more rational approach where data is used to maximum effect to understand where effort and expenditure are best placed.

Thanks to everyone who came along to the event. You can stay in touch with the speakers by following @SimonPoole, @Liberty842, @Tayler, @GateleyLLP and @Station10_UK.