The Art of Multi-Platform Branding: Making a Mark in the Online Video Economy
As the media and entertainment industry increasingly intersects with Silicon Valley, online video has become the lingua franca of digital convergence. YouTube has over one billion daily users. Over 80% of Twitter’s user base watches videos. Vine produces 1.5 billion loops of six-second videos per day. Snapchat registers 6 billion video interactions every 24 hours and Facebook leads the industry with 8 billion reported views. With theatrical box office and television ratings declining, online video has become the new currency of the digital economy.
The online video business initially scaled as part of the YouTube ecosystem. In particular, multi-channel networks (MCNs) built a short-form content empire by syndicating videos from tens of thousands of creators. As the online video economy evolved beyond YouTube, creators and influencers took their work cross-platform to expand their brand and tap into new monetization streams. For MCNs, the shift proved more challenging given their large-scale corporate infrastructures and the long-time investment in YouTube as their central distribution pipeline. However, the redrawing of the online video borders actually benefitted a tier of smaller MCNs with a vertical content focus, which seized the opportunity to strategically develop their offering in the new multi-platform order. Enter Tastemade.
Tastemade is one of the most interesting examples of this trend. Founded in 2012, the upstart launched as a traditional YouTube channel specializing in community-driven food and travel experiences, but has since expanded into a “100% digital network.” Tastemade has made its content available cross-platform. It has a presence on the major operating systems (iOS/Android), social media (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Snapchat), streaming devices (Apple TV/Roku), a dedicated Tastemade website, and traditional television (The Cooking Channel, part of Scripps Networks , one of Tastemade’s investors). Additionally, it has two mobile apps (a creator app and a city tour app) and recently launched a new community-driven social food discovery app called Facet. Unlike traditional MCNs, Tastemade has invested in a strategy beyond YouTube from the beginning. It is part of its DNA.
The company thus situates its content offering as an interconnected ecosystem rather than a static structure. Case in point, for each platform, content is specifically tailored to audiences. While YouTube continues to function as the network hub, featuring the bulk of Tastemade content, Facebook and Pinterest showcase short content snippets and the Apple TV has become their home for long-form programming. Tastemade dramatically benefitted from the explosive rise of Facebook video as an early partner in the company’s Anthology ad program, which at times resulted in more viewers on Facebook than on Youtube. In this regard, Tastemade addresses the shifting priorities of audiences across platforms through an agile content model.
As a result, Tastemade has achieved a rare feat, turning its network of online video content into a strong consumer brand. The Tastemade brand is not unlike a TV or cable network, but much more in line with the contemporary multi-platform logic of digital content. Brand exposure is not limited to YouTube. In fact, Tastemade is strategically established across all direct-to-consumer destinations, making it a native multi-platform network.
As the platform economy grows, content networks need to invest in more distribution outlets to remain relevant and visible. Live-streaming apps like Periscope and Meerkat, VR headsets like Samsung’s Gear VR and the Oculus Rift, as well as the increasing development of gaming outlets (Twitch, YouTube Gaming) open up new revenue opportunities. However, to take full advantage of the new economy, platforms need to be connected through an well-functioning ecosystem.
Tastemade represents such an open ecosystem that connects platforms as complementary, rather than restrictive, distribution channels. By leveraging content as a multi-platform asset, Tastemade has managed to scale its food and travel vertical beyond YouTube and into the mainstream. Essentially, it exemplifies the network logic of the digital age: in an increasingly fragmented media landscape, it is the connective tissue that makes all the difference Put differently, multi-platform branding is not only an innovative but the essential strategy for growth for online.
To read more about the evolving digital media industry, see our Future of Storytelling research with UCLA’s School of Theater, Film, and Television. You can also check out our white paper on the state of the online video landscape to explore the role of multi-channel networks (MCNs) in the media and entertainment industry, as well as our blog on the industry’s shift from a MCN to a multi-platform model.
Written by Thomas Jorion and Matthias Stork
