Unruly Launches World's First-Ever Social Video Lab

by Hamish McPharlin (Dr.), Unruly Press Release - Jun 28th, 2012

unrulylab_1

 

Headsets that can read your emotions while you are watching a commercial, huge monitors that display video sharing across the world in real time and bubbling vials of mystery liquids.

 

It may sound like something lifted from the pages of science fiction, but for brands and agencies who attended Unruly’s launch of the world’s first social video lab last night it was a tantalising glimpse under the bonnet of social video advertising.
What kind of video content is most likely to be shared? What is the value of a video share? What are the significant trends? Which platform is the best to run your social video campaign? What is the optimum length of a commercial?
All these questions and more will be answered by the Unruly Social Video Lab in the coming months. After all, advertising is no longer a one-way street. Gone are the days where all you had to do was buy some print space or airtime, create your spot and then blast it at a captive audience.
Thanks to the rise of technology and social media, it is consumers who now have all the power. So it is only natural that advertisers want to find out what makes them tick.
Unruly co-founder and COO Sarah Wood said: "Tonight's lab launch is a significant event because it is both proof of how far social video has come and a statement of intent; a vision of where we are going.
"Above all, it evidences Unruly's commitment to pushing the boundaries of social video science, our commitment to investing in the technology and research that will enable us and our clients to quantify our understanding of why people share branded content. It allows us to evaluate the social signals and predict the social success of branded content, and to use our big data analytics to deliver genuine insight into how and precisely how much earned media and social advocacy affect brand metrics and ultimately product sales."
It was a message reiterated by our keynote speaker on the night, Wired’s Frank Rose, who talked about how social video is changing the advertising landscape.
He said: "With the growth of social video we are moving from a time when advertising was something to be avoided on television to a time when it is something to share online. Television is in the process of moving from a primary medium to a support medium."
Frank’s speech was one of the many highlights of the evening. Guests were given fascinating tours around the lab and were even given the chance to try out some of the psychometric testing equipment, provided by our partners Decipher Research, and sample Samba Mobile’s ad-supported broadband service.
The science-themed night also featured Unrulies dressed up in lab coats and goggles and novelty cocktails served in Jekyll-and-Hyde smoking test tubes and conical flasks. The periodic table of cupcakes (left) was a particular hit with guests, who tweeted about them in their droves.
Wood added: "Tonight is exciting, but is really just a taste of what the lab can do and the start of the mission for the lab.
"We will offer bespoke analysis around share of conversation, competitive benchmarking, content evaluation using latest biometric and emotional techniques.
"These are all exciting in their own right, but they are brought to bear as part of the broader mission of the lab and of Unruly - to understand the DNA of social video sharing - we can unlock the potential of the medium for brands and ensure our clients are capitalising on the seismic shifts in social behaviours, marketing paradigms and consumer expectations."

It may sound like something lifted from the pages of science fiction, but for brands and agencies who attended Unruly’s launch of the world’s first social video lab last night it was a tantalising glimpse under the bonnet of social video advertising.


What kind of video content is most likely to be shared? What is the value of a video share? What are the significant trends? Which platform is the best to run your social video campaign? What is the optimum length of a commercial?


All these questions and more will be answered by the Unruly Social Video Lab in the coming months. After all, advertising is no longer a one-way street. Gone are the days where all you had to do was buy some print space or airtime, create your spot and then blast it at a captive audience.


Thanks to the rise of technology and social media, it is consumers who now have all the power. So it is only natural that advertisers want to find out what makes them tick.

 

unrulylab_2Unruly co-founder and COO Sarah Wood said: "Tonight's lab launch is a significant event because it is both proof of how far social video has come and a statement of intent; a vision of where we are going.


"Above all, it evidences Unruly's commitment to pushing the boundaries of social video science, our commitment to investing in the technology and research that will enable us and our clients to quantify our understanding of why people share branded content. It allows us to evaluate the social signals and predict the social success of branded content, and to use our big data analytics to deliver genuine insight into how and precisely how much earned media and social advocacy affect brand metrics and ultimately product sales."


It was a message reiterated by our keynote speaker on the night, Wired’s Frank Rose, who talked about how social video is changing the advertising landscape.
He said: "With the growth of social video we are moving from a time when advertising was something to be avoided on television to a time when it is something to share online. Television is in the process of moving from a primary medium to a support medium."


Frank’s speech was one of the many highlights of the evening. Guests were given fascinating tours around the lab and were even given the chance to try out some of the psychometric testing equipment, provided by our partners Decipher Research, and sample Samba Mobile’s ad-supported broadband service.
The science-themed night also featured Unrulies dressed up in lab coats and goggles and novelty cocktails served in Jekyll-and-Hyde smoking test tubes and conical flasks. The periodic table of cupcakes (left) was a particular hit with guests, who tweeted about them in their droves.    


Wood added: "Tonight is exciting, but is really just a taste of what the lab can do and the start of the mission for the lab.


"We will offer bespoke analysis around share of conversation, competitive benchmarking, content evaluation using latest biometric and emotional techniques.
"These are all exciting in their own right, but they are brought to bear as part of the broader mission of the lab and of Unruly - to understand the DNA of social video sharing - we can unlock the potential of the medium for brands and ensure our clients are capitalising on the seismic shifts in social behaviours, marketing paradigms and consumer expectations."

 

 

 

 

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