Video Engagement: Vice CEO Shane Smith Talks to Think Insights

This Think Insights site from Google looks like it might have some good information.  I hope they keep this up every week.  They talked to Vice CEO Shane Smith about video engagement as part of their Engagement Project.  As many of you may know, Vice will be represented at the Reel Summit by Global Marketing Director Jonathan Hunt.  He’ll be on a panel called “Content Vs. Community: Which Is King?” with Brendan Gahan of Fullscreen and YouTube’s Bing Chen.  Vice has over 2 million subscribers and over 200 million views on their YouTube channel, so what they have to say is worth a look.

Think Insights’ Interview with Vice’s Shane Smith

The full interview in text is here.  Here’s the video:

Some points covered in the interview:

Vice began as a magazine in 1994, and got into video in 2006, when their Creative Director, Spike Jonze, asked them if they shot video for every article they did.  They didn’t, but told him they did anyway.  It was time to get to work, so they shot videos that were “terrible.”  But were very popular for whatever reason, so they made more.

In reaching young people, Smith talks about how that particular group has been marketed to since they were babies.  They know when they’re being marketed to, so there’s no point in hiding it.  He uses the example, “Here’s a film by Spike Jonze, brought to you by Intel.”  Young people understand.

The amount of time and money it takes to create a video for a Super Bowl ad, or wherever, could be used to create a “long-tail media asset” that your audience will find value in over a long period of time.  In other words, creating content on a regular basis that is available 24/7 on a platform like YouTube.

A look at “The Creators Project” from Vice, “Robot Art: Harvey Moon’s Drawing Machines:”

My favorite part of the interview is where a former Adidas CMO tells Smith, “I will never advertise in Vice because I hate it.”  And Smith said, “Fine, but who’s buying your shoes? You, or your son?”  Basically saying, “you can hate me all you want, but my magazine reaches the people you want to sell sneakers to.”  He goes on to say, “They ended up becoming our largest advertiser.”

Advertisers see the value in a channel that releases content that also reaches their core demographic, and that the creators of that channel constantly give their audience a reason to come back daily, weekly, and so on.  Engagement is all about making our audience feel a part of a community, reinforcing their interests.