Chances are you aren’t too familiar with Jungle Creations. Yet given time you will be. Thanks to its ultra successful food based channels like Twisted and Bosh! the London based media startup has become a world leader in video content. According to Tubular Labs Jungle Creations is now the sixth most watched media property in the world, sitting above Comcast and Business Insider.
The company’s explosive growth hasn't escaped the attention of brands either. A partnership video with restaurant chain Yo! Sushi attracted 1.2 million views within 24 hours of launch prompting Imogen Rossi, Yo! Sushi’s head of brand management to tell Campaign that the video “was by far the most successful digital campaign we’ve ever run."
Here, the CEO Jamie Bolding, explains why he thinks Facebook is the ideal platform for video, his views on Facebook Live and where he thinks his company will be in three years time.
Facebook and video are two topics that will feature heavily at the 2017 Digital Innovators’ Summit.Click on the link for a discounted rate.
Why do you think Facebook video has become so hugely successful?
Facebook was in an ideal situation, as it had already amassed a huge audience before it began executing its video strategy. By rolling it out gradually, the users haven't been bombarded, and have had time to adapt. I think an important point is the way that Facebook pre-loads the first few seconds of video to ensure user experience isn't interrupted while scrolling through the newsfeed. This means that users are more likely to stick around for the three seconds that count for a view.
Further to this, pages within Facebook have contributed a great deal in flooding the platform with highly engaging (though sometimes low quality) content. The ease of which these videos are uploaded, and the ease of which people can consume them, without searching, has ultimately led to the platform’s success in video.
What do you think of Facebook's planned video monetisation options?
This is an awesome way to improve the quality of content. The ease of uploaded material has led to a huge surge of video, not all of which has been of the highest quality. This is simply because businesses are unable to see a direct return on investment. Until now, videos have been used to grow the number of fans on a page, so that they can monetise these users through links or banded content.
Now Facebook is opening up a direct way to make money from videos, businesses will now invest heavily into production, helping Facebook in its ultimate goal to crush YouTube and ultimately transform the way people consume information and entertainment.
You have been very successful in food channels. Are there any others, beyond the usual viral videos, that have potential for media brands like yourselves?
There is a huge plethora of video niches that have potential. DIY videos are a massive trend and will continue to grow. News videos are now the way that a huge section of society keeps up to date with current affairs. Storytelling, whether it's about a person, a company, or even an animal will always be popular.
The type of channels, and the content media companies output are always evolving, and as the focus shifts to video, these will ultimately evolve too. The evolution thus far has been to simplify the video and information with it. Now I think there will be a u-turn as users choose single channels that build personality and difference with their content.
Do you think Facebook Live is going to going to become truly mainstream?
Facebook Live won't become mainstream. It goes completely against the reason why Facebook video has been so successful. Videos are short, precise, to the point, informative and clean. Live videos are full of glitches, errors, accidents and are boring and drawn out. There will always be a place for Facebook Live, but the majority of people will skip past live videos in an instant, regardless of how far Facebook puts it up the newsfeed.
Which platform, beyond Facebook and YouTube, do you think has the most potential for video reach for media brands?
Snapchat and Instagram are both up there, though in terms of absolute video reach I would say Snapchat, simply because the user experience while watching stories is so flawless. When people watch their stories they watch all their followers stories, simply because Snapchat makes it so easy to do it. This is the same as Facebook, as Facebook brings the content to you instead of vice versa, Snapchat has taken this to the next level.
Why do you think you have grown so quickly as a media company? Is it the quality of the videos? Understanding your audience? Or something else?
We have grown quickly simply because we know what the audience want to watch and we give it to them. Furthermore, our audience has always been the entire population of the western world. When we look for content to publish we ask ourselves, would 100 million people want to watch this. If the answer if yes, then we go for it. If not, then it's probably not worth it. Our entire focus is centred around viral content and when videos go viral, you grow. Because we focus every day on going viral, we have grown extremely quickly.
Which other media companies do you think are producing compelling video content?
Buzzfeed and Vice Media are up there, but on completely different ends of the scale. On a macro level, Buzzfeed is able to resonate with hundreds of millions of people, breaking down borders in terms of location, race, age etc. This is an incredibly impressive achievement. Vice, on the other hand, has succeeded in a more micro sense by connecting with individual pockets of society and giving them a voice. This has resulted in a fierce following who hang on to Vice’s every word.
I also have a lot of respect for NowThis. They are bringing important topics to the mainstream. Taking subject matters usually ignored by entertainment companies, they repackage it so it can be easily digested. In an ever increasingly lazy world, their video content is helping keep people informed.
Can you ever envisage JC moving into longer form videos?
Jungle Creations will one hundred percent go into longer form videos. As this industry involves and our audience grow with us, they will expect higher quality, longer form content. We know this, and once we have budgets to allow it, we will use it to invest in longform projects that focus on important stories that will appeal to a mass audience. Storytelling is a hugely powerful tool, and this can only be done properly in longform. We want to take on the responsibility and give our team, and the people around us, the ability to communicate with our audience on a deeper level.
Where do you see Jungle Creations in three years time?
In three years time Jungle Creations will be the biggest media company in the world in terms of viewership. We will balance out our entertainment content with thought provoking stories that show the world in a different light. We will use our ever increasing network of influence to focus attention on things that are important.
By then, our organisation New Jungle, will be set up with a percentage of Jungle Creations profits. New Jungle will be focused on investing in new communities in the third world, while using our platform to bring attention to these and ultimately create a more equal society.
We have a huge way to come, and unfortunately a lot of money is required to get there. That's why in the immediate future, our focus will be about increasing our reach and working with big brands to increase our revenue. This means focusing on entertaining material that the world enjoys.
Many of the themes Jamie discusses in this article will feature prominently at the 2017 Digital Innovators’ Summit in Berlin. For more information and a pre-agenda booking rate that can save delegates 600 Euros, click here.