Ahead of its April 19 release date, the HTC One is making its debut Friday in a series of branded entertainment videos for the "Facebook Phone," which features the fully-integrated Facebook Home app for a social experience like no other.

Seizing the growing value of branded entertainment, Turner Broadcasting and Funny Or Die have partnered with HTC on a short-form comedy sketch featuring James Van Der Beek (Dawson's Creek and Varsity Blues fame) to promote the HTC One across TBS, Adult Swim and truTV as well as Conan O'Brien's TeamCoco.com beginning the week of April 15.

A riff on The Bachelorette, Van Der Beek hosts a dating show featuring the HTC One and competing bachelor contestants—Smart Phone, Flip Phone, Rotary Phone and ‘90s Phone—all vying for a beautiful HTC One bachelorette.Continue reading...

New research by Harris Interactive for Digitas finds “an increased urgency for brand investment in online video.”

Spurred by cross-generational interest in digital video across screens, 63% of U.S. adults look at online content while watching television, rising to 71% for adults 18-44. And almost half (46%) of online video viewers are likely to seek out participating brands mentioned.

The general landscape for online video consumption according to data from comScore shows that 179 million US Internet users watched nearly 38 billion online videos in February. The vast majority, 83.8%, viewed online video, of average length 6.2 minutes. The average online ad was 0.4 minutes; video ads accounted for 16.6% of all videos viewed and 1.3% of all minutes spent viewing video online. 

Forty-nine percent of brand fans on social networks will watch a video mentioned in a post, and 53% said that if a favorite celebrity announced participation in an online video or web series, they would check it out.

While advertisers continue to spend millions at traditional TV upfronts, the Digitas survey underscores that online video is now de rigueur for consumer engagement. “Investing in online video is no longer optional. Consumers are hungry for online content and ready to take this journey with brands. And as the survey results show, today’s viewer is not just passively sitting and watching—they’re sharing, talking, clicking, testing,” says Stephanie Sarofian, Managing Director of The Third Act:, the brand content unit of Digitas. Continue reading...

In a video born to go viral, Pepsi uploaded this video on YouTube of Dancing with the Stars choreographer Mark Ballas showing off some fancy footwork with a can of Diet Pepsi on his head. 

ABC announced the next batch of DWTS competitors today, with Ballas pairing up with Welsh opera star Katherine Jenkins in the 14th season, which starts on Monday, March 19th.

Other new cast members include tennis legend Martina Navratilova, and singers Gladys Knight and Gavin DeGraw. Ballas also choreographed Diet Pepsi's recent commercial featuring another ABC star, Modern Family's Sofia Vergara, dancing her heart out to promote Diet Pepsi's skinny can.

"Anyone has access and the audience defines the popularity," said YouTube Trends manager Kevin Allocca, explaining the secret sauce that goes into viral videos. Find out more in Allocca's talk, above, during the Youth portion of the TED2012 conference this week in Long Beach, CA, which ranged from Rebecca Black's Friday to Justin Bieber to cats watching cats watching the 65 million-viewed Nyan Cat phenom. 

The Single Life, a humorous web series about online dating, debuted last year with sponsorship by Dentyne. Apparently it was a success, as it's attracted the interest of “New Girl” and It Girl, actress and singer Zooey Deschanel, and her BFF’s Sophia Rossi, a producer, and Molly McAleer, a writer, to sign on as creative consultants.

The trio are co-founders of HelloGiggles.com, founded last year to be “the ultimate entertainment destination for smart, independent and creative females. Everything hosted on the site will be lady-friendly, so visitors need not worry about finding the standard Boys Club content that makes many entertainment sites unappealing to so many of us.” As gag-inducing as the phrase "lady-friendly" might be, think of it as code for "branded entertainment" for women in the 18-34 demographic.

As a result of the deal, The Single Life will be based at HelloGiggle and syndicated to Digital Broadcasting Group’s video ad network of 2,600 websites targeted toward the 18-34 demo. "As we head into season 2, we wanted to reinvigorate the show and give it some new life and we felt that getting the HelloGiggles staff's input into the actual program would give the webisodic series a new zip or vigor," said DBG Chief Creative Officer Joseph Gomes to the Hollywood Reporter, adding that Deschanel and company will be "creative voices to the program."Continue reading...

Web video programmers are getting better at promoting their wares, borrowing a well-worn page from the analog playbook that TV programmers have mastered.

Case in point: Lionsgate and Hudsun Media signed a deal to run Trailer Trash (watch the trailer above) on Hulu, partly because the video portal is mastering the art of scheduling, programming and marketing.

"Crossing your fingers and hoping people will find out about a show isn't really a business model," commented Curt Marvis, Lionsgate president of digital media, to the Wall Street Journal.Continue reading...

The new spot from Smartwater aims to go viral by making fun of the elements that have become viral video cliches.

It features viral memes such as double rainbows; YouTube lip-syncher Keenan Cahill (a web savant); adorable puppies; cute babies doing adult things; a crotch kick, a parrot and slow-mo hair-tossing that recalls Aniston's earlier spots for the brand.

What it doesn't have: the suggested video title of "Jennifer Aniston Sex Tape," the obvious fast-track way to making this truly viral.Continue reading...

Last June, Jason Bateman and Will Arnett introduced DumbDumb, a production company backed by Ben Silverman's Electus to create original web comedies for brands, starting with Orbit gum.

Add Denny's to that roster with Always Open with David Koechner, a new web series that reinforces its "America's Diner is Always Open" campaign. It stars Koechner — who you may recognize from his recurring role on NBC's The Office — chatting with a cast of fellow comics that includes Bateman and Arnett, plus Kristen Bell, Sarah Silverman, Amy Poehler, and Will Forte.

Watch the trailer above, and the first episode below.Continue reading...