Still very early days, so had to say whether it’ll work, but what’s really exciting here is that it’s agencies creating the channel then taking it to advertisers, which not only shifts the creative power balance, it also turns the current set of media relationships on it’s head. Well worth following its progress
26/10/2007 – contagious
October 24th saw the launch, in beta, of the eagerly awaited Honeyshed shopping and entertainment hub masterminded by Droga5 and Smuggler with funding from Publicis. It’s promising to take a positive step away from the traditional e-commerce website by being completely brand driven, yet presented in a familiar and funky fashion.
www.honeyshed.com
The result is a group of young, sexy (if somewhat unhinged) presenters who chat and test their way through an assortment of products. For example, at one stage, two presenters exchange a ‘more than professional’ kiss, in order to test some new L’oreal lip-gloss. Imagine contestants in the Big Brother House promoting disposable ladies underwear and you’re starting to get close.
Apparently, the idea was to produce a platform for multiple brands and marketers, instead of being forced to hide any branded content within YouTube clips or mysterious virals. David Droga describes his vision:
‘Most of the time the strategy has been to create entertaining content and then seed it, put it on YouTube, or elsewhere. So content is king but the king didn't really have throne. Our idea was wouldn't it be brilliant to have a site where you could be overt about the brand. The site gets at the entertainment value and the sociability of shopping.’
Initially there will be thirty ‘shows’ of three to four minutes, offering different products such as denim, footwear, cosmetics and even pet accessories. A further seventy shows are in the proverbial pipeline which suggests a strong response already from prospective advertiser partners. In addition to this, multiple marketers have also signed up for exclusive content blocks.
So how does one shop on Honeyshed? After seeing a product that you fancy, you can add it to your ‘stash’ (checkout to you and me) and then continue shopping or chat to other users about what you plan to buy…If you are particularly pleased with your purchase, you can even send the video for that particular show to friends and family, or display it on a social networking site. Indeed, the initial phase of Honeyshed will be supported by a partnership with Facebook, which in itself suggests a strong belief in the potential for the new shopping site.
The ultimate test however, will be whether or not the site has enough of an impact to attract consumers on a regular basis. If not, then format-flexibility seems to be the key with format changes likely, and brand-specific shows planned for the future. Smuggler co-founder/EP Patrick Milling Smith states:
"Our business model is engagement. Brands get to see who's looking at a video for the first time, who's a return viewer, what other brands people are navigating from and to—and the live chat. For better or worse it's like real time focus groups."
We’ll be honest – not all of it’s our cup of tea, but we’re far from ready to dismiss it as there are plenty of people for whom watching hot girls and gangster rappers engaged in the exchange of trivialities is a more than comfortable way of life. Fixing the Vice and MTV demographic firmly in its sights, honeyshed may yet catch on.
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