London startup Pitch’d has launched a social video competition platform to help brands and agencies harness their followers’ creativity.
The Pitch’d platform lets brands and agencies initiate Vine and Instagram video competitions in a matter of minutes, challenging users to shoot short videos, then encouraging them to share with their networks.
Brands can access an integrated leaderboard ready for three channels: a widget for web content, a Facebook page tab, and a mobile-ready HTML5 page. Each format allows voting on entries via Facebook or retweets on Twitter. Agencies can skin the leaderboard to fit the campaign look and feel, or directly integrate with native mobile apps via the Pitch’d API.
Pitch’d has run a closed beta of the product over the last six months; an early campaign with the RSPCA devised with 33Seconds saw the UK charity’s message reach millions of potential supporters thanks to thousands of votes for more than 600 entries to its #HappyPet contest. The initiative has since been shortlisted for the 2013 Third Sector Excellence ‘Use of Digital Media’ award.
“Great advertising is no longer the preserve of creative directors and tools such as Vine empower the man on the street to create beautiful and engaging content. Short-form video is the biggest thing to happen in marketing since Facebook,” said Adam Stamper, Founder of Pitch’d.
Social video is hot right now and this may be the way brands, advertisers and agencies engage with populist tools such as Vine and Instagram, but his has the scent of ‘loser-generated content’, a context that has proved less than successful over the past couple of years.
Monty Munford has more than 15 years' experience in mobile, digital media, web and journalism. He is the founder of Mob76, a company that helps tech companies raise money and exit. He speaks regularly at global media events with a focus on Africa, writes a weekly column for The Telegraph, is a regular contributor to The Economist, Wired, Mashable and speaks regularly on the BBC World Service.
