Ever want to re-watch one of those awesome and inspirational five-minute Nike ads, but didn’t know where to look? Video ad distributor Sharethrough has rolled out a new video portal that is designed to bring together all the most innovative branded ads all in one place.
Sharethrough operates an ad platform and distribution network that specializes in taking high-quality video ads and making them spread like wildfire through various social channels. It does this by taking branded video content and seeding it out to a number of popular publishing partners, which then help those videos get seen, picked up, and shared by users through Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks.
With the launch of Sharethrough.tv, the startup hopes to aggregate the largest repository of branded videos on the web. By doing so, brands and agencies will be able to search through the most popular and most talked about ads produced over the last several years, all in one place. Users can search through the database to find specific ads, or they can browse through ads arranged by agency, brand, video type, or industry vertical.
The new site was created to highlight awesome advertising, as brands seek to move beyond repurposing 30-second TV spots online. So instead, they’ve started hiring high-profile celebrities, making mini-documentaries, creating Michael Jackson-style epic music videos with silly storylines, stuff like that.
Sharethrough CEO Dan Greenberg told me that’s his company is making a big bet on that paradigm shift: “In the past, the ads sucked because they interrupted you,” he said. But now, “brands are thinking of themselves as content producers and are actually producing good content.” They’re making content that people choose to watch, and share with friends, and watch again.
That’s the whole idea behind the Sharethrough.tv portal, which now has about 1,500 videos from Sharethrough and launch partners such as 72andSunny, EVB, Mekanism, Pereira & O’Dell, and Seedwell. But the site is set up so that brands and agencies can upload their own videos to showcase them alongside their peers. Brands that are looking for a certain type of work can use Sharethrough.tv to find agencies who have done similar, impressive work in the past. Or, if agencies are feeling particularly awesome about their recent work, they can use it as a portfolio for prospective clients.