Webvershoptainment - HoneyShed.com

I admit I completely made up the word webvershoptainment and I agree it is horrible, but HoneyShed.com is looking to become the first venture of merged online entertainment with branding and drive to purchase. As Andrew Essex says below it is "MTV meets QVC".

"Honeyshed is a broadband destination that celebrates the sell," says Andrew Essex, CEO of Droga5, who was left to field calls in the agency's offices in New York City and who describes the venture as "MTV meets QVC." "There's a lot of so-called branded content out there, but it doesn't have many places to live," he says. "It gets lost on YouTube or it's like bud.tv, a brand in isolation. In contrast, this is totally transparent and completely entertaining. It's overt advertising based on the idea that people love brands. They just don't necessarily love it when brands interrupt or deceive them. This will make brands the life of the party rather than the uninvited guest."

So far, Publicis, Droga5, and Digitas have invested between $5 million and $10 million in developing the project, which they hope will allow them to tap into the projected $19.5 billion that will be spent on online ads this year, according to an eMarketer report from February, 2007.

I believe that there is an opportunity for something like this to work. Consumers are constantly online looking to be entertained, educated about new products from their favourite brands and/or shop. I doesn't hurt either that the 3rd largest agency network and Microsoft is behind it.

Article found here.