Simian, the video sharing and collaboration service used by advertisers, agencies, media companies, production houses, post studios and music providers, has introduced two features that provide a boost to its analytics capabilities.
The company has just launched Engagement Graphs and debuted a new tool called Simian MoodReactions. The former provides a visual, at-a-glance representation on how reels and presentations have been viewed by their recipients, while the latter lets viewers tag spots or scenes with a range of emoticons that convey how they feel about the content they’ve just viewed.
According to the company, this form of analytic metric has never before been available in any video sharing or collaboration service. “When used together, Engagement Graphs and MoodReactions can provide users with a deep level of insight as to how their work is being received in the marketplace,” said Brian Atton, Simian’s chief operating officer, “while providing members of ad agency creative and production groups with a means of sharing attitudes and opinions about work they’re reviewing without having to screen the work in a group setting.”
Simian’s Engagement Graphs, which were rolled out in late May, offer a visual representation that reports on what portions of a spot or reel have been watched, re-watched or skipped over. Replacing Simian’s Heatmaps feature, they’re part of an analytics redesign that includes a refreshed dashboard that more clearly displays important reel performance data, such as when the reel was opened, total number of views, what percentage of the video was viewed, total downloads and more.
The net result is a broader picture on how the video’s been received, which helps senders such as sales reps and EPs make more strategic decisions when following up with clients or building their next reel.
“Analyzing reel performance and identifying standout spots, or scenes within spots, helps you make smarter choices,” said Atton. “That was our thinking behind the creation of Engagement Graphs – they equip creative companies with actionable reel viewing insight, empowering them to send better-targeted follow-ups and win more jobs.”
MoodReactions lets users show how they feel
If tracking how prospects interact with your work gives Simian users a better understanding of what they’re looking for on each project, what hasn’t been measurable before is how prospects feel about what they’re watching. Simian MoodReactions addresses that by measuring emotional response to what they’re seeing on screen.
“Now people watching can register their response to video content by tagging the video at any point during its running time with a set of corresponding emojis,” explained Jay Brooks, Simian’s chief technology officer. “They run the gamut of how someone might respond to work they’re seeing, with icons that convey feelings like love, like, sad, wtf, boring, even angry.”
Simian MoodReactions allow creative groups or production teams to bookmark scenes and share those reactions with the rest of the group when selecting a director, editor, DP, artist or other creative to bid on a project. “This is especially useful when location or schedules makes it impossible to assemble the team and screen reels together,” added Atton.
“We spent a lot of time developing these features, and like everything else we do here, it’s in response to the needs of our users,” he continued. “On the production and post side, they’re looking for meaningful ways they can use data to help inform and guide their sales efforts. And on the agency side, they’re looking for ways they can share and collaborate efficiently. Engagement Graphs and MoodReactions satisfies both needs.”
