The Barbarian Group (barbariangroup.com) announced the launch of its new content studio, “Lot112.” The facility will function independently from the digital creative agency, servicing the shop’s existing clients in addition to working on independent projects.
Lot112 is a new model built to help brands create, produce and deploy content like a network. In the current marketplace, brands are using media companies, content distribution channels, agencies, and production studios to create content. This fragmented approach can lead to inconsistent quality, messaging and brand voice.
Adding to this challenge, brands need more content faster, specific to their channels, and with more value for their money. The old model of searching and vetting partners, producing the work, and trafficking for distribution takes too long for the ravenous appetite of the social feed. Lot112 resolves this problem.
“We took key learnings from editorial newsrooms to establish process and behavior patterns,” said Sophie Kelly, CEO of Barbarian Group. “Then, we tightened the production process based on our experience making native content for brands like GE. Finally, we incorporated software partners for approvals, distribution and tracking. This method of working requires a different infrastructure and talent for today’s marketplace, hence the new initiative.”
Melissa Bannon, Director, Digital Experiences and Content Strategy, Samsung, commented: “We need the right partner to combine craft and digital expertise to execute a large volume of content across key channels. Lot112 helps solve this."
The studio will produce a broad range of content, including long and short form video, stop motion animation, still photography, infographics and editorial pieces.
Lot112’s anchor clients include Samsung, Pepsi, and Brisk.
Kathy Kennedy, Brand Director for Brisk, said, "We welcome this Barbarian initiative. Lot112's responsive content studio approach allows our brand to create with increased efficiency. It’s faster, with better integration of content across our platforms and we saw the results firsthand with our recent SXSW activation.”
The studio launches with a leadership team including Craig Teper, Heather Brown, and Eric Camins.
Joining as Director of Lot112, filmmaker Craig Teper specializes in documentaries, commercials, and branded content. Teper has directed commercials, shorts, web films, large-scale installations and features, including “Vidal Sassoon,” the movie. He has worked with brands including Vice, Bumble and Bumble, McDonald’s, Food & Wine, Garnier, and his films have aired on Showtime, BBC, and Netflix.
Heather Brown, General Manager and Executive Producer of Lot112, has worked at agencies including MRY Productions, Anomaly, CP+B and JWT. Brown brings years of production experience in video, experiential, and digital content for clients including Visa, Budweiser, Volkswagen and Converse. The Daytime Emmy® Awards and the James Beard Foundation, among others, have recognized her work.
Lot112 Producer, Eric Camins, will spearhead production responsibilities. He has previously worked at Mass Appeal, HunterGatherer, New York Public Radio, and Vice.
The agency will continue to work with outside specialized production partners and specialty experts as needed.
About The Barbarian Group
The Barbarian Group is an award-winning digital creative agency. Founded by Keith Butters and Benjamin Palmer in 2001, the NYC-based company has morphed from a highly technical production shop in its infancy to a full service problem solver for all things digital, ranging from strategy and code to UX, media and film production.
A subsidiary of Cheil Worldwide, the agency specializes in using technology to creatively solve problems, to tell nuanced stories across emerging mediums, and to make the world more interesting. The Barbarian Group offers a full suite of digital services, including Strategy, Creative, Content Creation, Interactive Marketing & Advertising, Web Design and Development, and Custom Web Application Development.
Under the leadership of CEO Sophie Kelly, recent work includes: helping Samsung completely rethink their in-store retail experience with Centerstage, explaining how General Electric uses acoustics and frequency to fix machines, and bringing new utility to Clinique's customer relationships on mobile. In addition to working with global brands, the agency has partnered with publishers, technology companies and content creators to find new solutions for digital marketing problems for clients like Kashi, Red Bull, Esquire Magazine and CNN.
In 2013, The Barbarian Group was awarded with the first ever Cannes Lions Innovation Grand Prix for its open source software, Cinder. The agency is also responsible for Burger King’s 2004 “Subservient Chicken” campaign, a genuine Internet phenomenon for which the term “viral hit” was first coined. Additional accolades include Creativity’s ‘Interactive Agency of the Year’ and ‘Digital Company of the Year’, and was recognized as one of the world’s 50 most innovative companies in the world by Fast Company. barbariangroup.com
