Poptent was a Philadelphia, PA-based social video marketing company that specialized in crowdsourcing of original and authentic video content for brands, marketers, and agencies. The company managed over 75,000 independent filmmakers across 150 countries who responded to Poptent's client requests for video content. Poptent also provided access to its web-based video project management platform as a SaaS model for agencies, publishers, multi-channel networks, and other large producers of video content. In early 2015, Poptent merged with the European crowdsourced video site Userfarm to form Vizy. Shortly after Vizy.com went live, Userfarm investors shut down the new site. Without Userfarm's support, Poptent was unable to continue operations or pay their existing debts. The company shut down Poptent.net on June 25, 2015, locking their offices overnight and leaving behind a debt of hundreds of thousands of dollars to both employees and filmmakers. Userfarm management, led by Bruno Pellegrini, never recognized any financial responsibility for the company they acquired and refused to pay its outstanding debts.
History
Poptent was founded in February 2007 by Rick Parkhill, who was inspired by how easy it was for his 12-year-old son to create his own music videos. Poptent started with a network of 2,000 videographers, who would compete to create videos for a $1,000 prize. Poptent's first client was Nestle, who hired Poptent to create an ad for its 100 Grand Bar. In April 2012, the company launched Poptent Productions, as a faster, more cost effective option for large national brands to gain access to video talent. The top producers from Poptent's provider network are hand selected for projects. The crowdsourcing video concept and Poptent gained additional exposure with the production of a video for Southern Comfort which started getting national coverage during the 2012 NBA playoffs. The piece was created by Fort Wayne, IN-based RezFX.
Services
VideoAssignments - Poptent sourced opportunities for its filmmaker community to earn money for providing creative services and video production services to major brands. These video projects can be open to the entire Poptent community or limited to a sub-set of skilled filmmakers to address client privacy concerns. In addition, Poptent often offered to seed qualified videographers to encourage wider creative collaboration and participation from its community members.
Video Content Ideation - Poptent excelled at helping brands find original and authentic creative concepts for their most difficult marketing challenges. Through a proven assignment promotion and talent-sourcing process that typically attracts hundreds of qualified filmmakers to brand assignments, Poptent typically delivers scores of complete video concepts that can be reviewed and evaluated in full prior to purchase.
VideoProduction Services - Poptent assigned a production management team to work with its client to determine the production process that is best suited to meet the needs of the assignment. Poptent also offered fully managed pre-production, production, and post production services to provide end-to-end coverage for video projects of all types.
Video Testing Services - Potent provided video testing services for rapid target demo viewing and creative performance evaluation to help companies understand how well their video content delivers brand recognition, message recall, purchase intent, likelihood of social sharing, and more.
VideoDistribution Services - Poptent also offered performance-based video distribution services for social media and online awareness campaigns. These distribution services included pay-per-view video advertising to encourage widespread viewing of the video content created.
Clients
Poptent listed General Mills, Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, Nestle, American Express, LG, Vizio, Netflix, Geico, Novartis, Frito-Lay, Kraft Foods, FedEx, Anheuser-Busch, US Bank, Land Rover, Jaguar, Dell, Amazon and Nokia among its clients. Poptent also listed partnerships with multiple advertising agencies including OMD, Ogilvy, Edelman, Y&R, BBDO, Rosetta, Alcone Marketing, and Razorfish.
Corporate Info
Poptent’s principal offices were in suburban Philadelphia and San Clemente, CA, with regional sales offices in New York and Los Angeles.
