12-second Cocktails Demonstrate Power of 12seconds.tv

Back in February I documented how 12seconds.tv had entered the gestation phase of its New Media Life Cycle, characterized by a small group of dedicated users embracing the new micro-vlogging platform, with overall quality remaining mediocre at best while the early adopters experiment to define the content.

May is upon us and it’s time for another look at 12seconds.tv. It may only be three months, but we’re seeing definite signs of growth both in traffic volume and quality.

These are key indicators the site is moving forward and is perhaps ready to enter an adoption phase. This week I’ve been looking at a 12seconds producer, Cocktails. Their content is simple: multi-ingredient cocktail recipes presented and mixed in a mere 12 seconds.

Here’s a sample:

The Bee’s Knees on 12seconds.tv

Did you get all that? If you’re anything like me, you didn’t … and you have a real snoring problem. But that’s the point. The clip is professionally done with slick editing and a very engaging payoff/hero shot of the cocktail in question. Plus it makes me want to know more, or at least the recipe, only slower. This isn’t some kid with a webcam. They even received a satirical response (a la Flutter) where an aspiring Spicoli presents his 12-second recipe for “too much rum.” (Spoiler alert! The secret ingredient is rum.)

What’s Cocktails getting out of 12seconds? Their channel links to a Tumblr account with posts of all their drinks via a Vimeo channel. Clicking over to their Vimeo account changes the screen name from “Cocktails” to “Lush Life” and links to www.livethelushlife.com, a video-heavy blog about spirits, food, and nightclubs. Dig deeper still and you get to the corporate site for Lush Life Productions.

In terms of trend analysis, both Lush Life sites saw a noticeable bump not long after their Vimeo and Twitter accounts launched – about the time, not coincidentally, that Twitter was making the jump to escalation and Vimeo got a big hand from the White House.

Companies like Lush Life are leading the charge in defining the 12seconds platform, as well as pushing it into adoption, as they take advantage of a diverse social media strategy to publicize their business strengths. They are distributing engaging content that leaves the user wanting more.

The Takeaway

12seconds.tv is on the cusp of adoption. They’ve overcome initial challenges, and the quality of content is improving dramatically. Small agencies like Lush Life are beginning to use 12seconds.tv as a viable content delivery channel. Soon, a highly established brand will start to take advantage of this burgeoning platform (and this will likely thrust 12seconds.tv into adoption) and will be a key leader in defining a new social media channel.

And one last thing…

Not convinced of the viability of 12seconds.tv? Social media maven Shaquille O’Neal has a channel already.

So what do you think? Which companies will make the leap to the young platform, 12seconds.tv? What kind of content will they produce and leverage?

About the author

Andrew Davis -

In 2002, Andrew founded Tippingpoint Labs with journalist James Cosco. Since then, he's spent countless hours exploring the online universe and building a methodological approach to developing digital strategies that drive revenue or reduce costs.

Andrew's always asking big questions and analyzing data to understand markets, online forces and even business models. Andrew's research has resulted in the creation of innovative online metrics including Online Brand Value and Category Brand Value, eye-opening graphical representations of website evolution through the New Media Life Cycle and even using online data to predict offline revenue.

When he's not surfing the web, Andrew's traveling the globe speaking to a wide-variety of audiences about everything from social media to the future of print. Andrew is a frequent contributor to the Tippingpoint Labs website and has been creating valuable content since the early 1990s for The Jim Henson Company, CNN, The Today Show and MTV.

He's contributed to a book of short stories, called The Way Things Were and produced and co-wrote Roadside Ambition a documentary film about one small town with two huge balls.

"In a world where content is consumed as rapidly as it's created, companies need to develop a sound strategy to creating valuable online experiences that can, and should, be leveraged enterprise-wide. There is a content solution to every business challenge."