Everyone judges a book by

its cover.

They should.

Content is king... but the castle is crowded.

The audience is discerning. Particularly millennials. 

So even with the best content

on the planet...

Video

is a shell game.

You're not sure who is watching your content.

All while trying to stand out from a crowd.

So you do your research to keep up with best practices, trends, and metrics.

Or where.

THE IDEA

to A/B Test titles & thumbnails on live videos in real time.

to strategically capture an audience, without hazarding editorial control or the creative integrity of the brands.

to find the Conde Nast voice that best resonates in that moment... not create more clickbait.

We want:

DUST JACKET

Optimize video metadata broadly.

Proposed Implementation

Optimized Metadata -  King of the hill 

At certain CTR thresholds, the algorithm will eliminate the weakest option until only a final title-thumbnail combination survives.  

Optimized by platform:

• Brand sites (and respective email newsletters)
• The Scene 
• Embeds

An optimized combination will likely be different for GQ.com vs. The Scene on Apple TV.

* Rules can be adapted – the simplest version is “survival of the fittest”. In some cases multiple versions could be allowed to stay live.

Optimized Metadata: Phase 2 - Demographic Targeting

Dust Jacket records demographic data-points that correspond to certain title-thumbnail combinations.

Although one metadata set might be the strongest overall, it might not be the best choice for specific subsets. 

With matured data, we'll be able to target the same GQ video to a 20-year-old woman, and a 32-year-old man in different ways.

Behind the Buttmoji: Kim Kardashian West On Her Favorite Kimojis

Kim Kardashian Recreates Kimojis

Impact

IMPACT - Dust Jacket

Thumbnail & title optimizations have been shown to

increase CTR up to 200%.

COST

3 weeks,

1 developer

Plus, image storage + editorial input.

let People judge books by their cover

we can change the cover.

DUST JACKET

Optimize video metadata broadly.