Unruly and Storyful Open 'Ad Lab' in Sydney

Video ad distribution and tracking platform Unruly and social media news agency Storyful have set up a 'Future Media Lab' in Sydney, which they say will help brands and agencies create better ads that people want to watch and engage with.

London-based Unruly tracks trillions of video views using a proprietary measurement platform and analytics dashboard; while Storyful's technology allows clients to integrate video into their news or advertising via online and mobile platforms, and to monitor social media conversations and sentiment. The pair's new 'innovation and collaboration workspace' - housed in the Australian head office of Unruly's parent company News Corp - builds on Unruly's Social Video Lab, through which companies can benchmark their social media videos against those of their competitors.

The launch follow's Unrulys Australian roll out of its Custom Audiences capability, which uses data from the company's predictive algorithm ShareRank to help enable advertisers predict the 'shareability' of their video content prior to launch. In Australia, the firm has also launched its Pulse consumer response data tool, and its EQ content testing tool, which allows advertisers to test for a range of brand values, including authenticity. It has also researched Australian audiences through its Future Video Survey, to help brands and advertisers power their content strategies.

Unruly co-founder and CEO Sarah Wood (right) explained the lab has been launched to help 'reset' advertiser minds about connecting with audiences: 'What we see in Australia it is incredibly hard to engage with consumers, harder than the global average. Only 25% of viewers who watch an ad in Australia think more favourably about the brand as a result'. She adds: 'These are the lowest brand uplift figures globally, with the exception of Japan, so that's a challenge'.

Web sites: www.newscorp.com , www.unrulymedia.com and www.storyful.com .