Brand Performance closes video to retail loop with Thwoop.com

December 8, 2008 by Lana Castleman

Brand Performance, parent co of online retailers Ty’s Toy Box and All Aboard Toys, launched Thwoop.com today. The new video-driven online community is looking to bring character fans together to check out content, upload their own videos, review products and make online shopping for related products seamless.

‘The idea is to engage consumers in a brand right away,’ says Brand Performance CEO Ty Simpson. ‘Whether they start out by purchasing a product on tystoybox.com or allaboardtoys.com and then go to Thwoop to talk about the purchase, or see content on Thwoop and then purchase the product…we’re giving good content a place to reside where people can rate it and drive more product sales.’

At launch, Brand Performance has partnered with NCircle Entertainment and Thwoop will be featuring trailers, sizzle reels and full episodes from the video distributor’s catalogue that includes kids series Animal Atlas, Hopla, Pocoyo and Word World. Each property has its own page featuring available video, product commercials, user-created videos and product reviews with a click-through banner located on the right-hand side that will direct interested buyers to the appropriate page on the retail sites to buy DVDs and merchandise.

Simpson is hoping to expand the retail network for Thwoop.com, opening it up to interested retailers and on Brand Performance’s retail sites, product pages will contain thumbnail images of any related video available on Thwoop.

To get the ball rolling, Brand Performance is inserting ads directing consumers to Thwoop.com to review the product they just purchased, also inviting them to check out new content that they may not have seen before.

‘What I like most about Thwoop.com is it’s parallel to our initial retail business model,’ says Simpson. ‘We started by featuring properties and their products that had a devoted following but were difficult to find at mass-market retail. Content on Thwoop largely lacks a major broadcaster and proven demand, but given an outlet it will find an audience.’

While Thwoop’s looking to engender brand engagement and drive product sales more than serve as an online broadcaster, Simpson will be introducing the concept to producers at KidScreen Summit taking place in New York in February in the hopes of finding more content to broaden the site. ‘I’ll be looking for content that I think is promising and we’ll be able to get some early consumer feedback on,’ he says. The next step would be to move the more promising properties into retail test programs, he adds.