December & January's Newsletter
Ringing in the New Year! We hope you all had a safe and happy holiday season, and we cannot wait to share with you everything that we will be working on in 2022. Cheers to another year of creativity and fun!
News Flash ⚡️ :
In case you missed it on our socials, we are beyond excited to officially announce a new partnership with WildBrain CPLG and Azerion.
Bare Tree Media is collaborating with WildBrain CPLG to welcome the Teletubbies into the Habbo and Hotel Hideaway metaverses. This partnership comes just in time for the brand's upcoming 25th anniversary. Under this partnership, we will manage the launch of Teletubbies-branded avatar onesies and other virtual goods into the metaverse. Read the details here!
“We are thrilled to bring the Teletubbies into the metaverse in the form of virtual goods for avatars and virtual spaces within Habbo and Hotel Hideaway. The nostalgia that the Teletubbies evoke as true pop culture icons is a perfect fit for the game demographics and we look forward to furthering releases throughout 2022” - Robert Ferrari, President of Bare Tree Media
We are also thrilled to announce that we are working with Sanrio do Brasil and Azerion to launch Hello Kitty into Latin American metaverses. Habbo and Woozworld users will have access to holiday-themed Hello Kitty furniture, clothing, and other virtual goods. For more information about this partnership, click here!
#BettyWhiteChallenge:
On December 31, 2021, beloved TV and cultural icon Betty White passed away at the age of 99. Not only did we love Betty for her role on the Golden Girls, but she was also an active supporter of animal welfare—a cause near and dear to our company.
In honor of Betty White and her dedication to animal advocacy, Bare Tree Media has accepted the #BettyWhiteChallenge and will donate to numerous animal shelters throughout Massachusetts on January 17, 2021. We challenge YOU to donate to your local animal shelter and uphold her support for animal causes. For more details on the #BettyWhiteChallenge click here.
Holiday Highlights 🎄 :
1: Tasty Peach Holiday Stickers
Udon is ready to bring you all the presents and treats this holiday season. Find this adorable sticker pack on iMessage and use it to spread some holiday cheer all year long.
2: Garfield "Happy Holidays" Stickers
Garfield, Odie, and Friends are ready to celebrate the holidays with you. This festive sticker pack is available on the App Store for download.
3: Starshine Glam
In December, we released a 4-in-1 Snapchat Lens to celebrate the holidays. Users can pick from 4 different backgrounds by sliding through an options tab. This lens is perfect for spreading some cheer and smiles, not just during the holidays but throughout the entire year. Try out "Starshine Glam" here or scan the Snapcode.
Keep Calm and Tweet On 📱 :
Our design team has been busy designing Twitter Branded Likes and Hashtags for our partners! Check out some of the work that was created and released this month.
https://www.baretreemedia.com/portfolio/twitter-branded-likes/
In Other News 📰 :
Have a Smurfy Holiday Season! Our team had the opportunity to partner with Quidd, the original digital collectible marketing place. Through Quidd, we released 3 sets of Smurfs digital collectibles. We enjoyed designing the stickers and assisting in the release process.
The Book of Boba Fett:
Suit up for the next chapter of the Star Wars series. Our team had the incredible opportunity to work with Disney and create Twitter Emojis and animated GIFs for the premiere of The Book of Boba Fett. The new series premiered on December 29, 2021, only on Disney +. Find Book of Boba Fett animated stickers on GIPHY!
We're Growing the Team 🌱 :
We are currently hiring for the following positions within the company:
If any of these sounds like you or someone you know, send resume & portfolio link over to info@baretreemedia.com .
Azerion welcomes WildBrain's Teletubbies into the Habbo and Hotel Hideaway metaverses
The iconic and beloved Teletubbies brand is bringing joy and delight to the popular online social communities through virtual products.
Amsterdam, Dec. 14, 2021 //
Azerion, the digital entertainment and media platform behind the popular online games Habbo and Hotel Hideaway, is welcoming the Teletubbies to the metaverse in celebration of the brand’s upcoming 25th anniversary in 2022. Under a new partnership with WildBrain, owner of the Teletubbies and a global leader in kids’ and family entertainment, the collaboration will include the exclusive release on December 14 of virtual products in Habbo and Hotel Hideaway. Products available for purchase with virtual currency include Teletubbies-branded avatar onesies based on Dipsy, Tinky Winky, Laa-Laa and Po, as well as custom furniture, including the Tubby Toaster, Custard Machine and Noo-Noo the vacuum cleaner, for players to decorate their rooms in the game.
Established in 2000 by Finnish company Sulake as the first metaverse of its kind, Habbo is a user generated virtual world and social gaming platform with a distinctive pixel-art style, available across nine language communities and attracting young adults (Gen-Z/Y) from over 150 countries. Hotel Hideaway is from the same makers and offers a 3D role-playing experience with seamlessly integrated creative events, full of opportunities to meet, create and share.
The Teletubbies brand partnership and launch is managed by Bare Tree Media, a leader in digital engagement for brands and the global digital licensee of Teletubbies, in collaboration with WildBrain’s leading licensing agency WildBrain CPLG.
“We’re excited to work together with Bare Tree Media and WildBrain CPLG on welcoming the iconic Teletubbies into our virtual worlds,” says Madelon Smittenaar, Business Development Manager of Azerion. “This partnership demonstrates the many possibilities when it comes to brand partnerships and immersive experiences in this space. The values the Teletubbies embody will really resonate with the diverse and inclusive communities of Habbo and Hotel Hideaway.”
“We’re thrilled to bring the Teletubbies into the metaverse in the form of virtual goods for avatars and virtual spaces within Habbo and Hotel Hideaway,” adds Robert Ferrari, President of Bare Tree Media. “The nostalgia that the Teletubbies evoke as true pop culture icons is a perfect fit for the game demographics and we look forward to further releases throughout 2022.”
“This is our first venture into the metaverse with the Teletubbies and we’re excited to see how Gen Z fans engage with the brand in a new and unique way. This is just the start of our Teletubbies 25th anniversary celebrations with a raft of new partners and executions expected next year that will continue to bring the beloved brand to life for fans,” concludes Jasen Wright, VP of North America at WildBrain CPLG.
Join us in celebrating the Teletubbies’ twenty-fifth anniversary!
Download Habbo and Hotel Hideaway!
Then get into character by dressing up in Habbo and Hotel Hideaway as your favorite Teletubby!
About Azerion
Azerion is the European gaming, entertainment, and media platform specializing in digital advertising and the creation and distribution of premium digital content. Since its founding in 2014, Azerion's ambitious growth strategy has been strengthened by the company's network of in-market presence across the European Community (EC), which serves the interests of local audiences and digital advertisers, publishers, and content creators.
Azerion is based in Amsterdam.
About Bare Tree Media
Bare Tree Media is a digital agency and publisher focused on helping brands reach and engage fans within the metaverse, AR experiences for Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok, Twitter emoji campaigns and popular messaging apps as mobile stickers and GIFs. Learn more at www.baretreemedia.com
About WildBrain
At WildBrain we inspire imaginations to run wild, engaging kids and families everywhere with great content across all media. With approximately 13,000 half-hours of filmed entertainment in our library – one of the world’s most extensive – we are home to such brands as Peanuts, Teletubbies, Strawberry Shortcake, Yo Gabba Gabba! Caillou, Inspector Gadget, Johnny Test and Degrassi. At our 75,000-square-foot state-of-the-art animation studio in Vancouver, BC, we produce such fan-favourite series as The Snoopy Show, Snoopy in Space, Chip & Potato, Carmen Sandiego, Go, Dog. Go! and more. Our shows are enjoyed worldwide in more than 150 countries on over 500 streaming platforms and telecasters, and our AVOD business – WildBrain Spark – offers one of the largest networks of kids’ channels on YouTube, garnering billions of views per month from over 245 million subscribers. Through our leading agency, WildBrain CPLG, we also license consumer products and location-based entertainment in every major territory for our own properties as well as for our clients and content partners. Our television group owns and operates four family entertainment channels that are among the most viewed in Canada. WildBrain is headquartered in Canada with offices worldwide and trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: WILD). Visit us at www.wildbrain.com
For more information, please contact:
Aimée Norman at The DDA Group
aimee.norman@ddapr.com
+44 (0) 7957 564 050
Bare Tree Media and TikTok Expand AR Partnership to Rollout the TikTok For Business Marketing Partner Program
BOSTON, Sept. 3, 2020 //
Bare Tree Media, a leader in the design and creation of branded augmented reality (AR) experiences within mobile messaging platforms, has expanded its partnership with TikTok. The two companies will work together under the company's recently announced TikTok for Business Marketing Partner Program to connect advertisers with trusted creative and technology providers who can help scale success on the TikTok platform. Bare Tree Media will be creating branded 2D and 3D AR effects for clients of TikTok, as well as introducing new clients to the TikTok platform.
"Throughout 2020 Bare Tree Media has been strongly positioned to leverage its leadership position of helping brands engage consumers through creative and interactive experiences at any time and from anywhere," said Robert Ferrari, CEO of Bare Tree Media. "We are excited to broaden our partnership with TikTok as their creative technology partner, and to bring our clients added value through marketing opportunities within the TikTok platform."
"With the launch of the TikTok For Business Marketing Partner Program, we're building new opportunities for marketers to be creative storytellers and meaningfully engage with the TikTok community," said Melissa Yang, Head of Ecosystem Partnerships, TikTok. "We're thrilled to collaborate with some of the most strategic and trusted leaders in the advertising industry and continue giving marketers access to more tools to successfully create, measure and optimize ad campaigns on TikTok. We can't wait to collaborate with partners to bring a creative and joyful experience to our brand partners and the broader TikTok community."
About Bare Tree Media
Bare Tree Media offers creative services and technology enabling brands to market and engage consumers through augmented reality (AR), Twitter emojis, messaging stickers, and GIFs. We have earned the trust of clients and partners, such as: ABC Television, Baidu, Disney, Duracell, EA, Facebook, Giphy, Instagram, King Features, Life is Good, LINE Corp, Lionsgate, Mars-Wrigley, NBC Universal, New England Patriots, Snapchat, Snap-On Tools, SONY Television Pictures, Tenor, TikTok, Twitter, Viacom, Warner Bros, Wimpy Kid, and many more. Brands interested in offering their own mobile messaging apps, stickers and augmented reality can go to www.baretreemedia.com or contact Bare Tree Media at info@baretreemedia.com.
About TikTok
TikTok is the leading destination for short-form mobile video. Our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. TikTok has global offices including Los Angeles, Mountain View, New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Dubai, Mumbai, Singapore, Jakarta, Seoul, and Tokyo. www.tiktok.com.
Bare Tree Media Partners with TikTok to Bring the Power of AR Effects to Brands
Boston MA – June 25, 2020 – Bare Tree Media, a leader in branded interactive experiences, has been selected by TikTok as a preferred AR (Augmented Reality) design agency partner. As part of the TikTok Branded Effects Partner Program, Bare Tree Media will be assigned to strategize and design TikTok AR Effects for brand campaigns. Through TikTok’s technology and Bare Tree Media’s in-depth expertise in 2D and 3D AR design, this partnership will help to scale creativity and production of AR effects for brands. This partnership builds on TikTok’s newly launched Branded Scan, an innovative format of TikTok’s Branded AR Effect that activates certain visual effects after recognizing a flat image such as a brand’s logo or physical object such as a branded product.
“With the digital landscape always evolving, we are consistently investing in our interactive competencies such as augmented reality,” said Robert Ferrari, President of Bare Tree Media. “We are honored to be selected into this partnership to create branded AR experiences to engage audiences within the popular TikTok platform.”
“Branded Effects give brands the opportunity to interact with Tiktok users in a way that’s engaging and fun,” said Melissa Yang, Head of Ecosystem Partnerships, Global Business Solutions at TikTok. “We’re thrilled to partner with the most creative leaders in 2D and 3D development to bring this playful, immersive experience to our brand partners and the broader TikTok community.”
About Bare Tree Media
Bare Tree Media enables brands to reach, engage and entertain consumers through the creation and digital publishing of branded emojis, messaging stickers, GIFs and augmented reality within popular messaging platforms. As a pioneer in the digital creative and technology sector, Bare Tree Media’s clients and partners include; ABC Television, American Greetings, Apple, Baidu, CBS Interactive, Disney, Duracell, EA, Facebook, Giphy, Google Play, Instagram, King Features, Life is Good, LINE Corp, Lionsgate, Mars-Wrigley, MasterCard, MuscleTech, Paws Inc, P&G, NBC Universal, New England Patriots, Snapchat, Snap-On Tools, SONY Television Pictures, Tenor, TikTok, Twitter, Viacom, Warner Bros, Wimpy Kid, and many more. Brands interested in offering their own mobile messaging apps, mobile stickers, emojis, and augmented reality can go to www.baretreemedia.com or contact Bare Tree Media at info@baretreemedia.com.
The Best of Snap Summit 2020
Like most recent events, this year’s Snapchat Summit was adapted virtually as opposed to existing in a physical space; it might seem like a no-brainer for a company whose expertise is in the digital realm—but if anything, this year’s summit has proven Snapchat’s ambition of bridging the gap between between augmented reality, and reality.
If the theme of Snapchat up until now has been “show, don’t tell” the mantra they’ve adopted moving forward seems to be “experience, don’t show”. What this means for brands is that Snapchat has uniquely positioned itself to allow artists & studios to create unique, branded AR experiences that transcend the digital sphere.
Below I’ve highlighted the features that I’m most excited about, as well as how they can be utilized to elevate users’ AR experiences.
Local Lenses:
These dynamic lenses use real-life locations (whole areas or specific buildings) to create a unified AR experience that different Snapchatters can share, as long as they’re in the same physical space—the first of its kind. In the example above, multiple people are creating a mural of different colors on one shared space using multiple phones. This added expertiental element creates a unified experience that exists wholly online, but that facilitates physical community. This is the first best of both worlds experience.
Photo courtesy of Snapchat.
Snap Scan & Marker Lenses:
Scan Partners is a powerful tool for brands. It allows the camera to recognize an item and then attaches it to a specific lens. The examples Snapchat used were a plant-identifer that, when clicked, would provide information on how to care for that plant (including links to buy those items). But they can also be utilized by luxury brands in order to create beautiful AR experiences in the physical world, once again blending the 2. Louis Vuitton recently added their logo as a marker lens, which means that when their logo is scanned in real life in Snapchat, a virtual door to their latest showroom opens highlighting classic and current collections in a virtual showroom. Too-Faced marked their 'Born This Way' product packaging—so when scanned, users can try it on virtually. Marker lenses elimiate the need to advertise via Snapcode, as well—the product is the Snapcode.
Photo courtesy of Snapchat.
SnapML:
The developer tool now features SnapM (or Snapchat Machine Learning), which lets developers bring their own machine-learning models to power Snap lenses, making what is possible to create limited only to the imagination. This allows for the creation of lenses that were previously impossible (such as the Van Gogh filter below, created by Nicholas Dominici) that would benefit anything from a new movie or video game with a singular aesthetic, to a museum wanting to highlight a current exhibition.
Additionally, this allows the creation of extremely accurate tracking of faces, gestures, feet, and even landmarks such as buildings. Below, you can see the practical application that Wannaby has used: they created a try-it-on filter that lets users see their newest shoe in a variety of colors (yes, that shoe is AR, not real).
In short, SnapML has destroyed many creative boundaries that previously existed—the new “brand experience” is limited (mostly) by what you can imagine vs by technology, as used to be the case.
Photo courtesy of Snapchat.
Places:
Snapchat is making it easier than ever to integrate call-to-actions with their app and lenses. One example of this is “Places”, which would lead to an outside-Snap call to action such as ordering a physical product online, whether it’s that new lipstick or food from their favorite delivery spot! This would be especially crucial for smaller businesses that need to receive local support.
Photo courtesy of Snapchat.
Integration SnapKits:
If your brand has an existing app, Snapchat will now let you integrate their technology with it in order to create a new layer of interaction with your fans. This is more abstract in thought, but can be applicable to any number of brands across any discipline—it’s an equally powerful tool both for those brands within the entertainment industry, and outside of it. Rally Road is an app that is meant for classic car investments, but has integrated Snapchat’s CreativeKit to let users purchase shares in rare items and share them with their friends in a unique AR environment. Atom movie tickets has also utilized this to let its users browse movies, purchase tickets, and choose seats together in one easy experience. There are numerous types of kits available, each with their own unique perks (AdKit, which makes monetizing apps easy with SnapAds, CreativeKit, which allows apps to bring real-time data into Snapchat, and CameraKit, which brings the power os Snapchat camera to your apps).
Photo courtesy of Snapchat.
Where Do I Start?
If you're interested leveraging Snapchat for Any of the above uses, a qualified creative studio is your best bet, since we know the ins-and-outs of not only best creative practices to create an attractive filter, but can also help determine which strategy is the way to go when the options can seem endless and equally appealing (especially after this year's summit).
We here at Bare Tree Media would love to collaborate with any artist, strategist, or brand who's just as pumped about these new Snapchat features as we are! You can take a look to see the lenses we've already created.
Wimpy Kid, Inc Expands Digital Engagement with Augmented Reality and Sticker Keyboards
Boston, MA – January 24, 2020 – Fellow Massachusetts-based companies Wimpy Kid, Inc. and Bare Tree Media Inc., expanded their digital partnership with the introduction of augmented reality social media effects and a global expansion of their stickers within keyboard mobile applications.
To kick off 2020, Bare Tree Media designed and released three augmented reality effects themed around the latest installment in the popular middle-grade series, Diary of a Wimpy Kid 14: Wrecking Ball. The AR effects offer users the ability to insert a swinging virtual wrecking ball into their camera scene and then wreck, record, and share a real world scene of their choice. The AR filters are available to engage Wimpy Kid fans on popular messaging platforms, Facebook and Instagram, and as an AR lens on Snapchat.
Bare Tree Media also expanded their Wimpy Kid-branded digital presence to include digital stickers released within Baidu’s keyboard apps worldwide, including Facemoji Keyboard in the United States, Simeji in Japan, and Baidu IME in China.
‘Augmented reality is a great marketing platform for brands to engage audiences, and a perfect fit for the Wimpy Kid fanbase to create and share their special moments with a wrecking ball,” said Bob Ferrari, CEO of Bare Tree Media. “We are also very excited to expand sticker distribution through Baidu in key markets around the world.”
“We are delighted to be kicking off 2020 by launching these stickers with Bare Tree Media and Wimpy Kid, Inc.,” said Josh Fenn, Senior Marketing Manager at Baidu. “Now, our keyboard app users around the world can all enjoy Wimpy Kid’s uniquely charming brand of humor when they chat with their friends online.”
“I’ve loved seeing fans around the globe engage with the Wimpy Kid brand using our existing emoji-style stickers. This year, we wanted to expand the Wimpy Kid universe and I’m thrilled to have the brand-new augmented reality and sticker formats on major global platforms. I’m really looking forward to seeing where Greg can go with his fans in 2020!” said Jeff Kinney, author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.
About Bare Tree Media
Bare Tree Media enables brands to reach, engage and entertain consumers through the creation and digital publishing of branded emojis, messaging stickers, GIFs and augmented reality. As a pioneer in the digital creative and technology sector, Bare Tree Media has worked with many brands including: 20th Century Fox, ABC Television, American Greetings, Baidu, CBS Interactive, Disney, Duracell, Facebook, Giphy, Instagram, King Features, Life is Good, Lionsgate, Mars-Wrigley, MuscleTech, Paws Inc, P&G, NBC Universal, New England Patriots, Snapchat, Snap-On Tools, SONY Television Pictures, Twitter, Warner Bros, Wimpy Kid, and many more. Brands interested in offering their own mobile messaging apps, stickers and augmented reality can go to www.baretreemedia.com or contact Bare Tree Media at info@baretreemedia.com.
About Baidu’s Global Business Unit
Baidu’s Global Business Unit (GBU) is focused on bridging the gap between Eastern and Western markets with its consumer and business-focused internet products and services. Baidu GBU’s product portfolio features keyboard apps Simeji and Facemoji Keyboard, content recommendation platform popIn, and ad platform MediaGo, which serves Chinese advertisers looking to reach consumers overseas. Baidu GBU offers its products and services worldwide, including in the United States, Greater China, Japan, Singapore and South Korea. For more information, please contact us at: gbu_us@baidu.com
About Diary of a Wimpy Kid
The fourteenth installment in the series, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Wrecking Ball, was published on November 5, 2019, and immediately hit #1 on the USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and New York Times bestseller lists.
2019 marked the first publication of a spin-off book, Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid, which was published in April 2019 and also immediately reached #1 on all three national bestseller lists (New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal). ABRAMS also recently released Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Best Friends Box, a box set containing Diary of a Wimpy Kid #1 and Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid, and The Wimpy Kid 2020 Wall Calendar.
The series continues to reach new heights globally. This fall, Kinney visited seven countries on his international tour, including France, where he was made an officer of the Order of Arts and Letters, one of the country’s highest cultural honors. Both Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Wrecking Ball and Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid ranked #1 in every country in which they were published, including in the United Kingdom, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, and Germany. The series is now published in 64 languages and 76 editions.
More than 200 million copies of the books in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series have been sold globally. Published in 2007, the first book was an instant bestseller and has remained on the New York Times bestseller list since its publication and through the release of the fourteenth book, for more than 686 weeks total.
About the Author
Jeff Kinney is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and a six-time Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Award winner for Favorite Book for his Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. Jeff has been named one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People in the World. He is also the creator of Poptropica, which was named one of Time’s 50 Best Websites. He spent his childhood in the Washington, D.C., area and moved to New England in 1995. Jeff lives with his wife and two sons in Massachusetts, where they own a bookstore, An Unlikely Story. For more about Wimpy Kid visit wimpykid.com.
