How Tasty's Addictive Cooking Videos Helped BuzzFeed Build a Food Empire

Alvin Zhou is not your typical video producer. On a recent fall afternoon, he's hovering over a table in a test kitchen cutting and prepping vegetables and meat that he'll later whip into an ersatz "fried rice" dish made with cauliflower. As I watch, I'm offered a hot chocolate chip cookie topped with sea salt straight out of the oven. A camera hangs above Zhou's workspace to film each step of the cooking process, creating a video that, after editing cuts, employs a minute's worth of fast-paced, simple shots of his hands. He's carefully going through the recipe steps to help people recreate the dish at home. No, this isn't the test kitchen of Bon Appétit, Food & Wine or any other high-end foodie title. This is the New York office of BuzzFeed—the viral digital publisher founded 10 years ago by new-media whiz Jonah Peretti, credited with creating the internet's most addictive content. Data inform Zhou's programming choices. As an example, recipes that swap vegetables for starches—like the aforementioned fried cauliflower instead of fried rice—have soared in views in recent months, which explains today's shoot. And the video includes four variations on the dish, with chicken, pork, beef and vegetarian versions. The diverse offerings are meant to encourage people to share the clip with their friends and family. "Every single video that comes out, I look at it, I analyze it, and over time, I'm able to get a sense of what numbers I'm looking for or what number signals a... Continue reading at 'AdWeek'

[ AdWeek | 2016-10-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #interesting ways #adweek magazine

Other Publishing stories related to: 'How Tasty's Addictive Cooking Videos Helped BuzzFeed Build a Food Empire'


How sci-fi writer Annalee Newitz turned to real-life scientists to build a (better) future

Novelist and science journalist Annalee Newitz brings 'The Terraformers' to the L.A. Times Book Club March 28. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-03-09 22:20:34 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #times book


Women Now Publishing More Books Than Men — And It’s Helping Sales

According to data, women are now publishing more books than men are, and it's affecting the publishing world in a big way. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-03-07 17:36:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #publishing world


Face to Face: Why Houston was key to building ad tech business Direct Digital Holdings

The founders of this Houston digital media company focus on an underserved market. Continue reading at Silicon Valley Business Journal

[ Silicon Valley Business Journal | 2023-02-27 20:46:59 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #digital media


8 of the Most Interesting Buildings That Are Now Libraries (And Bookstores)

From big-box stores and schools to banks and gymnasiums, here are some old buildings that were turned into libraries (and bookstores). Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-02-20 11:38:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #big-box stores #libraries


Hitting the Books: Meet the man who helped Microsoft break into the entertainment business

Some of us are destined to lead successful lives thanks to the circumstances of our birth. Some of us, like attorney Bruce Jackson, are destined to lead such lives in spite them. Raised in New York's Amsterdam housing projects and subjected to the daily brutalities of growing up a black man in... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-02-19 15:30:33 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #television shows #thousand miles #black culture #civil rights #bill clinton #digital media


Meditation Book Helps Kids Find Their Calm

Author Britney Winn Lee is bringing body-scan meditation to young readers in ‘Good Night, Body: Finding Calm from Head to Toe,’ featuring a guide to acknowledging and relaxing each body part, tranquil illustrations, and notes for parents. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-02-08 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #finding calm #young readers #good night


PubWest and BMI Chart the Publishing Food Chain

Discussions about how to work together in a changing industry as well as panels on diversity, equity, and inclusion were among the highlights of the PubWest-BMI conference. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-02-07 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #changing industry


'Stranger Things' helped Netflix dominate the streaming charts in 2022

You might not be stuck inside watching shows like you were at the height of the pandemic, but there were clearly some favorite online titles last year. Nielsen has shared its top streaming shows of 2022 in the US, and the most-streamed by far was Stranger Things — the fourth season helped... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-01-27 18:20:44 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #stranger things #all-time high #largely due #wider range #nielsen


BuzzFeed stock price skyrockets on news of deals with Meta and ChatGPT creator OpenAI

Shares of the digital media company have been struggling since it went public in a SPAC deal in late 2021. If you’re an owner of BuzzFeed stock (Nasdaq: BZFD), the last 24 hours have been very good for you. Yesterday, the stock soared thanks to news that BuzzFeed was partnering with OpenAI to... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2023-01-27 08:45:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #spac deal #generate content #separate deal #digital media


NBA All-World hands-on: Taking basketball video games back to the streets

Niantic has created some of the most popular augmented reality games like Ingress and Pokémon Go. But this week the company is launching a new title called NBA All-World that might be the best application of its location-based tech to date.For people who have played one of Niantic’s previous... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-01-25 17:00:37 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #surprising amount #january 24th #official release #dive deeper #real life #harry potter


For Cooks Who Love Books: Bookish Kitchen Supplies and Decorations

Find everything you need to create the bookish kitchen of your dreams, including cookbook holders, aprons, tea towels, and more.- Susie Dumond Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-01-24 11:33:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #love books #cookbook


How a multitude of Harry headlines helped propel Spare to early sales success

An accidental release of Prince Harry's memoir Spare, five days ahead of schedule, led to round-the-clock coverage of the book and its many revelations. Publishing professionals say the outcome has been highly beneficial for sales. Continue reading at CBC

[ CBC | 2023-01-14 09:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #prince harry #memoir spare #days ahead #publishing professionals #memoir


Trying to Read More in 2023? These Things Can Help.

From audiobook subscriptions to bullet journals to reading lights, here are some things that can help you meet your 2023 reading goals.- Clare Barnett Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-01-09 11:34:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #audiobook subscriptions #audiobook


Book club helps inmates at this Ontario women's prison connect and communicate

Book Club for Inmates, a program run in federal penitentiaries, is having a big impact on inmates at Grand Valley Institution for Women in Kitchener, Ont., helping them develop great discussions and open up about their own lives. Continue reading at CBC

[ CBC | 2023-01-03 11:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #big impact #book club


12 Sci-Fi Stories to Help Make Sense of the Climate, Risk, and Our Digital Lives

Don’t miss these short stories featuring firefighting drones, lab-grown mammals, long-buried fan fiction, and much more. Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2022-12-30 10:50:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #make sense #digital lives #short stories


BuzzFeed, Hearst, other publishers, replace lavish holiday parties with more subdued celebrations

BDG, BuzzFeed, Hearst and The Washington Post will host in-person holiday parties this year, though they will not be the stereotypical soirées. Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2022-12-06 05:01:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #hearst


If You Want to Build a Story, Become an Architect

Mary-Alice Daniel has been on a journey, literally, across continents. She documents her experiences in A Coastline Is an Immeasurable Thing, which is a memoir about places, from which she has been uprooted, assimilated into, revisited, and settled, giving the reader a close look into the lives... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2022-12-05 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #electric literature #memoir


Today’s Google Doodle celebrates Jerry Lawson, the ‘father of the video game cartridge’

Google’s interactive Doodle today celebrates the life and accomplishments of video game pioneer Gerald “Jerry” Lawson on what would have been his 82nd birthday. The Doodle lets you play five retro pixel-art platformers in your browser — with two even letting you play as Lawson. The Doodles’... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2022-12-01 18:15:43 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #commercial success #libraries


Build a Perfect Bookstore and We’ll Recommend a Book for You

Readers dream about owning their own bookstore. So let's indulge in the fantasy: design a bookstore and get a matching book recommendation! Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2022-12-01 11:32:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ll recommend #bookstore


Julie Powell, Food Writer Known for ‘Julie & Julia,’ Dies at 49

She documented her attempt to cook every recipe in Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” in a popular blog that became a best-selling book and a hit movie. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2022-11-01 17:10:48 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #julie powell #food writer #julie julia #julia child #french cooking #popular blog #hit movie #best-selling book