BuzzFeed, the company behind most of today’s procrastination, is at it again. Known for its quizzes and lists, BuzzFeed has moved onto video. Its relatable content, whether through a quiz or a Tasty video, is what makes the company so successful. Garnering 7 billion views a month, the social media giant is looking to expand its audience even more.

The Try Guys are one huge source of BuzzFeed’s popularity. The video series shows BuzzFeed employees Ned Fulmer, Keith Habersberger, Zach Kornfeld, and Eugene Lee Yang participating in crazy trends, trying new foods, even therapy. With over 500 million video views, the Try Guys are a hallmark of BuzzFeed.

While BuzzFeed’s YouTube videos bring in a great deal of views, the company’s launch of Tasty made it the largest food network in the world. The Tasty platform creates beautiful short videos of how to make select dishes and desserts. Since launching in August 2015, Tasty has roughly 2.2 billion video views, which is a large portion of BuzzFeed’s surge in views recently. Tasty has expanded to include Tasty Junior for kids, Tasty Happy Hour for drinks, and “Mom vs. Chef”. Its increasingly complex model for distribution is just a sign of more to come.

Despite such successful ventures, BuzzFeed is still trying to make the most of video. Most recently, the company posted a live broadcast of an exploding watermelon, which at its peak had 800,000 viewers watching at the same time. Jonah Peretti, co-founder of BuzzFeed, called the views as “the first time we’ve had a number comparable to live TV,”.

To keep things interesting, BuzzFeed is partnering with the world’s media giants. Collaborating with NBCUniversal, BuzzFeed is looking to work with brands to integrate brand identity into BuzzFeed projects, in a more seamless experience. BuzzFeed’s Ze Frank even stated “Tasty is made for brands...It’s good for brands,”, signaling future partnerships ahead. In the past, BuzzFeed produced a branded video series called “Dear Kitten” which ultimately went viral. These streams of branded content make BuzzFeed so successful, and it will be interesting to see how Tasty, and its other platforms, evolve. With branded content, however, comes a loss of identity. BuzzFeed’s strategy to engage users with branded content while maintaining its own brand will be tricky but exciting nonetheless.

Stephanie Yang, MSD Intern