 | |
Type of site | Media brand |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Created by | Kerry Lauerman, Izzie Lerer |
| Parent | Vox Media |
| URL | www |
| Launched | January 2014 |
| Current status | Active |
The Dodo is an American media brand and digital publisher focused on telling animals' stories. The Dodo is headquartered in New York City.
The Dodo was launched in January 2014 by Izzie Lerer, the daughter of media executive Kenneth Lerer, and journalist Kerry Lauerman. [1] The company—named after the dodo, an extinct bird from the island of Mauritius— was founded by Lerer out of "a personal passion for the subject matter..." Lerer has a PhD in animal studies with a focus on animal ethics and human relationships from Columbia University, and launched the website after noticing the viral success of animal videos online but seeing no one "really owned the space." [2] The Dodo became one of the most popular Facebook publishers, garnering 1 billion video views from the social network in November 2015, [3] and was crowned the No. 1 animal brand on all of social media by the Webby Awards in 2019. [4]
In late 2017, The Dodo launched "El Dodo", its first non-English language channel to reach Spanish speaking audiences. [5] The Dodo's editorial and video production staff unionized with the Writers Guild of America, East in April 2018. [6]
The brand expanded into longer-form storytelling with its first TV series, "Dodo Heroes" on Animal Planet in June 2018, which went on to become the network's top-performing freshman series and was picked up for a second season in 2019. [7] [8] In June 2018, The Dodo held its first ever "Best Dog Day Ever" pop-up event in New York City, which attracted over 1400 dogs and their owners. [9] Based on the one day event's success, The Dodo decided to expand the franchise in 2019 for a month-long "Best Dog Day Ever: Halloween Edition" event in the fall for Tri-State dogs. [10]
In July 2019, The Dodo partnered with VidCon for the conference's first-ever co-programmed section, "The Dodo Pet Zone" featuring some of the Internet's most-famous animals. [11] In the summer of 2019, the animal brand launched its children's brand, "Dodo Kids", with a new YouTube channel with launch sponsor Paramount Pictures' "Dora and the Lost City of Gold", and a bespoke content slate of new kids series including "Best Animal Friends", "Dodo Sing Dodo Dance", and "Rescued!". [12] Soon thereafter, The Dodo announced its new Netflix Original series, " Izzy Bee's Koala World ", which debuted in 2020. [13]
In July 2019, The Dodo partnered with Instagram to develop an IGTV-first series for teens, "You Know Me... Now Meet My Pet", featuring young Instagram influencers and their pets. [14] In September 2019, The Dodo pushed into children's book publishing with Scholastic with three books based on the video series. [15] In April 2020 they debuted a new podcast called "An Animal Saved My Life" produced through iHeartRadio. [16]
In March 2022, the brand expanded into pet insurance by debuting Fetch by The Dodo. Formerly Petplan, the insurance company and The Dodo partnered to create a pet insurance option that would appeal to The Dodo's audience of pet parents. [17]
They are the most "loved" publisher in the world on Toys for Tots (by "love" reactions). [18] The animal brand won a Shorty Social Good award for Best Use of Facebook in 2017 and 2018; [19] [20] Shorty Award for Best in Pets and Animals; [21] Webby Award for its social/animal content and another Shorty Social Good Award for Best Video Series for "Comeback Kids: Animal Edition". [22] [23]
Boomerang is an American cable television network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Networks, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. It primarily features animated programming from the Warner Bros. Animation library.
Rhett James McLaughlin and Charles Lincoln "Link" Neal III are an American comedy duo. Self-styled as "Internetainers", they are known for creating and hosting the YouTube series Good Mythical Morning. Their other notable projects include comedic songs and sketches, their IFC series Rhett & Link: Commercial Kings, their YouTube Premium series Rhett & Link's Buddy System, their podcast Ear Biscuits, their YouTube series Wonderhole, and their novel The Lost Causes of Bleak Creek.
Thrillist is an online media website covering travel. Thrillist was founded in 2004 by Ben Lerer and Adam Rich. In October 2016, Thrillist merged with internet brands The Dodo, NowThis News, and Seeker to form the digital media holding company Group Nine Media, which was acquired by Vox Media in 2022. Thrillist covers national and international travel and experiences, spanning service guides and news, and, as of 2023, 18 cities across the United States.
The Shorty Awards are awards for outstanding and innovative work in digital and social media content by brands, advertising agencies, and creators. The awards, which generally focus on short-term content, honor achievements in content creation on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Twitch, and other social networking sites. The Shorty Awards began in 2008 and initially recognized achievements by independent creators on Twitter, with the first formal awards ceremony occurring in February 2009. Since then, the awards, which are now awarded each spring, have shifted their focus to recognize content across numerous platforms.
Matthew Segal is an American entrepreneur and media executive who co-founded ATTN:, a social video publisher and entertainment studio with a mission to convey important topics through entertainment. The company was acquired by Blackstone's Candle Media for a reported 150 million dollars. Segal previously co-founded OurTime.org, a national voter empowerment network for young Americans.
Skai Jackson is an American actress. She is best known for playing Zuri Ross in the Disney Channel sitcom Jessie (2011–2015) and its spin-off series Bunk'd (2015–2018). Jackson appeared on Time's list of the "Most Influential Teens" in 2016, and was nominated for Best Influencer at the Shorty Awards in 2017.
Doug the Pug is a celebrity pug living in Nashville, Tennessee, who has gained a large internet and social media following.
Seeker is an American digital media network and content publisher based in San Francisco, California. The network was established in 2015 within a former independent division of Discovery Communications known as Discovery Digital Networks. Seeker produces online video and editorial content for the digital media landscape, with an emphasis on social platforms and YouTube.
Brooklyn Victoria McKnight and Bailey Marné McKnight-Howard (née McKnight) are American identical twin YouTubers and social media personalities.
Fatherly is a digital lifestyle brand that provides news, expert advice, product recommendations and other resources for parents. The company was founded in 2015 and is based in New York City.
Veronica Jo Merrell-Burriss and Vanessa Jo Vaughn-Merrell, known as the Merrell Twins, are American identical twin YouTubers, actresses, producers, musicians, singers and songwriters.
Crusoe the Dachshund is a fifteen-year-old, miniature black and tan dachshund living in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada who gained internet fame for his homemade costumes and viral videos. He plays characters including chef, superhero, captain, fisherman, golfer, hockey player, jazz man, and accountant.
Charles Paul Trippy III is an American musician, vlogger and internet personality based in St. Petersburg, Florida. He is a member of Bradenton-based rock band We the Kings. Trippy recorded his first album with We the Kings, titled Somewhere Somehow in 2013. The album peaked at no. 44 on Billboard 200. He is also the creator of Internet Killed Television, a web series aired on YouTube.
60 Second Docs is a web series produced by Indigenous Media of original, short documentary videos produced and distributed weekly. The series launched on 26 July 2016 with two original videos. In 2019 the series received the Webby Award for Video - Documentary.
This Is a Generic Brand Video was an advertising video created by Dissolve, written by Kendra Eash on McSweeney's, and narrated by Dallas McClain.
Remezcla is an American media company focusing on the Latin American cultural sphere. It serves the millennial market.
Denis Semionov - is a Russian new media artist.
Africa Miranda is an American actress, singer, producer, author and model of Cape Verdean descent. She is best known for many beauty culture-related television programs and social media programs such as "Facebook Watch" and "#TravelFly Solo Weekend".
Club Shay Shay is an American podcast hosted by sports analyst and former NFL player Shannon Sharpe. It is co-produced by The Volume and Shay Shay media, and airs once a week. On the podcast, Sharpe interviews athletes and celebrities about current events, sports, and pop culture. Episodes of the podcast are filmed, and the video format is released on the show's YouTube channel.
| Leadership |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Websites | ||
| Explained franchise | ||
| Related | ||
