In conjunction with the launch of Tasty One Top, BuzzFeed is also debuting a stand-alone Tasty app that will connect directly to the smart appliance. BuzzFeed launched its Product Labs unit in October 2016, creating merchandise driven by the social publisher. To this end, Kaufman and his team are creating products through the lens of “will this make you want to create things of your own.” Its Tasty customizable cookbook has sold 200,000 copies since it was made available in November 2016. Kaufman discussed the thinking behind the Tasty One Top and how BuzzFeed will develop more products like it going forward. We’ve created products around the President. We have no expectation of selling as many One Tops as cookbooks. We create our own content for ourselves before we tell brands how to do it themselves. This will be the same with products. The great thing about food and One Top is as people are cooking they will likely take picture or video and someone will see the appliance in the feed. What have you learned so far that might help working with brands to create products in the future?
From the company that brought you the fidget spinner that doubles as a lip gloss container and a hot glue gun for cheese, there now comes a smart hotplate that will do everything from tell you when to flip your pancakes or add your veggies to your stir fry.
The Tasty One Top is the latest invention out of BuzzFeed’s Product Labs. The Bluetooth-enabled induction cooktop, which will retail for $149, can prepare Tasty recipes and perform a range of culinary tasks like boil water, slow cook, and sous vide.
In conjunction with the launch of Tasty One Top, BuzzFeed is also debuting a stand-alone Tasty app that will connect directly to the smart appliance. The app, available for the iPhone, includes about 1,700 video recipes, which can be searched based on ingredients available, time of day, difficulty and dietary needs, among others.
BuzzFeed launched its Product Labs unit in October 2016, creating merchandise driven by the social publisher. Led by Ben Kaufman, the division is on a quest to bring the content sensibility of the digital media company into commerce. To this end, Kaufman and his team are creating products through the lens of “will this make you want to create things of your own.”
Its Tasty customizable cookbook has sold 200,000 copies since it was made available in November 2016. And it might not be long before BuzzFeed is creating products for advertisers.
Kaufman discussed the thinking behind the Tasty One Top and how BuzzFeed will develop more products like it going forward.
The interview has been lightly edited for flow and clarity.
How are you thinking about the intersection of content and commerce?
We are designed to be a responsive product organization that’s able to ride moments in time. We’ve created products around the President. When he called BuzzFeed a “failing pile of garbage” we went out and created BuzzFeed-branded garbage cans. We were selling garbage cans three hours after the press conference and shipped them within a week. We also created “The President and the Big Boy Truck” book 24-hours after Trump’s post [after…
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