Randy Greenberg spent the last three decades in the entertainment industry, working in many roles, including marketer, publicist, inquirer, studio executive, distributor, and executive producer. He has marketed dozens of blockbusters throughout his career, including being the executive producer for “The Meg,” a surprise 2018 blockbuster. 

“I’ve been driven in my life by marketing and entertainment. They’re both passions of mine.”

What is Hyype Space?

Hyype Space started when an old friend of Randy’s approached him about an app.

“An old friend of mine had a shareholder in his publicly-traded company who had put money into an app, and they were having some issues with it, and they couldn’t figure out what to do [with it.] My friend called me up and said, “It’d be really great if you could help out this person who means a lot to me, and I said, “Sure.”

Randy reveals that he didn’t know anything about apps, but he did a consult and realized that the app was for a different type of business than what the company thought the app was in. 

Hyype Space is an app that closely connects brands and influencers with their followers through video challenges. It aims to solve the problem where followers can only interact with influencers, brands, and their challenges through one-way communication on social media platforms. Randy notes that social media allows the brand or influencer to respond to comments or thumbs-up comments. However, it is still limiting overall when it comes to creating a digital community. 

The Hyype Space app originally had another name. However, it turned out that the name was patented, which they found out when they hired a patent and trademark attorney. So, Randy and his team quickly changed the name to Hyype Space. 

“Hyype is what we’re going [for.] It’s the idea of people that are entering these challenges. They’re kind of hypping themselves. They’re hyping what they can do. The brands are hyping themselves and what they have and what they’re offering. So, it’s a place where you can be hype, get hyped, and see hype.”

Randy shares that their target audience is primarily individuals between 16 to 29. However, they’ve built the app to be open to anyone. 

Another feature of the Hyype Space app is the pay-to-play challenges. 

“Our users, we call them members, they can enter those challenges in what we refer to as a pay-to-play challenge, but we think there’s a small group of people that will want to be more fervently connected to the influencers that they like and it’s a way for in the influencers to make some money.”

He notes that he is excited to see how the Hyype Space app can also benefit charities with these pay-to-play challenges. Everyone involved in the challenge will financially support the charity in the process, resulting in more significant donations. 

For example, he references the ALS ice bucket challenge from 2014. 

“It passed around social media like wildfire once it got to a certain level… and they raised $114 million, but the number of people that actually sent in donations was like 10%. Can you imagine if they, ALS, created that challenge on Hyype Space or in an atmosphere or platform where everybody that participated had to actually donate? They could have made ten times the amount of money.”

Brand Opportunities 

Hyype Space also offers excellent opportunities for brands to connect with their followers. 

Brands, influencers, and charities can run their own challenges and create a calendar that coordinates with their social media calendar and marketing initiatives. 

“They can run them where the entries will pay the entrance, or our members will pay to be part of that challenge, so that’s a really cool option.”

Every challenge and entry for a challenge will be reviewed by Hyype Space before it’s published, which can also alleviate concerns a brand may have about a challenge getting out of hand. 

Randy shares that the community standards Hyype Space sets include simple rules like no bad language, nudity, violence, or hate speech. For example, the TikTok milk crate challenge, where individuals stack milk crates and climb up precarious staircases made from the milk crates, would be barred from the platform. 

He notes that there is also a built-in function where users can report challenges and entries to the platform if someone feels that they violate the community standards set by Hyype. 

Why Interactivity is Crucial for Marketing Today

“Consumers today want interactivity… I think it’s the beginning of a more in-depth authentic conversation between brand services, products, influencers, charities, etc… It’s more for your consumer to interact with you with a brand to have a real relationship.”

The platform can also be used by members to create challenges. So, schools could create private challenges to foster community through a fun, positive challenge between two different schools. 

Randy stresses that the clapping feature keeps the challenges positive. 

“The only way to vote [on a challenge] is by clapping, so there’s no text box where you can say something negative or even something positive at the moment. It’s just clapping… we offer that you can clap once per entry, per day for free, and if you want to clap more you can. They’re in-app purchases of more claps that you can buy. That’s up to you, [but] it’s not necessary.”

Closing Thoughts

“From our standpoint, what we would love for your audience to know is that we created this with the idea that influencers need another place to be able to go… It’s one thing to have your audience on Facebook or Instagram or TikTok or wherever it is that you’re broadcasting. However, the interactivity of those platforms is limited.”

Randy shares that Hyype Space is a place where influencers can actually see their followers and strengthen their bonds with their community. It’s also another opportunity for influencers to reach different audiences and create an additional revenue stream.

“The actual platform is set up where you can make some money by bringing your followers to the platform and really engaging with them and letting them engage with you.” 

He adds that this is an additional opportunity for influencers to expand their reach, business, and revenue streams by connecting with new audiences and connecting more deeply with their current audience.