YouTube is significantly upping its efforts to persuade big brands and their agencies to shift more of their ad budgets from TV to online video – witness its recently-announced Google Preferred initiative (Bulletin, 15-Apr-14). Meanwhile, the multi-channel networks (MCNs) that built their businesses on YouTube are also striking direct deals with brands, most recently with an “eight-digit” deal between Maker Studios and Omnicom (Bulletin, 7-May-14). On the music front, Vevo is the main company hoping to benefit from any shift from TV to video, but is it happening? The Wall Street Journal says it is, in a feature citing brands including MasterCard, Verizon Wireless and Mondelez International. It also talks to ad-buying agency Starcom MediaVest, which says it has moved more than $500m out of TV in the last year, with three quarters of that going to online video. “For us, it’s really about shifting to where audiences are,” says CEO Laura Desmond, in a quote that exactly mirrors the thrust of YouTube’s pitches over the last year or two. This trend is one reason Vevo is doubling down on its original shows, unveiling seven new ones earlier this month at its ‘Newfront’ event for brands and agencies (Bulletin, 7-May-14).
Tools: platforms to help you reach new audiences
Tools: Kaiber
In the year or so since its launch, AI startup Kaiber has been making waves,…