Searching for Synergies Between CTV and Social
Leveraging social to drive CTV engagement, enhance experience, and draw attention to their key media properties is all about finding synergies, as Zeam Media’s Jack Perry, Fremantle’s Laura Florence, and Estrella MediaCo’s Christina Chung discuss in this clip from May’s Streaming Media Connect with moderator Chris Pfaff Tech Media’s Chris Pfaff. Is there a secret social synergy sauce for CTV, and if so, what is it?
Developing Creative and Lucrative Live Events
Each panelist in the clip provides a successful example of the integration of social media with content delivery. Their conversation underscores the importance of meeting audiences where they are and using social media to create meaningful, interactive experiences that align with both a brand’s and the audience’s interests.
Chris Pfaff, CEO, Chris Pfaff Tech Media begins the discussion by turning first to Zeam Media CEO Jack Perry to ask, “Jack, I’m just curious—since you were writing software for sneakers in the ’80s—how you look at social today in terms of hyperlocal.”
“I think you’ve got to follow the viewers to wherever they are,” Perry responds. “I think we lean on social as kind of that first point of navigation to bring the viewers to the content that we may have and we may be offering.”
Perry’s successful example of social integration involves a recent initiative with the Beach Boys. Zeam Media “embedded with the Beach Boys and Club Kokomo. So we were live for practically 36 hours where we had a national sponsor. We were covering behind the scenes of the band, them sitting around having drinks or doing meet-and-greets with various fans that were there. We were covering the Beach Life concert, and every few minutes we were running a minute-long ad pod.” Club Kokomo Spirits agreed to be the showcase sponsor because it believed in the event, he notes.
To replicate this success, Zeam Media’s focus is now on doing creative live events while bringing in a national sponsor that isn’t bidding for anything, Perry explains. “And then based on a number of viewers who are watching and how many ad pods we run, then the biddable part comes in and we monetize it based on how clever we are. And we use social then to drive the viewers to that environment.” Perry reiterates that when it comes to testing this type of event, Zeam Media is “leaning heavy on live” to “see where it goes.”
Maintaining Authenticity and Brand Fealty
Pfaff pivots to Fremantle SVP Global Channels Laura Florence, saying, “Yeah, and on that note, Laura, this is tailor-made for you.”
Florence lights up. “This is our sweet spot,” she exclaims. “I have never been at a company this close to the authentic creation of content at the scale of Fremantle. We’re the sixth largest social media provider behind Sony.” Fremantle’s formats travel well; she references its Got Talent franchise—as in America’s Got Talent—as something that’s replicated in hundreds of places, as well as the Idol, X Factor, and Family Feud brands.
“We have this very authentic relationship between YouTube and our social handles that we partner on with production, or we run, that gives us a couple different things. I think there’s an advertising lens that we can [use to] amplify audiences and target—but again, we speak authentically,” Florence notes. “That’s the nice thing about social: There’s no restriction on the creative where it has to be a 10-, 15-, 30-second spot. It could be something that actually means something to the audience, and it’s a much better experience. …” Florence continues, “I think the other piece that’s been really exciting has been being able to really understand who that audience is.” Fremantle aims to stay true to its brands while meeting audiences where they are.
The marketing and advertising elements of social allows Fremantle to do unique partnerships, she adds. For example, “Amazon Fresh licensed Supermarket Sweep to play the games in the stores. And then we can amplify that on our social. We can run it on our BUZZR digi net. The opportunities are synergistic through the entire footprint, but we’re seeing there’s 90% usage on a daily basis for several social [platforms including] Instagram, Facebook, depending on the audience.” She’s noticing that socials have become the new search engines—audiences will often choose to search TikTok over Google. “So again, it’s meeting the audiences where they are and then creating authentic, unique brand stories that match to our IP and what our audiences are looking for,” she concludes. “It is my favorite thing about being here [at Fremantle]. Our social team is absolutely outstanding.”
Fostering Engagement and Participation
Estrella MediaCo VP Business Operations Christina Chung says her company’s Tengo Talento, Mucho Talento show is one of its largest programs. It’s similar to America’s Got Talent, but designed for Hispanic audiences, and, she notes, Estrella MediaCo “converted this whole show to actually add a social component. So we’re using YouTube to bring in viewership, have polls, and [encourage] different interaction and engagement through users.” This approach “combines the CTV leanback experience that we’ve historically known and [adds] in this user engagement element that people can touch, feel, and really get in the weeds about how this production is being done, interacting with our cast and our talent.”
Chung sees the YouTube component as a great opportunity to see the whole spectrum of audience engagement, whether they’re on their couch, on their phone, or in person. Levering social brings a holistic experience to the user, she says.
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