AOL and Publicis Groupe have inked an ad partnership for go90, Verizon’s new OTT mobile video offering.
The deal, they said, grants Publicis’ agencies and brand clients exclusive advertising inventory on go90 for three months beginning in the fourth quarter of 2015, and extends non-exclusively to the third-quarter of 2016. Publicis will also have first access to data segmentation capabilities and new ad units “with full creative support from testing through launch,” and early access to Verizon and AOL data management platform targeting in the first quarter of 2016.
Publicis’ partners will also gain access to a new program from AOL called Head Start that will provide insight on the look and feel of go90’s user experience as new features are rolled out.
They announced the agreement at AOL’s Future Front event in New York City, kicked off in tandem with Advertising Week 2015.
Go90 recently debuted as an invitation-only beta.Announced content partners include New Form Digital, UphoricTV, ESPN, Comedy Central, VH1, Nickelodeon, MTV, Spike, Food Network, TLC, Discovery Network, NFL Network, HGTV, BET, Investigation Discovery, AwesomenessTV, Collective Digital Studio, Defy, Vice, Maker Studios, Machinima, Fullscreen, StyleHaul, and Tastemade.
“Publicis has been an important advertising partner for AOL for many years, and we are excited to be working together once again to bring new branding opportunities to their customers, as well as relevant and valuable advertising experience to mobile users,” said AOL president Bob Lord, in a statement. “The coming together of premium, curated video in go90, richness in data and automation technology will enable their advertisers to drive conversations with millennial-centric audiences that are, more and more, tuning in through the machine in their pocket rather than in their living room.”
“There is a significant opportunity that sits at the intersection of mobile, video and Millennials, and go90 was developed specifically to connect marketers into this interchange that is quickly becoming the primary screen,” added John Nitti, chief investment officer for ZenithOptimedia, which helped Publicis Groupe lock up the deal. “The consumption shift is rapid and we are happy to be leveraging the lion’s share of this premium real estate on behalf of our clients to help drive their competitive edge.”
Verizon completed its acquisition of AOL in June.
Publicis Groupe offers a a range of services spanning digital (DigitasLBi, Razorfish, Rosetta, VivaKi, Nurun), advertising (BBH, Leo Burnett, Publicis Worldwide, Saatchi & Saatchi), public affairs, corporate communications and events (MSLGROUP), and media strategy, planning and buying (Starcom MediaVest Group and ZenithOptimedia).
