How Viacom Video Reaches Young Consumers on Every Screen

How can a brand develop relationships with present and future hard-to-reach audiences to drive business outcomes safely and at scale?  The answers can be found in creative advertising formats, culturally relevant content, audience targeting and -- most importantly -- in the power of premium, TV-like OTT advertising experiences.

The value of premium content is why Viacom established Viacom Video, an advertising solution that combines the power of VOD, OTT and social video to offer brands new and innovative ways to reach young and multicultural audiences wherever they are.  Viacom Video also powers format versatility, enabling brands to create and distribute longer-form, premium content on bigger screens, with the potential to reach and engage more captive audiences for extended periods.

When these capabilities are combined with traditional linear TV, brands can reach more than 80%+ of all U.S.-based 18-34 year olds across all screens with long-form premium content.  Eighty percent of the content is viewed on a screen that is about 10 feet away from the viewer and is non-skippable.  With a lighter ad load and a 98% completion rate over more than one billion in-stream impressions, the advertising is actually viewed by the consumer. 

If you can reach Millennials and Gen Z on a big screen, in a large beautiful ad format with a 98% completion rate, chances are your advertising message will make its points.

Viacom's capability in video will continue to grow with its recent acquisition of Pluto TV, the leading internet-based, ad-supported television platform. Part of Viacom Video, the platform brings with it 12M+ monthly active users that are typically younger (18-34), hard to reach demographics.  In addition to Pluto TV, Viacom's global portfolio of premier IP partnerships -- including its newest partner fuboTV, a sports and entertainment OTT internet television service -- means that Viacom is now a leader in the streaming television ecosystem.   

These extensive capabilities within Viacom Video enable marketers to initiate and develop deeper relationships with desired audiences across the entire digital video environment, regardless of where, how and when they consume television.  This cross-platform versatility helps solve the problem of media fragmentation, but it's also essential to understand the digital culture to ensure you are meeting fans with captivating messages.  To truly resonate with younger audiences, advertisers need to be chasing and creating cultural moments, and incorporating viral media formats -- like memes, gifs and AR/VR -- into their cross-platform campaign creative strategy.

Insights from Viacom networks like MTV, Comedy Central, BET and Nickelodeon have proven that tent poles are a perfect opportunity for advertisers to connect with audiences.  For example, an innovative AR activation around the Kids Choice Awards helped drive 1.7 million social interactions, creating stickiness and viewer retention.  From a creative standpoint, the first step for advertisers is understanding how they can insert themselves into these conversations and connect with fans across platforms in a safe, timely, meaningful way.  The next step is actually creating a viral cultural moment for your brand that the entire digital community tries to capitalize on.

Cross-platform, culturally relevant advertising will play an integral role in the future of reaching younger audiences.  It's just essential for brands to agree on how they can walk the line of being culturally relevant while maintaining their core values and brand safety.  This is why Viacom continues its commitment to innovation by offering its advertising partners a one-stop solution that cuts through an increasingly cluttered, fragmented landscape to reach the youngest consumers everywhere -- because this is something that every advertiser can benefit from.

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