The drumbeat of excitement pulsating through the Croisette in June is always accompanied by some of the world's greatest musical acts. The Cannes Lions 2023 did not disappoint. From Lizzo to the Foo Fighters to an exciting performance by A$AP Rocky (hyped by Rihanna), the universality of music galvanized delegates hailing from Sao Paulo to Shanghai to San Francisco.
Music, more specifically music videos, are one of the strongest couriers of culture, as they ignite memory and emotion and allow fans to see themselves on screen. During Cannes I had an opportunity to visit the Vevo cabana on the Croisette to interview Rob Christensen, SVP, U.S. Sales & Global Distribution and Aneessa Steilen, VP Media & Distribution Marketing. We discussed how Vevo, the "Home of Music Television," is bringing pop culture into homes across the globe as the world's largest FAST (free ad-supported streaming television) network.
Fandom at Scale
Vevo's impressive 800,000 video library, from Country to K-Pop, provides global reach in a one-stop-shop platform. According to Christensen, Vevo delivers 150 million U.S. adults monthly and over 1 billion globally. “Vevo represents large viewership with ownable cultural moments across reliable audiences and reliable delivery," he said.
In addition to being the global FAST network leader, Vevo is also the "largest connected TV network in the U.S.," Steilen noted. She emphasized that the biggest growth in audiences is coming from diverse and young fans. Vevo attracts audiences within the hard-to-reach 18-34 demo globally in a brand-safe and culturally relevant environment, with 1.5 billion hours viewed per month.
Deeply Engaged Viewership
Committed viewers are not only watching on mobile and desktop devices, but they are co-viewing with friends and family on the TV screen, with an average viewing session of 30 minutes. Given the versatility in ad-formats (:15, :30, :60, :90) and the lighter ad load compared to other platforms (at only eight minutes per hour), brands can craft an ad story that reaches the viewer contextually -- all informed by Vevo's robust data intelligence platform.
Rich Storytelling with Emotion
Vevo provides a seamless and elegant platform that is truly in tune with the context, emotion, genre and preferences of their audience. By arming brand partners with insights and data from Vevo Intelligence on fan behavior and brand performance, the network creates advertising that is part of the story arc of music videos. It is not an interruption, but an amplification of the total experience. According to Steilen, the rich tapestry of sight, sound and emotion provides a valuable canvas to create the most authentic and engaging viewing experience for fans and brands.
Interactivity Ignites Connection
The musical genre triggers our senses -- it makes us see, feel, hear and, with Vevo In-Show Trivia, it makes us think. According to Christensen, "this ad enhancement enables brands to have a dialogue with fans that goes beyond a one-way medium and instead provides two-way engagement that further enhances recall and awareness" in a genre that is already triggered to make our brain's limbic system groove with the rhythm. Research from Johns Hopkins shows that listening to music increases blood flow to brain regions that control emotions and spark stronger memory.
Capturing Key Moments Across Diverse Fans
With the U.S. population being a melting pot of diverse cultures, experiences and people, music is the ultimate universal unifier. Given that 40% of the U.S. population is diverse, it is critical for brands to shift their strategy and make inclusive marketing a much bigger part of their media allocations. Audiences demand content that genuinely resonates, not only during key moments of celebration like Black History Month, Hispanic Heritage Month and Pride, but all year round. It is vital that the conversation continues long after the tentpole date or month. This demonstrates an ongoing commitment to fans across ethnicity, gender, age, disability and sexual orientation. The Vevo Features channel showcases these momentous tentpole occasions using music, celebrities and the vitality of the platform to represent culture and storytelling with a message of inclusivity. The Vevo team showcased an in-person look of the new channel -- launching exclusively with SamsungTV Plus in July -- within their croisette cabana.
Play It Again, Cannes!
As the Carlton Beach fireworks on the closing night at Cannes bid adieu to the 70th Festival of Creativity, it is music that brings the global delegates together. It is music that will trigger memories of key moments during the five days of human creativity -- and it is Vevo that keeps the party going at home on our televisions.
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