What Happened
At launch, Viceland, the new cable channel from Vice Media in partnership with A+E Networks, promised to substitute about half of its ads with sponsored content designed to look like Vice’s editorial. Now, it is taking the first step in realizing that promise by airing clips from a five-part documentary series on virtual reality that Vice co-produced with Samsung in place of ad breaks in some of its primetime programming. With this sponsored content, Samsung aims to drive conversation around the innovative developments of VR technology and familiarize the audience with this emerging medium and related Samsung VR products.
What Brands Need To Do
At a time when ad blockers and subscription-based streaming services are helping millions of viewers actively avoid ads, it is important for brands and media owners to address consumers’ growing aversion to ads. This new sponsored content created by Vice and Samsung provides a good example in how brands may experiment with new types of ads, such as sponsored content and native ads, to engage with their audience instead. For example, sponsored content now reportedly drive more than 60% of ad revenue for The Atlantic.
For more information on how brands should leverage interesting branded content to earn consumer eyeballs, check out the Ad Avoidance section of our Outlook 2016.
Source: AdAge
Header image courtesy of Viceland
