VAIL, CO — Gawker Media is surveying all the tools in a publisher’s chest.
“In the old days, publishers’ sales process was just about filling that vessel,” Gawker Media executive director Paul Sundue told Beet.TV at the Digiday Publishing Summit in Vail, Colorado. “Now every engagement is like a snow flake.
“We have to work with brands directly to determine exactly what they’re trying to articulate, and come with a blend of programs and deliverables that run the gamut from standard display ads to events … I’m building an interactive game right now for a .org that will run on tablets … to custom video, VR and AR.”
These are the advertising opportunities on offer to all publishers and advertisers in a world rendered fragmented by media plurality.
One of those is the booming video opportunity, and Sundue is happy to give ad buyers familiarity, with Gawker now employing more than 15 people to make videos carrying ads.
“The atomic unit of advertising for the last 30 years has been the 15- or 30-second spot for broadcast,” he says. “Giant ad agencies are built to generate those. They’re not as deft at generating Instagram posts or pure-play content. Pre-roll video enables them to do what they do best, and continue doing it.”
