Creating a daily digital habit beyond just checking one’s smartphone every few seconds isn’t easy, given the deluge of content at one’s fingertips. But Hearst says its Cosmopolitan brand done just that about two years after being a launch partner for Snapchat Discover.
Lee Sosin, SVP, Hearst Digital Media, calls it “a perfect marriage of a platform and a brand that really knows how to connect with that audience.”
In this interview with Beet.TV during the Digital Content NewFronts, Sosin explains the numbers behind that marriage and Hearst’s multi-country, multi-language content partnerships with the likes of Rolex.
“We get between five and ten million people a day on Cosmo Snapchat and the most amazing stat is that most of them come back every day,” says Sosin. “In digital media, creating a daily habit is really hard and that’s what we’ve done.”
Brands can participate in themed editions on Cosmo Snapchat, anywhere from 10 to 14 stories a day. Every story created for a particular edition aligns with a brand’s objectives and themes, and the brand owns all the ad slots within that edition.
As it expands its reach globally, Hearst is executing a 13-country partnership with Rolex featuring notable women who are ambassadors of the brand and “telling it through the Elle lens,” says Sosin.
He recalls when advertorials afforded brands the opportunity to take over magazine pages and basically say whatever they wanted.
“There was no obligation to really deliver something great to the audience. In digital, performance wins. We start with what the audience needs.”
Unlike some publishers, Hearst likes to celebrate its branded content partnerships, not conceal them. “We feel that if we’re partnering with a brand to create some content, we want to celebrate the authority of that brand,” says Sosin.
This video is part of Beet.TV’s coverage of the IAB’s Digital Content NewFronts 2017. The series is sponsored by the IAB. For more videos from the #NewFronts, please visit this page.
