DreamWorks Animation will launch a YouTube family channel called DreamworksTV that will kick off this summer YouTube‘s head of content and business operations Robert Kyncl told advertisers today at the company’s NewFront presentation in NYC. It was part of a campaign by the Google-owned company to promote itself as a place that’s safe for advertisers — with tons of data and, now, audience guarantees.
The problem with YouTube as an ad medium is that it’s too vast, and has too much inventory. Advertisers fear that their messages will be lost, and don’t want to pay up. But the service hopes to address that with a new sales initiative called Google Preferred, which it launched with support from ad agency Digitas. The program promotes the 5% most popular channels specializing in food, music, and entertainment. YouTube says it partnered with comScore and Nielsen to provide data in addition to Google’s real-time analytics. And Margo Georgiadis, Google’s sales president for the Americas, says it can make a “100% guarantee you’ll reach the audience you want to target.” That’s especially potent for those who want to reach 18-to-34 year olds. YouTube is the “No. 1 place [they] go to learn about a product or a passion,” she says.
The presentation promoted channels including DanceOn, Funny or Die, RocketJump, SoulPancake, Vice News, Warner Music and personalities Bethany Mota, Michelle Phan, and Freddie Wong, “Today we’re at a historic moment in media,” Vice Media’s Shane Smith says. “Young people are leaving TV in droves and they’re moving online…..We’re not going to be the next CNN. [With YouTube’s scale] we’re going to be 10 times CNN.”
YouTube’s sales show at Madison Square Garden Theater included performances by singer Janelle Monae and Pharell Williams. Yes, he sang “Happy.”
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