MCM Media is confident that ad-funded models are the way forward for online content services, particularly the 16-to-34-year-old male demographic.
The firm yesterday launched short-form video content portal [adult swim] with partners Turner Broadcasting System Asia Pacific and Movideo, and reckons advertisers, particularly gaming companies, will find a sticky audience. Microsoft and Sony are already on board in the US.
“Advertisers follow consumers, consumers follow content, and consumers are primarily heading online for their entertainment,” chief strategy & marketing officer, Jonathan Hopkins told AdNews.
“Our research shows that young men are more interested in an ad-funded model over a subscription model and so that's where the return on investment comes in for advertisers. We think the gaming segment in Australia is bigger than movies at the moment and gamers in particular are among those not engaged with television. It's those people that represent a big part of our target audience.”
The portal is backing humour to bring in the masses. Seth Green’s Robot Chicken animated series, Harvey Birdman and Metalocalypse are all on the channel as is local favourite Superwog, which attracts up to three million views per video. Superwog will create a content series exclusively for [adult swim] in Australia.
[adult swim] will deliver unbundled short-form content, free of charge, via its website and any mobile device. Australia is the first launch for Asia Pacific and will potentially target four million people, according to Hopkins.
The aim is to sign-up advertisers that bought into the brand in the US.
“There's plenty of them operating in the Australian market,” said Hopkins. “Those brands include Lynx, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Sony, Kia Motors, Pizza Hut and T-Mobile. Any companies targeting that elusive young male demographic is of interest to us. There are very few places in the media where you get a large volume of that audience group.”
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