Verizon Communications’ newest acquisition AOL, Inc is having a British invasion.
The media company, once known for being a pioneer in Internet and email, just launched its first ever British web video series, called “Being Mum”.
The move is a great example of the trend of more and more companies recognizing the increasing importance of video content.
Exploiting this medium and pairing it with very influential millenial market and the evergreen demographic of pregnant, new and veteran moms is very smart!
AOL secured Nestle to sign up as an exclusive sponsor of the 13-episode show for the next six months.
Each episode, which started yesterday July 13, will be set in wrap around ads and will include an unskippable 30-second pre-roll ad before each episode. Nestle’s parent company SMA Nutrition will also run ads.
TV British TV personality and girl band member Rochelle Humes and UK TV presenter Tess Daly co-host the show. The program tackles what it’s like to be a mother and features interviews with top British celebrities and personalities will discuss everything form being a working mom, pregnancy, the highs and lows of pregnancy and motherhood, and raising children.
During a special pre-launch episode last week, UK singer Alesha Dixon talked about hiding her pregnancy for 6 months while taping the show Britain’s Got Talent and having to ignore the baby frantically kicking every time a bell would ring during production.
A new episode will be made available each Monday on a dedicated website, via mobile devices, on the AOL On app and set top boxes.
Ex Spice Girl girl band member Emma Bunton, Jade Jagger and Paralympian and London 7/7 bombing survivor Martine Wright are among other future guests.
TV presenter Tess Daly interviews singer Alyesha Dixon
“Mums are now more than ever turning to digital and social platforms to find useful, helpful content, supporting them as a mum,” Anne-Luce Guedj, consumer marketing manager at Nestlé Nutrition, said in a press release.”SMA Nutrition’s partnership with Being Mum allows us to integrate our messaging with relevant, original, quality content and deliver an audience at scale across a number of publishing platforms and devices.”
New research from UK YouTube mom community Channel Mum and UK media market research group Kantar Media indicates that young Briitsh moms are open to consuming video content, and millineal moms, especially, “often seek both entertainment and practical help from video content, suggesting there’s a market for brands who can help ‘reassure’ them,” Guedj said.
It will also plau on all of the AOL On network sites including The Huffington Post UK, Telegraph Media Group, Trinity Mirror, Local World and TalkTalk. The exclusive sponsorship is for the entire six months.
AOL is also planning another UK series titled “30 Something” with Richard Bacon, which is currently in production.
The future is digital video content.
