BREAKING
Twitter Inc. (NYSE:TWTR) just announced that it has won a large video ad deal, and circumstantial evidence points to another win with political ads.
While all the attention has been focused on the takeover rumors, which include Alphabet’s Google (GOOGL), Walt Disney (DIS), Salesforcecom (CRM), Verizon (VZ) and even Microsoft (MSFT), Twitter appears to making progress on its own.
STORY
The CW network together with Ford Motors Inc. (NYSE:F) have signed the first ever Twitter Inc. Amplify upfront video ad deal according to Yahoo! Finance via CNBC.
On the latest Twitter Inc. earnings call, the company noted that video had become its largest advertising revenue driver even though it didn’t exist a year ago. This deal with the CW and Ford marks a landmark – it’s an upfront deal and this is how it will work (emphasis added):
“Starting on Tuesday, CW will create social media videos such as weekly recaps, highlights told through fan tweets and sneak peeks for its five most tweeted shows.
Ford advertising will appear on the videos, which will be posted in official CW Twitter accounts. Then Twitter will promote the videos in front of targeted Twitter users based on its data."
SIZE
Twitter Inc. (NYSE:TWTR) has had several deals through its Amplify video ad product, but according to Mike Park, the director of content partnerships and Amplify, Twitter Inc. has never signed a deal of this size before.
That comment is critical because the NFL deal with Twitter Inc. was also through Amplify, and as far as the world has been told, that deal will generate $50 million in video ad revenue.
APPEAL
While news stories fill our feeds with stories proclaiming the death of Twitter Inc. and its slipping relevance, Christina Norman, CEO of media agency Media Storm, said pretty much the opposite. Here’s her take:
“People are on Twitter all the time when they’re not watching the show.
This makes sure they are part of a conversation and reminds them. It’s mutually beneficial (for CW and Ford). It keeps their consideration high."
Statements like those are likely the kind of sentiment Twitter needs to get a bid price for a takeover that would be acceptable to the board. Video ads are the new black, and no one is better at it than Google’s YouTube.
POLITICS
Before we conclude this dossier we also want to point out that we have collected circumstantial evidence that political ads were purchased on Twitter Inc. and were rather targeted. Check out this poll from @OphirGottlieb (the author):
We can see that Twitter users basically either saw no ads, or they saw a ton of ads. That points to very specific ad targeting, which is the crown jewel of the marketing world. Given this circumstantial data for Twitter Inc. (NYSE:TWTR) and the news surrounding the new large video ad deal, it does seem like Twitter Inc. is gaining momentum.
The author is long shares of Twitter Inc. (NYSE:TWTR).
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