NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAB, VIA) and Tumblr today announced an exclusive partnership to deliver co-branded content campaigns during the 2014 Upfront Season for advertisers on Tumblr. The campaigns will combine Tumblr’s suite of ad products with custom content developed for the Tumblr platform by Viacom. The content will connect to the most popular shows and events across Viacom’s portfolio, which includes MTV, VH1, CMT, Nickelodeon, COMEDY CENTRAL, TV Land, Spike and more. Viacom is the first television programmer to strike an advertising partnership with Tumblr and will be the only network group to offer co-branded campaigns to partners worldwide throughout the 2014 Upfront Season.
The partnership will launch as early as the “2014 MTV Movie Awards,” before, during and after which MTV will post images, videos, animated .gifs and other interactive content to Tumblr that connects to the show. The content will showcase everything from “Movie Awards” categories, presenters, nominees and winners, to its most over-the-top and buzzworthy moments and performances. The “2014 Movie Awards” will air live on Sunday, April 13, 2014 at 9/8c on MTV.
“Viacom’s partnership with Tumblr gives advertisers yet another way to ride the huge wave of social activity fueled by our passionate fans and constant stream of premium content,” said Jeff Lucas, Head of Sales, Music and Entertainment, Viacom Media Networks. "Tumblr is a rich environment for creative collaboration with advertisers and an immersive platform for us to tell our story in the fun, authentic voice of our brands.”
"Viacom is a natural partner for us," said Lee Brown, Global Head of Brand Partnerships at Tumblr. "They embraced our platform at an early stage and immediately got what we were all about: telling great stories and connecting with a super-engaged community of fans. We are thrilled to extend our partnership during this year's Upfront to provide our users with even more compelling content to interact with and reblog."
With more than 40 blogs and 3 million followers across Tumblr, Viacom has been tapping into the network’s audience since 2009. Viacom’s partnership with Tumblr strengthens its recently launched Viacom Echo Social Media Network, a service offering through which Viacom develops creative campaigns for clients and engineers their extension across social media and measurable earned media.
Viacom’s social media presence is among the strongest of any television programmer, and the “MTV Movie Awards” continues to grow socially each year. The “2013 MTV Movie Awards” generated more than 3 million mentions across social media from more than 1.1 million unique users during its initial airing, according to Trendrr – up 100% over the “2012 MTV Movie Awards.” The 2013 “Best Hero” category, which was decided entirely by fan voting through social media, attracted 3.5 million votes.
About Viacom
Viacom is home to premier global media brands that create compelling television programs, motion pictures, short-form video, apps, games, consumer products, social media and other entertainment content for audiences in more than 160 countries and territories. Viacom's media networks, including MTV, VH1, CMT, Logo, BET, CENTRIC, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., TeenNick, Nicktoons, Nick at Nite, Comedy Central, TV Land, SPIKE, Tr3s, Paramount Channel and VIVA, reach approximately 700 million households worldwide. Paramount Pictures, America's oldest film studio, is a major global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment.
For more information about Viacom and its businesses, visit www.viacom.com. Keep up with Viacom news by following Viacom's blog at blog.viacom.com and Twitter feed at www.twitter.com/Viacom.
About Tumblr
Tumblr is a media network powered by an army of independent creators and home to an audience of more than 300 million unique visitors. Founded by David Karp in 2007, Tumblr is headquartered in New York City. The company was acquired by Yahoo in 2013.
