The Sponsored Obama and Jay-Z Web Event That Never Was

Vevo offered corporate brands the opportunity to wrap their names around the White House event.

Advertisers were offered sponsorships of an interview with the President and hip-hop mogul Jay-Z on popular video site Vevo that never happened. But before it was canceled, a sales deck offering corporate brands the opportunity to wrap their names around the White House event made its way to big digital ad agencies, and helped convince some to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars with Vevo.

A Vevo sales deck obtained by ClickZ promoted sponsorships of the interview event with Jay-Z and Obama, which was to be held February 9. The presentation offered category exclusivity to four sponsors for the one-hour live stream, as well as sponsorships of an encore stream and on-demand content. (See screenshots of the sales deck below.)

vevo-obama-jayz

Advertisers were offered “brand inclusion” such as ads on Vevo, social media outreach on Facebook and Twitter, as well as mentions in press outreach about the event to be sent to media outlets including CNN, AOL, and Rolling Stone.

The sales deck even promised sponsors the “exclusive opportunity” to attend the live event.

When asked in January by ClickZ, and then again last week, Vevo said the event was not happening. However, a source close to the situation said advertisers had already agreed to sponsor.

The existence of a presentation promoting sponsorship opportunities in direct association with the interview suggests it was, at the very least, scheduled at some point to occur. The ClickZ source said the sales deck had been floating around in brand marketing and ad agency circles for a couple weeks in January.

The President – in the midst of a reelection campaign – recently held a town hall style interview on YouTube, presented by YouTube and Google+. Like a similar town hall interview held in April 2011 on Facebook, the YouTube event served as a branding vehicle for the media outlet hosting it. Google promoted the event on YouTube and even via a rare text ad on Google.com.

Digital brands like Facebook and Google have garnered credibility in the political world by hosting interviews with President Barack Obama. But the types of sales offerings Vevo made available to corporate advertisers in association with the event are virtually unheard of.

vevo-obama-deck2

vevo-obama-deck3

vevo-obama-deck4

vevo-obama-deck5

Subscribe to get your daily business insights

Whitepapers

US Mobile Streaming Behavior
Whitepaper | Mobile

US Mobile Streaming Behavior

5y

US Mobile Streaming Behavior

Streaming has become a staple of US media-viewing habits. Streaming video, however, still comes with a variety of pesky frustrations that viewers are ...

View resource
Winning the Data Game: Digital Analytics Tactics for Media Groups
Whitepaper | Analyzing Customer Data

Winning the Data Game: Digital Analytics Tactics for Media Groups

5y

Winning the Data Game: Digital Analytics Tactics f...

Data is the lifeblood of so many companies today. You need more of it, all of which at higher quality, and all the meanwhile being compliant with data...

View resource
Learning to win the talent war: how digital marketing can develop its people
Whitepaper | Digital Marketing

Learning to win the talent war: how digital marketing can develop its peopl...

2y

Learning to win the talent war: how digital market...

This report documents the findings of a Fireside chat held by ClickZ in the first quarter of 2022. It provides expert insight on how companies can ret...

View resource
Engagement To Empowerment - Winning in Today's Experience Economy
Report | Digital Transformation

Engagement To Empowerment - Winning in Today's Experience Economy

1m

Engagement To Empowerment - Winning in Today's Exp...

Customers decide fast, influenced by only 2.5 touchpoints – globally! Make sure your brand shines in those critical moments. Read More...

View resource