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Viacom Launches Velocity For Social Sales

Viacom Media had launched a new division within Viacom Ad Sales focused on social media partnerships, products, and services, the media giant announced Wednesday. The new division, called Velocity Product Group, will consist of experts specializing in social media who will work with different ad sales teams to better leverage social and data products on behalf of clients.

Velocity Product Group gathers together a number of existing Viacom offerings, including Viacom Vantage, which helps advertisers with consumer targeting using a combination of proprietary and third party data; Echo, which helps develop customized programs for advertisers using the Echo Social Graph analytics tool; the Social Talent Platform, which gives advertisers access to social media stars for custom campaigns; and Pulse Real-Time Marketing, which helps advertisers engage in social conversations with authentic, shareable content.

Velocity will also develop Viacom’s partnerships with external social media platforms like Snapchat, Twitter, and Tumblr, again with the goal of helping advertising clients engage with millennial audiences.

Leading the new division is Elizabeth Herbst-Brady, executive vice president of ad sale strategy and products; other key figures include senior vice president for strategy Kalina Nikolova; Sarah Iooss, in the newly-created role of senior vice president for the Velocity Product Group; and Deborah Brett, as vice president of Velocity Product Group, reporting to Iooss.

According to Viacom, the number of clients tapping its social products and partnerships has doubled over the last year, with more than 100 major advertisers asking for help with social engagement after this year’s upfront negotiations. Overall, Viacom claims to have built a social fan base of 645 million individuals across its various brands.

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