Virgin Mobile To Sponsor Heavy.com Series

Virgin Mobile has forged a sponsorship agreement with youth-targeted broadband video site Heavy.com after previewing the company's slate of shorts in its first "digital upfront."

Virgin Mobile will sponsor the Heavy.com series "Behind the Music That Sucks" as part of the deal. The channel's page will include Virgin branding; in addition, Virgin Mobile subscribers will be able to preview new episodes.

Bob Stohrer, Virgin Mobile vice president of brand and communications, said the upfront gave his company an early chance to see what sort of integration the Heavy.com ad team could offer. "One thing that's unique about Heavy is how they present and integrate sponsors into their overall presentation," he said. "For us, the upfront really meant getting together with the team from Heavy early on and looking at their assets, their original programming, and determining what was the best fit for us."

Heavy.com Co-CEO Simon Assaad said the broadband site used the upfront process to generate competition for ad inventory. "We've created a number of unique programming platforms that only a certain number of advertisers can own," he said.

But Stohrer said the so-called upfront didn't seem as much like a TV upfront; rather, it was more like a forceful sales campaign. "I wouldn't go as far to say that this was a traditional TV-like upfront, it was more just an aggressive effort on their part to get out and meet with sponsors, and figure out how to best involve them with their properties," he said.

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