Gaining
entrée to an increasingly coveted community, Vevo is partnering with Pinterest.
Per the deal, Vevo will be adding Pin It to the existing sharing options alongside all its videos on Vevo.com
and its iOS apps. Its music video can now be freely shared among Pinterest users.
The alliance is also a great opportunity for Vevo to drive significant referral traffic back to its core
property.
Following YouTube and Vimeo, Vevo is only the third external video player to be integrated into Pinterest.
Jonathan Carson, chief revenue officer at Vevo, said he
couldn’t be happier with the tie-up. “For brand marketers, Pinterest is a well-known brand and experience,” he said on Wednesday. “Our native player [will fit] seamlessly
into that experience.”
“Pinterest users are among the most influential media consumers in the world,” Carson added. “They’re the curators of the consumer Web,
they are taste-makers and social sharers.”
Pre-roll ads, which run through Vevo’s player, will appear in videos pinned on Pinterest. Worldwide, Vevo recorded nearly 7 billion video
views in June, according to internal estimates.
This year, about 40 million users are expected to visit Pinterest at least once a month -- nearly 16% more than last year -- according to
eMarketer. Pinterest also claimed about 750 million boards on its platform, with 30 billion pins about travelers, foodies and more.
Despite its own monetization efforts, Pinterest recently
decided to take another $200 million in capital at a valuation of $5 billion. The money was earmarked for further investment in technology and talent to develop Pinterest into a discovery platform,
including the expansion of its Guided Search service.
The co-owners of Vevo -- including Vivendi SA’s Universal Music Group, Sony's Sony Music Entertainment, Google and Abu Dhabi Media
-- have reportedly been preparing to sell the site. Management continues to pursue meaningful partnerships. In May, Vevo tapped the native ad specialists at Mirriad to mix brand messages into music
videos.
Expanding on their Amplify partnership, Vevo also recently began working with Twitter on “Certified CountUps” -- an initiative to embed videos into targeted tweets from
Vevo, brands, artists and fans.
Earlier this year, Vevo also announced a program for video premieres with AT&T, which consists of the carrier's brand being integrating into a series of
video premieres from top artists. Among other programming initiatives, Vevo has been investing additional resources into its flagship property, “Certified.”
Vevo also plans to
debut en event slate dubbed “Certified Live” this fall, which will include two yet-to-be-named performers. The network expects the show to translate to about 80 pieces of content,
including user-generated video and 10 songs from each performer.
In April, Bloomberg reported that Goldman Sachs was likely being brought in to reside over a sale of the company, while
potential buyers include DreamWorks Animation SKG, Liberty Media and a joint venture owned by AT&T and Chernin Group. In June, The Information reported that related discussions were underway.