Last August, Tastemade and Subway announced a strategic partnership that would allow the digital video publisher to leverage its insights into consumer trends to help the sandwich chain reach a new batch of consumers.
Tastemade, which counts over 2.5 billion monthly video views and has studios and channels in seven different countries and languages, has a network of hundreds of tastemakers who can help Subway spread its brand globally and create locally-relevant menus.
At the time, the partnership was expected to include “thematic culinary explorations, data-driven menu inspiration, trend intelligence, global insights and marketplace innovation.”
"Every day, we use data and insights to create compelling content for our viewers across all digital platforms around the world. We are thrilled to be able to tap into years of consumer trends and insights in a new way, to help fuel real innovation for Subway:" stated Oren Katzeff, global head of programming at Tastemade.
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Last week during Advertising Week, The Wall Street Journal’s Ben Mullin reported on the first round of experiences coming from this partnership. According to Mullin, Tastemade’s programming chief Oren Katzeff reported Tastemade is currently helping Subway to develop and market new sandwiches inspired by consumer trends.
The partnership comes as publishers are under increasing pressure to create new ways to drive revenue for themselves and their advertising partners. Through this collaboration, Tastemade is able to use its wealth of user data to help a nationally recognized brand expand its reach. Specialized data about a food-loving community is one asset Facebook and Google can’t tap into quite as easily.
In a similar vein, Conde Nast recently unveiled its Beauty Studio, which will allow its stable of brands to connect with advertisers in a more specialized way, tapping into an audience of consumers more likely to take an interest.
Conde Nast has spent the past few years focusing specifically on data analysis, acquiring and developing the tools to take it to the next level for leveraging audience against advertising.
Karthic Bala, the company’s first Chief Data Officer, told an audience at last spring’s Publishing Insider Summit: “We’re really competing with other companies in the new world, like the Facebooks and Googles, which are engineering-driven.”
No doubt, more brands and publishing powerhouses will continue to devise ways to leverage their audiences, engineering new ways to turn data into dollars. With an example as specific as Tastemade, the results of the effort will be both interesting and instructive.