Viacom and Tumblr Partner to Create Co-Branded Campaigns

Media company Viacom and microblogging platform Tumblr have teamed up to deliver co-branded content campaigns during the 2014 Upfront Season for advertisers on Tumblr.

According to a release, the campaigns will combine Tumblr’s suite of ad products with custom content developed by Viacom that will connect to shows and events from Viacom networks such as MTV, VH1, CMT, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, TV Land and Spike.

Viacom says it is the first television programmer to forge an advertising partnership with Tumblr and will be the only network group to offer co-branded campaigns to partners throughout the 2014 Upfront Season.

The partnership will launch “as early as” the 2014 MTV Movie Awards on April 13. According to the release, before, during and after the Movie Awards, MTV will post interactive content to Tumblr that connects to the show, such as images, videos and animated .gifs. The content will showcase categories, presenters, nominees and winners, as well as “its most over-the-top and buzzworthy moments and performances,” Viacom says.

“Viacom’s partnership with Tumblr gives advertisers yet another way to ride the huge wave of social activity fueled by our passionate fans and constant stream of premium content,” said Jeff Lucas, Viacom’s head of music and entertainment sales, in a statement. “Tumblr is a rich environment for creative collaboration with advertisers and an immersive platform for us to tell our story in the fun, authentic voice of our brands.”

Viacom says it has more than 40 blogs and 3 million followers on Tumblr and the new partnership strengthens its Viacom Echo Social Media Network, a service through which Viacom says it “develops creative campaigns for clients and engineers their extension across social media and measurable earned media.”

According to the release, the 2013 MTV Movie Awards generated more than three million mentions across social media from more than 1.1 million unique users. In addition, the 2013 Best Hero category, which was decided by fans, attracted 3.5 million votes.

“Viacom is a natural partner for us,” said Lee Brown, global head of brand partnerships at Tumblr, in a statement. “They embraced our platform at an early stage and immediately got what we were all about: telling great stories and connecting with a super-engaged community of fans. We are thrilled to extend our partnership during this year’s Upfront to provide our users with even more compelling content to interact with and reblog.”