Condé Nast Introduces Three Video Ad Products

Condé Nast said it was championing brand safety and content quality at its NewFront presentation in Manhattan Tuesday.

As the NewFronts fortnight begins, digital content companies are tackling the issues of viewability and viewer fraud that are giving some advertisers pause when it comes to moving their ad dollars to online video.

"The challenges facing our industry have inspired and energized us," said Jim Norton, president of revenue and chief business officer for Condé Nast. "Brand safe environments and quality content must be the currency on which our industry trades."

Norton said that the Condé Nast networks last week received TAG (Trustworthy Accountability Group) certification and called on all of its partners to do the same.

"Do you know where your ads are running," he asked marketers and media buyers attending the presentation.

Condé Nast introduced three new ad products to help marketers take advantage of its Next Gen network's engaged viewership among millennials and Generation Z.

The new products are video led and mobile first. They are:

  • Video IQ – an interactive ad unit that brings together video and quizzes, the two most engaging products in digital, in a mobile-first product that is engineered for engagement.
  • Video2 – working with partner Celtra, Condé Nast has taken vertical video to a new level with swiping features that are guaranteed to engage users.
  • ShopIt – working with partner Clicktivated, Condé Nast delivers on the promise of users buying directly from a video.

Condé Nast also renewed 65 of its series and introduced 40 new series.

"As mobile has become the new primetime among younger audiences, our digital video network now outperforms some traditional television networks," said Dawn Ostroff, president of Condé Nast Entertainment.

New series include:

DOCUMENTARY SERIES:

Generation US

Directed by Morgan Spurlock, Generation US takes viewers across the country, highlighting individuals of the same demographics and circumstances in different geographic regions. The series will ultimately examine the issues and experiences that divide yet unite us.

Through the Fire

Directed by Rod Blackhurst, Through the Fire will take a closer look at the legacies of the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots, who perished during the unprecedented 2013 wildfire in Yarnell, Arizona. The event is also the subject of a film, produced by Condé Nast Entertainment and based on an article in GQ, which will be released by Sony in October.

DIGITAL SERIES:

Pop Feminist/Teen Vogue

Pop Feminist is your entertainment news breakdown with a Teen Vogue twist.  In each episode, Teen Vogue entertainment editor Sandra Song breaks down the latest happenings in pop culture through an intersectional feminist lens.

Back to Back Chef/Bon Appétit

In just 15 minutes, a celebrity chef challenges an everyday home cook to create one of their signature dishes – with one catch, they can't look at each other – only able to take verbal clues literally facing back to back.

Broken/The Scene

Infidelity is a topic that many couples deal with but rarely talk about openly. The Scene's original series, Broken, brings former and current couples together with the hope of finding closure. The couples confront each other openly and honestly about infidelity, resulting in an emotional and cathartic conversation. The pilot episode, which aired in February, spurred an internationally-recognized hashtag, #hurtbae, and has been viewed more than 55 million times.

Actually Me/GQ

A celebrity goes undercover on the internet and responds to comments on Twitter, Reddit, Facebook, Quora, and YouTube

...In 2 Minutes/Glamour

...In 2 Minutes is a scripted, live-action series that breaks down the signs and symptoms of our biological processes and the science behind them. In the first episode, "Your Period in 2 Minutes," an actress portrays all of the relatable physiological changes that a woman experiences during her monthly cycle.

Tech Support/Wired

Celebrities use the power of Twitter, answering real-time questions on often surprising areas of expertise.

(Image Credit: Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for Conde Nast)

Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.