On Tuesday, AOL was excited to be part of our first-ever Digital Content NewFront. In front of a crowd of hundreds of guests including digital marketers, agency representatives and friends of AOL, we presented new offerings and original programming from AOL Video, and the latest innovations from The Huffington Postscheduled to debut later this year, including the launches of "Huffington.", a new iPad magazine app, the Huffington Post Streaming Network and "GPS For The Soul", an iPad app designed to sense your tension level and provide you the right content to lift your mood.
We wanted our NewFront experience to be unique, so we decided to do things a little differently. Splitting the audience into two groups, we created separate experiences for the first half hour, with each panel repeating for the other audience after the half hour was up and the groups switched.
Experience #1, kicked off by AOL's SVP and Head of Sales Jim Norton and led by Janet Balis, SVP & Head of Sales Strategy, was called Powering Ideas, and explored the ways that digital is at a crossroads, and AOL is uniquely positioned to take advantage of this opportunity. Janet shared how AOL builds valuable partnerships to drive results that can move clients' brands forward. Janet took a look back at the content behind Powering Ideas in a post from earlier this morning.
Experience #2 was called Powering Brands, and focused on how AOL is powered by its amazing collection of brands.
After an introduction by AOL Chief Revenue Officer and President of AOL Advertising Ned Brody, Jim Stengel, former Chief Marketing Officer of Procter and Gamble, member of the AOL Board of Directors, and author of "Grow", led a conversation about brand ideals that featured AOL and Huffington Post Editors Michael Hogan (Entertainment), Susan Kaplow (Life and Style), David Kiley (Autos), Christina Norman (Black Voices) and Tim Stevens (Engadget). The editors explained the power and value of brands created through their content.
Next up in Experience #2, Arianna Huffington, President and Editor-in-Chief, The Huffington Post Media Group, gave an update on the growth of the Huffington Post, and highlighted 4 new Huffington Post product launches:
Huffington. - A new magazine app that takes the best of the Huffington Post and presents them in the perfect mobile setting.
HuffPost Streaming Network - a 24/7 livestreaming network that will combine Huffington Post's editorial philosophy and strong community into a uniquely social video experience
GPS for the Soul - an app that will measure your stress level and connect you to content that you need to "restore your balance".
Causes - connecting the Huffington Post community brands to help drive awareness of what really matters, through programs like Global Motherhood, in partnership with Johnson & Johnson.
In the final session, led by AOL CEO and Chairman, Tim Armstrong, we introduced The AOL On Network, a new video platform that offers premium content across 14 content channels including food, business, entertainment, style, tech, travel, health and others, and reaches nearly 57 million U.S. consumers.* Read more about The AOL On Network in our blog post from yesterday.
During Tim's session, we were joined by an amazing group of guests on stage:
Nina was joined on stage by fashion designers, and AOL On Style Curators, Erin Fetherston and Rachel Roy, who talked about what inspires them as they create their collections.
Vuguru founder and Chairman Michael Eisner, who spoke about the value of original web content.
The cast of Little Women Big Cars, a new series coming to AOL this summer, Julie Warner, Kristy Swanson, Amy Yasbeck and Romy Rosemont.
Amy Harris, writer of Sex and the City, joined us to talk about her new project called "Fetching", which stars a young woman who quit her job as a lawyer and ended her engagement in hopes of pursuing her dreams of opening a doggy daycare store.
We then capped off the event with a special surprise. Through our partners at Ford, we were able to give away a new Ford Mustang Convertible to a lucky attendee of the event, and pledged to donate $1 for every mile the winner drove in their car for the next 5 years on behalf of our friends at St Jude's Children's Research Hospital, for whom our friend Marlo Thomas is very passionate about.
All in all, it was a great day for AOL and we hope it was for our attendees as well. Read what the social web was saying in our Storify recap by clicking here or viewing it above.
On Tuesday at the AOL Newfront, along with Jim Norton, SVP of Sales, AOL Advertising, I was delighted to talk about Powering Ideas. It was an extraordinary moment to think about powering ideas through digital. We are now at a tipping point for digital where:
Audiences for online video are starting to have similar critical mass to top tier cable television networks
Original programming for digital is produced, directed, and starring Emmy- and Academy-Award winning talent – the highest quality of content is materializing
As an industry, we are starting to build mechanisms to look at online on a comparable basis to television measurement – for example, via our recent announcement with Nielsen on OCR.
Given the importance of this moment, yesterday presented an incredible opportunity to talk about how we build compelling content for consumers and results-focused solutions for our clients. We expressed our deep commitment to using our content, its influence with key audiences, and the scale of our distribution as a means to build powerful and strategic marketing platforms.
Here are highlights of some of the programs we brought to life in our session at the NewFront:
Mom's Favorites
Moms pick the very best – one town at a time. Powered by Patch sites in towns across the country, Mom's Favorites enables Moms to give their seal of approval to the things they love most in their communities – from playgrounds to restaurants to toy stores. With this program, Patch will shine a light on Moms' favorites everywhere.
ur+1
Entertainment fans battle it out to create an all-star celebrity team. Fantasy sports meet celebrity fans in a social, high-stakes game that rewards our consumers' obsession with pop culture. Real-time celebrity news from sites like Moviefone, AOL Music and HuffPost Celebrity will determine who's hot and who's not as players pick their dream teams and vie for a star-studded prize event. Real-time celebrity news from sites like Moviefone, AOL Music and HuffPost Celebrity will determine who's hot and who's not as players pick their dream teams. Lucky participants in the related Instant Win game can win a trip to a star-studded prize event.
Influencers and Innovation
In-depth coverage of the people and ideas changing our world. A first-hand look at innovation in technology, finance, entertainment, science, business and design. From interviews with thought leaders, including an original video series with Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, to profiles of new inventions, to coverage of global forums where ideas are shared, this experience will look at the people and ideas shaping our future.
New Hollywood Films
Young Hollywood directs and stars in original short films. Killer Digital and Academy Award-nominated and Emmy-Award winning Producer Christine Vachon will produce original shorts, directed by and starring young Hollywood talent. Fans will also have the chance to enter a user-generated short film contest. Airing on the Cambio Network, a top destination for young people online.
Digital Justice
CSI for the internet age. An original video series and weekly reality show that follows tech-driven forensic investigations, "Digital Justice" will tell the stories behind the stories of crimes solved and criminals thwarted. Starring Terry Schappert of the US Army Reserve Special Forces.
We hope these programs give marketers a sense of the possibilities. We look forward to working with our clients and agencies to shape these ideas together to embrace brand goals and build powerful content in partnership.
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