ConAgra and Yahoo Search For Lunchtime Viewers

ConAgra Foods is putting snackable online media on its menu via a deal with Yahoo, which will run an online daily branded entertainment comedy program, “What’s So Funny?” this month.The show, which began last week, runs on the display ad giant’s television portal—Yahoo TV—and features hosts Shira Lazar and Michael Bachmann recapping the funniest moments from the previous evening’s prime-time television lineup. Each clip follows a “he said,” “she said” format, with viewers at the end of each show ultimately deciding. (Results are announced at week’s end.)A 3:19-minute launch video, for instance, has Lazar rooting for Little Jimmy Dickens’ Kanye West-mocking moment at the Country Music Awards as her favorite Wednesday night pick. (“I know you had a nice video and all, but Taylor Swift made the best video of all time!” the 88-year-old music star shouted at the event, interrupting co-hosts Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley in the process.) Bachman, on the other hand, voted for a father-daughter audience-laughing moment on Gary Unmarried.Halfway into the program is “Ingredients for Good Comedy,” a culinary-style presentation of some of TV’s best laughing moments. (The letters “W,” “S” and “F”—which stand for the show’s title—all appear wearing toques and toss ingredients into a pot labeled with the Marie Callender’s Home-Style Creations logo before the funnies actually begin.) Sample: “First you want to remove some comedy from the freezer, but make sure it’s all the way thawed out before using it,” Lazar says. The ensuing clip shows a guy jumping into a pool of half-melted ice. Next follows a 15-second ad for Marie Callender’s after both hosts have made their case on which TV show viewers should vote.The deal is part of a one-year, “low single-digit millions” buy ConAgra has undertaken with Yahoo, said Brett Groom, vp of media and digital and social marketing at ConAgra. Marie Callender’s, Healthy Choice and Orville Redenbacher are confirmed sponsors, but the food giant may look to integrate other well-known household brands into Yahoo’s original programming, Groom said.The agreement also comes as ConAgra looks to advertise beyond just banner and video ads in the digital space. ConAgra, which owns Reddi-wip and Banquet frozen meals, is looking to get its content out on the Web in a way that’s relevant and engaging to consumers, and lunchtime represents the perfect opportunity, he said. Yahoo, meanwhile, is hoping to attract more advertisers to its Yahoo TV portal—which had 19.8 million visitors in September—by creating customizable content, and in the process, getting consumers to explore other parts of its site, the company said.Of the 68 percent of Americans who watch online video during the day, the highest consumption occurred between the hours of noon and 3 p.m., Yahoo, in an August research report, found. (A similar spike also occurred in the after-dinner hours, between 9 p.m. and 1 a.m.) Translation: “Our audience really enjoys bite-sized, snackable content,” said Erika Nardini, vp of brand packaging at Yahoo.David Card, an analyst with Forrester Research, sees the partnership as a way for Yahoo to tap into new and growing sources of online ad revenue while certain sectors of the market are down. “They are trying to jazz up the display market in general by building new platforms for advertising,” he said, adding that demand for display advertising, though down in a recession, will come bouncing back. Video advertising is “very hot,” and marketers are spending more money on social marketing nowadays, he said.

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ConAgra and Yahoo Search For Lunchtime Viewers

Elaine Wong

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