Roku Creates Branded Content Studio After Record Ad Revenue

On the heels of another record quarter for Roku—during which it more than doubled monetized video-advertising impressions year over year—the company is preparing to bring in even more ad dollars from marketers. The connected TV platform is debuting a branded content studio designed to produce new creative ad formats and TV programming tailored for advertisers, and move beyond the traditional 30-second spot in the process. The studio—which does not yet have a name—will produce advertiser-commissioned, short-form TV programs, interactive video ads and other branded content for Roku's in-house advertising video-on-demand (AVOD) platform, The Roku Channel. It builds off other branded offerings Roku has been exploring this year, such as its TurboTax partnership during March Madness, where streamers can try to beat the buzzer across their TV and phone with an augmented reality lens. Roku cites the massive migration to streaming as a main motivation for launching the studio. “It follows a really incredible year for our business, where more marketers leaned into streaming in a more meaningful way,” Dan Robbins, vp of ad marketing for Roku, told Adweek. 'All TV will be streamed' The platform's ad business had its strongest quarter ever. It also struck deals with all six of the major TV holding companies, and spending on its ad-buying platform OneView more than doubled in 2020. “It’s a real sign of market maturation for TV streaming,” said Robbins. “All three of these things really highlight the excitement we’re seeing from brands to lean in and engage in a world where all TV will be streamed.” Robbins said 2020 was a pivotal year for streaming as ad dollars shifted away from traditional TV. “Marketers started to realize that a third of homes no longer have a pay TV,” said Robbins. The second factor was a 2020 study commissioned by Magna, Roku and IPG Media Lab that found these branded experiences, alongside video advertising, generated four times greater purchase intent than video advertising alone. Roku aims to enable marketers to amplify big moments in the marketing calendar, and create interactive ads for TV programs. That could be a cooking show for a grocery brand running on Roku, or an adventure documentary that an outdoor brand makes for cord-cutters. “The first streaming ads were just 30-second linear TV ads brought to streaming,” said Robbins. “With each new technology, marketers start with the creative they have, but then they soon grab the new technology in their teeth and want to create something entirely new. So where this will be fundamentally different is about helping our marketers and partners create one, an entirely new TV ad, but then two actually creating content that can be designed to reach America’s number one TV-streaming platform.” Funny or Die alums As part of the new studio, Roku and the Funny or Die branded entertainment division struck an agreement in which several of the company’s branded content team members will join Roku. Chris Bruss and Brian Toombs head over from Funny or Die, as does Rachel Daly Helfman from Snap. They’ll join Patrick Colletto in leadership roles for the advertising brand studio. Roku will reveal additional details, partners and advertising projects during its IAB NewFronts presentation, which will be held on May 3. The company is positioned to maximize its success over the past year, and the launch of a branded content studio is going to be key to that upfront strategy. “We believe really heading into the upfronts that TV starts with Roku for marketers who want to reach consumers at the top of the funnel through to the bottom of the funnel,” said Robbins.

Connected TV News

Roku Creates Branded Content Studio Following Record Ad Revenue

The company more than doubled monetized video advertising impressions year over year

Mollie Cahillane

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Mollie Cahillane