At its Digital Content NewFronts presentation Thursday, DigitasLBi announced a production partnership with Vice and unveiled a deal with Vox Media that gives it first rights to Vox's native advertising product Chorus for Advertisers.
Details about the alliance with Vice were scant, but the idea is to bring more Vice-style branded content to DigitasLBi clients like Taco Bell, American Express and eBay. Vice chief Shane Smith, speaking at the event at the High Line Hotel in New York, described the initiative as "one step ahead of the native advertising."
Chorus for Advertisers, on the other hand, is Vox's latest take on native ads—essentially, a data-driven, content-amplification machine for targeting young viewers on Vox sites like SB Nation, The Verge and Polygon.
"This isn't about the collapse of a legacy model," said DigitasLBi chief content officer Scott Donaton of the rapidly changing media and advertising landscape. "It's about the birth of a new one."
Also at Publicis-owned DigitasLBi's NewFronts show—which was attended by roughly 250 marketers—Meerkat founder Ben Rubin said his livestreaming app will be available for Android on Friday, and his startup plans to debut new distribution channels next week. Until now, Meerkat users have leaned on Twitter to let people know they are streaming.
@AppMeerkat driving the next generation of participatory video @Digitas #NewFront pic.twitter.com/jWX7AkddA6
— Norman de Greve (@ndegreve) April 30, 2015
