Twitter Launches New Content Partnerships as Musk Takeover Lingers Over NewFront

One week after Elon Musk announced he was buying Twitter, it was business as usual at the company’s annual pitch to advertisers at Pier 17 in lower Manhattan Wednesday evening. VP of global client solutions JP Maheu hinted at the news as he kicked off the event. "It’s been a quiet month at Twitter. Not much going on lately," Maheu joked. Since the deal is still months away from closing, the presentation gave no detail on what Musk’s takeover would mean for the company. Instead, the NewFront focused on Twitter's audience and new and renewed content partnerships. “We are committed to bringing premium content to the platform for our users and premium content for our advertisers,” Twitter’s senior director and head of U.S. content partnerships Sarah Rosen told Adweek before the event. “We’re full steam ahead, business as usual," she added when a reporter asked whether the presentation would include any mention of Musk. As for new partnerships, Twitter announced a deal with hip hop-focused publisher Revolt. It also renewed partnerships with publishers including Condé Nast, Essence, E! News and the WNBA. The company also unveiled increased inventory around the men’s and women’s World Cup games, via a partnership with Fox Sports. While Twitter weighs heavily in political and cultural conversations, it only makes up .9% of total global digital ad spend, according to Insider Intelligence. But as advertisers are looking to diversify their budgets away from Meta, Twitter is increasingly under consideration, two marketers told Adweek. “With data privacy changes and some of the hits Meta is taking, we’ve seen more advertisers open to testing on Twitter as of late,” said Jared Smith, associate director and subject matter expert of social, video and audio strategy at media agency January Digital. “Twitter needs to take this opportunity to capitalize on that.” And Twitter has something to offer that Meta doesn’t, said Rachelle Hansen, vp of client leadership at performance marketing agency Croud—participants in a conversation instead of passive users scrolling. “People are actively digesting on Twitter,” Hansen said. New premium content to advertise alongside Twitter is keen to show advertisers its unique audience—Twitter has 39% of incremental reach to TV among users aged 18-24, said Robin Wheeler, Twitter’s vp of U.S client services, at the presentation. The company also showcased the premium content on its platform, via partnerships with media companies. A highlight is the new partnership with Revolt, which will bring hip hop podcast Drink Champs and The Crew League to the platform. The company is also touting a new made-for-Twitter show in partnership with E! News called “While you were Streaming,” which covers buzzy moments in popular TV shows. Twitter’s offerings focus on capitalizing on the real time conversation the platform is known for, with an emphasis on tentpole events. Twitter is expanding its partnership with Essence, with highlights from the Essence Festival of Culture and the Global Black Economic Forum. It is also extending its relationship with Condé Nast, with livestreams of Vogue’s Red Carpet at the Met Gala, the Vanity Fair Oscar Red Carpet and the Pitchfork Music Festival. Twitter Amplify is the main ad format for these events, which allows brands to place their ads next to videos from content partners. A greater emphasis this year is Twitter Spaces–Condé Nast will host multiple Spaces each month, a more regular cadence than previously, which helps the company sell more ad inventory, Twitter's Rosen said. To further bring these relationships to new formats, Twitter announced it was launching new live shopping events in partnership with a variety of publishers, including Condé Nast, Hearst and NBCUniversal. Twitter is also investing in providing brands an opportunity to advertise alongside sports events, creating more inventory along the men's World Cup game this summer and the women's World Cup next summer, including in-match previews and live pre-game shows for every match. The company is also extending its partnership with the WNBA, offering a slate of 12 live games, special Spaces and other content opportunities. Finally, the company is helping advertisers better measure the efficacy of their ads—in conjunction with NBCU, Twitter is announcing it is the first social partner to test an integration with iSpot.TV. This will apply to advertisers who purchase Amplify sponsorships from NBCU. Courting advertisers–with the Musk of it all With potential new owner Musk a fan of a more hands-off approach to the speech allowed on Twitter, brand safety remains top of mind for advertisers. But those, and other concerns, will have to wait until the deal is done. Still, some viewers commenting on the company's IAB livestream expressed disappointment the elephant in the room wasn't addressed: "Can't believe they're not mentioning anything about the big story," one wrote.