Univision makes big investments in social with Snapchat partnership and 'Creator Network'
Just a year ago Univision, "the leading media company serving Hispanic America," was dominating on social media during the World Cup generating more chatter than rival ESPN. After an upfront presentation that highlighted digital the entertainment company is continuing to invest in social TV with two major announcements.
In a partnership that's the first of it's kind for a TV network, Univision will be teaming up with Snapchat to "create unique Live Stories around Univision events, including sports and entertainment." The first Story as part of the partnership was created around the Gold Cup which took place on Sunday.
During VidCon last week, the internet influencer convention in Anaheim, Univision announced the launch of their own MCN (multi-channel network) call the "Univision Creator Network." The network is a group of "high-performing and high-potential content creators from platforms such as YouTube and Vine with more than an estimated 118 million video views per month for those networks of the content creators signed to date."
Found Remote interviewed Mark Lopez the Executive Vice President and General Manager of Univision Digital about the partnership with Snapchat and Steven Benanav the VP of Content Partnerships and General Manager of Flama, Univisions millennial platform.
Found Remote: Why did Univision decide to partner with Snapchat?
Mark Lopez: The Hispanic community is highly engaged on digital and incredibly social, which is why we want to ensure that we are bringing Univision programming content to the platforms that they’re active on day to day. We’ve been experimenting with Snapchat with our programming including live events such as our soccer matches for quite some time. In fact, this past April, we worked with Snapchat to extend the action of the U.S.-Mexico friendly to Snapchatters via a Live Story, and the response went beyond our expectations. We want to continue delivering that type of engagement working hand in hand with platforms such as Snapchat.
FR: How is it unique?
ML: Univision has first-class programming – music events, sports live events, entertainment shows – content our viewers/users can’t find elsewhere. Coupling our content with platforms like Snapchat allow us to extend this unique programming to the fingertips of current and new audiences.
FR: What KPI's will you be looking at?
ML: Number of views, users, advertising revenue and other relevant data the platform provides.
FR: Why was the Creator Network launched?
Steven Benanav: We launched the Univision Creator Network to foster the next generation of content creators, give them access to Univision’s resources and provide our billenial consumers with content they can relate to from their favorite creators. We also want to offer our marketing partners more opportunities to integrate their brands into the Univision Creator Network content as well as have access to more channels to run media on.
FR: Who are some of the influencers Univision will work with?
SB: We have a great group of talent to date. Ana Alvarado, Ronnie Banks, Jonathan Contreras, Derek George, Louis Giordano, Elizabeth Gutierrez and Eric Ochoa, among others are all part of the Univision Creator Network, with others in the works.
FR: Are you trying to compete with other MCNs like Fullscreen and Maker?
SB: Our roots, at Univision’s core, is with creating content and serving Hispanics with culturally relevant content, and with our focus on billenials, this makes The Univision Creator Network a unique network. It is integrated to our Univision portfolio and leverages our multiplatform media assets -- from TV to Radio and events – to target these billenials and nurture and elevate the next generation of content creators. We want to foster a community of creators while providing our consumers with more of the content they love created by the personalities they love and our advertisers with other avenues to run media and integrate their brands.
FR: How will you be sourcing talent?
SB: We have a great team that is connected and immersed in the world of YouTubers, Viners, Instagrammers and up-and-coming content creators. The Univision Creator Network will look to sign talent that have passionate and engaged fan bases, that create quality and culturally relevant content and that have a presence on several platforms.
FR: Anything else?
SB: Content distribution, content options and quality video content created by talent that billenials relate to will be critical as consumption habits continue to evolve to ensure we are meeting the demands of new and existing audiences.
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