Why Our Shows Should Matter to Big Brands

A constant hurdle we deal with is trying to figure out is how can one small online series possibly matter to big brands. Smaller web series simply don’t have the reach, hell, even some of the bigger series like Quarterlife’s episodes only had an average viewership of a few hundred thousand (and that had the backing of MySpaceTV) So how can a moderately sized independent web series possibly pull interest from big sponsors?

Consider this hypothetical:

1. Let’s say only 50,000 people view an episode of a Gillette sponsored series.
2. Let’s say that 3% of that audience clicks on a banner/or product card - 1,500 people.
3. Of those people 10% bought a $10 Gillette razor of at their next trip to their local CVS (10% would be their “conversion” rate)
4. For this one episode, Gillette would earn a total of $1,500.

That’s it.

$1,500 in total sales from an episode of a series whose cost is well beyond that.

Okay, now I know there are a number of variables that could change in this equation - the click through rate, the conversion rate, and the purchase price for a start. I guess you could justify the low return in initial sales by saying that the exposure Gillette gains could result in multiple purchases over time, or you could say that you can make a web series for $1,500 per episode (in which case, that’s not the business we are in, so this column is not for you). Here’s my point:

At the end of the day, one of the larger problems that online media is facing is that we’re just not exposing advertisers to a large enough audience.

So, how can we producers actually ask for Gillette to fork up a moderate amount of cash for what they might consider to be nothing in return?

The first thing a sponsor needs to realize is that a web series costs much less to produce and distribute than a traditional TV spot, so it’s not as large of a risk. But the real value in sponsoring an online series is the ability to use online media as a testing ground for a larger campaign.

Big brands should invest in online series for the same reason network television pays massive amounts for pilots, presentations, and recently, online media. Advertisers need to embrace this idea and here’s why:

1. Compared to the television, only a small fraction of the US population actually consumes their media online - so there’s far less financial risk, or brand reputation risk. Even those that do watch their TV shows online, do so through network portals such as abc.com or hulu.com, websites where the ads are filtered through networks.
2. It is much easier to get metrics from an online campaign than a television campaign - views, click throughs and other interactions are easily recorded.
3. A series geared towards a niche audience means the ability to see how a product works for a specific demographic - Graperadio.com is a perfect example of this. Even though they are a podcast and not a web series, they can charge very high CPMs for their ads because they guarantee a certain “wine lover” demographic is listening.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, but as you can see, the information obtained by a big brand’s sponsorship of an independently driven web series could prove immeasurable. Hopefully soon, independent web series sponsorships will be a stepping stone for big brands on their way to their national ad campaigns.

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