Tech platforms make pitch for ad deals as TikTok is roiled by politics
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 [May 04, 2024] By
Sheila Dang
(Reuters) - Short-form video took center stage at tech and social media
companies' annual presentations to advertisers, as platforms like Snap
and Meta look to capitalize on TikTok's political uncertainty in the
U.S. to take ad dollars from their rival.
The presentations in New York, known as the NewFronts, come just a week
after U.S. President Joe Biden signed a bill that gives Chinese tech
company ByteDance up to one year to divest TikTok, or else the app will
be banned over national security concerns. TikTok has vowed to fight the
legislation.
The short video platform announced new sports and entertainment
partnerships at its NewFront on Thursday evening, including an agreement
that broadcaster NBCUniversal will post clips of this summer's Paris
Olympics on TikTok.
TikTok is expected to generate $8.66 billion in U.S. ad revenue this
year according to an estimate from research firm Emarketer. While it is
a fraction of the size of Google and Meta, TikTok kicked off the
short-form video craze and prompted rivals to build similar features.
"TikTok must show advertisers that it's business-as-normal, even though
it's anything but," Emarketer principal analyst Jasmine Enberg said.
On Wednesday, Snap, which owns photo messaging app Snapchat, said it
would also partner with NBCUniversal to send popular influencers to the
games to film content. It will also host clips of top concerts from
events promoter Live Nation.
"We're having very productive conversations about how Snapchat can help,
because there is a lot of noise at the moment," said Patrick Harris,
Snap's president of Americas and partnerships. "But we have our heads
down and we're making sure we're a dependable and viable platform."
The focus on professionally produced videos is designed to attract
brands wary of the downside of social media or artificial intelligence
(AI) generated content.
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A TikTok logo is displayed on a smartphone in this illustration
taken January 6, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
"Brands have to spend a little extra time really thinking about the
quality of environments, which is why these content partnerships
that are being spun up are so important," said Robert Silver, head
of media at digital marketing firm Razorfish.
Facebook and Instagram owner Meta focused its NewFront on Reels, its
TikTok competitor that now accounts for half of the time users spend
on Instagram.
"Instagram Reels already stands to benefit from a TikTok ban, and
Meta wants to ensure that it can attract all the potential displaced
users and revenues it can," Emarketer's Enberg said.
Google said on Monday that its own short-form video feature called
YouTube Shorts are increasingly being viewed on TV screens in
addition to phones.
Despite the uncertainty over TikTok's future, advertisers say they
intend to focus on the near-term and some plan to continue
advertising until it is no longer possible to do so.
"I think we need to put some blinders on and focus and try to
understand on what innovative capabilities are available for
advertisers," said Alex Stone, senior vice president of agency
partnerships at media buying firm Horizon Media, referring to
TikTok's NewFront.
(Reporting by Sheila Dang in New York; Editing by Michael Erman)
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