Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) has been rapidly looking for new ways to garner advertising revenue, and apparently, the company could look to further its relationship with US Starcom Inc (OTCMKTS:USTI). Twitter shares continued their rise today, climbing more than 5% to a new high as investors continue to hope in the social network’s future growth.
Twitter, Starcom experiment with formats
CNBC‘s Julia Boorstin reports that Starcom Media Group and Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) struck their first deal in April. The two companies wanted to share information so that they could experiment with a new format. That deal guaranteed hundreds of millions in ad dollars, and in return, Starcom clients would receive the best advertising spots.
Now, eight months later, Twitter CEO Dick Costolo and Starcom Media Group CEO Laura Desmond spoke over Skype on Starcom’s annual webcast. Desmond said she was open to a more long-term arrangement, citing a “chance to help influence a product road map” while also having their road map influenced. She also said they wanted to understand people better and keep their inside look of what Twitter is up to at any given time.
Twitter’s Amplify was the result of the Starcom partnership
Costolo said that the Amplify ad feature now offered by Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) was the result of a talk between himself and Desmond before Twitter bought out Bluefin. Twitter was trying to see what it would be able to do with its broadcast partners. Amplify is a new advertising tool which is designed to target conversations on Twitter regarding television shows.
He said another influence of the partnership with Starcom is the way they plan far in advance for their mutual clients, working together to help those clients get the highest return on investment possible from their television ads.
Twitter looks to build TV partnerships
Costolo also said that the partnership with Starcom was only the beginning. He said he believes that marketers and content partners are going to come to a deeper understanding of how to use Twitter to enhance the TV-watching experience. He noted programming like live sports and reality shows like “The Voice” in how Twitter can be used to enhance the viewing experienced.
Desmond said Starcom expects to have “a massive first quarter” thanks to the Super Bowl, the NCAA tournament, the Academy Awards “and a bunch of other tent-pole events.” She also said early results from their partnership with Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) show that when connecting TV with Twitter, they saw lifts in engagement, awareness and “consideration and intent.”
