WSJ pitch: We are not YouTube with our videos

Ricardo Bilton of Digiday writes about how The Wall Street Journal is pitching potential advertisers for its video content.

Bilton writes, “Convincing buyers to get involved might not be easy. Next to digital giants like AOL and Yahoo, the video offerings of publishers like the WSJ and The New York Times, at first glance, still feel hopelessly inconsequential. How can a newspaper that produces 100 hours videos a month hope to keep up YouTube, which uploads as much video in a minute? The answer: By not competing at all.

“While big online players like Yahoo and YouTube are banking on the scale and absolute reach of their platforms, The Wall Street Journal is pitching itself on the dedication and makeup of its readership. And that readership looks exactly how you’d expect. Journal readers are largely male, over 40, and make more than $100,000 year and comprise a highly desirable demographic.

“‘Good luck to AOL and Yahoo — they do a wonderful job,’ said Trevor Fellows, the Journal’s global head of media sales. ‘But they’re pursuing a different model than we are.’

“The Wall Street Journal’s video programming has itself come into its own in the past few years. Its video content includes short, straightforward CNN-like news reports, longer segments, and even sponsored video content, much of which the Journal is actively helping brands create, like this ‘documentary advertising feature’ created for Millennium Systems International.”

Read more here.