WPP, Snapchat and the Daily Mail newspaper has formed a new agency that will create online brand-sponsored video and print content to cash in on some of the projected $544bn in media ad spending.
The new ‘Truffle Pig’ agency will be based inside WPP’s Group SJR content marketing agency in New York.
The agency is seeking brands to sign up, and will use DailyMail.com, Elite Daily and Snapchat to test original content marketing. Its content and services will extend to any online platform that a brand wishes to be marketed on.
“Great content is not just about creating it, but having platforms for it,” Alex Jutkowitz, the head of Group SJR who will head the Truffle Pig agency, said during a press conference at the Cannes Lions advertising festival, the biggest annual gathering of ad executives. “Engaging millennials and having distribution is key. Snapchat is where the millennial fish are and that’s where we are going.”
“With the need for story-driven marketing on our sites and those of other media companies, and new ad format like Snapchat, brands need a truffle pig,” John Steinberg, the chief executive officer of the Daily Mail North America, said at the news conference.
The companies, which announced the venture Tuesday morning at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, will all have equal ownership with no single party in control, said WPP chief Martin Sorrell.
Sir Martin Sorrell, founder and CEO of WPP, the world leader in advertising and marketing services, commented: “In a digital world overflowing with content, consumers crave quality. A next-generation company, Truffle Pig combines the best in media, content and user experience to satisfy people’s appetite for great storytelling – and inspire brand engagement, loyalty and sales.”
Truffle Pig will initially launch in the US, with headquarters in New York City, and will utilize Snapchat’s 3V video production space in Los Angeles.