Viacom’s content distribution partner Joost, founded by the creators of Skype, has inked a number of ad deals with very prominent brands.
Thirty-two advertising launch partners have hooked up with Joost to be part of the company’s debut. Joost touts its forthcoming product as the world’s first broadcast quality Internet TV service.
Viacom hit YouTube with a nastygram in February, requesting their content be removed from the video sharing site. Not long after that, details of Viacom’s deal with Joost emerged, giving the new video site a high-powered content ally.
Joost announced today they have reached agreements with a number of well known brands. Coca-Cola, H-P, Nike, Microsoft, and IBM are among those backing Joost’s efforts.
“Our success in lining up leading brands from around the world is a testament to our delivery of a unique advertising value proposition,” Joost co-founder Janus Friis said in their announcement.
Startup Meme noted Joost has created an ad unit called an Ad Bug, an embedded, animated ad logo that will be placed in the corner of a video. That sounds similar to the ‘Flash Bugs’ Adobe will be able to support in the Media Player they plan to launch this summer.
Joost will test a variety of ad units to find the sweet spot for brand awareness, engagement, and intent-to-purchase. “We’re providing unparalleled user statistics and insights, as well as an unmatched level of interactivity, targetability and measurability,” Joost’s David Clark said of their benefit to those brand advertisers.
