TORONTO – As Canadian broadcasters pitch linear TV as a safer space for brands than toxic social media platforms during their upfront presentations, it was some surprise to see on stage Thursday at Twitter's TwitterFront event in Toronto top execs and talent from Corus Entertainment, CBC, Rogers Media and Bell Media.
"Everyone is working with us," Paul Burns, a former digital exec at Shaw Communications and now Twitter Canada’s managing director, told Cartt.ca about Canadian media players who are increasingly making the most of a social media platform often derided by critics for being a land of trolls and Trump.
While acknowledging increased efforts by Twitter to make itself safer for its users, Burns touted how advertisers are seeing results from content and campaigns they increasingly partner on. "What we see on the broadcast side is TV and Twitter are really natural companions, and our conversations with the broadcasters are very amicable," Burns argued.
He insisted that, as Twitter attempts to rid itself of a culture of abuse by removing fake accounts and fostering healthier public conversations, broadcasters over time will see better campaign results and have more confidence in the platform.
During an hour-long presentation in Toronto's Distillery District, Twitter unveiled new content distribution deals with CBC Sports for live and video highlights to create buzz for its 2020 Tokyo Olympics coverage; with Sportsnet and its #icesurfing show for live brand integrations and sponsored content; and with TSN, which plans 52 live pre-games and over 150 highlight clips on Twitter around its upcoming coverage of the FIFA Women's World Cup month-long soccer tournament in France.
"We don't feel a lot of animosity when we engage with them. It's the opposite. They're asking us how do we, when we have a popular show on TV and there's a swell of conversation happening around that show, how do we become part of that," he added.
Burns said Twitter is wooing wary traditional TV networks by promising better ratings and fan engagement through joint innovation. "We actually have data that supports Twitter driving TV tune-in. When there's a conversation happening about a show, and it's trending on Twitter, people will tune in. Conversely, people watching TV will drive conversations about that show," he said.
Burns also claims Twitter has digital tools to better target audiences than those held by many broadcasters. "We have the ability to bring a level of real, beautiful marketing tools that they might not have. We've seen broadcasters gravitate to Twitter simply because we can bring those elements to the table," he said.
"Not only have the series we've created with Twitter driven incredible reach and engagement, they've also increased brand recall and intent to purchase.” – Dervla Kelly, Corus Entertainment
Dervla Kelly, senior vice president of marketing for Corus and head of so.da, the broadcaster's social digital agency, told the TwitterFront event that original video her company creates with Twitter is driving traffic to advertisers. "Not only have the series we've created with Twitter driven incredible reach and engagement, they've also increased brand recall and intent to purchase," she said.
Backstage, Kelly told Cartt.ca that the intersection of food, entertainment and pop culture on Food Network Canada makes combining Corus content and Twitter conversation to create tailored video and social content a natural fit, a phenomenon that can be repeated with any of its lifestyle TV brands.
"People love their food and we have what people are talking about," she said.
Twitter's Burns was quick to point out that that content deals unveiled at its pitch to Canadian agencies and advertisers, which includes highlight clips for NFL Canada and DAZN and a Twitter Canada studio for Universal Music talent, represents what has worked best during endless piloting and testing for new content.
"We have a big experimentation culture at Twitter. We try a lot of stuff," he said.
The result is new content partnerships with Canadian broadcasters that Burns said are the product of increasing trust and transparency.
"There's a spirit of partnership that we've seen mature over the last 12 months. Broadcasters are trusting us,” he said. “They see we're good for them, they see we can add value to their core business and that maybe this might be bad after all, working with Twitter.”
