Tubi wants all of America to know it’s there for them – for free.
The ad-supported video on demand service (AVOD) is taking cheeky shots at paid services such as Netflix and Hulu in its largest out-of-home campaign, launching today (5 August) in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Detroit.
In July, Tubi announced it has over 20 million monthly active users, the highest count among AVOD services. In April, Pluto announced it has over 15 million monthly active users, and Xumo said it brings in over five million users a month.
Emily Jordan, Tubi’s vice-president of marketing, said TV watchers are experiencing subscription fatigue, so the OOH campaign will hopefully cut through the noise and boast Tubi’s free offering.
Disney, NBC Universal and WarnerMedia are all planning to launch their subscription video on demand (SVOD) services either by the end of this year or the first half of 2020. Meanwhile, existing services such as Netflix, YouTube TV and Hulu Live have all announced price hikes this year.
“Consumers are looking for free options to complement their SVOD services”
Emily Jordan
“AVOD provides consumers an opportunity to discover content that is more ‘comfort food’ in nature such as timeless movies and nostalgia television.”
For example, a consumer might binge Stranger Things on Netflix, and then go to Tubi to watch library content such as Bachelor in Paradise.
This is the largest out-of-home inventory Tubi has ever purchased. Last year, the company began testing billboard and bus ads.
Tubi’s admitedly “small but growing” marketing team is also planning an aerial stunt in Los Angeles as part of the campaign roll out.
While Tubi did not disclose how much it spent on this campaign, the company said it has plans for more activations in the coming months.
Media for the campaign will also include connected TV, taxi TV, digital out-of-home, geo-fencing, digital homepage takeovers and social.
