GSTV and First Media’s So Yummy Release New Shoppable Video Content

Partners Create Engaging Consumer Experience with QR Code Recipes and Shoppable Ingredients 

DETROIT, MI  (November 15, 2022) – Today, GSTV, the national video network engaging and entertaining targeted audiences at scale across tens of thousands of fuel retailers, and social media food-based brand So Yummy, part of First Media, announce the release of a new integration for shoppable video content. This latest effort from the partnership brings actionable, shoppable content in the form of mouthwatering recipes and food hacks to millions of on-the-go consumers.  

First Media, the publisher behind multiple social brands, including So Yummy, Blossom and Blusher, has a fanbase of over 200MM followers and delivers over 1.2B+ video views monthly. Now, advertisers on GSTV can introduce new branded content via some of the most popular food recipe content on social media. In turn, users can add ingredients to virtual shopping lists and carts at leading retailers like Walmart, creating a seamless shopping experience.  The integration brings First Media’s 1B+ consumer views into a highly contextual, real-world moment of consumer attention and immediate purchase intent across GSTV’s audience of over 116MM.  

The 20-second shoppable videos will consist of recipes for indulgent desserts, healthy snacks, colorful foods, savory favorites, and more. Each video will utilize Flowcode’s direct-to-consumer QR platform and data capabilities, including real-time analytics, geo-location and attribution across screens.  

“At GSTV, we’re always focused on how we can drive inspired interactions with viewers through true entertainment content,” said Violeta Ivezaj, SVP, Business Operations, GSTV. “So Yummy is hands down the most viral food brand on social media, and we’re excited to bring this new, shoppable content to GSTV viewers. It will create more opportunities for them to find new recipes and source the ingredients they need via local retail and ecommerce platforms. These videos will update weekly, creating regular opportunities for advertisers to organically convert viewers to shoppers.” 

“We’re thrilled to bring fun, fresh content to viewers through this latest effort from our partnership and drive them to take action through our shoppable experience,” said Aerin Arkoff Cann, VP Marketing, First Media. “GSTV ran a study earlier this year, which revealed that around 40% of viewers make an additional purchase within three hours of fueling up. By integrating QR code recipes and shoppable ingredients with So Yummy, we hope to help consumers find what they need to try something new in the kitchen, while also driving sales and foot traffic to retailers nationwide.” 
 
With the shoppable content, advertisers will have a more direct line for viewers to purchase what they see on screen, paired with success metrics from GSTV’s measurement approach that goes beyond QR codes, tapping into a best in class portfolio of measurement partners that include Catalina, IRi, Foursquare, and more. GSTV’s scale and targeting capabilities allow advertisers to target specific audiences, ranging from food lovers to regional foodies to folks just miles from the nearest grocery store. 

“First Media’s So Yummy has remained a trusted content partner of ours for years,” said Sean McCaffrey, President and CEO, GSTV. “This new content will continue to bridge two areas that remain core to GSTV’s business – food and retail. It brings our advertisers a unique opportunity to connect with food-focused shoppers in a highly engaged environment through our retail media network, AMPLIFY.”  

The integration builds on GSTV’s growing retail media practice, with the company announcing the launch of its new retail media solution, AMPLIFY, earlier this year. Operating as part of GSTV's full sight, sound, and motion national video network, AMPLIFY helps retailers access an engaged audience just steps away from convenience stores – and moments from purchase - and beyond.  

GSTV’s new shoppable content slate with So Yummy goes live across its 28,000 locations nationwide today. The shoppable content will also be opened up to the DIY, Tips and Hacks category through Blossom.  View a So Yummy Shoppable Video featured on GSTV. 

Digiday: Digital-first publishers have fallen in love with Gas Station TV

The screens at gas station pumps are looking more and more like Facebook feeds.

Gas Station TV has been building a content slate of publishers that are popular on digital platforms, steering away from its past relationships with big TV networks like CNN and ESPN.

This week, GSTV partnered with First Media’s Blossom and So Yummy. Earlier this year, GSTV added Cheddar and Chive TV. They join What’s Trending, CNET, Stadium, MLB and The List. The partnerships are part of GSTV’s strategy to show content that can entertain consumers at the pump and in tandem inspire more advertising dollars, instead of just relying on repurposed content from cable networks. Meanwhile, the digital publishers say GSTV has effective distribution, and the Detroit-based team is a lot more enjoyable to work with than others.

“I can’t believe how big it is. Every single day someone sends me a photo of Cheddar on it. I wish I could buy GSTV. Plus working with GSTV is a lot more fun and easier than Facebook,” Cheddar CEO Jon Steinberg emailed.

“GSTV has been an amazing partner. I literally get posts on social and even people in person saying they’ve seen me on GSTV. It has an incredible presence and reach as well as retention. You can’t go anywhere when you’re at the gas pump so we have a captive audience,” said Shira Lazar, CEO of What’s Trending.

These digital publishers aren’t making exclusive content for GSTV — at least not yet. For now, they’re providing 20-second clips every week or biweekly, in some cases. The GSTV content team then uses it to program more than 18,000 locations. Publishers say the gas pumps are a complement to mobile distribution.

“In general, when consumers see you everywhere, you have a bigger opportunity to have them then follow you on social. You look around and everyone’s heads down on the mobile feed, but there are a few places in the real world where you can grab their attention,” said First Media’s chief revenue officer Charles Gabriel.

A survey of 282 media buyers by Digiday this November found that the top three formats most media buyers expect to increase spending in are video formats.

Leo Resig, CEO and co-founder of Chive Media Group, echoed the scale they see with gas stations. Chive TV joined GSTV in November. The deal aligns with a strategy to appear in more places out of homes. Recently, Chive created a spin-off company called Atmosphere to manage their distribution in restaurants, bars, cruise ships, airports and more.

“As with any digital media publisher, the past couple of years has had its fair share of headwinds of publishers trying to scale their audience whether it’s their owned operations or distributing on social. You can’t discount that GSTV reaches one in three people over 18 in the U.S.,” Resig said.

At the moment, money isn’t changing hands in these deals. It’s a “value trade,” Resig said. GSTV gets free content from publishers, which they can insert ads between, and publishers receive free distribution. But Gabriel of First Media said they are in talks for revenue sharing, and his company’s sales team is prepping how to include branded content in the slate for early next year.

“Most of the locations have a retail shop and within a few miles of a major retailer like Walmart, which we do work with. All of our content is set up to show consumers how to use products, create, be clever,” Gabriel said.

Connecting ads and publishers with customer data is a key focus of GSTV CEO Sean McCaffrey. He joined GSTV in September 2017 after spending more than 16 years at Clear Channel Outdoor. In April 2017, GSTV and Verifone announced a 50-50 joint venture.

McCaffrey and his new hires have been ramping up data collection and analytics at GSTV through partnerships with Acxiom, Placed, Dstillery, IRi, Nielsen and LiveRamp. Since inception, the pitch of screens at the gas pump may have included the fact that its consumers aren’t simply getting off their couch, fueling up and going home. But now, GSTV has more data to prove it.

GSTV sells ads at stations in a similar way to an addressable household, McCaffrey said. Advertisers receive behavioral data and audience data, all anonymized and in aggregate. GSTV claims to have more than 75 million monthly unique viewers and can target ads to specific markets, charging on a CPM basis.

Publishers, even though they aren’t getting paid by GSTV yet, praised McCaffrey’s leadership for focusing on new content providers.

“Ads on a screen are ads on a screen and dwell time is dwell time, but how can you get people to pay attention? How do you get ads in front of people without turning the world into one giant NASCAR with ads everywhere? People are realizing that you need a content-first approach,” Resig said.