“We’ve been working with a lot of other partners in a way that’s really unique to us to help bridge the lower funnel,” Levin told Adweek. “We want marketers to be able to understand the lower funnel, measurement and outcomes of their campaigns beyond what we can measure on our own. And those partnerships have been incredibly successful.”
Incoming originals
Following last year’s success with the Daniel Radcliffe-led Weird Al biopic, even more stars are coming to Roku Originals. The show kicked off with the supposed president of media Charlie Collier, but Al Yankovic came out instead. This time, he acted as “Serious Al,” telling the crowd that the biopic was the most-watched original Roku movie of all time, before kicking it off to the real Collier.
“If you were creating the best TV experience in the world, would you just tweak regular TV, or would you transform it?” Collier asked the crowd, echoing Levin and Robbins’ message of unmissable TV.
The company announced the new series Charlie Makes a Record, starring Charlie Puth. The unscripted sitcom takes stories from Puth’s real life and puts them into borderline-surreal scenarios, designed to mirror the reality that exists in Puth’s brain.
In addition, Special Delivery, an interactive reality show, comes from the producers of Hell’s Kitchen. The competition show features chefs preparing food, and viewers can order the winning dishes by pressing “OK” on their Roku remote.
Side Hustlers, another new original, comes from Hello Sunshine in association with Ally.
Other projects include Celebrity Family Cook Off, executive produced by Sofia Vergara and hosted by Manolo Gonzalez Vergara; Carpe DM with Juanpa, featuring social media star Juanpa Zurita; and renewals of The Great American Baking Show, featuring Paul Hollywood, Prue Leith, Ellie Kemper and Zach Cherry; and Honest Renovations, starring Jessica Alba and Lizzy Mathis.
“Everything we do, from our first player to our latest Originals, is about getting you closer to your customers,” David Eilenberg, head of content at Roku Media, said in a statement. “Many are renting you ad space, but Roku is building an entire ad-friendly world where viewer, content and advertising come together at every step of the streamer’s journey.”
Other marketing offers
Besides the content news, Roku announced contextual AI, which will allow brands to automatically run their ads right next to the most relevant moments in every show and movie on The Roku Channel. It works by having Roku’s artificial intelligence search the company’s library for plot moments that match a brand’s message and can place ads in real-time.
