The Bridge, News UK’s commercial division, has launched The Times Social Studio, following in the footsteps of The Sun Social Studio launched last year.
The branded social video product will offer agile newsroom video capabilities for clients who want to reach The Times and The Sunday Times’ off-platform digital audiences on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube with a combined audience of 2.5 million.
In its first campaign, and born from a demand for style-related content during the COVID-19 pandemic, The Bridge has created Shop With Style for Estée Lauder to support its Futurist Hydra Rescue Moisturizing Makeup SPF45.
Shop With Style is a virtual e-shopping format, combining two key social video trends of the moment: online spending and unboxing.
The seven-minute-long video, which launches today, features on The Sunday Times Style YouTube channel, and sees Emma Tillman, UK pro makeup artist for Estée Lauder, sharing her industry tips and tricks via Zoom with Sarah Jossel, beauty director at The Sunday Times’ Style magazine.
Emma talks through the brand’s skincare and makeup offering, including the new Futurist Hydra Rescue Moisturizing Makeup SPF45, creating a bespoke look for Sarah as she tries the latest products.
A ninety second edit will also be pushed on Style’s Facebook and Instagram pages driving traffic to the long-form content hosted on STYLE’s YouTube page.
Nicola Casey, Marketing Director at Estée Lauder UK said: “Shop with Style is the perfect platform for us to showcase our latest products to The Sunday Times Style’s large off-platform audience. The team behind The Times Social Studio has been a brilliant partner in ensuring high-quality video production despite social distancing and we’re excited to reach existing and new Estée Lauder customers via Style’s social channels.”
Jo Carrigan, Head of Commercial Content for News UK, commented: “Launching Times Social Studio has been a natural extension following the success of The Sun Social Studio. Covering food, fashion, travel and home across The Times and The Sunday Times’ off-platform channels, the offering reaches a large audience of 18-34-year-olds via Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. We expect many brands will want to maximise the opportunities our large off-platform audience present. Shop With Style will be the first of many social video campaigns we expect to be able to offer to advertisers.”
