Subaru, Verizon, and Other National Companies Engage with Authentic Digital Audiences via Public Media’s Music Video Platform VuHaus

In the era of adblockers, bot views, and other advertising struggles, media platforms with bona fide high-quality audiences are a media buyer’s dream. VuHaus, the national platform curating more than a dozen music-centric public radio stations’ video sessions into one streamlined site, makes this dream a reality, thanks to strong content and young, savvy viewers loyal to the site’s musical dedication.

VuHaus occupies a rare niche in the online advertising world: Part mission-driven nonprofit, part tech-driven national platform with a strong mobile presence. The platform has the agility and targeting abilities of bigger competitors, but keeps the focus, smarts, and non-commercial vibe of public radio intact.

“So much of advertising has gotten big and programmatic, that you never know what’s been seen,” notes Chris Kirchner, VP of Partnerships at VuHaus. “But we’re 100% in control with our inventory. We make direct agreements with advertisers. If you’re just buying impressions, that’s fine, there are  ways to do that. But if you’re trying to solicit engagement, VuHaus can give you a beautiful, uncluttered environment that speaks to an engaged audience and is immensely valuable.”

This vibe goes beyond hype or mystique. It runs deep and resonates strongly with audiences. Public media, especially beloved music-centric radio stations like KEXP(Seattle) KCRW (LA), KUTX (Austin), and WXPN (Philadelphia), have idea-driven power and an avid following. “Public media outlets are sometimes smaller than commercial media ones, but pay back ten times with audience loyalty. Our viewers and listeners may only listen to that one radio station, and they may contribute directly to the station,” explains Kirchner. “They tend to be high-quality, more affluent and dedicated as a whole. This makes public media platforms a much less cluttered environment. There is a fair amount of sponsor interest and the ones that get it, get it: They are marketing to a really devoted audience.”

Many advertisers know the value of this audience, but it wasn’t until VuHaus that a national advertising platform based on some of public media’s most popular assets--its music curation and coverage--existed. Working with individual stations just didn’t make sense for companies like Verizon or Comcast, who collaborated with VuHaus to focus their efforts in particular geographic regions. Moreover, VuHaus’ audiences trend younger.

“We can work with advertisers to figure out where they need to be on the air and on VuHaus,” says Kirchner. “These music stations have never had a national calling card, and now there’s more of a one-stop shop for ad buys and sponsorship.”

VuHaus works directly with advertisers on all fronts, including coming up with the right creative. One recent example: Automaker Subaru wanted to reach just the right demographic, the hip, savvy younger adults associated with its lifestyle. VuHaus suggested the company expand on its existing content and craft something just for the platform, a charming preroll where spinning tires turns into spinning vinyl.

This hands-on approach is an extension of the site’s overall vision for ad support.”We do some of that custom work ourselves and also work with agencies. We often encourage them to rethink their existing creative, so that it fits what we do and what our viewers expect,” says Kirchner. “The call-to-action approach may not work as well with the public media audience. You need a different tone, a credible message. Something more authentic.”

About VuHaus

VuHaus (pronounced “view house”) is a non-profit, non-commercial organization comprised of public media’s leading Music Discovery radio stations. The human-curated, state of the art music discovery video platform features performances from the studios and events of the participating stations, and is available via mobile and web.

The VuHaus stations film local, emerging and established artists playing live music in their studios, on location, and in intimate settings, with one-of- a-kind interviews, and live performance streams. VuHaus curates this exclusive content providing a single platform for music discovery in an ever-expanding video collection from America’s most vibrant music scenes.

The VuHaus network includes WFUV in New York City, KCRW in Los Angeles, WXPN in Philadelphia, KUTX in Austin, KTBG The Bridge in Kansas City, KEXP in Seattle, KXT in Dallas/Ft. Worth, opbmusic in Portland, Mountain Stage in West Virginia, KDHX in St. Louis, Vermont Public Radio, and WGBH in Boston. VuHaus received initial funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and is operated by its founding partner Public Media Company, a national non-profit organization focused on maximizing the impact of public media through innovation and strategic partnerships.