FOX Fox Corporation

By Nat Ives 

Streaming service Hulu is adding an element of "authenticity" to its marketing with a campaign where endorsers emphasize that they are getting paid for their services.

The first ads in the "Hulu Sellouts" campaign, which promotes Hulu's live-television service, feature NBA stars Damian Lillard, Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo taking extreme measures to advertise that Hulu has live sports. "Mr. Embiid, why'd you change your nickname?" a young fan asks. Mr. Embiid answers, "Money."

The strategy is to use humor to turn consumers' cynicism about influencers to Hulu's advantage.

"Influencer marketing has taken on a life of its own," said Kelly Campbell, chief marketing officer at Hulu, which is jointly owned by Comcast Corp., Walt Disney Co., 21st Century Fox Inc. and AT&T's WarnerMedia. "Yet at the same time we know athletes are getting paid a lot of money to endorse products."

Brands and influencers risk turning people off if they are coy about paid relationships, according to Liz Gottbrecht, vice president of marketing at influencer marketing company Mavrck. "You should put '#ad,' '#sponsored,' '#sp' plus any brand campaign tags in front of the caption, " she said. "The majority don't put it so overtly in front. They bury it at the end of the caption, in the middle of the caption, or 5 comments down."

When Mavrk interviewed 113 influencers with various followings last year, 40% said marketers don't consistently follow up with them about following government rules for endorsement disclosures and 16% said a marketer had at least once asked them to skip the disclosures.

Authorities in the U.S., the U.K. and elsewhere have been warning influencers to clearly indicate when they are being compensated.

"Everyone is looking at what's happening in social promotions," said Ryan Crosby, vice president for content marketing at Hulu. "You're not fooling anyone when you do these ads."

(The infamous Fyre Festival successfully lured ticket buyers with social-media posts by paid influencers who didn't tag their posts as ads.)

Hulu considers its live-TV offering, which includes access to its on-demand library of shows and movies, an important differentiator as the streaming-video business fills with imposing competitors. Comcast's NBCUniversal, Disney and WarnerMedia all plan on-demand services of their own. Netflix has a commanding lead, with more than 58 million domestic subscribers at the end of the year and close to 81 million more abroad. Hulu, which only operates in the U.S., said it had more than 25 million subscribers at year-end, including both on-demand and live customers. Last September it said live-TV subscribers had topped 1 million.

The Hulu campaign, which was created by the creative digital agency Big Family Table, will run on TV this weekend during the NBA's All-Star Weekend but play out in large part on social media, with posts from the players' own accounts. Hashtags will include #ad, #paid, #alot, #sponsored, #hulupaidme, #neversellout and #hulusellouts.

The effort will continue throughout the year with athletes from other sports, according to the company.

Write to Nat Ives at nat.ives@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 15, 2019 06:14 ET (11:14 GMT)

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