By Alyssa Boyle
What does award-winning actress and comedian Whoopi Goldberg do in her spare time?
Taking on a new role as a leader in competitive global streaming, of course.
Say hello to Blkfam (pronounced “Black fam”), a new free, ad-supported streaming platform launching in February with on-demand content targeting Black families. The platform was founded by media veteran Larry Adams, who is also the founder and CEO of X_Stereotype, a software company that evaluates ad creatives based on diversity and racial bias.
But as a newcomer to streaming, Blkfam wants more than just a top-tier funder to stand out and be seen by both audiences and advertisers. Getting to the staircase is one way to get there; Focusing on a niche of specialized content is another.
Black families are actually a niche audience: They make up “a giant portion of the population,” Adams says. But Black families are an underserved audience.
That said, Black consumers and families are starting to receive more attention and ad dollars from TV advertisers making their media plans more inclusive.
I spoke with Adams to learn more about Blkfam’s plan to close the gap between advertisers and Black consumers.
AdExchanger: What is the market opportunity for advertising to Black families?
LARRY ADAMS: Families are an attractive target for advertisers because they spend more money than families without children, and they also subscribe to more streaming services.
In addition, families make purchasing decisions as a family, including parents asking their children what they think of certain brands or products they see on TV.
But when I search for some of the top content streaming apps to watch with my kids that features the black experience, I find a bag of uncurated content ranging from PG-rated titles to R-rated titles.
The platforms don’t offer content specifically aimed at Black families, and there’s a real market opportunity in the challenge of content discovery for this audience.
Will Blkfam still have to compete with streaming platforms designed for black audiences, such as Mansa and Polaris?
We’re looking to create a new category of streaming content, more competition.
Partnerships are an important component of our vision. Collaborating with other Black-owned businesses that cater to a similar audience will make us evolve and look for more tactics to monetize, and vice versa – it’s an emerging tide that lifts all boats.
For example, we partner with Black production companies, some of which recreate concepts for TV screens that were purchased and then canceled through larger studios. We also license content from Black-owned TV channels [such as The Africa Channel].
I’m opposed to content aggregation, but you want it to be organized and intentional.
How do brands shop on your platform?
Our advertising offerings will include logo integrations and classic banner ads. Some of the new content we’re introducing will include logo and product integrations, as well as ad breaks.
Does Blkfam sell inventory programmatically?
At this time, we’re not going to make our font programmatically available.
Direct deals allow us to control ad art more than programmatic art, which is a less controlled environment that carries some threat because there’s rarely enough transparency about what ad is shown and where.
Not only do we want to offer classified classified ads that are truly applicable to our target audience, but we also want classified classified ads that are not relevant or biased. For example, while our classified ads will be targeted to parents watching in combination with their children, we cannot allow classified ads from verticals such as alcohol and prescription drugs to appear in children’s content. We also don’t want to take on the threat of running classified ads with stereotypical biases.
What knowledge do you need to have to address your audience?
We use IP addresses and an email address of family members, which we obtain when families create an account. [Accounts required to access content. ]
We combine this data with third-party insights to create audience segments based on attributes such as the family’s source of income and whether it’s for a specific product, such as a new car. We offload some of this knowledge by partnering with Group Black.
And the measure?
We’re in the process of finalizing the ad server type, which will provide the popular reports advertisers are used to: video speed, frequency, and final touch based on the familiar attributes used for targeting.
What’s on Blkfam’s agenda?
Expand our list.
Whoopi Goldberg has a lot of original content concepts and tons of monologues that she hopes to bring to life.
There will be no shortage of content.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
Do you have this newsletter? Let me know what you think. Contact me at [email protected].
For more articles on Larry Adams, click here.
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