ThePostGame Partners with WPP's ESP Properties, Launches TPG Studios for Brands

LOS ANGELES, July 1, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- ThePostGame, the leading digital media property for sports culture and lifestyle, today announced two partnerships and a creative services and production unit that will significantly expand both its editorial reach and value to brand advertisers. A sales and marketing advisory partnership with ESP Properties (WPP's new entertainment, sports and partnership business) will deliver peak value to brands from ThePostGame's award-winning content development expertise. And the new TPG Studios formalizes ThePostGame's ongoing success in creating high-engagement content, underwritten by brands.

"ThePostGame stands out for its original content, quality video engagement, and brand-friendly approach," says John Kristick, global CEO for ESP Properties. "We look forward to advising ThePostGame on the positioning of its unique offering. We want to help them engage with the right brands seeking innovative ways to reach attractive fan segments."

"ThePostGame has produced more than 250 original editorial series underwritten by advertisers in just four years," says David Katz, ThePostGame founder and CEO. "We couldn't be more thrilled to work with ESP Properties to bring our expertise to WPP's world-class clients." 

ThePostGame's expertise in creating original series as well as other text and video content will be available to brands.

Toward that end, ThePostGame today announced the formation of TPG Studios. Its mission is to align the brand values of advertisers and rightsholders with inspiring editorial. In creating TPG Studios, ThePostGame strengthens its leadership in creating and distributing organic narrative storytelling for any device, any platform, and any distribution channel. 

Demand for ThePostGame's work has been strongest in six categories: automotive, consumer packaged goods, retail, consumer technology, financial services and pharmaceuticals. Brands have included Toyota, Citi, Eli Lilly, E*Trade, Fiat, Ford, Gillette, GSK, Kellogg's, ExxonMobil, Samsung, Scottrade, Macy's, BP and the U.S. Postal Service. 

Early Praise for TPG Studios

"ThePostGame augmented our Hyundai/NCAA Loyalty Report campaign to the nth degree through their passion, commitment and creative fluidity," says Josh Lieber, who was creative director on the project for Innocean USA. "They became a true partner, whom we came to count on at nearly every touchpoint of our project. We reached millions of eyeballs through their unique channel and engaging consumer content that we never would have otherwise reached. And they were ego-free when it came to rebranding parts of their site to showcase our client's brand."

Hyundai's Loyalty Report campaign complemented the company's NCAA sponsorship and celebrated fan loyalty with multi-channel editorial features and promotions across digital and social channels. Custom segments were produced each day leading up to each major game.

"ThePostGame found a totally unique way to realize our brand identity editorially," says Eric Wallach, who led the Mobil 1 "Extreme Grillers" campaign as VP of UM Studios. " The scope of the project was enormous and ThePostGame was outstanding to work with at every stage of the campaign."

Mobil 1's Extreme Grillers series included 18 original video episodes. Each showcased a different expert who delivered performance beyond expectations by building a luxury cooking grill into his car or other vehicle. 

"We were looking for something that would capture the emotional connection people feel during the holidays in an authentic yet unexpected way," says Allison Speiser, who led the USPS campaign at UM Studios. "Being able to organically integrate our brand within video content, while also showcasing this emotional connection, gave us credibility that outright ad buys typically can't."

The USPS Holiday MVPs campaign profiled athletes who wanted to recognize an important person in their life whom they had not properly thanked. The athletes were shown wrapping gifts in Post Office packaging while they discussed how important the person was to them.

Extending Yahoo Deal

ThePostGame is also extending its longstanding partnership with Yahoo. The renewed deal allows the Yahoo audience to continue to enjoy ThePostGame's award-winning sports culture and lifestyle content on all platforms.

"Yahoo has been an extraordinary partner and we are grateful to be extending our content and distribution relationship with them," says Katz. 

About ThePostGame 

Created in 2011, ThePostGame content reaches an average of 40 million people each month across ThePostGame.com, YouTube channels, email subscribers, social media fans and followers, and content distribution partners. That reach is up 25% year-over-year. ThePostGame is also now a top sports-focused multi-channel video network (MCN) on YouTube, where video views now top 1 billion and are up 36% year-over-year. Ad click-through rates on ThePostGame.com are four (4) times better than the industry average. The digital media property's original journalism has won two Associated Press Sports Editors awards and it is consistently one of ShareThis' Most Shared Sports/Lifestyle Sites since its debut. For more information on TPG Studios, visit ThePostGameStudios.com.

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