MediaPost reported today that Yahoo is piloting social sites for brands with devoted consumer bases:
These "brand universes" on Yahoo will allow fans to find product information and connect with each other within destinations that incorporate Yahoo’s range of social media properties including photo-sharing site Flickr and Yahoo Answers.
Rather than being paid upfront by marketers, Yahoo is building the sites at its own expense in hopes of attracting relevant advertisers willing to pay premium CPM rates for association with brands favored by 13- to-34-year-olds. "The big win comes from other advertisers that will come to these environments over time," said Vince Broady, head of entertainment, games and youth at Yahoo.
Yahoo is good at creating user experiences, hosting communities and selling advertising, so facilitating brand communities in this fashion is an interesting idea. I’m curious, though, how Yahoo plans to handle brand detractors or otherwise undesirable content, at least from the perspective of the advertisers Yahoo is trying to court. What will be the editorial and advertising church-state guidelines there?
The Nintento Wii brand channel is here.