Advertising: Instead of a Sale, Hulu Concentrates on ‘The Awesomes\'

Instead of a Sale, Hulu Concentrates on ‘The Awesomes'

Netflix has had success with original programming, and Hulu hopes it will, too, with an animated series, “The Awesomes.”

MOST of the news about Hulu recently has focused on whether the popular video streaming site would be sold. Last week, the owners of Hulu - 21st Century Fox, the Walt Disney Company and NBCUniversal - provided a reprieve: instead of selling Hulu, they said it would invest $750 million in the site and increase competition with Netflix, which has had tremendous success with its slate of original programming, including a handful of Emmy nominations Thursday.

Michael Shoemaker, left, and Seth Meyers are the creators, executive producers and writers of the animated series “The Awesomes,” which will start broadcasting on Aug. 1.

With a sale averted, Hulu executives can now focus on more important matters - promoting the site's highly anticipated animated series “The Awesomes,” which will make its debut Aug. 1. The show stars Seth Meyers as the voice of one of the main characters, Prock.

Mr. Meyers is also a co-creator, executive producer and writer along with Michael Shoemaker, whose production credits include “Saturday Night Live” and “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.”

“The Awesomes” is Hulu's first original series this year and its first animated series. The show follows a team of less-than-stellar superheroes called “The Awesomes” who come together after the original team of elite superheroes by the same name is disbanded.

In addition to Mr. Meyers, the show features the voices of other “Saturday Night Live” stars including Bill Hader and Taran Killam.

In an interview, Mr. Meyers and Mr. Shoemaker described the show as a “passion project” that they shopped around to different networks until they found the right fit with Hulu.

“Hulu was willing to turn it over to us creatively,” Mr. Meyers said. “Hulu was the first place that really understood it.”

“The Awesomes” also secured a sponsor in Jack Link's Beef Jerky. The brand partnership includes product integrations in the show and short episode extensions that involve the characters from “The Awesomes” and Sasquatch, the beef jerky mascot. There will also be traditional 30-second and 60-second ads with Mr. Meyers and Mr. Shoemaker writing the copy for the ads.

In one episode extension, two of the characters are talking about the free food perks the group no longer receives. “No more lobster Mondays? Make-your-own-taco Tuesdays?” says Muscleman, a brawny character who wears a bright red wrestling leotard. “All gone,” says Prock, adding that he has, instead, “lots of Jack Link's jerky.”

“I love that stuff,” says Muscleman. But the characters also acknowledge, in a tongue-in-cheek way, that what they are doing is a paid advertisement.

According to data from Kantar Media, a unit of WPP, Jack Link's spent $13.1 million on marketing in 2011 and $8.8 million in 2012. Hulu spent $9.3 million on advertising in 2011 and $63.6 million in 2012, according to Kantar.

Mr. Meyers said brand partnerships like this one were necessary. “I'm a realist and you have to pay for these shows,” he said. “It's how this stuff works. I think it's been helpful for me to work in TV for 12 years. No one's paying to watch ‘Saturday Night Live' but I still get a check every week.”

Andy Forssell, acting chief executive and senior vice president of content at Hulu, said, “You want this to be a beacon to show how this can be done well,” referring to the brand integration. “You don't want to have to make any creative sacrifices.”

Jeff LeFever, vice president of marketing for Jack Link's, said: “We want to become part of the everyday vernacular and everyday culture that's out there, not just a transactional product. In this media landscape it takes everybody out of the traditional way of doing things. The studio, the media partner all leaning together.”

Unlike Netflix, Hulu derives revenue from both subscriptions and advertising. Mr. Forssell said subscription fees and ad revenue from Hulu Plus, its paid subscription business, made up more than half of the company's revenue. “Both businesses are critical and will be part of our identity for years and years to come,” he said.

In addition to brand integration with Jack Link's, Hulu has a separate plan to promote and market the show, whose target audience is adults ages 20 to 39.

Digital banner ads promoting the show will run on Hulu and Hulu Plus, including personalized ads that prompt viewers who like a certain show - for instance, “Family Guy” - to watch “The Awesomes.”

Digital ads will also run on sites like BuzzFeed, Pandora, the Onion, Yahoo and AOL.

Hulu will show an episode of the show and host a panel with some cast members at Comic Con, a convention in San Diego on Saturday.

On July 25, Xbox Live users will be able to watch an ad-free preview of the show.

Billboards and other wall postings will be displayed in New York and Los Angeles.

A version of this article appeared in print on July 19, 2013, on page B6 of the New York edition with the headline: Instead of a Sale, Hulu Concentrates On ‘The Awesomes'.