ViacomCBS’ OTT Crown Jewel, Pluto TV, Unveils Upgrade, Marketing Blitz

Pluto TV, ViacomCBS’ fast-growing free streaming service and a centerpiece of its evolving OTT strategy, Monday unveiled a major product upgrade and an aggressive marketing campaign.

A new brand identity campaign and the platform’s largest ever consumer marketing campaign will highlight Pluto TV’s ease of use and zero cost to consumers with a new tagline: “Drop In. It’s Free,” the company said.

Meanwhile, Project Venetia, Pluto TV’s most significant product upgrade in years, will deliver new features and design changes that the service says further enhances the platform’s ease of access to premium entertainment.

Pluto has 22 million monthly active users in the U.S.. It delivers more than 250 live and original channels and thousands of on-demand movies. It operates in Europe too, and is launching in Latin America this month.

“Today marks another major step for Pluto TV,” said co-founder and CEO Tom Ryan.

The “Drop In” campaign, launched Monday, features a late-night commercial blitz; an out-of-home campaign in New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Dallas, Chicago, Minneapolis, and Houston; connected TV and streaming audio ads; digital and social activations; and in-theater advertising.

The marketing charge parallels a new interface design, new logo, and motion-inspired design elements that evoke the feeling of being transported to Pluto TV. The new identity is rolling out across the platform at all touch-points over the coming weeks.

Project Venetia is currently live on Apple, Vizio, and Roku devices with staged releases across other devices, including Android and Amazon Fire TV. Features include: New linear UX (user experience) to find content more easily; Improved on-demand UX; the ability to designate favorite channels; and a ‘watch now’ button that makes it easier to save and view content on demand later.