Twitter strikes ad deal with Starcom MediaVest Group, bringing in Coca-Cola, Walmart, P&G, more

Twitter has reportedly signed a deal with the Starcom MediaVest Group, a division of advertising giant Publicis. According to the Financial Times, the deal could potentially be worth hundreds of millions of dollars over a multiyear period. The significance here is that it brings in more participation from large brands like Proctor & Gamble, Walmart, Microsoft, and Coca-Cola into the mix and gives Twitter’s advertising platform more credibility.

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Update: According to a Twitter spokesperson, the deal with Starcom MediaVest Group is confirmed, although they have not disclosed any specific details about the agreement.

Additionally, the company says all of the above-named companies are existing advertisers. However, we think that the deal might open up some new options for these companies to further their reach to Twitter’s users.

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If a deal is struck, it would be a big win for the social network that has recently been on an advertising push of late. Earlier this month, it announced a deal with BBC America to display in-stream sponsor videos. It’s also possible that the agreement is part of an effort by Starcom MediaVest Group to take advantage of Twitter’s increased presence in the media scene.

Twitter’s CEO Dick Costolo has said in the past that it’s a media company. It has made noted improvements to its offering in an effort to help boost its advertising revenue. This month, the company launched a redesigned business site to help educate brands on what Twitter is and how to use it effectively. This deal helps it to compete against the likes of Google AdWords and Facebook’s advertising platform.

Starcom MediaVest Group’s global chief executive Laura Desmond told the Financial Times: “Twitter in a very short period of time has gone from an experiment to something that is essential.”

Brands have been looking for new ways to get involved with new technology in a means to increase the number of eyes looking at their commercials and advertisements. With the proliferation of services designed to take advantage of the “second screen”, it appears brands like Coca-Cola, Walmart, Microsoft, and others are paying attention to Twitter.

After all, if you look at not only the social TV apps in the market today, but also the big events like the Olympics, the Super Bowl, US presidential debates, and even the Game of Thrones season premiere, people are talking on Twitter. Regarded rating service Nielsen even published a study that denotes that there’s a “strong correlation” between Twitter usage and TV ratings.

We have reached out to Twitter for comment and will update this if we hear back (See update above for statement from Twitter).

Photo credit: NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images