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The Fabulous Story of “Cube Fabulous”
By Masha Zager
Jan 3, 2007, 11:34

With an audience numbering in the millions, the Web-based reality show “Cube Fabulous” is turning a profit for its producers, advertisers and syndicated sites. Is this the new model for commercial video on the Internet?

“You're talking about the Wild West,” says Matt Wasserlauf, the CEO of online advertising network Broadband Enterprises. “The unique aspect of broadband video is that there is no standard.”

Wasserlauf is explaining why his company, which began by selling advertising and syndicating content on the Internet, decided to start a third line of business that combined elements of the first two: creating branded content for Internet syndication. Because Internet video is a new medium, arrangements between content producers, distributors and advertisers are still fluid – which means that companies like Broadband Enterprises are free to experiment with new models.

A New Advertising Model: Interacting with the Brand

Unlike most television advertising, which percolates in the viewer’s mind until it’s time to buy that MP3 player or laundry detergent, Internet advertising can draw the viewer immediately into an interactive relationship. Wasserlauf’s insight was that advertisers who became more actively involved with content could create new opportunities for viewers to interact with their brands online.

Broadband Enterprises created a show called “Cube Fabulous” that consists of a series of short episodes. A reality show that pokes gentle fun at reality shows, “Cube Fabulous” sends decorators into office workers’ cubicles to remodel the spaces in a way that reflects their occupants’ tastes and interests. Now in its second season, the show achieved 10 million video streams with its first three episodes of the season.

“Cube Fabulous” has its own Web site, www.cubefabulous.com, but about 1700 other sites across the Internet also carry the show. These include sites belonging to local media outlets – newspapers, radio stations and television stations – as well as Web-only entertainment and news sites. Like other syndicated content, “Cube Fabulous” appeals to these publishers because it generates traffic; they share in the advertising dollars along with the producer and distributor.

The primary sponsor for the current season of “Cube Fabulous,” logically enough for a show about office workers, is Monster.com, the online job-search service. But while the show is branded by Monster.com, there is also room for secondary sponsors, such as Honda.

Enter Monster

Each episode of the show begins with a pre-roll ad for Monster, designed to be brief and subtle enough not to drive away viewers. (“No one likes watching advertising,” Wasserlauf says, “but what people like less is to pay for content.”) The show also uses product placements – you can see mugs decorated with Monster’s eponymous monsters on office workers’ desks.

Viewers who want to be on the show create "cube profiles."

Monster’s involvement doesn’t stop with these traditional forms of advertising, however. A link from the show’s “Casting Couch” page, where viewers apply to star in future episodes, goes to Monster.com, where the viewers can find resources for writing better resumes (and, presumably, better “Cube Fabulous” casting profiles). Monster also supports a sweepstakes that awards cube dwellers $2,500 toward a cubicle makeover.

While the online audience may be smaller than the television audience, Monster and other sponsors can reach them more effectively. “There's a lot more involvement with the brand on broadband,” Wasserlauf notes. And Diana Nicholson, SVP for consumer products at Monster, says the company is excited to be part of Cube Fabulous’ second season, adding, “Our relationship with Cube Fabulous represents Monster’s entry into broadband video, allowing us to reach a large audience and key demographics with creative work-related programming.”

Though Monster wants viewers to interact with its Web site, the revenue model is based on impressions (views of the advertisements) rather than clickthroughs. “Clicks are a risky measure,” Wasserlauf explains. “We don’t know how many will click, but we do know how many are likely to see it, so we can plan more effectively. Also, we’re selling the brand and the brand’s attributes, and the clickthrough isn't necessarily a measure of the brand’s attributes.”

With most viewers watching the “Cube Fabulous” episodes through to the end and rating the show highly, the branded model appears to be working well for everyone concerned. The sponsors are meeting their objectives, the syndicated sites are getting the traffic they need, and the producers are receiving enough advertising revenues to cover the $50,000-per-episode production costs. “It’s win-win all the way around,” Wasserlauf says.

In fact, the model is working so well that Broadband Enterprises is planning to replicate it. In 2007, the company expects to launch several new series, including a spinoff of “Cube Fabulous.”