NowThis

NowThis emerged as a digital-native media company at a time when traditional publishers were still struggling to understand social video. Rather than building a traditional website experience, the team made a bold decision in early 2015 to essentially eliminate their homepage, directing audiences instead to find them "where you live on social." This wasn't a gimmick—it reflected a fundamental philosophy: understand where your audience actually consumes content, and build specifically for that.

Under the editorial leadership of EIC Sarah Frank and the social distribution expertise of Ashish Patel (global head of social media at Vice before joining NowThis), the team developed a proprietary approach to video production. Rather than creating long-form content and adapting it afterward, they reverse-engineered the entire production process around platform requirements. They developed what Ashish called a "video op-ed style"—close-up shots of subjects speaking directly to camera with questions not vocalized in the audio, paired with on-screen text to make videos consumable without sound. This format was meticulously tested across platforms to maximize engagement.

NowThis monetized through branded content partnerships with major companies. Shell became an early anchor client, funding a campaign around innovations in sustainable energy. The team produced "hero assets"—typically 4-5 pieces per campaign, each 1-2 minutes long, then created platform-specific edits for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat. While Ashish wouldn't disclose exact pricing, he confirmed branded campaigns were "more than 100 grand" in value. High-profile content like a Joe Biden interview generated significant traction, partly through audience participation (crowdsourcing questions from followers) to build anticipation before distribution.

The data told a clear story: Facebook video was the primary driver of reach and engagement, performing "four or five, six times higher" in reach compared to links and photos. The key insight was retention optimization—the longer users watched, the better the algorithm favored the content. Ashish emphasized that the first 5-6 seconds were critical: "You have to have something that's very compelling, makes their fingers stop" in a crowded Facebook feed. The team also discovered that their core audience skewed young, socially liberal, and cared deeply about social justice, healthcare, education, and marijuana legalization—insights that shaped editorial strategy. Snapchat remained experimental; despite having a former president on Snapchat's team, the platform's monetization and audience fit weren't yet fully cracked.

By January 2016, NowThis had grown from 150 million monthly views in early 2015 to approximately 1 billion monthly views—a nearly 7x increase in roughly one year. They had just raised a $16 million funding round and employed about 50 full-time staff. The company expanded its brand with multiple vertical channels: NowThis News, NowThis Election, NowThis Entertainment, NowThis Future, NowThis Weed, and NowThis Booze. Their presence spanned nearly every major social platform (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Vine, Tumblr, YouTube), each with its own audience and content strategy. Success hadn't made them complacent about platforms or audiences—they remained intensely focused on data, testing, and the specific behaviors of users on each channel.