Hasbro Entertainment, Animaj Launch Lumee Ad Sales Joint Venture To Better Monetize YouTube Kids Content

Hasbro Entertainment and Animaj have formed a joint venture to consolidate their digital advertising operations for kids and family content under a new company called Lumee, the companies announced Thursday.

The 50-50 venture will exclusively represent ad sales on YouTube and manage connected TV inventory across a combined portfolio of brands, including Peppa Pig, Transformers, My Little Pony, Power Rangers, PJ Masks, Pocoyo, Maya the Bee, and Rabbids.

According to the companies, the combined network generates more than 50 billion annual views on YouTube, creating one of the largest premium kids and family footprints on the platform and across AVOD (Advertising Video on Demand) and FAST (Free Ad-Supported Streaming Television) services.

Lumee will offer advertisers three primary services: media sales across YouTube and connected TV; research and audience insights to inform media strategy and measurement; and original and branded content produced at scale using Animaj’s AI-enhanced production capabilities.

Speaking with Cartoon Brew, Animaj co-founder and CEO Sixte de Vauplane said the venture is intended to address monetization challenges in the kids and family sector on digital native platforms, in this case, YouTube:

YouTube has become the most dominant platform in the industry over the past few years. But in the meantime, YouTube monetizes very poorly for advertisers. There is a very big monetization crisis right now in the kids and family industry because YouTube is not doing what they are supposed to do, which is to provide a very strong monetization engine so that creators can finance their work.

Lumee will combine Hasbro’s and Animaj’s respective YouTube ad inventories into what de Vauplane described as a “one-stop shop” for advertisers targeting kids and families. He said the two companies’ YouTube channels together account for roughly 55 billion annual views, including approximately 22 billion from Animaj and 33 billion from Hasbro.

Under the arrangement, advertising will run across existing YouTube channels operated by both companies rather than through a newly created outlet. The venture will provide COPPA-compliant placements and contextual targeting designed for children’s content. The companies said they are in discussions with major advertisers, including toy manufacturers, streaming platforms, movie distributors, theme park operators, and non-endemic brands seeking to reach family audiences.

In a statement accompanying today’s news, de Vauplane said, “With Lumee, we are building a bridge between advertisers and a new generation of digital-native kids.”

Yannick Ferrero, SVP of Digital and Distribution at Hasbro Entertainment, added:

Hasbro is committed to delivering exceptional play and entertainment experiences. Our joint venture with Animaj is a strategic move to maximize the value of our premier kids brands for advertisers, while ensuring digital interactions are valuable, safe, and inspiring for our audiences.

Lumee is now operational and is already in discussions with advertisers about launch partnerships.