Vice has struck a multi-year deal with Unilever to support the launch of its new female-focused channel, Broadly.
The partnership will see Unilever brands such as Dove and Vaseline sponsor and co-create content for the channel, which will launch in August and exist on Vice’s own properties, and also distributed elsewhere such as YouTube, Snapchat, and TV.
Broadly, which will offer daily editorial led by video series and long-form documentaries, has been interpreted as a move away from Vice’s slightly overall “dude” tone.
The publication will concentrate on women’s issues such as reproductive health, women in conflict zones, and workplace policy. The team currently has around 20 staff, led by former Jezebel writer Tracie Egan Morrissey.
Speaking at Cannes Lions, Vice chief creative officer Eddy Moretti said the idea for the women’s channel came about after Broadly publisher Shannon Kelley and a team of about 30 women at Vice “knocked on the door one day and said: ‘There’s stuff happening here, there’s a shift in attitude about women’s issues. But there’s a void, a white space … there a lot of other sites based around reactionary commentary, wagging fingers at people saying or doing the wrong thing.'”
Moretti added that said there are many content “white spaces” in the market where Vice could look to expand, including genres such as travel.
Kelley said: “There is nothing like this out there. There is no video-driven content platform for women that speaks about the issues that matter to us.”
Keith Weed, Unilever’s chief marketing and sustainability officer explained that the partnership made sense for his brands because more than 70% of its sales come from women. But there’s also a wider goal: “60% of agricultural output comes from women, but they own just 1% of the land. There’s something fundamental as mankind and womenkind we need to address to have a sustainable society.”