The Daily Meal Partners with Food University for Live Events

Experiential event element added to the cooking site's integrated sales and content efforts.

By Bill Mickey
Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Cross-platform marketing services aren't just for the print folks to figure out. Epicurean website The Daily Meal, published by the Spanfeller Media Group, is partnering with cooking class and event producer Food University to add a live event element to its advertising and sponsorship packages. Called The Daily Meal Food University, the partnership will produce experiential cooking events for the site's marketing partners.

Both brands target the foodie community, offering how-to and lifestyle content around the epicurean experience. Food University, however, specializes in live event formats—culinary classes with celebrity chefs, for example—valuable for Daily Meal advertisers looking for that one-to-one marketing element.

For its part, Food University gets a robust content provider. The Daily Meal will create original video and customized content for sponsors, and provide a broad audience reach—the site claims 3 million monthly unique visitors.

Together, the Daily Meal and Food University will produce branded live events—from in-store demos to VIP dinners and cocktail parties. All of the events will have a sponsor tie-in and will originate as part of a marketing campaign—although the content will still be fashioned around teaching consumers how to cook.

"Food University will produce the live side and The Daily Meal will provide the editorial content, the digital extension, the social media and the video," says Jackie Stone, The Daily Meal's senior vice president of marketing. "This brings together everything from experiential to social to live—bringing it to life and helping create a custom campaign for a brand and a one-of-a-kind experience for the consumer where they can experience it live or digitally."

Sales will be handled by both companies and revenues will be shared accordingly with the formula depending on the scale of the campaign and how much content The Daily Meal is producing to support the event.