ZDFE in Social-Media Partnership

MAINZ: ZDF Enterprises (ZDFE) is partnering with YouTube marketing platform HitchOn in an effort to boost its ties with social-media personalities.

HitchOn allows YouTube stars to answer requests from companies, as well as announce their project ideas themselves. "YouTube plays an important role in our digital strategy," says Alexander Coridass, the president and CEO of ZDF Enterprises. "YouTube stars can pitch their ideas to us directly using HitchOn. This gives us the opportunity to gain early access to web-only formats and cross-media ideas, to invest in new formats and to promote new talent. The partnership with HitchOn is an important element of our digital strategy and will open new opportunities for cooperation for both our corporate group and our business partners."

"Thanks to HitchOn, businesses and YouTube stars are connecting on an equal footing," says HitchOn's founder, Sarah Kübler. "Since our YouTubers are able to develop and offer their own concepts for projects and brands, HitchOn gives the artists more creative control and ultimately, successful cooperation with businesses."

Kübler founded HitchOn, which has 500-plus YouTubers and more than 150 business clients on its platform, at the start of this year. She was previously a producer and then manager of digital channels at ZDF Enterprises.