AOL opens Build content creation hub in NYC
AOL has opened Build, a content creation hub and studio in Lower Manhattan, NYC, where it will encourage brands to participate in live and recorded events. The 13,000 sq ft studio can be used by advertisers in numerous ways, with brands potentially sponsoring products for use in certain rooms or events in the bar. AOL VP of Monetisation Jesse Chambers said Build is "a physical embodiment of native advertising" that could open up many avenues; content filmed at Build may be repurposed for other social media channels. At its previous Build space in its Broadway headquarters, AOL livestreamed 12,000 events.

Imagine designing one building that could accomplish this two-part mission: First, make one of the oldest digital brands cool once again. Second, secure the future of branded content.

Has such a building been created? Time will tell, but that's certainly the hope of Build Studio, AOL's flashy new mini-concert destination and content creation hub.

This week, the Verizon-owned media company officially opened Build, a 13,412-square-foot studio in lower Manhattan that will become the stage for all sorts of interviews, performances and events shot both live and with 360-degree video.

Build, which was announced last year during AOL's presentation at the Digital Content NewFronts, aims to attract a younger audience to AOL properties, both with the types of guests that will be featured and by having a street-facing studio to attract anyone passing by.