In a unique move, social networking site Twitter has signed a lucrative "first of its kind" advertising contract with digital agency Starcom MediaVest to uniquely promote clients like Walmart, Microsoft and Coca-Cola.


Though Starcom and Twitter have refused to release specific details, the Financial Times article has triggered reports of "hundreds of millions of dollars" being agreed.

According to AdWeek:

The deal is not tied to specific SMG clients. Rather, SMG guaranteed that its Starcom, Mediavest and Spark agencies will spend a certain amount on Twitter ad inventory over a certain number of years—with that inventory being available to all clients across SMG.

"It's about the marketplace being really a 24/7 marketplace today, and this is the kind of agreement we think defines the future," said Lisa Weinstein, president of global digital, data and analytics at Starcom.



"It's not just about inventory and ad products themselves. It's about how we better understand consumers across screens with platforms like Twitter and mobile devices. It's so much more than just an agreement around inventory and ad products."
Laura Desmond, global chief executive of Starcom Mediaest Group, said: “Twitter, in a very short period of time, has gone from an experiment to something that is essential. This signals to the marketplace how we want to conduct business and measure the implications. This is the future. It’s convergence.”