In a Q3 2015 investor call, Fran Shammo, a Verizon executive, mentioned that they had not yet started marketing go90. He stated, “Keep in mind we are 20 days into this. We actually haven’t done any advertising or promotion activity around this product. So, for the early stages, we are seeing very good platform stability. We are seeing very encouraging feedback. And of course, we’re looking at specific metrics like viewership, site revisits, and popularity of new shows.”

However, this doesn’t mean they weren’t planning to advertise. According to a report by the New York Post, Verizon had allocated $80 million for marketing the new streaming service.

“go90’s architect,” Brian Angiolet, expressed enthusiasm for the service in a press release, stating, “Brilliant coders and engineers and awesome content partners have invested an incredible amount of work and have taken care to create a video experience that until now has been missing for millennial and Gen Z viewers. go90 bridges the content divide between traditional and digital distributors, along with established and emerging creators.”

But there wasn’t anything particularly unique about go90. The only standout feature mentioned in the press release was the ability for users to “cut & share your favorite clips via text (SMS), email, Facebook and Twitter.” It’s worth noting that YouTube didn’t introduce its own clipping feature until July 2021, almost six years later.

Overall, the marketing copy for go90 seemed forced and trying too hard to be “hip.” For example, it encouraged users to “join or create your own ‘Crew’ to connect and share your interests with friends and other fans.”