varietyThe Entertainment Marketing Summit, hosted by Deloitte and held in Los Angeles, brought together over 600 marketing professionals, executives, creators and influencers for a day-long event to explore the massive shift in the entertainment business. We have looked at all aspects of marketing as a discipline during the period. Here are some highlights from the event held at the Beverly Hilton on April 24th.
The social impact of marketing on sustainability
Last summer, the movie “Barbie” took the world by storm, especially social media. Jay Tucker, executive director of UCLA's Media, Entertainment and Sports Center, told Lisa McKnight, Mattel's chief brand officer, that the iconic doll, which has millions of social media followers, He talked about the influence he had and its evolution.
“We began a journey to reimagine the brand to fulfill our founder's original purpose for Barbie: to inspire the limitless potential of every girl,” McKnight said. . Through many evolutions, adding body diversity, ethnic diversity, different skin tones, eye colors, hair fibers, and physical abilities to today's line, Barbie is the most inclusive and diverse line in the world. This is a line of sexual dolls. And it's also a source of inspiration. ”
Mattel has developed a line of products made from oceanbound recycled plastic called “Barbie Loves the Ocean.”
Artists and athletes influence video games
Video games have had a multilayered impact on the media landscape. But fans have a huge impact on the live experience. Activision's head of public marketing, Tyler Bahl, talks about how the company leverages live events to engage with fandom and how they use live events to get audiences excited before a game's release. We talked about how we are creating opportunities.
“We have an annual event in August where we bring together 250 of our biggest influencers to actually play the next multiplayer experience, which turns out to be It will be a marquee event for us,” Bahr said.
Influencers of all levels are invited to participate in the live experience, from gaming influencers and hip-hop artists to famous athletes like Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes.
Kathryn Kailyn Frederick, CMO of the Los Angeles Rams, also spoke about the team's marketing focus in the months leading up to the NFL season, including the NFL Draft, which begins on April 25th. “It was a really emotional moment for our fans and our next generation of fans,” she said of the Rams' draft plans.
Theater and streaming marketing integrated
The advent of streaming has not only changed the way people watch movies and TV shows, it has also dramatically changed the way studios sell their products. Patrick Cole, Disney's vice president of marketing, said his plan is very linear. He passed projects from one team to another, handling theatrical releases and then home entertainment. Now, streaming has made it easy to bring movies into the home and streamlined marketing into one cohesive experience. “What we're thinking about is… how do we make this feel like one big story and give people something that feels unique in each story,” Cole said.
How to leverage artificial intelligence
Another hot issue in entertainment is the use of artificial intelligence. Robyn Malcolm, senior director of media and entertainment at Samsung Ads, said one of her “latest” projects her team is working on is using “AI and machine learning” to create real-time updates for clients. I said it's about analyzing data.
“We start with our clients. [key performance indicators] Then work backwards. If you're trying to generate lift, if you're trying to improve in-app retention, you start there first and machine learning builds that media plan based on his KPIs. And it was really successful,” Malcolm said.
Marketing in a streaming environment means flexibility
Of all the changes we've seen in the entertainment industry over the past year, the speed at which it operates has been relentless. For marketing executives like Pia Barlow, vice president of marketing at Max, it's all about “marketing at the speed of culture.” One of her latest projects, Quiet On Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, became a surprise hit for Barlow and her team, who had to quickly adapt to the wave of press the series received. had. “This is part of what we have to do as content marketers these days,” Barlow says. “Sometimes you have to be reactive and agile.”
Domenic DiMeglio, CMO and head of data at Paramount Streaming, added that his job is not only to look at new titles, but also to “listen to what's going on” and gauge interest in older titles. Ta. In 2023, the anthology series “Why Women Kill” was rediscovered by fans on social media after not airing a new season for two years. By interacting with fans about the show, Dimeglio was able to capitalize on the unexpected response and increase views even further. “It took off on a lot of platforms, especially TikTok. So we saw an opportunity and grabbed it in a bigger way and joined the conversation, and that was the biggest driver of new deals in that particular period. It turned out to be a force,” DiMeglio said.
Multi-platform marketing is key in a TikTok-driven media environment
Dennis Ortiz, principal consultant at Deloitte, moderated a panel focused on cross-platform marketing strategies.
Cross-platform marketing and targeting marketing differently depending on the audience a platform reaches, building and maintaining consumer communities, and the growing importance of social media were all topics of discussion.
“As the situation evolves, we have an opportunity to become more targeted in our approach,” said Dustin Sandoval, Lucasfilm's vice president of social media and digital. “We can reach a specific audience on one platform and be more targeted on another. We can make sure our content is custom across the board.”
Paris Hilton and Bruce Gersh talk about pushing their brand into mainstream culture
Paris Hilton, CEO of 11:11 Media, and Bruce Gersh, President and COO of 11:11 Media, discuss brand promotion and personalization in a conversation with Andrew Wallenstein, President and Chief Media Analyst of Variety Intelligence Platform. We talked about branding.
11:11 Media has ambitions to grow its business in TV, audio, digital, social impact and licensing. Hilton said she has always explored different social media platforms, whether it's TikTok or Roblox. Ms Hilton said she had always been a “secret nerd” and was obsessed with keeping up with trends on various up-and-coming social platforms. “I can see the future,” she joked.
Paris Hilton speaks varietyEntertainment Marketing Conference at the Beverly Hilton
Variety (via Getty Images)
Innovative marketing for your audience
The use of data analytics, reaching audiences on different platforms, finding consumers on different platforms, and artificial intelligence were the main topics of the panel “Race to Innovation for Audiences”.
Panelists included Alex Angeledes, managing director of media and entertainment at Google, Mainak Mazumdar, chief advertising research and analysis officer at Fox Corp., and Adam Bergman, group vice president of advertising and data at Vizio. .
Karen Kovacs, president of client partnerships and national offices at NBCUniversal Advertising, and Marybeth Strobel, executive vice president of advertising sales at Warner Bros./Discovery, also participated in the panel discussion.
Angeles pointed to YouTube's track record of paying out $70 billion to creators over the past three years as a sign of the changing times in content and viewers.
“It changed the whole model,” he said. “This will change the way consumers view media and content consumption.”
Brand Marketing Success Starts with Relationships
With so many big brands and startups emerging every day, it can be difficult to know how to make your brand stand out. For Gigi Guerra, Target's vice president of marketing, the mantra for running a successful business has always been “relationship benefits.”
“This really speaks to how we work with talent, and it has to be mutually beneficial. There has to be a return on both sides,” Guerra said. Ta. “Why do you want to work with us? Why do we want to work with you? And how can we create something meaningful for both parties?”
When actor Molly Sims launched Yse Beauty in 2023, she took a similar approach to Guerra. Although she had a lot of experience supporting other companies' products, when launching her brand she needed to rely on the people she had met throughout her career.
“Having those fundamental relationships meant everything to me,” Sims said. “I called some of the favorite people in my life who run some of the best brands in the business and said, 'Can you help me?' Can you give me some advice?'
(Top of photo: variety's Angelique Jackson speaks with Molly Sims, Rachel Lindsay, Patti Stanger, Meta's Shannon Mattingly Nathanson, and Target's Gigi Guerra at Variety's Entertainment Marketing Summit. )
