Toppers at Yume, ICM Partners, Nielson and more talked the state of media advertising and the rise of content marketing at two panels at Thursday’s Massive Advertising and Market Summit, led by Variety‘s Brian Steinberg.
As discussed during Ryan Kavanaugh’s presentation regarding Relativity Media’s new in-house agency, Madvine, the platform with which marketers deliver branded content has changed drastically, so companies have been forced to adapt in order to reach consumers.
“Content consumption is up, the quality of programming is through the roof, but at the same time you have advertisers who are going, ‘We have to change our 15-second or 30-second spot approach. Why are people not watching our content anymore?'” said Bonin Bough, VP, global media and consumer engagement, Mondelēz International. “I think it’s incumbent right now on advertisers to change their approach to content creation and think different about how they use the platform versus condemning the platform.”
But consumers today aren’t watching content on only their televisions. Most people carry their smartphones with them all times, which allows them to access content whenever and wherever. Because of the changing media landscape, marketers will need to find ways to start tracking how people are using their mobile devices, whether they be smartphones or tablets.
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“It is incumbent upon a company like Yume or a company like Nielsen that measures it to tell you where those consumers are so that you can somehow start to gauge what your media buy looks like,” said Scot McLernon, CRO, Yume.
Nielsen will start to track mobile usage come the fall, according to Cheryl Idell, executive vice president of client solutions at the company. “We’re trying to understand that consumption,” Idell said.
The Rise in Content Marketing: When Brands and Entertainment Collide panel explored how brands and the entertainment industry can form a successful symbiotic relationship. Kicking off the panel was a video presentation from Activision’s executive vice president and chief marketing officer Tim Ellis, who showed that celebrities such as Jimmy Fallon, Rashida Jones and John Krasinski aren’t the only big names who promote the gaming company’s mega-hit “Call of Duty” franchise. Activision is turning to “new celebrities” as well.
“The new celebrities for us right now are not just the guys like RDJ and the big Jonah Hill and the big blockbuster commercials that we produce, but also the relationships we’re creating with YouTube stars,” Ellis said. “I would say that’s almost the modern marketer’s celebrity of today.”
According to Ellis, the YouTube promotions received 100 million views on YouTube. “[YouTube stars] end up creating an impression in the digital world that we could never do.”
The discussion also heavily touched on the importance of social media in today’s marketing world. With celebrities able to reach their fans directly using Twitter, it gives marketers an entirely new space to work with. But both stars and marketers should be wary of how they use it.
“There really needs to be that authenticity, and what I always say to the talent is, ‘This has to be a career builder for you…you have to choose the right alliances with brands to help build your career,'” said Carol Goll, partner at ICM Partners and head of global branded entertainment.
In addition to authenticity, there also needs to be an element of storytelling which, according to Lisa Licht, senior VP of marketing partnerships and platforms, Yahoo, is a part of marketing that has never changed.
“You have to tell a great story even if it’s a digital ad…It has to tell stories and be authentic instead of being a little box in the corner ” Licht said.
