by Julia Pierrepont III
LOS ANGELES, March 24 (Xinhua) -- "Deep storytelling and massive world-building that can connect with the broadest audience is the key," Stephan Davis, chief content officer of Hasbro, a company that created such classic toys as the Transformers, Monopoly and G.I Joe, told Xinhua.
At a packed marketing and branding summit hosted by Variety at University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) this week, a host of other expert panelists from across the entertainment spectrum explored how the convergence of film, TV, online streaming, mobile media, Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, big data, etc., has spawned a golden age for marketing.
INTERCONNECTED, MULTI-PLATFORM STRATEGY
Statistica.com research shows that online viewing of digital video content has doubled in the last five years, going from less than 35 minutes per day to over 75 minutes, with desktop/laptop computers using 25 percent of the time, and smartphones and tablets each using 16 percent of the time.
"Our fans can watch us everywhere -- wherever they are. We are on 16 different platforms," Molly Battin, EVP/Global Chief Marketing Officer of Turner Broadcasting, said, explaining how companies increasingly need multi-platform marketing campaigns to "create an experience around our content, create a conversation with our fans that is relevant to their lives."
"You can't build a brand with one platform any more," said Hasbro's Davis, "You need an interconnected, multi-platform strategy."
Panelists also cited authenticity as a huge factor in viewer engagement, with thousands of Marvel and DC Comics fansites ready to react to each false step.
"We have to be true to our canon, our fans won't tolerate inauthenticity," reported Mindy Hamilton, head of Global Partnerships at Marvel Entertainment.
Alex Angeledes, Google's managing director of Media & Entertainment, told Xinhua, "Each audience segment has their own preferences and needs to be approached on different platforms, using different marketing content and strategies. A 15-second spot on Youtube will work for an older demographic, but a 6-second spot on Snapchat will work for a millennial."
"Audiences are a complex ecosystem with very specific dynamics per show, region and country," explained Wared Seger, president of Parrot Analytics, "Globalized business is worth so much more today. Netflix has more foreign viewers than it does in the U.S."
NEW WAYS TO ENGAGE AUDIENCES
Disney went big: featuring their Black Panther Marvel character during the opening ceremony of the Olympics and partnering with Lexus to air a Black Panther/Lexus ad during the Superbowl, where Hulk and Ant-Man appeared together for the first time.
Hulu's Campbell said, "We are always looking for new ways to engage our audiences," describing how they integrated their extensive online, print and TV marketing campaign for the hit Golden Globe-winning series, "The Handmaiden's Tale" with public appearances of live female actors dressed as handmaidens walking around 10 U.S. cities -- activating a storm of tweets and Instagram posts.
"It helped fuel a movement," Campbell concluded, referring to the #TimesUp women's movement still sweeping the United States.
Other networks took their audience engagement a step even further.
Jacqueline Parkes, chief marketing officer of MTV, VH1, and Logo, said "MTV is more than a brand. It has role in (our consumer's) lives. Millions of Americans identify themselves as the 'MTV Generation'. This is a privilege that we take seriously."
In the wake of the brutal Parkland High School shootings that left 17 students and teachers dead, MTV/VH1 went to profound lengths to bond with their youth-oriented audience.
"Our role is to amplify the voices of youth, to socialize their desires, promote their activism," Parkes affirmed. So, when school kids around the nation held silent memorial vigils for 17 minutes, MTV and VH1 went dark for 17 minutes to commemorate their loss.
That is an extraordinary action by a network to which 17 minutes of dead air constitutes a significant loss of coin, for a network that comprises 15 percent of parent Viacom's annual revenue.
Other networks agree with going the distance for their viewers. "It's important to be fearless," said Bob Berney, head of marketing and distribution for Amazon studios.
TODAY'S CELEBRITIES
Network and studio marketing relationships with celebrities and influencers is changing dramatically, explained Blair Rich, president of Worldwide Marketing for Warner Bros, "Influencer's deals are no longer transactional, they're partners with us. So we need to understand what stories are important to them too."
Influencer-comedian Kevin Hart, Jumanji co-star, told Xinhua, "I don't want other people to run my destiny. I want to be hands on as a partner that studios believe in."
"Today's stars and celebrities: you're big and you become bigger when your fans feel like they see behind the closed door. If I don't post for a day, they think I'm dead!"
Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry's colossal media empires inspired Hart to create his own by launching multiple new companies for movie production, online programming, books, records, and stages, including Hartbeat Productions, Hartbeat Digital, and his 24-hr, Laugh Out Loud Channel on Sirius Radio, now valued at 62 million dollars and growing.
"How do I put myself in a position to give this younger generation what I don't have?" he asked. This kind of savvy celebrity positioning is changing the Hollywood entertainment marketing and business landscape. "Just wait," Hart told Xinhua, "In five years, I'm going to own this town."