Opening Day 2012 Banff

The Banff World Media Festival got underway today, integrating the digital content of nextMEDIA. There was a wide offering of discussions with online integration as the wider topic of the day. The last one being the Canadian Media Leaders presentation, which was a packed house.  Guests included:  

• Kevin Crull, President, Bell Media
• Keith Pelley, President, Rogers Media
• Paul Robertson, Group Vice President, Broadcasting and President, Shaw Media
• Kirstine Stewart, Executive Vice-President, English Services, CBC

The discussion was reminiscent of my post on Canadian Content, with a great deal of discussion around Canadian Content and Vertical integration as well as Terms of Trade. The fact Google, Apple and YouTube are paying for the creation of original content seemed to be a threat. Independent Producers, however, were surely taking note.  It was a bit sobering to hear CBC's Stewart reiterate the fact 175 hours of original Canadian Content had been cut. Good thing there were complimentary drinks to follow at the Public Broadcaster's sponsored Opening Reception.  

The most interesting session I attended today at the Banff World Media Festival was all about Branded Entertainment. Integrating Brands into Successful TV Formats was a panel discussion moderated by Michael Steinberg, Thread Branded. The Panelists included: 

• Hal Burg - Platinum Rye 
• John Young - Temple Street Productions 
• Sean Buckley - Buck Productions 

Branded Entertainment (called Advertiser Funded Programming in the UK) - is gaining in popularity.  But it is hardly new.  A great YouTube clip gives a clear example of this for the department store Macy's:

  

Shows like Escape Routes, Sheer Genius, Around the World in 80 Plates are all about Integrating Brands. Where should you position your Brand in the Branded Content Landscape?  According to the panelists, the way to go is with Integrated Custom Television Content.  If you build it, they will come!  Building in content that has an engaging story, that is, and your viewers/the consumers will stick around to watch and return to the program while buying into the brand.

The trick is finding the right story to engage them with.  Buckley referred to the movie "Castaways" with Tom Hanks as a gorgeous piece of integrated marketing for FedEx.  Each of the panelists talked about their own Branded Entertainment productions.  

Burg's Case Study was on Open Sky.com which is a smaller brand - online shopping - with more than 100 celebrities selling brands on the website. Using the example of 1st Look Celebrity Stylist - Ali Fedotowsky (The Bachlorette) Burg demonstrated the idea of brand integration can work even if your client isn't a major advertiser.

Buckley's Case Study - City Chase - was an online adventure race, which he spun off into a television series. He learned of City Chase coincidentally while playing golf with the events organizer. They talked about taking it to television.  He went to the CBC and asked for a deal - Buck would create content in a half-hour series. This event type show created an urban scavenger hunt of sorts and they integrated Mistubishi into the show, which - as a bonus - also attracted National Geographic.  

Mistubishi paid for the cost of the entire show - in return they got 50% of the advertising as well as product integration. The CBC gave the show a high profile with regards to promotions.  

Another one of Buckley's Branded Content projects is Canada's Best Beauty Talent .  The show was brought to him with Loreal attached, he designed the show and it is online but is moving towards becoming a television series. This is a trend - incubating a TV show online. 

John Young's Case Study was Recipe to Riches, an 8-episode tv show with a multi-million dollar budget. This is a totally interactive Reality show. Recipes are submitted from family traditions shared by home viewers and made by teams of pros and then packaged with a slick campaign.  

The next day they are put onto market through the sponsor's (Loblaws) stores.  The show is a unique concept with a multi-platform experience, including the opportunity for the viewers/consumers to taste-test the products in the supermarkets across the country and turned into a reality show style competition - 600 plus stores across the country.  

Recipe to Riches has aired for two seasons on the Food Network.   It is a competition show in which the winner's product becomes a brand of it's own valued at a quarter million dollars worth of product creation and marketing.  The Return on Investment (ROI) for Loblaws was this show drove consumers into the store and the resulting product launch was huge.

Young says you have to find something that resonates with the Brand and the Broadcaster, as well as the consumers. There are lots of great stories that you can naturally weave brands into. You have to start from the ground up and build the show and the brand. Who are the advertisers that might fit is the second step - the story comes first. 

Buckley thinks every single concept has the ability to be Branded Content. He agrees, the idea has to come first. Build a bullet proof concept.  The show will ultimately lead you to knowing who the targeted advertiser is. Burg says he too thinks about what the best possible show is first to sell a brand on. 

Young noted the show Daybreak (online with Hulu) is going to start a revolution in Branded entertainment - it comes from the producer of Touch with the director of 24 (both of which starred Keiffer Sutherland, of course.) 

The audience was invited to ask questions, the first one being:  Have you had challenges with brands trying to exert too much control with the story telling?  

Buckley noted Keys to the VIP - which aired on Comedy - a show designed around picking-up women. He says in the 12th hour, a client wanted to have the guys drinking Fuzzy Navel coolers (versus Crown & Coke) so Buck walked away from the deal with full support from the network (although he didn't say so - I am filling in the blanks) because it just wasn't authentic. 

Another asked about the Recipe to Riches experience - how did Loblaws track the ROI? 

Young noted: as producer, he doesn't know that information - the measurement tools are still being developed - but the products they created on the show were among their best new product launches in a long time so they were eager to return to the show. 

Actually, as a footnote, the measurement tool already exists and is being marketed at Banff. Following the discussion I was in the foyer and started talking to the ALERT-TV+ team who have a product that's perfect for tracking cross-platform strategies. 

The automated online system they have created provides measurable results for producers and broadcasters - and - they say there is nothing else like it (yet!) on the market to connect you with today's audiences. If you aren't able to see them at the Festival (where the product is being launched) take a look at the product demo on YouTube:  http://t.co/cicKWesd