Debate on why branded content matters to kick off BE Festival
A panel of experts on brand funded content will examine what the industry needs to do to generate more and better work locally in a discussion to kick off next month’s Festival of Branded Content & Entertainment.
The panel includes lauded Brazilian transmedia and brand content planning expert Patricia Weiss, chief strategy officer, transmedia agency Wanted; Zara Curtis, GM of Fremantle Media’s branded content division Spring; Ross Raeburn, MD of Soap Creative, and Richard Parker, head of strategy at custom publisher Edge.
The debate – intended to frame conversations across the one day conference – will ask the panellists for their definitions of branded entertainment and its differences to advertising, and how to break down the barriers to client investment in the developing form.
The debate will kick off with a mini-gameshow compered by comedian and TV producer Dan Ilic, which will test whether the panel can tell the difference between different forms of brand-funded content, native advertising, branded entertainment and non-brand funded content. The audience will have the final say.
Weiss
Weiss is a frequent speaker and panellist at branded content events across the world, from Cannes to Brazil’s largest advertising event Festival of Clube de Criação de São Paulo. Curtis was formerly the commercial director at NewsLifeMedia and now heads up Spring while Raeburn is co-founder and MD of Soap Creative, which specialises in digital and game development.
Parker was formerly at StoryWorldwide, one of the world’s foremost custom and branded content agencies.
Ilic runs Downwind Media, a branded entertainment company, which was behind the “banned” Dick Smith Foods campaign which generated large quantities of free coverage for the brand. He has also worked with Vic Roads, Get Up!, Apple and The Commonwealth Bank.
The festival – consisting of a networking afternoon on October 2, followed by the conference and awards ceremony on October 3, is organised by Mumbrella’s parent company Focal Attractions.
Tickets to the Festival – and the programme – are available via this link. Booking for the remaining few networking places close at lunchtime on Tuesday.
Conference sessions include:
- The Glue Society’s Jonathan Kneebone to debunk “naive” expectations of branded content
- Felicity McVay, head of content partnerships at Youtube on how YouTube helped build Jimmy Kimmel’s TV audience (and what that means for your brand)
- Daft Punk, Rolling Stone and Coca-Cola to talk about creating real life experiences that get the world talking
- Boost’s Zombie apocalypse: The Monkeys share a case study on how
- Brent Annells from Facebook to talk about integrating social media with broadcast TV for brands
- Dove Real Beauty Sketches and Dumb Ways to Die: the story behind two of the world’s most successful pieces of brand-funded viral content
- Steve Coll on using TVCs as a supporting medium for connecting audiences with content
- Intel to share their branded content creative process, including Ten’s Offspring integration and native advertising
- Musician Ricki-Lee and Universal Music to talk collaborating with brands
