Published on September 25th, 2021 📆 | 2284 Views ⚑
010 Key Takeaways from Variety’s Entertainment and Technology Summit
There has been no better time than now for TV leaders and content creators to establish new trends. After the pandemic, many consumers were looking for entertainment that catered to them to take over their ample free time. At Varietyâs Entertainment and Technology Summit, entertainment executives, leaders and public figures spoke about the new wave of media content and bouncing back after the pandemic â either continuing to stick with what was working before, or latching on to new ideas that seems to pick up traction over the last year.
We Are Constantly Rebranding
In a keynote conversation, Netflixâs chief marketing officer Bozoma Saint John explained the process of constantly rebranding, which can help consumers develop personal, emotion-driven relationships to the products they engage with.
âWhen I was a kid, I moved around quite a bit. And every time you show up on the playground at recess, you had to reintroduce yourself. I look back at that time and realize that I kept rebranding. Whatâs your name? What do you do? Whatâs your favorite color? What do you like? Weâre constantly rebranding. And if I think about how I do that now, itâs like, how do I connect with people? What do I find to be the point that we both agree? It doesnât matter about our race or ethnicity or gender or sexual orientation, any of the things that make us othered. My overarching vision and strategy is, how can I get people to connect to each other right away? That overarching idea about why we are connected to certain products or brands sometimes feels illogical. It can feel very emotional. And thatâs the thing about the strategy of marketing that I love best. How can I help you to see yourself in the product or the service that Iâm talking about?â
Timing Is the Most Important Detail of Launching New Projects
In another keynote, Rob Lowe, the actor known for roles such as Sam Seaborn in âThe West Wingâ and Chris Traeger in âParks and Recreation,â discussed his popular new podcast, âLiterally! With Rob Lowe.â
âItâs not good enough just to have a good idea. Timing truly is everything. People [had talked] to me about doing a podcast for a while. Iâd had some pretty serious interest for a couple years. I discovered this passion for storytelling, talking to people, interviewing. Iâd [guest] hosted âEllen,â [âJimmy Kimmel Live!â], âGood Morning America,â and had a ball. An absolute blast. I was like, âI could do this for a living.â But I also knew I wasnât gonna give up my day job to do that. And then podcasting started to feel like an adultâs job, as opposed to, âGee letâs put on a show.â And then COVID. So all these kinds of things dovetailed at once and it felt like the right time to do it.â
When In-Person Connection Is Off the Table, the Metaverse Is Always an Option
At âThe Scene Stealers: Breakthrough Entertainment Innovations,â Christina Wootton, vice president of brand partnerships at Wootton, explained how the pandemic helped Roblox understand the power of virtual events and products.
âWeâre seeing [more conversations] about the metaverse. If you canât do something in the physical world, whether thereâs physical limitations or you canât open up a movie because of COVID, there are now options to do something in the virtual space. We launched an experience for DC Comics for âWonder Womanâ when the movie was getting moved and we were working closely with Warner Bros. We launched the virtual experience so people could still engage with the content. Gal Gadot would show up with her video and greet the audience. That way youâre keeping the fans engaged. Weâre also seeing this not just within entertainment, but with fashion. While production has been tough for a lot of the fashion brands, or theyâre working on sustainability and reducing their carbon footprint, theyâre using digital fashion items as another revenue stream, but also an opportunity to test products without having to produce something physically. They can actually just launch something virtually and get real-time feedback from their audience. Let them be part of the design process.â
Power Couple Talks Rebranding and Fan Interactions
In a keynote conversation, Paris Hilton and Carter Miliken Reum talk about being a couple in the public eye and interacting with Hiltonâs devoted fanbase who have watched her through many transformations.
âShe understood not only what it was like to be a celebrity, but to understand the fandom,â said Miliken. âThe way she interacts with her fans. And itâs really interesting for me when people say that Iâm the luckiest guy in the world because I get to marry her, itâs interesting to see where theyâve interacted with her in terms of â âOh, I grew up singing her songs, I grew up watching âThe Simple Life,â or I love what sheâs doing around advocacy.â
The Trendsetters: Succeeding in the Disrupted TV Industry
In a keynote conversation with trendsetters succeeding in the disruptive TV industry, Miguel Panel, president SVOD of AMC Networks, talked about the impact that the coronavirus pandemic had on the production of TV.
âDuring the pandemic, a lot of our productions were impacted,â said Panella. âThey had to be postponed or delayed, and that disrupted our release calendar, and thatâs something we had to adapt to. Having that robust release calendar is really key in terms of driving signups and acquisitions.â
Storytelling and Gaming in the Streaming Age
In a keynote conversation with streaming content leaders, Michael Aragon, the chief content officer of Twitch, said that there is more to the function than gaming.
âPeople not familiar with Twitch think of us as a live video streaming and gaming platform, but thatâs really just the tip of the iceberg,â said Aragon. âWeâre really chat video with interactive features which means, while youâre watching you can interact with the creator and the rest of the audience at the same time which builds community. In these pandemic times that community has been really important, which is why weâve seen such a boom in viewership.â
Marketers on the Rebound â Building Audiences Across Todayâs Media Divide
Sofia Hernandez, head of North American business marketing at TikTok, said the app is much more than just a social platform.
âWeâre not a social platform,â said Hernandez. âTikTok runs on a content graph so we consider us as more of an entertainment platform. What weâre finding is our users are spending a movieâs worth of time consuming content on TikTok on a daily basis. So, while people will go check social platforms they came to watch TikTok.â
Holistic Data and Partnership Is the Future of the Multi-Platform Advertisement Field
In âThe Roaring 2020s: The Explosion of Multi-Platform Advertising,â Carol Hinnant, chief revenue officer of Comscore, discussed the challenging yet exciting nature of the fast-paced multi-platform advertising industry and what advertisers should prioritize in order to succeed in the developing field.
âItâs the speed at which you can retrieve that data. Some are faster than others, but you have to make sense of it too. And you have to be able to clean it, understand it, make sure that youâre making good decisions based on that. Itâs a complicated world but itâs changing at the speed of light. The monetization strategies and understanding that itâs a real ecosystem where everybody has to be partners in it is what I think the future of the industry is going to be.â
How Entertainment Brands Can Cash-In on the NFT Bonanza
In another keynote, Tom Mizzone, founder and CEO of Sweet, spoke to the importance of increasing accessibility to NFTs for the customers who want to be collectors but donât know how.
âYouâre really limiting the number of consumers who can get into the experience because itâs too technical and too complex,â said Mizzone. âSo brands are looking to do more and consumers want to be collectors, but you have to really break down those ease of entry kind of barriers to understand it and to make it very, very simple.â
]
Creators Are the Heart and Soul of Clubhouse
In a fireside chat, Fadia Kader, head of media partnerships for the audio social network Clubhouse, discussed the strengths of Clubhouse and how it can support creators as a community.
âYou know, Iâve worked at platforms where it took years to embrace creators, but from day one, Clubhouse has been embracing creators and community members such as myself and bringing them in-house or identifying creators and community members that we support because we see the potential,â said Kader. âItâs like weâre trend forecasters. When they talk about creators being the heart and soul, they truly mean it, and they actually own up to it in the way they support creators and the way we all support creators as a team.â
Gloss