Are brands and corporations becoming the new broadcasters?
My key takeaways from the Content Production & Distribution Summit at the ISE fair 2024 in Barcelona
Trade fairs are like a treasure trove of industry insights, where you can eavesdrop on experts discussing the latest happenings. The organizers of many fairs nowadays have smartly realized that sharing knowledge is way cooler than just and only pushing sales pitches. In many places, public and exclusive keynotes, panel discussions, hands-on workshops, and meetings are offered by the trade fair. This is also the case in Barcelona at Integrated Systems Europe (ISE), which is celebrating its 20th anniversary.
Speaking of cool, let me spill the beans on a few awesome lectures I attended in Barcelona!
“Storytelling for entertaining, informing & educating” by David Cerqueiro, Executive Producer at Casual Films
In today’s world, where content is abundant, it’s vital to create gripping stories that entertain, inform, and educate. According to David Cerqueiro, the key to successful storytelling is authenticity.
He emphasizes that branded content is not about spying on people or gathering user data; it’s about investing in your brand’s personality. By creating good storytelling through branded content, you can get your audience to start tracking you.
However, it’s important not to show your products or services. Instead, it’s about standing elegantly beside the story and trusting in image transfer.
David also suggests experimenting, being bold, and trusting in the power of positive association with your content.
By the way, Social Media may not always be the right place to showcase your content as a brand, and it’s essential to trust content production partners once they have proven their abilities, he says.
Exemplary branded content at its best
David did share some excellent examples of what branded content can be, such as Mattel’s blockbuster „Barbie“, WeTransfer’s Oscar-winning film “The Long Goodbye”, and the NBA’s documentary series showcasing multicultural experiences in ten cities across Europe. By the way: Mattel is said to be preparing the production of a further 45 feature films. That’s incredible!
Warning! The Long Goodbye is an extremely tough, disturbing movie. If you are sensitive, please do not watch it.
Playlist
This keynote alone was worth visiting the ISE fair 2024. Big thanks to David Cerqueiro for sharing his take on this topic.
It's not easy to generate trust among business clients for projects that don't appear commercial at first glance. I personally love such projects. They create identity for the audience, give a voice to interesting people who sometimes do wonderful things in very small contexts, they can be a cultural contribution that - because it's free - is accessible to everyone and important social issues are addressed by great artists. There are so many arguments as to how the brand can also benefit from this that I don't want to list here. But I was very pleased to see David's examples and how he sees the topic of branded content.
Insights & Trends Panel discussion
The audiovisual industry has both an opportunity and a challenge in that the sales market is changing and expanding as more and more brands and companies invest in their own media production capacities. I’ll list the statements that have stuck in my mind in bullet points without attribution.
- Brands are increasing their focus on production quality.
- Brands are adopting a direct-to-consumer (DTC) approach.
- Challenges include usability, adapting complex user experiences for less skilled users, translating technical language for corporate markets, and providing convenient wrap-around services for content production.
- Brands are making significant investments in content production, aiming for personalized, localized, high-quality, and fast content.
- Brands are becoming professional broadcasters.
The cloud plays a major role in the convergence of these trends.
This panel discussion had been well prepared
Lorenzi Zanni did navigate the experts very well through the jungle of potential topics with excellent questions. I learned the standpoint from the AV industry point of view, which usually is not my perspective as a creative pro. That has been interesting. I recommend following the panel members on LinkedIn. All names are linked to their profiles.
The panel:
- Lorenzi Zanni (Moderator), IABM
- Abi Hemingway, Jackshoot
- Tim Strand, Jigsaw24
- Kevin Schwutke, ARRI Group
- Alain Polgar, EMEA & APAC
Lost in the jungle of film financing and funding? Take a look at this.
Roadmovie is the name of an AI assistant in the beta phase that will make researching film funding and the many bureaucratic tasks much easier for filmmakers.
At the booth of Barcelona Activa, who supports the local scene, I had the opportunity to speak with Anna Giralt Gris, who is part of the development team at Artefacto Films. She said that the application is being fed with knowledge that would take junior producers many years to acquire. Anna herself is a producer.
You can find everything about the app at the link below. I wish the project every success.
If you have any questions, comments, or thoughts then please feel invited to contact me. If you found this content interesting or helpful, then thanks for sharing it on your channels.