Finding the right entertainment projects for your brand
OK, it’s been a while since my last blog. Too long really. I planned to take a break during the holidays, but then it extended a little beyond that. Why? Well, I started teaching a class at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism (PR Research & Analysis), work has been pretty busy with Season 4 of Army Wives kicking back up production and assorted other projects big and small, and I spent the last four days in Park City, Utah at Sundance with the movie “The Dry Land“…how’s that for excuses.
But, this blog entry is titled “Finding the right entertainment projects for your brand” not “lame excuses for not blogging lately,” so here we go.
People often ask, when they realize what job I have, “how does the Army decide what projects to support and what projects they don’t?” While our M.O. is slightly different from commercial brands because they have to pay for their brand integration and we have the luxury of being the only organization with tanks, military helicopters, recent war experience, etc., so they need us, the decision process is the same.
Bottom line, it’s all about strategy.
What are your organization’s strategic communication goals? What entertainment properties will help you accomplish those goals? And can you integrate the two into a seamless brand experience without taking the audience out of the story for one of those “ahhh, look….a product placement ad stuck in the middle of my TV show” experiences.
A great example of this is the aforementioned “The Dry Land” movie. This movie is about a Soldier who returns from Iraq and is suffering from PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). A lot of people wondered why the Army was supporting a movie that wasn’t a “pro-Army” movie. Well, the answer was simple. It fit our strategy.
One of the Army’s top priorities is taking care of our wounded troops, thus one of our top communication priorities is to talk about what we’re doing to help our wounded warriors. While this movie doesn’t address that directly, it will present opportunities to further the dialogue. Moreover, it will demonstrate to our Soldiers that the Army is comfortable talking about this issue, thus encouraging them to seek help openly and fearlessly.
Ok, but following strategy is pretty obvious…how do you FIND projects?
We like to think in terms of offense and defense (or proactive and reactive).
Offense. One obvious place is to keep up with the trade pubs, websites, etc. But sometimes their “radar” doesn’t extend far or wide enough. There are other ways to get serious about this.
We don’t use agencies to find brand integration opportunities. But if your organization doesn’t have a presence in Hollywood or lacks the cache or network to find projects on your own, it’s not a bad idea to partner with some experts. There are a lot of agencies that provide this service. Some specialize, like BNC, Momentum Worldwide, and dozens more, and others dabble, like most advertising agencies who are scrambling to find a position in this marketing space. Most of the big talent agencies are also very much involved in this business.
The benefit of using talent agencies is that their tentacles are in every aspect of the business. They rep writers so they know what scripts are in early development, directors so they know how the scripts will be interpreted, and actors so they know what cache the project will carry. They are excellent at marrying brands to projects. But this kind of help is pricey.
Another great place to start is The Lounge at the LA Office. It’s a social network of branded entertainment professionals from corporations and most of the major networks, studios, video game companies, agencies, etc. who are shopping their upcoming projects to potential brand partners. It’s a little costly for individuals, but it’s a great deal for firms.
The defense. For the U.S. Army, we are in the fortunate position that projects typically find us first. Like I said earlier, we’re the only organization with the latest tanks, helicopters, tactical experience, etc., so we typically find ourselves in reactive mode. However, if you’re able to make it known in the industry (through networking or other means) that your brand is openly and actively seeking brand integration opportunities, the projects may very well find you as well.
Again, the bottom line, it’s about strategy.
Producers of entertainment properties are looking for new revenue streams, and integrating brands into the story is one of the ways they’re doing that. It’s not new…frankly it’s how TV started, but there are still a lot of unanswered questions regarding monetization, value, etc.
Would love to hear thoughts on this post! Send your comments or questions!
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