Brand integration In partnership with THE RISE OF PRODUCT PLACEMENT AND INFLUENCER MARKETING Be Part of the Conversation Not the Interruption Predictive Analytics Unprecedented Scale Guaranteed ROI Solution Agnostic Our deep learning algorithms Our white-glove service and proven Drive direct sales via BEN represents the brand, are custom-built to systems guide brands throughout the infl uencer marketing with not the talent, ensuring you predict results campaign process, allowing us to scale models that work for you get the best solution possible campaigns quickly and e ciently BENGroup.com LA PROVO NYC SHANGHAI LONDON BRAND INTEGRATION IN PARTNERSHIP WITH CONTENTS 4 | ERA OF THE ARTIST Ricky Ray Butler discusses brand opportunities created by the decentralization of content. 7 | MAKING MUSIC We discover how brands can reach discerning audiences by supporting the music industry. I have a confession. Despite being part of the advertising industry I am no fan of TV commercials. 10 | STATE OF STREAMING Yes, I admit, I too take the ‘Skip Ad’ or ‘fast forward’ options like the vast majority of Lockdown has made streaming fans of us all. my fellow consumers. How can brands take advantage? And that is why I have really enjoyed working on this special supplement of The Drum. It aligns with one of my passions; that commercial content should not get in the way of the entertainment. Ideally it should add value to the consumer’s experience and motivate 12 | INFLUENCER EVOLUTION them to positively engage. The original iteration of this alternative funding model was Influencer marketing is changing, and marketers product placement. We all remember counting the brands in the James Bond franchise, are well-placed to benefit from new models. for example. But, as we demonstrate in this report, product placement has grown in both sophistication and significance. Take a show like Jane the Virgin. On one hand, if you were targeting 16 | CASE STUDIES a certain demographic, running an ad alongside the show when it debuted on linear TV We explore lessons from real world examples would make sense. But actually, streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu mean this of branded integration innovation. show now has a long tail, and the ultimate audience is far greater than what would have been originally achieved. So, brands that are actually part of the show itself, got more bang for their buck. But to quote Jane, our story does not end there. As well as integrating into traditional In partnership with: shows, brands are now seeking to work with influencers. However, this market, which grew from around $6.5bn in 2019 to $9.7bn in 2020, has it own specific challenges. How on earth do you assess the hundreds of millions of videos created by hundreds of thousands of influencers? That is where AI comes in. It can scrutinize the data to Edited by: Gordon Young and Sam Bradley help marketers identify the best influencers for their campaigns and predict how many Design/production: Amanda Dewar, Gillian Durham conversions each one will generate. THE DRUM is published by Carnyx Group Limited. On no With that in mind, it is time to let brands, assisted by science, entertain you. account may any part of this publication be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the copyright holder and publisher, application for which should be made to the publisher. THE DRUM® is a registered trade mark in the European Union (number EU013847678) and UK (number 2018351). THE DRUM™ is also an unregistered mark Gordon Young in the UK, EU and all other territories of publication. Editor-in-chief THE DRUM is also registered under an international trade mark application at WIPO. All Rights Reserved. © CARNYX GROUP LIMITED 2018 ISSN 2046-0635 THEDRUM.COM 3 COMMENT | MEDIA FRAGMENTATION BRAND INTEGRATION by Ricky Ray Butler THE ERA OF THE ARTIST With the media more decentralized than ever, audiences and platforms are driving a key change in the way content is consumed. Say goodbye to the gatekeepers. THEDRUM.COM 4 BRAND INTEGRATION IN PARTNERSHIP WITH “Ultimately, AI will determine whether the ocean of content out there is approachable and inviting for creation and investment, or whether it becomes so overwhelming that it instead discourages participation altogether.” Art has always acted as a time capsule for AI in the age of endless art so overwhelming that it instead discourages capturing the human experience. It’s an As decentralization continues to sweep across participation altogether. incredibly powerful driver of culture, and streaming, television, film, music, and social Another hurdle we must overcome is the fleshes out our understanding of history with media, AI will become the compass that guides emergence of silos and bias. Diversity in emotionally driven context. I would argue audiences, brands and creators through the exposure is what makes content discovery so that today’s content ecosystem and the way it ecosystem. Traditional methods of navigating exciting and educational. It’s critical that we operates is reflective of a new era of art — one content ecosystems simply aren’t sustainable build algorithmic infrastructure that supports a in which artists and creators are continually or scalable for the rate of content creation; we range of viewpoints and content types, to ensure finding new ways to express what it means to need technology that can capture and digest that people don’t become pigeonholed into a be human in the digital age. the nuance of content in real time. That’s where specific set of genres. Perhaps this seems dramatic, but stick with AI comes in — it can mimic a human’s ability This is where explainable AI becomes extremely me: how many Michelangelos do you think went to understand content that primarily consists important. It can guide decision making while undiscovered during the Italian Renaissance? of unstructured data like audio, images, and providing rationale for each decision made, so The answer is probably more than you can count. text. That kind of technology is what dictates that biases and silos can be tackled right away. Centralized power has always dictated who was everything from the level of personalization When it comes to promoting diversity, there is a given the opportunity to develop their talents, audiences encounter, to a brand’s ability to truly balance to be struck — people want to continue to allowing their art to flourish and go down in understand and make optimized decisions about see content that is relevant to their interests. At the history. But today, art is in the hands of the people. what advertising opportunities to invest in. BEN same time, we’ve seen how echo chambers can Technological advancements in entertainment actually started out as an influencer marketing polarize groups of people and keep them from and media have lowered the barriers to entry and product placement agency, but we quickly seeing or understanding other viewpoints. and placed the potential for global exposure at realized there was no way our team could keep The same holds true for brands and those everyone’s fingertips. As a result, the way in which up with the growing rate of content creation and looking for investment opportunities in content. artists and creators are able to express themselves distribution — we needed to leverage our deep Allowing AI to identify new, and perhaps surprising, has increased exponentially. repository of entertainment data and evolve into opportunities for investment can be the difference If you open Netflix, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, an AI company in order remain effective and between a campaign that is good and one that Spotify or Disney+ today, you’re flooded with the industry leader. That realization is continuing completely exceeds expectations. It’s therefore the discovery of art. Sure, it’s not art by traditional to drive the entertainment ecosystem forward. crucial to embed diversity as a core tenet of definition. It encompasses more than just painting, Ultimately, AI will determine whether the ocean of AI infrastructure, and make sure that what we dance, and music. It also includes generational content out there is approachable and inviting for interact with and support reflects who we are and expressions through memes (yes, memes), creation and investment, or whether it becomes challenges us to be smarter and think critically. influencer content, and short- and long-form video. For brands, decentralization will only make the When we look back on this period of time, these opportunities for collaboration and investment new age art forms will serve as a way to understand “Diversity in exposure that much more expansive. AI will undoubtedly how digital culture directly influenced our capacity be the most important part of navigating that to learn, create, and interact with one another. is what makes content process. Whether you’re a brand looking to That said, decentralization — or the transfer of support influencers, filmmakers, musicians, power from a few dominant entities, to creators discovery so exciting and artists or production studios — AI will enable and niche platforms — is just beginning. We’ve educational. It’s critical you to truly understand the millions of content already seen the first wave of decentralization opportunities out there and identify the ones that in production and distribution, where TV and that we build algorithmic are most likely to empower creators and engage film studios and record labels are no longer the audiences in a natural, authentic way. sole gatekeepers for entertainment production, infrastructure that supports The future of art looks different today than and major networks and music stores are no it did 10, or even 100 years ago. There’s more longer the gatekeepers for distribution. The a range of viewpoints and room for expression, more opportunities to next wave will focus on further breaking down content types to ensure capitalize on creation, and more ways for people the obstacles between content creation and across the globe to interact with one another consumption through AI and machine learning that people don’t become and evolve the culture together.