Publicis, CAA execs eye branded content surge as trust builds

Fast-evolving relationships between brands and producers are fueling new programming that works for both parties, according to execs at CAA and US producers.

While branded content has been produced for decades, senior execs at NATPE Global pointed to better relationships between brands, agencies and production companies as being a catalyst for an industry where commissioning budgets are being squeezed.

“Brands have become more sophisticated in how storytelling is happening and they understand that the success of a series is going to help the brand,” said Allie Dvorin, senior vice president of entertainment at Publicis Media.

“They don’t have to be heavy handed. Brands want success of the series and they know that if [their involvement] is overt the audience won’t want it.”

Companies such as The Morning Show producer Hello Sunshine have been pushing further into working with brands on shows, with its recent series Side Hustle launching on Roku.

The docuseries follows female entrepreneurs as they leave their jobs to pursue standalone businesses, with the show featuring execs from US-based Ally Financial to provide support.

Creative Artists Agency’s Margo Plotkin, co-head of global sales & partnerships for media and entertainment, worked on the deal and said the show’s ongoing success - it was extended into a second series last year - lay in the fact that the brand trusted Hello Sunshine “implicitly to tell incredible stories.”

She added: “And they were also aligned on values, we had ideas and thoughts that could be additive to the series and they were welcomed.”

Matt Rotondo, head of brands at Sugar23, added that brands are also keen on getting involved earlier in the development process to affect their involvement.

“The pressure is really off on how much [brands] need to put their thumbprint into the clay and they find that it is so soft that they can shape a story to deliver what they want without affecting the creative.”

The US-based producer recently partnered with coffee brand Starbucks, via its nascent in-house production unit Starbucks Studios, to create shows that help the brand to “reclaim” its cafes as places “where people go to connect to people and hang out.”

Rotondo added: “That lends to a broad aperture of entertainment to highlight the range of things people can do in a Starbucks - and that can be great entertainment,” adding that it didn’t require projects to be shot in the company’s venues.

One of its first projects is feature doc Madwoman’s Game, which follows a young chess enthusiast as she gets to know people while playing the game.

The show, which is being directed by Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown showrunner Zach Zamboni, has Keanu Reeves attached as exec producer and highlights how brands are shifting their demands from content, Rotondo said.