At the recently passed Music Matters conference in Singapore, Asia Sponsorship News (a leading source of industry intelligence for Sponsorship and Branded Content in Asia) got Split Works MD Archie Hamilton’s candid insights on the branded entertainment scene in China.
As readers would expect, the points he puts forward – which stem from a desire to work with brands which are in for sustainable, long-term relationships built on strong ethics such as respect for music, artists and the community – resonate with what the Radar harps on about for the most part.
One point that raised our interest is captured in the mantra “Outsmart, not Outspend!” At a time when music fans are becoming increasingly discerning and irate with brands that vampirise the soul out of our most cherished music events, the need to outsmart applies to fans as well as businesses. Why don’t brands try to stun us? To capture our imaginations? Look at video advertising (particularly via video streaming services). You’ll see all kinds of hilarious / insightful / questionable video content coming out from brands that actually, in rare cases, competes with the content you originally intended to see. What if brands could deliver such compelling experiences that we didn’t mind (or forgot in exceptional cases) they were even advertising at live events? Do you know of any examples of when this was achieved?
You can read the full interview here.