Yahoo Lifestyle Cannes Lions: Streaming, Podcasting and Content Creation Execs Talk Global Branding at Variety Executive Interview Studio
Variety is hosting their Executive Interview Studio in Cannes, presented by Canva, with conversations taking place from June 18 to June 20 at the Canva Villa.
Tuesday’s studio conversations included one with host and creator of “MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories” John Allen (MrBallen), partner and co-head of UTA creators Oren Rosenbaum, CEO of Ballen Studios Nick Witters and Wondery head of global marketing Blad Norman. The group discussed the rise of podcasting and brand building.
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Patrizio (Pato) Spagnoletto, global chief marketing officer for direct-to-consumer at Warner Bros. Discovery, Jen Sergent, CEO of Wondery, Cameron Adams, co-Founder and chief product officer of Canva and Peacock CMO Shannon Willett also sat down to speak at the Variety Studio presented by Canva.
John Allen (MrBallen), Oren Rosenbaum, Nick Witters and Blad Norman
Allen, known as MrBallen, is a content creator and former U.S. Navy SEAL who tells true crime stories and mysteries on YouTube. He transitioned his content to podcasting, telling stories on his “MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories” twice a week on Monday and Thursday.
“I fell into content creation totally by accident,” Allen said. “I would be up posting something that went viral… and truthfully I didn’t know if that would turn into anything.”
Witters, who manages Allen, explained that they chose not to focus specifically on Allen and rather built a brand based on his true crime storytelling.
When Allen’s first story video went viral on TikTok, he was out of work and was struggling to get by with his wife and three kids. He says it’s his dream come true to be able to tell stories and create content.
Patrizio Spagnoletto
Max, the relaunch of HBO Max, hit the U.S. just over a year ago. At the end of February, the streamer launched in Latin America. Max also recently launched in multiple countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Spagnoletto, chief marketing officer of direct-to-consumer for Warner Bros. Discovery, says new brands need to have meaning, with definition and focus. And when you launch a new brand internationally, you have to take into account cultural nuances.
“Think of a brand as a person,” Spagnoletto says. “I am funny, maybe intellectual, whatever the attributes are. Now when I travel to Brazil, I may be a little bit different to be respectful of the culture and to assimilate… but at the core, I am who I am. And we like to think of the brand and Max in that light. The brand is who it is, but it has to be relevant for the audiences in different markets.”
He also explains that product offering varies by region. For example, in Latin America there are strong kids programs, whereas in Europe, Max is focused on sports offerings.
While data is important to marketing, Spagnoletto says it does not make a marketer great: “Data is ingredients, marketers are the chefs. And I feel very passionate that marketers have to continue to look at data to inform what they want to do, but not to make decisions on what they want to do.”
Jen Sargent and Cameron Adams
Sargent and Adams both have built distinct brands for themselves: podcast network and publisher Wondery and graphic design platform Canva.
Sargent says the most important aspect to building up Wondery was having an inspiring vision and mission for her business. Going from a small startup to being acquired by Amazon was a huge transition for her and her team, but they have worked through it with transparency and communication.
“It’s really important for me to make sure my team sticks to our roots: our startup roots of moving fast, taking risks, being willing to think big, but also roll up our sleeves and get things done,” Sargent says.
Adams, who created Canva 12 years ago, says the inception of the business centered around the product; he later realized that building a great team was the most important foundation for the company.
“As the team grew from 10 people to 20 people to 100 to 4,500 now, you have to really think about the culture and how you make decisions, the value system that everyone shares, staying aligned on the vision,” Adams says. “The culture becomes probably the most important thing. Finding the best people in the world and inspiring them to come to Canva is largely about the culture that we’ve built, the team that we’ve built, and attracting great minds to great minds.”
Shannon Willett
As chief marketing officer at Peacock, Willett says marketing the streaming service along with promoting and launching content is “a balancing act.” She says, while people understand the streaming industry now, Peacock is focusing on what makes it different than other streamers and its uniqueness.
She says her team focuses on tying different pieces of content, like “Those About to Die” and “The Traders,” to the broader portfolio and getting users to watch multiple titles on the platform. When new shows and programs drop on Peacock, she and her team think about what’s happening in the social landscape along with what they want to be talking about.
“When I look at my team, I think about us as participating in cultural conversation and also creating it,” Willett says. “That ability to have a two-way conversation with our fans is really important… We want to be at the forefront of those discussions.”
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