What's Hot In Hollywood: AMAs, The Walking Dead Finale, And More

Here's What You Missed!

If you've been following our blog for a while, you know that we're obsessed with all things pop culture. But can you blame us? It's fascinating! This weekend saw a plethora of entertainment and pop culture moments. Elton John live-streamed his final North American concert on Disney+, celebrities like Taylor Swift won big at the American Music Awards, and so much more.

Keep reading to stay up to date with what's happening in Hollywood and find tips and tricks to help your brand enter the entertainment world. In this blog, Hollywood Branded discusses brand endorsements at the AMAs, the power of branded content in The Walking Dead finale, and the latest in pop culture marketing news.

The Rollerskate May Become This Year's Trending Holiday Gift

If you have memories that go waaaay back to 2000, you know the music artist P!NK, and if you are on the younger side, you are about to get to know her as she makes her comeback. Two weeks ago, she launched the music video for her song "Never Gonna Not Dance Again," set in the world of a grocery store, where some brands - like Stouffer's - won big.

In 2 weeks, the video has been watched almost 6 million times, and it will keep growing into the tens of millions in the months ahead. She has another music video shooting this month, with opportunities for brands interested in leveraging her pop culture power.

The American Music Awards (AMAs) is the world's largest fan-voted award show and pays tribute to today's most influential and iconic artists. Airing in over 200 countries, the show has run since 1973. For the opener, P!NK roller-skated through the streets, à la her music video, until she entered the studio with her entourage of performers. All on rollerskates. I admit it made me think wistfully of digging out my rollerblades or pulling on a pair of rollerskates. My bet is it's going to make a lot of people do more than be wistful and actually put on a pair - thus my new holiday gift suggestion!

Another artist who performed (and is a GIANT in Brazil) is in the midst of her US and global breakout this year. Anitta is one you should be keeping your eyes on. She's incredibly brandable, and her fifth album, Versions of Me, is a rare example of a music project that includes songs in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.

SHEIN was one of the evening's sponsors and created a style guide to Anitta's performance on its website, and it also had a massive branded wall moment as she performed. As an official sponsor, SHEIN will be exceptionally happy that Anitta won Favorite Female Latin Artist.

There were a handful of standouts for the most memorable artist style, to me. Machine Gun Kelly's purple spike suit once again rocked, getting him attention and an award. Måneskin's garter pantsuits were a double take, with the entire band in their newest creation of a pants look. It was attention-getting. P!NK had multiple clothing changes, and her 1950s boudoir-styled feather creation with sequins was her most glamorous. Anitta, Bebe Rexha, Meghan Trainor, Taylor Swift, Kelly Rowland, Carrie Underwood, and Dove Cameron were all standouts on the red carpet.

Even Will Smith's infamous slap heard around the world made it into a lyric sung by Wayne Brady, who, by the way, kicked butt with his very bleeped It's the F'ing AMA's song intro. Brady is incredibly, incredibly talented. A brand endorsement dream come true, actually.

The Walking Dead And AMC Take Branded Content To A New Level

Few series pack quite the punch The Walking Dead has for the last 11 seasons. Over the years, two brands got some major press through product placement in the series: the Hyundai Tucson was featured as a getaway car, and a decade-old Mountain Dew was found chilling in a stream, waiting to provide refreshment and the comment: "Is this legit... Mountain Dew? ... I will never stop missing these. I mean, I used to drink this like water back in the day."

Leveraging the massive number of eyeballs tuning in to the series finale, AMC created a really cool branded content ad campaign, with five brand ads custom-made to feature characters who had died in earlier episodes. Four characters, including Milton Mamet (played by Dallas Roberts), Andrea Harrison (Laurie Holden), Rodney (Joe Ando-Hirsh), and Gareth (Andrew West), were cast in ads for Autodesk, Deloitte, DoorDash, MNTN, and Ring. Adding more PR buzz, both Ryan Reynolds' ad agency Maximum Effort and Jimmy Kimmel's Kimmelot production company (with Dan Sanborn leading) crafted the ad campaign alongside AMC, shooting the five commercials in two days in two locations. Super smart! Sharing the shoot costs across multiple brands made the entire partnership more affordable to execute, as production shoots themselves can sometimes rival the cost of the associated ad campaign. In this case, the true power of the ads is in the live viewing and associated PR, leaving less time to amortize the content, although the commercials are shot to stay relevant for a longer play.

Kim Granito, EVP of Content Room and integrated marketing for AMC Networks, said the effort to lean into the lore of The Walking Dead "is one of the many ways we can contextually bring a brand to life."

"Ads should be fun," Reynolds said. "The Walking Dead has generated more cultural conversation over the last decade than any other property and we wanted to honor that by bringing a few characters back from the dead in some fun contextual ads." Commercials, he added, "can be a part of the cultural conversation as they once so frequently were. They just need a little more love, attention and mischief."

Way to go, AMC! Great job crafting content that is not only engaging to viewers but welcomed with open arms. And way to go, MNTN, the connected TV advertising company that also ran an ad targeted to brands and the agencies that advertise them. MNTN owns Ryan Reynolds' Maximum Effort creative agency, which explains Ryan's cameo and voiceover in its ad campaign. What was most interesting to me, though, was that it was a B2B ad campaign on network TV targeting brands and their agencies - not consumers. That's something that is not done nearly often enough.

Photo Credit: Maximum Effort | ComicBook.com

The World Loves The Wild West

Yellowstone's premiere this past week was a record-breaker for Paramount. Almost 16 million viewers tuned in within just 3 days. That's big news for Paramount Network, which is trying to get noticed and establish itself as a serious contender in the streaming wars. Per Deadline, the season debut was the most-watched show across all of TV in 2022 and the most-watched cable premiere since The Walking Dead in 2017. The show's 2021 premiere drew 14.7 million, and this year's grew 6% to 15.7 million.

I'm not the only one out there with fond memories of tadpoles, horses, and the conversational y'all.

The World Cup In The News - "Well, This Is Awkward..."

All I have to say is, Budweiser, your tweet nailed it with that pithy comment. Too bad your legal team made you take it down as they explore how to get back some of the $75 million FIFA sponsorship money spent to sell your beer at the games. You know. The games that won't allow alcohol to be drunk. Soccer fans love their beer so much that stadiums in France and Scotland don't sell it, to keep the fighting down.

You Voted. The Results Are In.

The fate of Adidas' non-Yeezy future: how will fans react to a brand that was built on a celebrity endorsement, when those fans are highly loyal to him no matter what he seems to do or say?

The winner... the new line is going to tank, followed by the view that Adidas will still need a celebrity to shill the product to get it off the shelves and keep buyer demand up.

• 18% - Adidas sales will be super successful - no one cares about Ye or the brand collab partner Yeezy. They just love that it's Adidas and the form factor and colors of the shoe as a design aesthetic.
• 36% - A new brand will be born that ticks along until its future is determined by finding something to market around - like a new celebrity endorser - or by shelving the entire line sometime in the years ahead.
• 45% - The new Adidas shoe line will tank. Ye will triumph in that Adidas is not making money without him.

10 Steps To Success With Music Video Brand Partnerships

Music videos offer one of the fastest turnaround times from script to screen in entertainment marketing. This is terrific for brands that are at the ready - and very difficult for brands that need more time to evaluate and consider. To be able to move quickly when the right fit comes resounding over the airwaves, brand managers should put a plan in place with these 10 steps to create a successful music video partnership.

Here's a refresher on a prior blog I wrote on how to get your brand involved in music videos.

1. First, decide what your overall goal is in partnering with the artist. What do you want them to do? Show your brand, drink it, wear it, lovingly caress it? Do you want the artist to post a portion of the clip on their Instagram or TikTok? The answer is yes, yes you do, if you can afford it - it can be more expensive than the music video integration, however.
   
   Partnering with a music video, or the lyric video that accompanies the debut of top hit songs, allows the brand to become seamlessly integrated into the music storyline. Who says there are no guarantees in life? With music videos, dollars talk, and brands can lock in guaranteed minimum seconds and appearances on screen. The music video producer and director will work to incorporate the brand into the storyboards so expectations are clear for everyone.
   
   
2. Keep in mind who the desired demographic is. If you are reading this and are above 40 - good luck. If you are a parent, your kids may be keeping you in the loop. But those names you remember from your youth that were just SO BIG? Well... yes, they are still big. But they are not the ones that are going to move the needle. Gen Zers want authenticity, and they love emerging artists. That is part of the goldmine you may be missing out on. Regardless, knowing the very specific demo you are catering to will determine which music genre - and ultimately which artist - to target. From rock to pop, country to rap, and more, there is a genre that fits every brand.
   
   
3. Determine the available budget. Integrations with a name anyone knows are going to be at least $50k and up to $250k+. The biggest artists command the most money. Emerging artists are hungry and open to bundled partnerships. Just think: if you had partnered with H.E.R. or Doja Cat just 3 years ago, your brand would have become part of the top trending videos over the last few years. Defining a budget allows your team to present offers to labels in advance, so your brand is all teed up for the partnership when it comes to life. Knowing what budgets are available will allow you and your agency to home in on appropriately tiered artists, instead of madly wishing for them to just be cheaper. There are artists for every budget size who will help move the needle for your brand.
   
   
4. Get a copy of the song to determine if it supports the brand's messaging. Light, fun, or flirty versus violent or overtly sexual makes a big difference. Today, you need to listen to the words and then decide.
   
   
5. Next, find out what the storyline of the video will be. Many music videos interpret images and scenes from the song's lyrics, while others take a more thematic approach. Make sure the story will provide brand lift versus negativity.
   
   
6. Review the storyboards to ensure there is an opportunity for organic integration. Just as with any entertainment partnership, fans want relevancy. Don't be afraid of being shown in an offbeat way. This is not about having complete control over your brand but about allowing a creative team to help determine the best way to showcase your brand within the video. You'll get approvals - don't worry about that. But if you do have a narrow restriction they need to stay within, make sure you share it so the free-spirited creatives don't go down the wrong path.
   
   
7. Realize that not all music artists will drive a partnership into a home run. Some artists are not brand-friendly and may make promises they don't keep. Get iron-clad agreements in place to protect the partnership, including penalties for lack of performance should the brand offset a significant budget by providing an exclusive location for the shoot or a high quantity of product. Make sure the label and the manager are on board, and find out who is controlling the artist's execution of the plan. Realize things go left and zig-zag all over the place when you're trying to get them back on track. They do get there - but you are working with creative spirits who have bad days and are not corporate. Roll with it, keep your eye on the goals and objectives, and enjoy the ride as much as you can. The win is worth it. Some artists are AWESOME. Others, not so much. But that win... one of the lowest CPMs you will be able to find anywhere, is pretty awesome.
   
   
8. If the partnership does go upside down, and the shoot doesn't happen for one of a thousand reasons that will make no sense, take a moment to breathe and decide if you want to give it another go with the same artist. I want to reiterate - things can get messy on set. Days go long and dance moves aren't coming together, hair and makeup have a colossal time trying to meet the director's vision and go way into overtime, all of which can result in the brand partnership not happening. Or worse yet, being filmed but cut from the final edit due to yet another of the many things that can go wrong. This is where it helps to have someone there to hold your brand's figurative hand and get you across the finish line. It's still not guaranteed, but you're more likely to find success.
   
   
9. Consider the artist's social media reach. There is tremendous value in creating supporting marketing tactics that let the artist engage their fan base with the brand. Look at what legs can be built with teasers and artist-driven brand call-outs on social media. You may even be able to build artist-driven sweepstakes that further promote the partnership. Just know, as I said above, that an artist's social post in their feed may very likely cost much more than the music video itself. This is just the way of things in the wild west of wacky social influencers and content posting. If you want the post, find more budget. You can also work with fans of the artist to create a social overlay.
   
   
10. Consider what opportunities exist to bring the brand partnership to life outside of the music video. Partnership options beyond storyline integration include:
    • Behind-the-scenes exclusive footage.
    • A hosted debut of the video on the brand's social media sites or website, creating a flurry of PR and social media conversation.
    • A strategically aligned pre-roll media buy preceding music video play to incorporate key brand messaging.
    • Sweepstakes hosted on the artist's social media site(s).
    • Music download codes provided at retail as 'gifts with purchase.'
    • Artist tour sponsorships.
    • Artist endorsement campaigns.

We LOVE music videos. The most successful brands are the ones that don't overthink it. What you have to remember is that you are working with creative artists who need money to get their music videos made. Labels may front all or a portion of their music video costs, but the artist has to pay that back before they get royalties on their music. That's where brands can win.

You need to be able to say yes quickly and not have too many constraints in place. Don't ask for x seconds. Ask for a clear and identifiable logo and a social post. Determine if you want to pay for an in-feed post or a story. There can be a price difference of tens of thousands of dollars. You may even find that the social post costs MORE than the music video integration.

Give parameters. Make it achievable. Artists are focused on, well, what their name says - creating art. Not on creating a complicated brand partnership. The power of the music video, however, is that your brand is baked into the content now - and in future years, as the artist continues to grow and their video impressions grow too, with your brand featured all the way.

Photo Credit: YouTube | Mashable.com Composite

Eager To Learn More?

When a brand becomes part of a music video or the lyrics of a song, the brand partnership is there forever. Consumers cannot simply skip the advertisement, and they are more likely to trust the opinion of the artist promoting the brand in the song or video. Music and brand partnerships are here to stay and will only continue to grow into extremely strategic business models.

Want to check out other blogs written by our team about the power of music, product placement, partnerships, and marketing? Check them out below:

• Top 5 Music Videos With Brand Exposure
• How to Leverage Music Videos for Branded Content Partnerships
• Brand Partnerships Increase Product Placement In Music Videos, Lyrics
• Product Placement in Lil Nas X Music Video, Holiday
• Fashion Brands And Product Placement in Music Videos

Feeling a serious case of FOMO about all things entertainment? Check out our What's Hot in Hollywood newsletter to get weekly updates about all things Hollywood and entertainment marketing.