The creative side of the marketing process often must factor in what’s timely or relevant at the moment. Amy Campbell, chief marketing officer, Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios & Paramount Media Networks, and Molly Shea, the group’s director of campaign management, sat down during Variety Studio presented by Canva at Advertising Week in New York City to discuss the company’s approaches to branding.
Campbell spoke about promoting the global accessibility of the brand voice and the importance of connecting to fans.
“We’re really creating platform-intentional content that’ll reach [our fans] and we know what works best on each of those platforms,” said Campbell, citing social media such as TikTok and Instagram as places where fans consume content.
Shea and Campbell brought up the 2023 MTV VMAs (Video Music Awards) as an example of knowing what works best. To them, the awards show demonstrates how aspects like aesthetics can change or affect brand visibility.
“[For the VMAs,] we leaned into a brand that we used very recently, very vibrant colors. We found that was effective in previous years, specifically last year, and we wanted to own that as an identity for VMAs,” Shea said. “It’s proven something that is very pop-y, and it appeals to our current audience.”
“It’s yellow and pink,” added Campbell. “Very current. Very on target for the ‘Barbie’ summer that we had.”
Both also discussed branding for the VMAs as being fanbase-oriented. One aspect of that is the presence of celebrities who support the brand and create traction for it, such as Taylor Swift.
Shea said, “[Taylor Swift] really drove a lot of popularity for [the VMAs] this year, of course, and we’re always excited when she attends.”
“There’s nobody bigger right now than Taylor [Swift], so having her be there was amazing,” Campbell expressed. “She’s a genuine fan herself of the [VMAs] show and that really came across as she was sitting there dancing and having what seemed like an amazing time.”
