At this years NewFronts, the seasonal showcase in which online publishers tout their upcoming content roster to advertising buyers, branded content programmes have never been more prevalent.
Amongst offerings from BBC Worldwide, Hearst and others, Time Inc.’s custom branded content studio, The Foundry, was found pitching its slate.
On the sidelines, The Foundry creative and content SVP Chris Hercik gave Beet.TV a flavor of his offering.
“We’re the connector, the bridge between our brands’ messaging and our brands,” he said. “Content’s all about emotive storytelling. We’ve been doing it forever.”
The Foundry launched in 2015 to offer brands Time Inc-produced content, on both Time Inc’s properties and brands’ own, with clients including Geico, Ford, Volve and Walgreen’s.
With offices in Brooklyn and Manhattan, the outfit boasts 150 people working on creative campaigns, and Hercik is happy to go off-platform to reach consumers.
“If content is king, distribution is queen and she wears the pants,” he says. “All distribution is effective.
“For me, it’s all about efficiencies. We know our audiences, we know where we’re reaching them, so we’re able to create very personalised and customised content and distribute it to them.”
This video is part of Beet.TV’s coverage of the IAB’s Digital Content NewFronts 2017. The series is sponsored by the IAB. For more videos from the #NewFronts, please visit this page.
