Chantal Rickards

On May 23 the Digital October center with support of CINEMOTION movie school held a lecture by Chantal Rickards, Head of Programming & Branded Content at MEC media agency (London).

MEC is one of the world’s top media agencies. It employs nearly 5000 people in 84 countries. Among its clients are the following major global companies: Microsoft, Sony, Honda, Bacardi, Barclays, IKEA and others.

MEC’s mission is to be the client’s most valued business partner, to be known for its outstanding results and inspiring people. These ambitions are supported by their philosophy of “active involvement” as a navigator in a enormous, diverse world of media, where the consumer controls his or her access to content and entertainment more than ever before. The pace of change is gaining momentum and this provides huge opportunities for fundamentally new and more effective communications. “Active involvement” shows how to use the changes in the digital world and consumer behavior to build more valuable and deeper brand connections with consumers.

The involvement of the audience, effective representation of the brand, and emotional content, advertisements that do not irritate but inspire people. You do not need to create a media virus, the main thing is to have the demanded content and correctly work with your audience. A time is approaching when free, accessible content will be available to all clients, paid for by brands. Rickards covered all of these issues during her presentation. In addition, she discussed why branded content is so much in demand today and how to find a balance between the possibilities offered by modern technology and the negative attitude of consumers to traditional advertising. Rickards presented case studies from her practice.