American Idol host and TV/radio personality, Ryan Seacrest made headlines last week for the acquisition of 14-year old creative marketing services company, Civic Entertainment Group. CEG has been known to work with notable TV networks such as, HBO, ESPN, A&E Networks, and CNN providing services from digital campaigns to event production. (Poggi)
When I read the headlines, I was quite impressed with the business-savvy of Mr. Seacrest. Its easy to forget his savviness when you see him as just the face of American Idol, but what he has done behind the scenes has put him in position to be a next generation media mogul.
In an AdAge interview, he stated, "I am in the business of communicating to an audience, creating content, and working with brands to bring them to consumers." This insight that he is sharing is breaking the ground of the convergence of media, entertainment and marketing.
The impact of this deal will send ripples through the marketing industry, because no longer can marketing professionals be focused on traditional marketing approaches. The need for these professionals to dig deeper to have the know how of seamlessly integrating media, entertainment and marketing into their campaigns will be essential.
These mediums are all becoming one function rather separate disciplines. In the future, I believe it will be hard to distinguish whether you are watching a strictly entertainment piece or being marketed some product or service. This will be done on all forms of media as well.
The Managing Director of AdMedia Partners, Greg Smith stated, "This transaction demonstrates once again the continued convergence of media, entertainment and marketing services." He also mentioned that, "We continue to see a broad array of non-traditional strategic and financial buyers in the space."
As the space continues to grow, this presents an opportunity for marketing professionals to begin to incorporate these inclusive strategies into their campaigns.
What are your thoughts?
- What steps will you take to begin introducing this integrated approach to your marketing?
