Digiday Live

USA Today Network was one of the pioneers of bringing advertising and virtual reality together, and has built a branded content studio dedicated to doing just that.

In this episode of Digiday Live, Gannett’s vp of branded content Kelly Andresen explains how the new technology has become a valuable tool for branded content creation -- even if its editorial value isn't clear yet.

The Viacom Lab was launched in May 2016 to experiment with new technologies and develop new content formats for Viacom and its media brands. (Think Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and Paramount Pictures.) It plans to triple in size by the end of 2016.

In this episode of Digiday Live from the Digiday Video Anywhere Summit, the Lab's evp of marketing strategy and engagement Ross Martin talked about how the Lab is helping Viacom grow viewer engagement across screens and platforms -- and isn’t just a press release.

Up until recently, video destination Fullscreen was known as a YouTube multi-channel network, working with video creators to sell advertising and make money on the world’s biggest video platform.

But as Fullscreen president Ezra Cooperstein says in this episode of Digiday Live from the Digiday Video Summit, "It’s really hard to build a business just on YouTube." Now, Fullscreen is trying to become a consumer-facing brand with an ad-free subscription streaming service and original and licensed content geared toward younger viewers. Hear how the strategy is working for them and how they’re working to get their audience to pay for content.

In this episode of Digiday Live from the Digiday Video Summit, legendary sports anchor Scott Van Pelt and Rob King, svp of SportsCenter, share how SportsCenter grew into one of the biggest sports brands in media. From delivering news, information, highlights and entertainment across all media platforms to how SportsCenter video is created and distributed to various platforms -- listen to how this evolution has changed the way publishers think about show production and talent roles.

Before she arrived in Phoenix for the Digiday Agency Summit, DDB North America CEO Wendy Clark was going to talk about the big picture of the agency world. But when she took the stage, she changed tack, and instead spoke passionately about the importance of people and leadership when it comes to creating work that people love. "The only way to do amazing, incredible work is to realize we're better together."

Agencies are expected to do more with the same or fewer resources. GroupM's chief innovation officer Cary Tilds speaks about how people and processes can help agencies execute on innovative strategies despite these restrictions.

"We invest in others' ideas, not our own," says Bullish founder Mike Duda. Instead of creating, for example, ten print ads for a client, Bullish adopts a VC mindset. It advises and invests in its clients (think Harry's Razors and Peloton bikes) and is compensated on a pay-for-performance model -- and takes the financial hits when it doesn't perform. 

Melissa Bell, publisher of Vox, spoke about the challenges of negotiating a lightning-fast news cycle at the Digiday Publishing Summit. In order to stay ahead of the game, Vox established platform-specific centralized studios that work across the media brands to learn new platforms and what works for each one. And it's found success in looking at what other publishers are doing: "We ruthlessly steal from other people," said Bell.

Technology lets the New York Times create products powered by its journalism. "While we need to continue to focus on the news, we need to reposition how we think about what we're doing for our customer, because there are other needs that we can serve," said David Perpich, svp of product for the New York Times. So instead of thinking of itself as simply a news destination supported by advertising, the Times has begun to shift to a new mindset of being an ecosystem that serve other reader interests, like cooking and television.