Branded entertainment is building momentum in a global scale.

In India, leading ad agencies are gearing up for branded entertainment projects.
Local industry analysts claim that the buzz regarding the industry is getting stronger and stronger.

“Now there are over 250 television channels in India,” claimed a Mumbai-based analyst. “Ad majors are increasingly interweaving their clients' brands with the content of entertainment properties such as television serials, movies and radio to gain high visibility.”

One of the companies beefing up its branded entertainment operations is Madison Mates led by CEO Darshana Bhalla.

“We are looking for people with passion for innovation. Our focus is on services, final delivery and creativity,” claimed Bhalla.

Bridge, another entertainment group, is also planning on extending its operations and services to advertisers. The company’s business director Rajesh Iyer says that the company will expand its operations to Delhi.

“I am adding muscle to our existing manpower. We are also getting into entertainment-based events to gain high visibility for our clients,” claimed Iyer.

Other ad companies looking to penetrate the branded entertainment industry include Lowe Production and Showdiff.
 

The CW and Virgin America are teaming up to produce a branded entertainment show titled “Fly Girls.”

The series will center on high-flying women and their exploits during their global travels. The target demographic will be CW’s core demographic, women aged 18-34.

Prior to this production, a reality TV series focusing on an airline has been done before by the A&E Networks. The show (titled Airline) aired from 2004-2005 and targeted customers and employees of Southwest Airlines. It was produced by Granada Television.

Fly Girls will launch with eight 30-minute episodes featuring Virgin America’s top flight attendants, who travel to world-class cities like Las Vegas, Miami, and New York.

While the flight brand is dominantly visible in the series, a spokesperson for the airline has said: “This is not a branded entertainment show, but rather a docu-series that happens to follow the lives of Virgin America in-flight teammates.”

Source: Media Daily News
 

PlaceVine, the leading web-based brand integration service connecting marketers to entertainment content producers, announced the launch of "Campaigns", a new feature enabling marketers to source original content directly from PlaceVine's select community of over 450 professional content producers. While PlaceVine's core matchmaking service connects marketers to entertainment properties that would exist independently of brand involvement, Campaigns addresses the growing appeal of content tailored to specific brand objectives.

The Campaigns feature is a Request For Proposal (RFP) tool, allowing marketers to specify (anonymously or otherwise) parameters for the production of new, brand-supported content. Campaigns enables any marketer that subscribes to PlaceVine to quickly and efficiently source proposals for commercials, new branded content (i.e. original brand-focused web series, etc.), educational content, and promotional videos. PlaceVine producers are then able to submit relevant concepts and pitches directly to marketers. The Campaigns feature is free for PlaceVine marketers as part of the service's $145 monthly fee. PlaceVine does not take a commission for projects sourced on its platform.

PlaceVine Co-Founder Adam Erlebacher explains the new feature as a natural extension of marketers' increasing desire to be involved at the earliest stages of the production process. "As interest in branded entertainment projects has grown, many marketers using PlaceVine are not only seeking to attach themselves to films, television shows, and web series that are already in development, but also are exploring opportunities to create new content that is exclusively aligned with brand priorities," said Erlebacher.

This new feature complements PlaceVine's industry leading matchmaking service that connects marketers to brand integration, product placement, and branded entertainment opportunities in film, television, online video, and games. Marketers can see PlaceVine plans and pricing here: http://www.placevine.com/marketers.

PlaceVine provides marketers a better alternative to succeed in the increasingly critical product placement, branded entertainment, and brand integration markets:

    * Direct access to hundreds of integration opportunities, many of which require no cash payment.
    * Browse & search for integrations across top film, TV, and web properties.
    * Enable top content creators to find your brand in an efficient, cost-effective way.
    * Real-time email updates of integration opportunities across media.
    * Powerful RFP tools to efficiently and cost-effectively source video production projects.
    * Messaging and collaboration features enabling direct communication with content producers.
    * Deal management tools to track status, deal amounts and details.

With more than 230 marketers and 450 content producers using PlaceVine, including major film studios, television production companies and top digital media creators, PlaceVine is the leading service for marketers to efficiently source and manage brand integration opportunities. Companies such as Fox Films, Fremantle Media, Arnold Worldwide, A&E Television Networks, MDC Partners, and The Pavone Agency, among others, all use PlaceVine to source and manage a range of deals, from in-kind product placement to major sponsorships.

Marketers can start a free 14-day trial of PlaceVine here: http://www.placevine.com/marketers.

About PlaceVine

PlaceVine is a web-based matchmaking service that facilitates brand integration transactions across film, television, gaming, and the web. The company specializes in connecting entertainment content producers with product placement and sponsorship opportunities to agencies and brands seeking these opportunities. PlaceVine's award-winning web-based Brand Integration Service™ takes the costs out of monitoring, accessing and managing integration deals, freeing brands and agencies to execute a greater number of high-impact, multi-platform marketing programs. Co-founded by technology start-up veterans Adam Erlebacher and Greg Neichin, and winner of The Wharton Venture Award, the company is privately funded through NYCSeed and leading angel investors with offices in New York and Los Angeles.

For more information, please visit http://www.placevine.com 

My Damn Channel (www.MyDamnChannel.com), today announced its "new fall season" flaunting A-list talent, new branded entertainment, and a new revenue stream built for industry professionals and consumers. The entertainment studio and new media platform begins its third year in business (the mathematical equivalent of 90. . .in web years).

My Damn Channel has birthed 25 video channels for filmmakers, actors, musicians and comedians. Original series feature artists who bring sizeable audiences from television, film, music and comedy to new media. Harry Shearer, David Wain, Don Was, Paul Rudd, Sarah Silverman, Isla Fisher, David Cross, Jonah Hill, Elizabeth Banks, and Spinal Tap are some of the creators who have earned over 65 million total video views. Hit series include Wainy Days, Pilot Season, Horrible People and You Suck at Photoshop. My Damn Channel is now also one of the most-subscribed and most-watched channels on YouTube.

My Damn Channel launches its "new fall season" on October 8, 2009 with the exclusive premiere of Sparhusen, a musical series about "the almost great band of Sweden" from writer-producer-star Illeana Douglas; co-created and co-starring Rob Mailhouse and Todd Spahr; and also co-starring Wallace Langham and Keanu Reeves, making his web series debut. The first Sparhusen installment documents the in-studio tensions surrounding the recording of the band's breakthrough single "Apples & Fish" in 1972, when famed record producer Vorste Fierron (Reeves) clashed with the band's long-time manager Bjorn Epstein (Langham) over a fish. The Sparhusen trailer premieres today at: www.MyDamnChannel.com/Sparhusen. Sparhusen's long-awaited album, The Best of Sparhusen, will be out this fall and available on My Damn Channel.

Easy to Assemble: Co-Worker of the Year, the second season of Douglas' acclaimed comedy series will also premiere on My Damn Channel on October 8. Easy to Assemble stars Douglas who quits her Hollywood career to go work at IKEA and co-stars an impressive cast of TV and film pros including Justine Bateman, Tom Arnold, Ed Begley Jr., Craig Bierko, Jeff Goldblum, Kevin Pollak and Jane Lynch. Easy to Assemble: Co-Worker of the Year continues with Illeana Douglas vying for co-worker of the year against Justine Batemen. They are joined by Cheri Oteri, Ricki Lake, Tim Meadows, Daryl Sabara, Eric Lange and returning cast include Kevin Pollak, Tom Arnold and Ed Begley, Jr.. Easy to Assemble and Sparhusen will premiere at invitation-only events in the weeks ahead including the New York Television Festival (September 23rd) and at a red carpet premiere screening at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood (October 7th) as part of the American Cinemateque series. Easy to Assemble will be at www.MyDamnChannel.com/EasyToAssemble.

"I'm thrilled to bring Easy to Assemble and Sparhusen to My Damn Channel," said Illeana Douglas. "The originality of their shows and respect for content creators like myself will be a magnet for other artists. We also share the same goals. We are both crowd-pleasers and risk-takers."

"Over the past two years, we built a studio, a destination network and a major syndication business giving artists we love the freedom and backing to reach millions directly," said My Damn Channel Founder/CEO Rob Barnett. "Our stars turn music and funny into money. Advertisers now call us. And we've got a company that's growing, diversifying and having good times inside a bad economy. I'll shut up now."

My Damn Channel's new "fall season" also includes:

    * KNIGHT SHIFT: As the economy collapses and the ice caps melt, the world is desperate for heroes. Knight Shift is a new My Damn Channel animated series premiering in October. The legendary court of Camelot and its storied Round Table have been reinstated by the Queen. Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Sean Connery, Sir Elton John, Sir Richard Branson and other knighted pop icons are led by Prince William, and his robotic sidekick, Stephen Hawking, on quests to vanquish evil celebrity super villains. Knight Shift is created by Ryan Hunter & Taige Jenson (YouTubers also known as P0ykpac) and the series is produced by My Damn Channel's Brad O'Farrell. Here's the pilot episode: www.MyDamnChannel.com/KnightShift.

    * RAMP (Radio and Music Pros): RAMP is a new, daily email blast filling a gaping radio and music information void. In addition to the latest breaking news, the email will link to www.MyDamnChannel.com/RAMP where consumers can see videos of established and emerging artists, and gain a dizzying sense of excitement causing them to immediately run out and purchase music. Radio stations and personalities will be able to share videos of in-studio and station events on My Damn Channel and its syndication network, reaching over 1.5 million unique users monthly. RAMP is created by Kevin Carter, Steve Resnik and Keith Berman, who spent the past eight years producing Street Talk Daily, a subsidiary of Radio & Records.

    * HARRY SHEARER: the first artist signed to My Damn Channel in 2007 is an actor, author, director, satirist, musician, radio host, playwright, multi-media artist and record label owner. Harry is inside the heads of millions worldwide thanks to his voice work on The Simpsons, for the mother of all mockumentaries: This is Spinal Tap, and for decades of service delivering intelligent and intensely funny thought in every medium. Shearer's My Damn Channel videos have satirized politicians, news anchors and talking heads, earning over seven million total views and garnering mass media coverage. This fall, Harry will premiere new videos from his album on the economic meltdown, "Greed and Fear." Harry's channel can be viewed at www.MyDamnChannel.com/HarryShearer.

    * DON WAS: the second artist signed to My Damn Channel in 2007 is one of the most respected musicians and music producers today. Don Was has produced over 100 leading musicians in a wide variety of genres including The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt, Iggy Pop, The B-52's, Willie Nelson, Brian Wilson, The Black Crowes, Ziggy Marley, Solomon Burke and The Highwaymen. His own band, Was (Not Was) broke out of Don's native Detroit and created an eclectic, magnetic sound combining soul, funk, R&B, rock and dance influences with satiric, often bizarre lyrics. Don created the Wasmopolitan Cavalcade of Recorded Music video destination at www.MyDamnChannel.com/DonWas as a safe haven for artists to create new music that most fans would never get to hear anywhere else. This October, Don launches his third season on My Damn Channel featuring live performances recorded this summer at Detroit's "Concert of Colors," a free annual diversity music festival.

    * GRACE CRASHERS presented by Southern Comfort: Grace Helbig (My Damn Channel's "Daily Grace " and Comedy Central's "Michael and Michael Have Issues") and Dave Ahdoot ("Dave and Ethan: Double Date Us"), host this new My Damn Channel comedy series. Grace Crashers will premiere on October 21st, invading office parties for Halloween, the holidays, and a big sports game, finding out what it takes to make a good party great and a great party unforgettable. The series will wrap on-location at Mardi Gras in New Orleans (because we can!). Grace Crashers is presented by Southern Comfort, executive produced by My Damn Channel's Kevin Weist, and produced and directed by Pete Slack. The series marks the return of Southern Comfort to My Damn Channel after a successful marketing partnership in 2008 earned over 1.2 million video views for an original music series. Grace Crashers also marks the start of a new, two-year series deal between My Damn Channel and Grace Helbig, who hosts a daily vlog informing and interacting with users at www.MyDamnChannel.com/Grace.