Marcelo Romeo of Newsan: Brands have stories to tell

In the panel “Brand x Content: How to collaborate successfully,” on the last day of NATPE Global 2024, Marcelo Romeo, CMO of Newsan, spoke about the case of the comedy El Gerente (The Manager), a film by-product of a campaign for the brand Noblex TV sets in 2017. In the ad, the manager of the TV company decided that if the Argentina team did not qualify for the 2018 World Cup, they would refund all those who had purchased Noblex televisions.

“The 2017 campaign became a national trending topic in Argentina. Five years later, we held conversations with Paramount and Paramount+ and sold The Manager’s global rights so that Paramount could produce this beautiful film,” said Romeo.

The panel also included Yamilet Bermúdez, general director of IPG Mediabrands Miami, and Alberto Pardo, founder and CEO of Adsmovil, and was moderated by Roko Izarra, general director of PRODU.

Romero said that brands must take risks and have stories to tell. “People want to consume branded content and brands must be willing to do so. We took many risks because there are moments in the film when the brand is not well treated or as it should, but I think there is a new marketing and brands have to be open to taking risks.” He announced that there are plans to make a second film of The Manager with the experience of the Qatar 2018 World Cup.

Bermúdez explained that a way that agencies can contribute is by ensuring a consistent integration of the content. “We do this by establishing relationships and initial conversations with the brand so that we do not force the content. We know the brand objectives and the target audience. But for us, it is important to have a closer relationship with producers to know where to get those synergies and how to facilitate that process,” she said.

When Pardo decided to launch the AVOD platform Nuestra.TV within Adsmovil, he had the advertising and technology know-how but did not have expertise regarding content. “I knew I wanted to be in this ad-supported space. Advertising is a $3 billion business. For me, this is new, but launching the service was relatively easy,” he said. He added that when you are focused on the Latino audience, the relevance of the content is crucial.

Pardo also referred to the fact that stores are becoming large powerhouses and mentioned the case of Walmart Media. “Retail companies are negotiating directly with producers and have consumer data. Retail media will be the third largest media business in the world,” he said, adding that there is also a growing trend toward live commerce.

Watch the streaming of the panel on LinkedIn