Ideas workshop brings marketers on board

If you soon see people playing golf in the middle of the city - not holding a club, but an iPhone - it is probably the digital professionals at b&b endemol who are responsible. The company is known for TV entertainment formats such as the game shows "1 against 100", "The Millionaire Trap" and the quiz show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire". However, as the media changes, the Zurich-based production company is increasingly focusing on new formats - the strategic direction is shifting towards the internet and applications. "I am convinced that we will still be producing TV formats in ten years' time," says Christoph Bürge, Managing Director of b&b endemol. "But we also want to position ourselves on other platforms in order to offer customers electronic content there."

The company demonstrated its expertise in the digital sector back in 2008 when it produced the "M-Cooking" cooking platform for Migros, which was online until the reorganization of marketing in 2009. In weekly video clips, chefs explained in the three national languages how to prepare a three-course meal. The whole thing was designed to be interactive: Inexperienced cooks could click into the video to get additional information - for example, instructions on how to blanch a tomato. Users were also able to put together their own menu, download it as a podcast and print out the corresponding shopping list.

To further strengthen this branch of the company, b&b endemol finally founded its own digital media department at the beginning of 2011. Since then, the b&b endemol digital team has been developing communication and marketing formats for the mobile, social media and web channels under the leadership of Yves Jordi.

In order to find the right customers for its ideas and projects, the Digital Unit has now entered into a strategic collaboration with mediaBROS, an online marketing agency that The production company b&b endemol is building a new foothold by increasingly developing formats for the online and mobile sector in addition to broadcasting formats. To strengthen its position, the company is teaming up with online specialist mediaBROS. Top 2 9 specializes in online remarketing. While b&b endemol digital concentrates on creative and implementation services, the online specialists at mediaBROS take care of marketing. "b&b endemol is a creative workshop that is constantly producing new ideas. In future, we will look at these together and analyze which ideas could be marketable or interesting from the point of view of advertising sponsors or clients," comments Ivano Celia, Managing Director of mediaBROS, on the collaboration.

Apps that inform and entertain
And there are various projects in the pipeline for mediaBROS. One of these is the "City Golf" application mentioned at the beginning, which is to be realized for a customer in the course of this year. "City Golf" is an app that allows you to get to know cities and regions in a fun way. As with conventional golf, the aim here is to hit a ball from a tee-off point into the hole in as few strokes as possible. The player uses the iPhone to go to a specific point for the first tee shot, from where he virtually hits the golf ball towards the first hole in order to reach the next hole. Even though the focus is on playing golf, the app wants more: "It's a very playful way of providing information," says Jordi, commenting on the application. The holes are distributed around places of interest, allowing the player to get to know the area and learn interesting facts and information about the region.

As in the TV sector, b&b endemol also want to tell people stories with their new developments and offer an emotional experience. "People want to be entertained," says Bürge, who was Head of Entertainment at ProSiebenSat.1 before joining b&b endemol. "Not just with games, but also with service apps." Celia agrees: "Entertainment is the supreme discipline." An app should create added value and still be used a month later. There are also a lot of apps that are very creative but are only used by a few people. This is precisely where Celia, who worked with Bürge at TV3, sees the strength of b&b endemol. Thanks to its national and international experience in the broadcasting sector, the production company has the expertise to produce mass-market content.

The "beer idea", an interactive campaign that the digital specialists came up with to offer beverage brands an eye-catching and funny presentation, also ties in with this. Users are provided with a large number of video clips on the subject of beer, which they can string together into a commercial according to their personal preferences and set to music using a simple audio mixer. "We want to draw people's attention to the brand," explains Bürge. "But not in a 30-second spot, a hinge advertisement, but on other platforms." With "Bieridee", users create quirky, funny and unique video spots, which they then post online. On Facebook, YouTube and other social media platforms, the internet community can talk about the campaign and rate each other's videos.

With content like this, b&b endemol is making inroads into the field of digital branding: Brands are brought to life. "I hardly ever create images on Google," says Celia. "As a rule, people only search on Google for what they already know." Entertaining digital content, on the other hand, is a great way to create an image. And he is convinced that this will increasingly be the case in the future.

Isabel Imper

More information on this website: Mediabros.ch/branding.
 

b&b endemol was founded in 1990 under the name B&B Medien by Hannes Bichsel, then Head of Entertainment at Swiss Television, and Zurich catering professional and event manager Freddy Burger. In 2000, B&B Medien entered into a 50:50 joint venture with the globally active Dutch TV group Endemol. This is how b&b endemol came into being. The core business is the development and production of TV content in the fields of entertainment and infotainment. It produces content and formats from the Endemol catalog (e.g. "Wer Wird Millionär", "1 gegen 100") as well as those specifically tailored to the Swiss market ("Üsi Badi").

Founded in 2009 and based in Dübendorf, the online marketing agency mediaBROS offers integrated solutions in online communication, media planning, digital branding, online performance marketing, SEM (search engine marketing) as well as online-specific workshops and seminars. Under the name "yoondo", the agency provides a network for campaign retargeting and website retargeting. Anyone who places advertisements via this program (e.g. on NZZ, Blick, 20min, Tagesanzeiger etc.) can target users who have previously visited certain websites.