How brands reach consumers is always evolving. And at the Fast Company Grill at SXSW this past weekend, executives from Duolingo, NBCUniversal, and Creators Corp. discussed how they’re not only holding their consumers’s attention, but finding ways to embed their brands into their daily lives, primarily through branded entertainment.
NBCUniversal: Find Ways to Engage Fans within an Experience
When John Jelley, SVP of product and user experience at Peacock and global streaming for NBCUniversal, thinks about branded entertainment, he thinks about fandoms.
From Love Island to The Traitors to Saturday Night Live, NBCUniversal has a wide array of IP with deep fandoms Jelley is looking to engage in broader ways through the company’s streaming service Peacock. In January, the company slowly began rolling out mini-games and short video clips within the Peacock app. And to Jelley, it’s been about providing casual entertainment but also leaning into the fandom these shows have attained.
“I think it’s really important as well, not just to think about people coming in the game, but how are you’re going to get them to stay and feel progression. And so I think one of the things we’re thinking about is since we have these fandoms and people are kind of a little competitive, seeing where you rank against others in that fandom, Jelley said. “If the user can feel like you’re testing their knowledge and they’re themselves part of the game in a way and associated with the brand, they’re going to be much more open to playing it versus it feeling sort of somehow forced or non-organic.”
Duolingo: Build your Brand with your audience
Entertainment is core to language learning app Duolingo’s brand, said senior creative director James Kuczynski. Because the app is a gamified way to learn, everything revolves around “making it fun,” he said.
Duolingo’s entertainment marketing plan focuses on creating brand partnerships that stand out and don’t feel boring, he noted.
For example, when Squid Game’s first season launched on Netflix, Duolingo saw an increase in Korean language learning by 40%. So, with the release of season two this past December, Duolingo partnered with Netflix to launch the “Learn Korean or Else” campaign that played off of the rather aggressive tactics Duolingo’s viral mascot Duo employs to get users to stick with their lessons.
“For us, it was really about tapping into that fandom—how can we help fans of a specific topic get the most out of what they love?” said Kuczynski. “And that really is the core question that we ask for every single partnership that we have. Because if we’re not adding value, then it just feels like another brand attaching themselves onto another IP.”
Last year, Duolingo also made a deal with Sony Music last year to bring recordings from popular artists to the app’s music course, as well as teaming up with comic platform Webtoon for a series of digital comics featuring the app’s various characters—some of whom have become almost as popular as Duo. Case in point: the app’s angsty, emo teen Lily got her own sitcom Living with Lily in 2023.
“We’ve really built our brand listening to all of our fans and followers. And I think that’s something that over the course of the last several years, we just keep leaning into,” Kuczynski said. “We’re looking for ideas that allow our fans and people on the internet to just create our brand for us. We listen to them, we lean in, and then we create content that they want to share.”
Creators Corp.: Know where you Belong
Over the past decade, brands have learned to “meet audiences where they are,” said Anne-Margot Rodde, founder and CEO of game studio Creators Corp., which partners with notable figures including four-time NBA champion Steph Curry, sports and comedy creators Dude Perfect, and others to create branded video games.
In the gaming space, Rodde said that young audiences gravitate towards highly social games like Roblox and Fortnite—where creators can build whatever branded entertainment they want within the game. However, in creating this content, Rodde said that authenticity and recognizing what audiences want is key.
“I think the place where there still needs to be improvement is really understanding the audience and understanding what works,” she said. “A lot of the time you see branded experiences where the brand is everywhere. It’s not something that the player necessarily wants to see in the game that they love and want to play.”
