Entertainment

In its fourth season, Top Chef, the top rated food show on cable television, is emerging as a formidable competitor to Food Network as it continues to extend its brand. Already selling an array of products (Fan Gear, Chef’s Library, Chef’s Tools) through its branded online shop, Bravo is bringing Top Chef to life by creating new touchpoints through which viewers can interact with the brand. Such as:

Top Chef: The Tour: An 18-wheel “Top Chef” truck will stop at 20 cities across the U.S., offering cooking demonstrations, gourmet tips, and of course, Top Chef gear. Former cheftestants are also expected to be present.

Top Chef Cruise: A Top Chef branded luxury cruise is in the works for May, 2009.

Top Chef Cooking Classes: Bravo has teamed up with the Culinary Institute of America to offer Top Chef branded cooking classes at New York’s Astor Center this summer.
Frances Berwick, executive VP and general manager of Bravo Media, describes the company’s strategy:

Our goal with this is to really go beyond the network with our show brands and affinity groups. Viewers are often fanatical about our shows, and many of these things are tactile versions of who the viewers are and ways to extend their experience. We’re all about being more Bravo in more places more often, and this all speaks to that.

-Contributed by Robert Hsu

The New York Times has published a fantastic interactive graph of the ebb and flow of movie box office sales.

“Summer blockbusters and holiday hits make up the bulk of box office revenue each year, while contenders for the top Oscar awards tend to attract smaller audiences that build over time.”

It’s interesting to see how the shape of the graph has changed in recent times. Gone are the smaller peaks and longer tails of the 80s. In come huge spikes and shorter tales in the 00s.

Marketers in Tokyo have been causing passersby to do double-takes with a stunning, public promotional move involving a water screen and a number of fountain effects. Essentially, they have created a water horse (literally) to hype what we suppose is a ‘monster’ film called “The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep”.

Of course, explaining the water horse does not compare to seeing it in action:

There is no way to tell whether this film will actually be as compelling and unique as the marketing. But, as we have seen with a year’s worth of masterful movie campaigns like Cloverfield, The Simpsons’ Movie and The Bourne Ultimatum , fruitful ideas bear fruitful box office results. I think Confucius may have coined that, but that’s all hearsay.

Coming back to the water horse at hand, and mind you, having no other knowledge on the film, I have to agree with Trendhunter, who says:

“After watching how cool that was, I really want to see that movie.”

[via Trendhunter]

A list of the videos from our conference in LA last year:

Art & Beautiful Mistakes
Shepard Fairey explores how he takes his art and applies it commercially, working with brands and agencies along the way.

What Goes on in LA, Stays In LA
Nokia futurist Adriana Parcero looks at Los Angeles culture and discusses with the panel its importance for the rest of the world.  The panel includes Tony Pierce (LAist), Emmanuelle Richard (Vouge), Jeff Miller (ThrillistLA), and Shana Nys Nambrot (Flavorpill LA).

Point A To B
Can you survive in Los Angeles without a car? Robert Espinosa and Michael Powers, a newly formed creative duo, explore the subject with a multi-media presentation and live panel. The panel includes Siel (green LA girl), Frederick Dennstedt (MetroRiderLA), Margaret Kemp (Flexcar), and Kymberleigh Richards (Southern California Transit Advocates).

The Future Of Content
Colin Nagy leads a panel discussion on the possible futures for entertainment content and the business models behind them. The panel includes Ezra Cooperstein (Current TV), Anil Dewan (KCRW), Rafat Ali (PaidContent.org), and Kenny Ochoa (Sony BMG).

The Changing Face Of Photography
Andrew Delaney, Director of Photography at Getty Images, examines how imagery is changing in the light of crowdsourcing and the ongoing digital image revolution.

Kaleidoscope
A panel chaired by Juan Guillermo Tornoe looks at the Hispanic market, it’s relationship with traditional America, its similarities, its differences and the important trends developing within it. The panel includes Jennifer Woodard and David Morse (New American Dimensions).

Los Angeles Times 2.0
Jason Oberfest, head of Product Strategy and Business Development at the Los Angeles Times reveals how they are working on building a content business in a digital era.

Designing For Brands
Michael Ellis of 5+Design speaks about building connections with brands through real world experiences. 5+Design is an international design firm with services in architecture and urban design that is focused on the creation of unique and compelling retail and mixed use destinations.

Fred Water
Adam Gayner, founder [and friend] of Fred, discusses the creation of agile, inviting, stangely meaningful brands and the process he uses to make them. Have you met Fred?

A Suicide Girl’s Stories
George Parker interviews Missy, the founder of Suicide Girls, to understand how she took a different route to create a well loved modern brand.

Technology, New Forms Of Entertainment & Consumer Engagement
Lenny Stern (SS+K/CAA) chairs a panel that looks at how emerging media and technology creates opportunities for brands to develop entertaining experiences to engage with consumers. The panel includes Mike Monello (Campfire), David Merkoski (Frog Design), Ian Schafer (Deep Focus), and Mark Vega (Omelet).

George Parker interviews Missy, the founder of Suicide Girls, to understand how she took a different route to create a well loved modern brand.

Read the rest of this entry »

Lenny Stern (SS+K/CAA) chairs a panel that looks at how emerging media and technology creates opportunities for brands to develop entertaining experiences to engage with consumers. The panel includes Mike Monello (Campfire), David Merkoski (Frog Design), Ian Schafer (Deep Focus), and Mark Vega (Omelet).

A few days ago, Engadget-founder Peter Rojas sat down with PSFK to discuss the recent unveiling of his newest project, RCRD LBL, a network of brand sponsored record labels published in blog format offering free music and multimedia content from both established and emerging artists. RCRD LBL develops its own artistic content as well as serving as a portal to a diverse set of international labels that includes Germany’s Kompakt and U.S.’s Downtown Records (which holds Cold War Kids and Justice in its roster). Along with a growing list of DRM-free MP3s, the site offers commentary, tour dates, music streaming channels, and widgets to satisfy even the most avid music freaks. In the video, Peter also explains the dynamics of working with brands to support this venture.

Click To Play

- RCRD LBL offers a “social media experience rather than a retail one”

- RCRD LBL is geared towards young, tech-savvy, passionate music fans; tastemakers and early adopters.

- Brands are a critical part of the offering. RCRD LBL specializing in creating beyond-the-banner solutions for brands.

- In general, content on the internet is, and should be, free. And with music, which is basically another form of content, if you try to charge for it, there are too many alternatives out there and it becomes impossible to compete.

- The widgetized functionality of RCRD LBL is one of its key features - and all of it can be branded. By offering modular pieces, the site allows users to customize their experience as well as embed their favorite content onto their own sites (with sponsors message).

- Brands have been sponsoring music experiences for years (concerts, festivals, radio). The “sponsor-enabled experience” on RCRD LBL relies on forward thinking brands that the site’s users can identify with (like Puma and Virgin America, to name a few).

Thanks, Peter!

RCRD LBL

The US distributors of the Smart ForTwo car have converted a Venice Beach building into a temporary event space and gallery-like showroom for the Smart ForTwo. The space, known as The Smart House, is being used to promote the upcoming release of the Smart ForTwo in America and as a platform for the brand’s lifestyle.

In conjunction with The Smart House’s opening was Rojo Magazines ForTwo Book release. As the name suggests, the entire issue was dedicated to the Smart ForTwo. In this issue of RojoForTwo, the Smart car played muse to many fantastic artists who contributed their own inspired interpretations of the Smart ForTwo. Artists featured in the book are: Catalina Estrada, MWM, Deanne Cheuk, Yoshi Sodeoka, Tofer, Alex Prager, Friends with You, Ben Summers, Dalek, Holly Stevenson, Chet Purtilar, Jemma Hostetler, Meomi, Yoshi Tajima, Evgeny Kiselev, Vanessa da Silva, Bruno 9li, Cristiano Trindade, Todd Tourso, Amir H. Fallah, Justine Ashbee, Sergei Sviatchenko.

The Smart House will be seeing loads of hustle and bustle as it has scheduled a number of events relating to the areas of environment and climate protection, music, fashion, fine arts and zeitgeist. Smart Trendsetters can also pre-order a Smart ForTwo on the spot, adding to the 30,000 future smart car owners who have reserved their own.

The Smart House on Abbot Kinney Boulevard 1319, Venice Beach in Los Angeles California is open until January 25, 2008.

[via Notcot]

A TV channel in the UK has built a giant man swimming through the grass of the gardens just next to the Mayor of London’s offices. The Spluch blog reports that it was built by The Discovery Channel to promote its newest reality show, ‘London Ink’.