Axios Event: Entertainment is key to audience engagement, brand leaders say

CANNES, FRANCE – Entertainment is a key tenet of successful audience engagement in today's online landscape, several speakers said at an Axios event at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

The big picture: Entertaining content goes a long way in building up audiences that keep coming back for more, speakers said.

Axios' Eleanor Hawkins spoke with Duolingo chief marketing officer Manu Orssaud, Hiltzik Strategies founder and CEO Matthew Hiltzik, and Beast Industries president and CEO Jeff Housenbold at the June 17 event, sponsored by IBM.

What they're saying: Duolingo leaned into the internet buzz surrounding the app's owl mascot Duo to level up its marketing. "People are creating all this lore and those stories that we decided to elevate in our marketing, and that became our trademark," Orssaud said.

• "They love to see a brand being so authentic, having fun, being weird, and entertaining. Entertaining is really important."
• Creating memorable and fun moments for audiences is another key part of Duolingo's marketing approach.
• "I would say there's an understanding and a belief by myself and the rest of the C-suite that in order to build a strong brand, you need a brand that breaks the mold, that is memorable, that brings something quite unique that is not what every other brand is doing. So we really try to take risks because we want to stand out," Orssaud added.

Case in point: Beast Industries has built a business empire around Jimmy Donaldson, also known as Mr. Beast, an internet personality whose online video content found massive popularity among audiences old and young.

• Building off of Mr. Beast's online popularity, Beast Industries has ventured into consumer products, philanthropy and partnerships with big brands.
• "The goal is to build Gen Z, Gen Alpha's version of Disney, a diversified media and entertainment consumer products and services company," Housenbold said. "We want to take that massive reach, our entire team who is creating content every day, and we want to entertain and inspire kids and people around the world."
• When it comes to brand partnership deals with Mr. Beast, the benefits for sponsors outweigh the risks "because he is a brand that's trusted and has such extraordinary reach, and consistent commitment from the audience," Hiltzik pointed out.

Content from the sponsored segment:

In a View From the Top conversation, IBM chief communications officer Sarah Meron said leaning too heavily on nostalgia can be detrimental to brands, adding that evolution is important to move forward.

• "[A]t the end of the day, you cannot brand your way out of having a bad product or a bad user experience," Meron said.
• "I think a lot of times people, especially at some of these legacy brands, hold on to their brand for dear life and sort of forget that's not the core of the business. It's a great asset to have, but you can lean way too hard into it."