Shaq's Content Pitch

While Shaq won't be able to join us for the Digital Content NewFront event on June 9th, he wanted to send us some of his digital content show ideas. We think they're Shaqtastic!

John McCarus Welcome Video

2010 Digital Content NewFront - John McCarus Welcome

Fandomonium Explores Modern Fandom

What happens when content and community converge? You get Fandomonium.

The big idea behind branded content is that brands are looking to reach consumers in non-traditional ways and to personalize their messages based on individual preferences, making new media (online, mobile, social networks, etc.) more appealing. However, consumers are not content to lean back and passively receive these messages. Not only do they want to be part of the story, they want to make it their own.

And nothing influences consumer behavior more than an experience that moves them – and a brand they can believe in. When brands are able to engage meaningfully, they transform consumers into fans and, as they reach a critical mass of fans, they form a committed, passionate “community” championing the brand.  

Fandomonium is about building community around content and vice versa.  It’s a participatory culture where fans interact with and influence content that is being created for their consumption. Brands and content creators participate in this dialogue by developing and distributing content that resonates, entertains, seduces.  As a result, content becomes emotional capital that resonates and fuels action.

Fandomonium is no mere call to action. It is a call to marketplace survival, in the Darwinian sense. In a world where even the lines of real life and fiction are starting to blur though 3-D and augmented reality technologies, content and distribution play dual core roles in extending audience experiences beyond the :30 or :60-second spot – and even beyond the delivery platform itself.  In the age of Fandomonium, brands are empowered publishers moving closer and closer to their audiences through the power of content-centric marketing.

It’s Fandomonium!

Yep. Fandomonium. That’s the theme for this year’s NewFront, and for good reason. Of course we want to see all the incredible new partnerships that can be formed by bringing together creators, talent and brands and all the amazing content that comes of these partnerships. But, it must all be done with an eye towards the audience. 

After all, we all want to win more fans. We want them to share their passion with their friends and family, and we want them to buy what we are selling.

When content really connects with people, it’s good for everyone. It’s good for talent. It’s good for the brands. So that’s why this year, our focus is on people. People who “like” us, “favorite” us and “follow” us and in so doing, promote our success.

Let us know your thoughts on the state of fandom. Add your comment below to connect with us and the Digital Content Newfront community!