The second day of A3C kicked off with a topic that is very necessary these days: branding. Brand Partnerships Don’t Just Happen was a panel that focused on brand partnerships and how to go about them. It featured five panelists: Royce Bable as the moderator, Michael Howard who works with NBA 2K’s brand, Berna Riveira with Toyota’s brand, Katrina Johnson with the Atlanta Hawks , and lastly, Trevon Williams who works with Instagram’s brand for events. Throughout the hour long panel, each panelist dropped gems, these were the top four.
photo by DV Photo & Video
- Don’t Change
One of the things the panelist harped on was the need to be you. Don’t change or compromise your image and who you are over a partnership. If you have to sacrifice who you truly are just to get the brand to work with you , they just might not be the brand for you. Don’t compromise your art.
photo by DV Photo & Video
- Be conscious of your image
Brand partnerships can be sealed or broken solely on your image, especially your social media. Brands, especially the bigger ones, will only partner with artists or other brand that match their image. Berna Riveira specifically warned “Be conscious of the images you post online, especially upcoming artists.”
photo by DV Photo & Video
- Pitch Yourself
You are never too big to pitch yourself, sometimes that might be the only way in. Michael Howard of 2K told the story of how Travis Scott became the executive producer of 2K and it was kind of surprising. Scott’s legal team reached out to 2K’s to set the meeting up and Travis Scott pitched himself. An artist in their prime reached out and sold 2K on how he would be the perfect person for this game. Sometimes you got to press the issue - if you want a job done right, do it yourself.
photo by DV Photo & Video
- Bring Something To The Table
Do not come into a brand partnership empty handed, that’s one of the quickest way for your pitch to fail. Trevon Williams said it best, “You scratch my back, I scratch yours, that’s the best way for me to describe brand partnerships.” They have something you want, whether that might be a product or money, it’s up to you to present them with something worthy of their services or something they would want from you.
photo by DV Photo & Video
