For Networks, 'A Socially Engaged TV Audience Is the Most Powerful Marketing Team'

On Wednesday, May 9 in New York City, Ad Age is hosting the inaugural Social Engagement/Social TV (SE/STV) Conference. The partial-day event will bring together the best minds from the media, social-analytics, brand and agency worlds. To preview the conference, all this week we're offering brief thoughts from key SE/STV speakers and panelists on the evolution of social engagement. Today's SE/STV spotlight shines on Mark Ghuneim, founder and CEO of Wiredset and Trendrr, the pioneering social-media-monitoring service that has been at the forefront of the Social TV phenomenon. Mr. Ghuneim will moderate an SE/STV panel titled "From Social TV to Better TV: Will the 'Second Screen' Deliver for Networks, Brands and Users?" on May 9. The panel includes Chris Stephenson, president of Viggle; Lisa Hsia, exec VP for digital media at Bravo; and Aaron Lilly, senior marcom architect at Microsoft / Bing. "A socially engaged TV audience is the most powerful marketing team networks have ever had," says Mr. Ghuneim. "And social TV gives us the opportunity to understand and leverage an audience's emotional attachment to a show, because TV is no longer a one-sided experience. Finally all our shouting at the TV can actually be heard. Brands that are smart enough to listen and leverage that emotional response can unlock valuable attention from an audience that actually cares." TV networks and brands with national TV budgets have led the charge in figuring out the value of social chatter simply because of the huge amounts of money at stake, but Mr. Ghuneim says any marketer can learn lessons from the Social TV realm, because figuring out how and why consumers engage can help you create a road map for deepening the consumer-brand connection. "There is a massive brand opportunity in enabling compelling user experiences," he says. What can your brand learn from the Social TV phenomenon? Join the conversation on May 9 at SE/STV. Find out more about the event, including a complete list of speakers and panelists, here. Then register here.

For Networks, 'A Socially Engaged TV Audience Is the Most Powerful Marketing Team'

Featured Stories