SHERMAN OAKS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Branded Entertainment Network, which connects global brands to consumers through the power of popular entertainment, announced today that the company is continuing its record-breaking year with April-June 2018 being its highest grossing quarter in BEN Group’s history. The company is on pace to increase its 2018 annual revenue by 37% over its 2017 performance.
Both of the company’s businesses have seen strong performance over the last three months. BEN, the entertainment marketing company specializing in brand integration and influencer marketing, had its highest grossing second quarter yet, with revenue up almost 50 percent compared to the same quarter in 2017. Bookings hit similar record highs - Q2 2018 bookings have grown almost 50 percent over the first quarter of the year, more than doubling Q2 2017’s numbers. This record success was supported by the addition of new clients, including Fruit of the Loom, The Gap, Pillsbury, AARP, Boots Cosmetics, ADT, Koei Tecmo, Splash Out and Kids II. BEN also renewed agreements with GoRVing and with the watch brand Armitron, which is seeing great success from its influencer campaigns.
“The influencer marketing campaign executed by BEN well exceeded all of our expectations,” said Rachel Fredman, Director Public Relations, Armitron. “We had a significant uptick in store sessions on armitron.com, with YouTube driving the most sessions to our site of all social sources resulting in millions of views. This campaign made a big impact on sales and more importantly sparked conversation around the Armitron brand.”
The company’s rights clearance and product licensing division Greenlight also had another successful quarter. In June, BASE Hologram announced the first worldwide dates for its ground-breaking hologram tour featuring Maria Callas, with Greenlight acting as the exclusive licensing representative for the renowned opera sensation’s estate. This quarter also saw Salesforce extending its license of Albert Einstein’s name, likeness, and trademarks for the company’s artificial intelligence platform, Salesforce Einstein. As Salesforce looked to make every business user smarter and more productive with AI, it sought branding that is synonymous with ingenuity and transformation. Einstein was a natural fit.
With a significant shift in how content is consumed and with audiences rejecting any advertising that disrupts the viewing experience, brand integration has become increasingly important as it enables marketers to reach consumers in a more authentic and meaningful way. To this end, BEN partnered with global media platform The Drum to publish The Definitive Guide to Brand Integration during Q2 2018, an in-depth study of the industry designed to help brands understand how integrations can have a tangible impact on their business.
“With 35 years of experience in this industry under our belt, we are continuing to see incredible market success, helping brands capture consumer attention with creative and engaging brand integration and influencer marketing strategies,” said Ricky Ray Butler, CEO of Branded Entertainment Network. “The second half of the year should be even stronger. We have already started to see results from our investment in deep learning models and are confident this will drive even stronger growth for our company.”
About Branded Entertainment Network (BEN)
Branded Entertainment Network connects global brands to consumers through the power of popular entertainment. Branded Entertainment Network is comprised of two companies: BEN and Greenlight. BEN is a global entertainment marketing company delivering premium brand integrations across streaming, TV, film, and influencer programming. BEN’s client roster includes Microsoft, GM, Dyson, Ubisoft, Unilever, P&G, and General Mills. Greenlight offers brands unmatched expertise in global rights clearance and licensing with integrated solutions for music, photos, film, TV, celebrity, and iconic talent. Greenlight’s roster of celebrity legends, including Albert Einstein, Steve McQueen, Thomas Edison, Sophia Loren and Charlie Chaplin, provides brands with opportunities for instant recognition, positive perception, and global appeal. Greenlight’s client roster includes Hallmark, Tag Heuer, Canon, L’Oréal, Salesforce, Vodaphone, BBDO, Dentsu, Ogilvy, JWT, and Saatchi & Saatchi.
