On Monday, Variety unveiled its inaugural Content Meets Commerce Summit, presented by Kinesso, bringing together thought leaders to explore the dynamic fusion of entertainment and commerce. The half-day event sparked lively discussions about how cutting-edge product placement in digital content is not just catching viewers’ attention but actively driving their purchasing decisions. The event began with a keynote conversation on the quickly evolving consumer audience patterns with Busy Philipps, who is the host and co-executive producer of the QVC+ late-night talk show “Busy This Week” alongside Stacie Tedesco, VP of streaming at Qurate Retail Group.
This was followed by an expert panel: “Is it Retail or is it Commerce?” discussing the differences in digital vs. physical spending economies and the specific strategies used to succeed in both. As the day went on, the conversations dug deeper, analyzing what the future of commerce might hold.
Crystal Wallace, Kinesso’s operations executive lead for data and t ech, joined Jeriad Zoghby, chief commerce strategy officer of IPG, and Brian Steinberg, senior TV editor at Variety, for the segment called “The Connected Commerce Revolution.” The day ended with a deep dive on Netflix, tackling the business behind the hit show “Emily in Paris.” The series has turned itself into a buyer-seller vessel, introducing new product placement techniques in partnership with search engines like Google, which have made it easier for.
