Executive Round Up: Marketing an International Program to a U.S. Audience
We asked executives in our industry what the biggest considerations they make when marketing an international program to a U.S. audience. Here’s what they had to say.
Kim Granito
Head of Marketing
AMC Networks
Good and entertaining shows are good and entertaining shows, wherever they come from and wherever they’re consumed. Each of our targeted streaming services are built around specific content lanes, in the case of Acorn TV that lane is international dramas and mysteries, a genre fans of these shows cannot get enough of. Our marketing focuses on what makes the programming compelling to Acorn’s audience, regardless of where it is made, while still being authentic to each show’s specific cultural and creative perspective.
Karen Paek
VP, Marketing
Rakuten Viki
Rakuten Viki has 70+ million registered users globally, and Korean entertainment has dominated in the U.S., with viewers also consuming more diverse Asian content. To effectively market to the rapidly growing U.S. audience, Viki offers a wide range of content from other Asian countries, including Japan, Mainland China, Taiwan and Thailand. We’re strategic about introducing this content and making it easily accessible to new viewers.
Gita Rebbapragada
CMO
Crunchyroll
At Crunchyroll, we frequently bring experiences, products and content from Japan to a large, passionate global community of fans. Critical to delivering those experiences authentically is preserving the original inspiration of the creators that put so much intent and hard work into their creations. We strive to preserve that original creative intent and that drives our approach to everything – from how we subtitle and dub the shows on our streaming service to how we market our lines of business including theatrical, games, e-commerce products and more.
Robert Schildhouse
EVP, North America and GM, Group Marketing Services
BritBox
At BritBox we strive to know our audience extremely well and have developed a deep understanding of their viewing interests. We are laser-focused on continuing to deliver unforgettably entertaining series like ‘Karen Pirie,’ ‘The Tower,’ ‘Line of Duty’ and many more, that our viewers—especially the core 40 plus female quality-seeking viewers that we have built our success through – have proven they cannot get enough of. We are fortunate that while we are exclusively focused on streaming international programming, it is all in English language and often features talent very familiar to American audiences.