Dive Brief:
- BBDO London launched Flare Studio, a curated and crowdsourced initiative designed to provide brands with access to video content and talent including creatives, filmmakers, production companies and influencers according to a release from the agency.
- Flare Studio will bring together talent from across the globe to compete for briefs posted by BBDO agencies and their brand clients.
- Mars is the inaugural partner for the new crowdsourced group.
Dive Insight:
What makes Flare Studio interesting is before the digital revolution in marketing, agencies were essentially the sole provider of content for brands. That reality has shifted, and Flare Studio is clearly a move by BBDO to remain relevant in the content space by moving away from creating content in-house, instead offering curated video content experiences to present clients.
As digital marketing continues to disrupt the traditional agency-marketer relationship, more shops are likely to look outside the box for new ways to strengthen their role in the new landscape.
Nick Price, Head of Content at AMV BBDO and founder of Flare, described the initiative as a “bold undertaking” that combines the benefits of crowdsourcing with the stability of the agency backing, stating, “That's a very different approach from anything else in the market."
The move points to the growth in video consumption across devices and the strong demand for content created by influencers and independent creators.
"There is an insatiable demand for video content," said Ian Pearman, CEO, AMV BBDO, in the release. "Flare Studio has been created to help our clients meet this exploding demand, and to demonstrate how BBDO can handle this increased volume, quickly, efficiently and with the highest level of creativity on a global scale. We call it curated crowdsourcing."
