midem Launches Brand Central And Opens A Second Category For Its Marketing Competition

PARIS, Sept. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- midem, the annual international B2B event dedicated to the new music ecosystem, is expanding its offer for the brand and advertising communities with a dedicated zone called Brand Central. Organised by Reed MIDEM, midem will take place in Cannes, 26-29 January 2013.

Brand Central is the place to learn all about the music and brands relationship. It offers a tailor-made learning programme run by industry experts to better understand the synergy between music and brands. Events will include presentations of successful music and brands case studies, music pitch sessions, workshops and training sessions on how to work with brands, and how to get music licensed and synched.

With music playing a crucial role in helping brands reach out to and further engage with their audience, Brand Central provides the perfect backdrop for music industry executives to meet with brand representatives and advertising agencies.

Brand Central will also host the pitches of the 20 finalists of the second edition of the midem marketing competition. Following the success of the first edition, midem is opening a second category, highlighting the best music placement in an ad. This is in addition to the first category, which rewards the best use of music or partnership with an artist in a marketing campaign.

The call for entries to the competition is now open, and submissions must be made before 11 November 2012.

The 10 finalists for the first category will be short-listed by Contagious, the ad industry's authority on creativity and innovation. The 10 finalists for the second category will be selected by The Reel, a cutting-edge online service showcasing the best in TV, cinema and viral advertising from around the world.

These 20 finalists will be invited to midem 2013 to pitch their campaign or ad in front of the midem audience and a jury composed of experts from the music, advertising and brand industries, as well as journalists from leading trade publications. The two winners selected by the jury will be announced during Visionary Monday on 28 January.

The first jury members confirmed for the competition are:

• Thomas Jamet, President of UDECAM's Brand Content Commission & President, Moxie (France)
• Bettina Krings, Director Brand Partnership Central Europe, Warner Music Group (Germany)

Last year, Christoph Bornschein, CEO of social media agency Torben, Lucie und die gelbe Gefahr GmbH (Germany) was the first ever winner of the midem Marketing Competition, with his campaign "Mein Tweet als Lied. Mit Vodafone."

"We entered our campaign in midem's first marketing competition, but we were hardly prepared for the many thrills to come," said Christoph Bornschein. "We were delighted to be immersed in a place bursting with plans, ideas and visions. It's easy for winners to say this, but even if we had not won, our trip to the hotbed of creativity that is midem was an incredible prize in itself."

To access the call for entry forms, please click here for category 1 (best use of music in a marketing campaign) and click here for category 2 (best music placement in an ad).

Brand-e.biz, Berlin School of Creative Leadership, Contagious, IAB, The Reel, UDECAM & Strategies are partners of the midem marketing competition.

About midem – midem is an annual international b2b event dedicated to the new music ecosystem, with a tradeshow, conferences, competitions, networking events and live performances. It's the place where music makers, cutting-edge technologies, brands & talents come together to enrich the passionate relationship between people & music, transform audience engagement and form new business connections. 

SOURCE Reed MIDEM