Too Much Noise! Managing Brands in an Uncontrollable Landscape

AllThingsD’s Kara Swisher will moderate this lively conversation between Eric Kuhn, Hollywood’s first social media agent, and Larry Vincent, founder of The Brand Studio at United Talent Agency, as they discuss the unique challenges of cultivating and managing your brand’s story in a social and digital media landscape. How can tried and true storytelling techniques translate into real-time conversations to cut through the clutter? How can brands find and engage the most influential participants in the conversation? How has listening become the most important strategic tool in managing consumer sentiment? As leaders in one of Hollywood’s most influential talent agencies, Kuhn and Vincent provide a unique perspective about the convergence of entertainment and technology in making or breaking a brand.

Presenter(s)

Kara Swisher started covering digital issues for The Wall Street Journal’s San Francisco bureau in 1997 and also wrote the BoomTown column about the sector. With Walt Mossberg, she co-produces and co-hosts D: All Things Digital, a major high-tech and media conference.

Larry Vincent is the founder and executive director of The Brand Studio at UTA, and serves as the strategic lead on all engagements. Over the past 20 years, he has developed brand strategies for some of the world’s most beloved brands, including CBS, Coca-Cola, Four Seasons Hotels, MasterCard, Microsoft, the National Football League, Sony Playstation, The Home Depot, and vitamin-water.

Larry is an active writer. His most recent book, Brand Real, was released in March 2012 and focuses on the strategic behavior that drives the success of the world’s leading brands. His first book, Legendary Brands, was released in 2001 and was translated into seven languages. It focused on the storytelling potential of brands and implications for strategic and creative development. Prior to joining UTA, Larry headed up strategy teams at several leading brand and marketing agencies, including Siegel+Gale, Octagon Worldwide, and Cabana Group. He began his career in the corporate strategic planning group of The Walt Disney Company, where he led projects that leveraged Disney’s brand equity and integrated marketing power with corporate partners such as AT&T, American Express, Coca-Cola, and Kodak. He holds an MBA from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California. He also received his Bachelor’s degree from USC, where he attended the School of Cinema-Television.

Eric Kuhn is Hollywood’s first social media agent. A leader and innovator, Eric has brought some of the country’s largest and most prestigious organizations into the new media age. Building bridges between technology and entertainment, Eric represents emerging technology companies, advises Fortune 500 corporations on innovation, and consults with some of biggest writers, directors, actors, and producers on digital strategy. Prior to joining UTA, Eric was CNN’s first-ever Audience Interaction Producer, where he ran social media and focused on television-web integration. He also helped launch social media practices for the NBA and CBS News. His work has been profiled in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fast Company, Variety, Vanity Fair, TechCrunch, and more. Eric has spoken at numerous conferences including SXSW Interactive, 140 Conference, and Digital Hollywood. Eric is a graduate of Hamilton College, where he majored in Government and studied at the London School of Economics.