CFO Studio Magazine with Bernd-Peter Bier, CFO, Bayer

EVENTS The comments made by these guests are their own and may not reflect the opinions and/or policies of their companies or of CFO Studio, and/or its promotional partners. 28 WWW.CFOSTUDIO.COM 4th QUARTER 2015 Everybody’s Business Is Media THE NBA SCORESWITHMEDIA, ANDOTHER COMPANIES CAN TOO M edia is at everyone’s fingertips. On YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, content can be distributed with the press of a button. As a result, every company is in the world of media, and the number of people watching a large company’s social media channels is staggering. The National Basketball Association (NBA) has more than 850 million Likes and followers combined across all league, team, and player social platforms. “We saw the opportunity with digital and social media to connect in more substantial ways with our fans on a global basis,” said David Denenberg, Senior Vice President, Global Media Distribution and Business Affairs, for NBA Entertainment (NBAE), during a recent General Counsel Studio Executive Dinner held at Il Villaggio, in Carlstadt, NJ. Mr. Denenberg, who is responsible for negotiating agreements and helping manage relationships involving all facets of NBAE’s domestic and international media business — including television, film, radio, music, digital media, photography, and talent —addressed a group of the metropolitan area’s top legal executives. Andrew Zezas, Publisher of CFO Studio magazine and Host of General Counsel Studio, facilitated the conversation; Mr. Denenberg was discussion leader. The NBA’s focus on social media has helped the organization connect with millennials — the largest, most diverse generation in the U.S. The NBA and its stars are active users of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Basketball is also popular on social media platforms like Vine, YouTube, and Snapchat, where short clips and highlights are shared. Richard Wingate, Esq., Vice President, Human Resources and General Counsel for LG Electronics USA, said his company uses YouTube videos to promote products like its IPS monitors. LG created a YouTube video of a fallaway elevator floor, using its lifelike IPS monitors. “We put very large screens on the bottom of an elevator and played a video of an elevator falling. There was also a video camera to capture people’s reactions. It was a clever marketing campaign,” said Mr. Wingate. Showing the GoodYou Do Royal DSM is a global science-based company active in health, nutrition, and materials. A challenge the company has faced is that although it is well known in the Netherlands, where its global corporate office is based, the DSM name is not as familiar in the U.S. “As a result, we implemented a variety of public relations initiatives,” said Jason Stephans, Esq., Senior Counsel, DSMNorth America. “This was inclusive of a social media campaign by creating DSMTV News, available both internally and externally on YouTube.” Episodes focus on a different aspect of the diverse company every month. For example, “DSM is heavily involved in causes like Vitamin Angels and the World Food Program. These are groups that help provide DSM-fortified food products to developing countries. Discussing this initiative via social media allows us to show that DSM is not just focusing on profit, but is passionate about making the world a better place. This social media campaign has generated a lot more attention for DSM, inside as well as outside the nutrition industry,” explained Mr. Stephans. NBA Cares is the basketball league’s global community outreach initiative that addresses important social issues, including education, youth and family development, and health and wellness. “We used to have multiple different things we participated in, from reading programs to staying-in-school initiatives. With NBA Cares we have put them all under one umbrella in order to have a more consistent impact and to try to raise a collective social consciousness,” said Mr. Denenberg. EXECUTIVE DINNER SERIES L. to R.: Andrew Zezas, Mark Weller, Jason Stephans, David Denenberg, and David Persing