Telemundo said that Mazda, Oreo, T-Mobile and Verizon will be first-time sponsors of the 2020 Billboard Latin Music Awards when the show airs on Wednesday.

Returning sponsors include Garnier Fructis, State Farm, Toyota and Comcast’s Xfinity brand. Comcast is also Telemundo’s parent company.

The sponsors are integrated into the telecast and many will also be involved in digital and social media activities around and during the awards show.

“There is a very high level of interest in big events like this on Telemundo,” said Carrie Stimmel, executive VP, Lifestyle and Hispanic Advertising Sales, NBCUniversal. “We’ve been sold out for the awards, but there are so many opportunities for our marketing partners to get involved with this great event.”

The Billboard Latin Music Awards were originally scheduled to take place in April, but were postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The awards show is being produced live with presenters and finalists appearing at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida. Telemundo said that to protect the health and safety of talent, the production crew and other employees, mandatory protocols have been put in place, including testing, daily temperature checks, mask wearing, enhanced cleaning, and sanitizer stations. 

The production was designed with “bubbles” and multiple stages to reduce the number of people in any one place at a time. 

The production protocols also help make the integrations as creative, robust and engaging as possible.

"We absolutely have made it our mission to pivot with advertisers," Stimmel said. "Marketers need to be nimble, they need to be flexible and they need to reach consumer who are going to buy their products."

She added that NBCU is seeing heightened conversations around talking to diverse and multicultural audiences.

"Engaging U.S. Hispanics is critical for any marketer looking for growth for their business," Stimmel said, citing a survey that found that 65% of Hispanics say they will stop purchasing products from brands that have not supported the community during times of need.

"The great thing about partnering with a big event on Telemundo is that you can also reach across the entire NBCU platform where we reach 91% of all adult Hispanic," she added. 

Mazda will be emphasizing performance with a picture-in-picture moment during the telecast and will bring viewers buzz-worthy events on social media.

Oreo will offer "Oreo Playful Prediction" and play along by guessing what’s coming next on both linear and social platforms.

Viewers will be able to unlock a 3D-like augmented experience from Verizon during the show, featuring musical icon Wisin. With Verizon 5G rolling out nationwide, fans will be able to take part wherever they are. Verizon is also offering augmented reality during NBC’s series Connecting and will have custom content on MSNBC and CNBC highlighting their digital transformation effort for small businesses.

Garnier Fructis will be showing off head-turning effects of its Sleek and Shine Line from the Red Carpet and spotlighting an award winner during the telecast.

Toyota is returning to the stage with Lali, Silvertre and Nauel Turizo, who let the 2021 Toyota Camry TRD, and their music, take them places.

State Farm will be sponsoring a pre-show Red Carpet and a post-show highlights livestream for fans, in addition to a special celebratory moment during the telecast.

Xfinity will present The Song of The Decade Award. It will extend the moment with a first-ever Facebook Live Look-In and continue to engage fans throughout the night across Twitter.

The Billboard Latin Music Awards will coincide with Billboard’s Latin Music Week, a three-day virtual experience dedicated to Latin music, culture, and entertainment that kicks off October 20th. The Billboard Latin Music Awards will air throughout the Americas via Telemundo Internacional, and simultaneously on Spanish-language entertainment cable network, Universo.

With more viewers and advertisers wading into the over-the-top video space, a new study finds that brand integrations in OTT programming brings additional consumer attention to products featured in 30-second commercials.

The study was conducted by TripleLift, whose software inserts products into shows post productions, and biometric research firm MediaScience. 

“During the pandemic, streaming to TVs more than doubled with Americans watching 27 billion minutes of content per day, versus 70 billion per week just a year ago," said Michael Shields, general manager of Advanced Advertising, TripleLift. "It’s now clear that, from a business perspective, the next two years will determine the winners and losers of the OTT space for the next two decades. Audiences want compelling experiences, including compelling ads. Our contribution is to launch products that are consumer-friendly and data-driven to ensure we're driving value for marketers.” 

The study had four key results: 

Integrations catch the viewers’ eye and generate 3.6 times more attention to the part of the screen where the placement occurs. There was a 98% lift in attrition for the integrated product when there was also a traditional ad for the same grand.

Integrations drove a 50% increase in brand recall when there was both a product placement and a 30-second spot.

Product integrations create higher ad engagement, even subconsciously, with biometric measurements showing an 11% increase in engagement intensity when an integration is paired with a commercial.

Viewers enjoyment is unaffected when shows include integrations.

“In short, this research proves the value of brand integrations, but the breakthrough was through the use of neurometrics to properly measure this effect," said Dr. Duane Varan, CEO of MediaScience. "You can't simply ask people what they think about an integration - that approach heightens a viewer’s defenses, producing pseudo results. Instead, we carefully controlled the variables and used our best-in-class methods through eye tracking, heart rate, and galvanic skin response to properly quantify the effectiveness of brand integrations.” 

TripleLift sees integrations in the OTT space being bought and places using the kind of technology the company offers.

“We’re seeing strong, early performance for post-production insertions where content creators and media buyers have the flexibility to integrate products into programming when relevant, timely and directed to the right audience,” said Shields. “This is a game-changer for the industry, but we're still in early stages. We're excited to be leading in the development of new consumer-first ad experiences that will define the future of television.”

Hardware chain Lowe’s is helping the American Idol finalists by delivering do-it-yourself home-improvement products so they can create stages and put their best foot forward for their final performances.

The grand finale of this season of American Idol will be shot at the contestants’ homes for the first time because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It airs Sunday on ABC.

“At a time when home unites us all, we wanted to help these amazing American Idol contestants transform their home stages into something extra special for the finale,” said Marisa Thalberg, Lowe’s executive VP, chief brand and marketing officer. “Each of the contestants put their DIY skills into action and expressed their individual styles with Lowe’s products in easy, affordable ways.”

More than 500 items, including patio furniture, lighting and gardening supplies, were shipped from Lowe’s stores across five different states

Lowe’s trend and style expert Caroline Harmon will also appear on social media explaining how she helped give the home stages special touches.

“Disney has a long-standing relationship with Lowe’s, and we’re thrilled to have the brand join ‘American Idol’ at a historic moment, as the iconic show pulls off its first-ever remote finale,” said Andrew Messina, senior VP. Disney Advertising Sales. “This integration exemplifies how brands like Lowe’s can seamlessly be integrated into grand stages like American Idol while adding to the viewer’s experience in a memorable way.”

We’re thrilled with the partnership as it has helped showcase the finalists' artistry, organically enhancing their home stages in a very personalized way,” said Trish Kinane, executive producer, Fremantle. “As we wrap up a historic evening on American Idol, our finalists have an even brighter stage as they sing for America.”

With the pace of deals not expected to slow anytime soon, PriceWaterhouseCoopers issued a study Tuesday that seeks to get to the bottom of why some deals, despite their synergistic dedication to thought leadership, simply don’t work out.

According to the PwC 2017 M&A Integration Survey, the main culprit for deal’s fizzling out or not living up to expectations is simply their complexity.

In the study, PwC said that high-performing deals – which it defines as transactions where respondents report significant success in strategic, financial and operational areas – dropped to fewer than 5% of the total in 2016, compared to 24% in 2013.

In addition, PwC says that only half of respondents that have done eight or more deals in the past three years reported strategic success, compared to 66% of respondents who did three deals or fewer.

“When it comes to meeting strategic goals, it appears practice doesn’t make perfect,” PwC said in the report.

PwC said about 151 respondents participated in the survey, wih 32% at ethe senior level holding the title of CEO , President, COO, CFO, CIO, EVP and SVP. The remainder were VPs from corporate development, strategy, sales and marketing, operations, information technology, finance and human resources.

Other survey highlights include:

         Success rates fell dramatically—from 45% to just 15%—for those seeking growth in market share.

         The percentage of companies that reported complete success in gaining access to new markets plunged from 58% to 28%.

PwC also found that companies are beginning the integration process much earlier According to the survey, 32% of respondents se their integration teams to work in the deal screening process in 2016, compared to 21% in 2013. The number of respondents that waited until due diligence dropped by more than half.

“Even as companies get better at achieving certain goals, they’re struggling to reach others—perhaps because their expectations are changing,” PwC said in the report. “Workforces are increasingly diverse and multigenerational, and most industries are undergoing some form of digital disruption. Though many business leaders judge it more prudent to buy than to build talent and capabilities they need to join the ranks of the disruptors. By definition, that may mean integrating a completely different type of organization, with capabilities far outside the acquirer’s core.”

The study suggested that companies follow these seven steps toward successful integrations: accelerate the transition; define the integration strategy; focus on priority initiatives; prepare for day one; communicate with all stakeholders, establish leadership at all levels; and manage the integration as a business process.