21st Century Fox CEO James Murdoch said content providers have to find more creative ways to attract viewers to ads, along the lines of the recent partnership between its Fox broadcasting show Empire and Pepsi.
Murdoch, interviewed by Discovery Communications CEO David Zaslav at the Paley Center for Media’s 2015 Paley International Council Summit, said that viewers aren’t rejecting ads, they just need to be more compelling to watch.
“What I haven’t seen enough of is ad innovation,” Murdoch said. “There are lots of creative ways to go about it, to connect brands with customers. I don’t think it’s the right to give up on advertising entirely.”
Murdoch pointed to the Empire/Pepsi partnership, which will be weaved into the next three episodes of the popular show about the music industry. He added that Pepsi’s past relationships with music icons like Michael Jackson made it a natural fit with the show, “It’s not inauthentic and it works within the narrative of the show,” he said.
