We recently sat down with Natasha Baldwin, Group President of Creative and Marketing at Synchtank client Imagem to discuss all things publishing and sync.
In the first 5 videos of our SynchStories Imagem feature, Natasha explains the key elements that set Imagem apart from other publishers, from nurturing client relationships to pitching tactics. We’ve summarised these features below:
Focus on two client bases
“We always make sure that we give equal weighting to our music supervisor and agency clients, and to our clients the bands. A lot of publishers and labels have one client base and we really feel that we have two – we have to service both sides. What we really try and do is go out and deliver service so it’s all about what these people need, not about what we’re trying to push on them.”
Catalogue knowledge
“Another important element for us is always to know our music. There’s a limited amount of people who have to listen to an awfully large amount of repertoire across all different genres, so it’s really important for us when an ad agency or a movie supervisor comes to us and says, “I need something really specific”, that we don’t just pick the obvious stuff, that we go into the vaults and have a look and find hidden gems. So having real expertise across genres is really important and definitely makes us stand out.”
Independent spirit
“One of the things we try to do is maintain that independent spirit but give people the kind of clout and muscle that a big international company can give to either a band or agency to help them work a campaign. So it’s really about service, catalogue knowledge and being independent yet with enough muscle to really make a difference to people.”
Working effectively with partners
“We rely on our partners in their individual territories to tell us what music is working for them. Equally we’re promoting new releases, remixes, rearrangements to them and then listening to what they say. France, for example, is very specific about what works and what doesn’t, as is Germany. There’s absolutely no point trying to push something that the market isn’t ready for or isn’t prepared to embrace. So it’s about communication with the partners and really trusting them.”
Reactive and proactive pitching
“The idea is not to wait for pitches to just come in, it’s also to listen to the music in our catalogue and say, “this lyric fits with this brand message”, or, “this brand’s message ties in nicely with this band’s profile”, and taking it out to a brand or agency and asking, “is there something to be done?” So it’s a balance between reactive pitching and proactive pitching.”
Want to hear more? Check out the first 5 videos in the SynchStories Imagem feature below:
1. Introduction to Natasha Baldwin, Imagem:
2. What sets Imagem apart from other publishers
3. How Imagem works with its partnership network
4. Pitching for sync
5. Syncing for IKEA and Strongbow
