Robin D’Elia, Senior VP and Group Client Director, MediaVest’s Liquid Thread

Spreading a client's message in the most appealing package possible

By Paige Albiniak -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/27/2011 12:01:00 AM

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Robin D’Elia’s job at MediaVest’s Liquid Thread is to wrap advertising in the most appealing package possible and then send it out over the Internet, social media platforms, television—wherever viewers are consuming content.

“We create content as an engagement platform so that people will stay with your message and your brand and be more compelled and inclined to want more or even make a purchase,” says D’Elia, the agency’s senior VP and group client director.

For example, D’Elia and her team worked with Pur water filtration systems to sponsor a long-form documentary in which several celebrities—including Jessica Biel and Emile Hirsch—climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro to raise awareness about the importance of clean water to prevent water-borne illnesses. The documentary, Summit on the Summit, aired on MTV in March 2010 and was accompanied by an interactive Website that tracked the trek while featuring its sponsors. The integrations were present but were neither obvious nor intrusive.

“We don’t look to replace commercial messaging,” says D’Elia. “We look to complement it by creating experiences where consumers are going to be engaged, entertained, informed and want to share it with their friends.”

D’Elia and Liquid Thread also have worked on integrated brand campaigns with Wal-Mart (paired up with Food Network), Kraft and P&G.

“I think when branded content is done really well, consumers are much more engaged so they will remain with the experience,” says D’Elia. “What we look to do is provide value to the consumer or to audiences. To provide that value, we work to give consumers more entertainment, more information and a utility that will assist them in their life somehow. We give them the ability to share this content and create a dialogue around it, whether it’s a dialogue with the brand or dialogue with other consumers.”

Liquid Thread was formed last year from the merger between Starcom’s SMG Entertainment, MediaVest’s connectivetissue, and its digital agency, Pixel. Brian Terkelsen, to whom D’Elia reports, leads the unit.

D’Elia came to the company in October 2008 from New Line Cinema, where she was senior VP, national television promotions and marketing. At New Line, which is now part of Warner Bros., D’Elia worked with broadcast, basic and pay cable, and video-on-demand networks to produce programming in support of New Line’s theatrical releases—such as the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Sex and the City and Wedding Crashers—as well as New Line’s licensing, home entertainment, music and international products.