JWT launch entertainment arm in China

JWT Shanghai has launched a new division, JWT Entertainment, which offers branded content creation, product placement, joint promotions and licensing deals for companies in China that want to leverage Hollywood to bring star power to their brands.

JWT Entertainment offers a wide range of services, such as securing the rights to produce commercials based on a particular movie using dedicated scenes shot with the actors during the film’s production. The new company will also create branded content, in-game advertising, and licensing of movie characters and properties for use in commercials or on product packaging. Its product placement services will extend to TV serials, which offer a shorter lead time and more immediate results for clients.

JWT Entertainment is a strategic partnership with Filmworks China Entertainment Marketing, a Beijing-based company run by entertainment industry veteran Sirena Liu.

Liu (pictured) has negotiated several high-profile placements for Chinese brands, most notably for Lenovo, TCL phones, Chinese fashion brand Meters/Bonwe Group and Yili Group’s Shuhua brand milk in the Hollywood blockbuster Transformers 3. Recently, Filmworks China extended its reach into popular American TV shows, successfully placing Yili Milk into “The Big Bang Theory”, another breakthrough for Chinese brands. Filmworks also works in the gaming area, and facilitated the placement sponsorship for the website 360buy in The Sims Free Play, Chinese edition.

JWT Entertainment’s product placement services will focus on dramas and movies made by Hollywood studios, which are widely popular in China.