CAA’s Alanna Strauss Bringing Marketers Hollywood’s Creative Table

In an increasingly fragmented television landscape, Creative Artists Agency is aiming to give brand marketers a seat at Hollywood’s creative table alongside writers, directors and talent as they make original IP series together.

Alanna Strauss, head of content and marketing of CAA’s Entertainment Partnerships team, says brands that once walked a fine line between storytelling and advertising with product integration that appeared adjacent to quality TV content increasingly want their marketing messages subtly immersed in digital storytelling from the earliest stages of creative development.

The result is original IP series where marketers connect with audiences from the center of the TV screen. “Brands can be the story themselves, and the way to do that is by having a seat at the creative table with the best storytellers in the world,” Strauss tells The Hollywood Reporter.

Take the 6-episode series Rider Die for Complex NTWRK’s YouTube and social media channels, a partnership between CAA and Crocs. The limited series has celebrities break down their backstage must-have requests, also known as a rider. And they do that while seated on a couch inspired by Croc’s classic foam slip-on clog shoe with its Swiss cheese-like cutouts.

Rider Die from CAA client OBB Media — the studio behind Justin Bieber: Seasons and A Nonsense Christmas with Sabrina Carpenter — features music, comedy and internet stars like Becky G, Zara Larsson, Trisha Paytas, The Kid LAROI, Ziwerekoru “Ziwe” Fumudoh and Tyriq Withers and their greenroom requests. In the opening episode that debuted April 2, Withers, the HIM sports horror film star, touts backstage essentials like unseasoned chicken, under-eye patches and at one point brandishes his own Croc shoes, “because I like to walk around the set comfy.”

Brand integrations have become increasingly common on even relatively prestige projects in Hollywood. That includes HBO’s The White Lotus, where for the third season set in Thailand, American Express curated experiences for Platinum Card and Centurion members, including in Koh Samui, where the season was filmed, and for Dune: Part Two, Microsoft let virtual pilots fly an ornithopter and game designers working with the movie production to craft a cinematic Arrakis for an expansion pack.

Elsewhere, Paramount, the series producer for Netflix’s Emily in Paris, partnered with spirits maker Quintessential Brands to bring a fictional drink to shelves, inspired by Lily Collins’ marketing exec Emily Cooper pitching a canned Kir Royale. 

In Rider Die, more than exclusive online access to celebrities through the greenroom door is at work with the limited series. Strauss explained the collaboration between Crocs and CAA aims to help the footwear company generate brand heat beyond its original classic clog shoe to newer styles like sandals and slippers, while still preserving Croc’s comfort and self-expression roots.

“Of course, it’s from Crocs. But the storytelling is always the main vehicle, which is a huge compliment to how they approach marketing and connecting with audiences,” she adds. Elsewhere, Crocs is producing its own micro dramas for ReelShort, a vertical dramas streaming platform.

For Carly Gomes, chief marketing officer at Crocs, the footwear brand has evolved its branded content strategy in partnership with CAA to get closer to series creators and talent with an eye to greater uniqueness and authenticity with its digital storytelling. “We look to collaborate with creators and talent from the earliest stages, so what we’re building feels true to them and to us. That approach allows our content to reflect real personalities and moments, creating something that feels original, entertaining, and worth engaging with on its own,” Gomes said in a statement.

For Strauss, branded content like Rider Die is also about redefining quality TV content amid an increasingly disrupted TV landscape. “It’s not just taking an ad idea and putting it into long form. It’s really what they (brands) stand for, what they mean, what they know about their consumers,” she said.

For CAA, combining that market brand and intelligence with quality storytelling offers a solution to reaching increasingly elusive TV audiences on varied and emerging digital platforms. “Now is an incredible time for brands to be able to do that and earn that credibility with audiences and consumers everywhere,” Strauss said.