The creation of branded entertainment content will be an integral feature of the Miami Ad School’s Social Media Boot Camp. The boot camp has been developed to meet the demand for more engaged advertising in the face of the structural decline of the traditional TV industry.

Will Edwards, creative director at JWT and Miami Ad School teacher, will lead a weekly content creation class that will teach storytelling and creating shareable content. Strategist from Google, Facebook, Clemenger, Colloquial, Cummins & Partners, DT, M&C Saatchi, Ogilvy, Saatchi & Saatchi, Vice, We are Social and Zenith Optimedia will train participants in all aspects of Social Media from creating engaging content to integration, data analysis to the future media landscape.

Edwards (pictured below) said: “Social Media is the rising star as major advertisers are moving into digital. But I also believe that the dramatic reports at the weekend about the death of traditional media are premature. (‘TV Sector Value Crash after ad fall-off’, The Australian; ‘Is TV dying? US media stock slump’, AFR, 8-9 August, 2015).

“However, the days where you could reach the younger audience, our future, with linear TV are gone. Today is about creating stories that intimately connect our audience to the client’s brand, it’s about creating entertainment across all channels.

“But to reach them on an emotional level, you need to find your audience’s core values and talk their language.

“I’m pleased to be involved with this rigorous training program that covers data, strategy, creativity and execution.”

Alex Light (pictured in the lead image), commercial director at Vice, added: “Traditionally, TV’s dominance has meant that advertisers were able to align with great content, picking audiences based on programming and inserting an advertising message in between the content. With the rapid fragmentation of media and the myriad of on-demand content options available today, advertising can be screened out. Brands are faced with a new challenge: creating content that their audience actually want to watch.”