• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, March 5, 2009

NEW ORLEANS -- An NBCU digital executive in charge of producing Webisodes and other online shorts said Thursday that there is ample opportunity to create content built around brands. He said he is eager to work more closely with agencies and brand managers to execute such projects.

Cameron Death, an NBCU vice president who runs the company's digital studio, welcomes the opportunity to gain insight from advertisers about their brands and the messages they want to convey. He said he will then use the information as a basis for content creation.

"There's a challenge and an opportunity within the next two years, where the brand can become the content," he said.

The content would be created by the same development executives and producers behind prime-time hits. (Death refers to the content as television, although it airs on the Web.) "Still kick-ass television, but really conveys what that brand is about," Death said on a panel at the American Association of Advertising Agencies media conference.

And although a principal aim behind the formation of NBC's digital studio was releasing branded content, he is mindful not to let commercial interests alienate consumers. "We're not going to let a brand come in and bastardize that content, but we know we can find a great place for it," he said.

He added: "If I go too far down the product-placement [route], I'm going to lose [viewers]."

Also on the panel about "new patterns of media consumption" was Dan Cutforth, co-founder of Magical Elves, a production company behind Bravo hits "Project Runway" and "Top Chef." Both shows are viewed by some as examples of how to execute successful brand integrations.

On traditional TV, Cutforth said he expects the pace of brand integrations to keep growing. "I think that will continue because it is DVR proof," he said of the tactic.

Still, with so much branded entertainment in circulation--partly due to the glut of reality series--it could lead to some consumer backlash, he said. The challenge then becomes "creating an emotional connection" between the brand and viewer.

Unlike NBCU's Death, Magical Elves' Cutforth said using brands as a starting point for developing content is a considerable effort. "I'm sure there will be content that's all about brands, but it's very hard to create that stuff, and we've tried," he said. "It's difficult to create stories around products."

Cutforth said Elves has produced some work for Panasonic for its HD products.

Separately, Cutforth spoke about a genre known as "green programming"--content that wants to be entertaining and deliver an environmentally friendly message. But he said that while consumers are eager to help the environment, they don't want messages about it "to interfere with their entertainment."

As a result, broadcast networks are loath to experiment with those type of shows. (Cable, which has room for niche programming, has a different dynamic. Two examples are: Discovery's Planet Green channel and the Sundance Channel.)

"The problem has been that the networks have found it very hard to promote those shows and get an audience for them," he said.

Back at NBCU, Death said the company is set to produce a slew of original Web content, largely as a way to gauge consumer hunger for it and perhaps establish a beachhead if successful. "We're proving out the model," he said. "We're over-investing."

He added that it is a unique "moment in time. We're going to over-deliver like crazy and reap the benefits of it."