Branded entertainment executives Anthony Damianakis and Pete Ferguson are launching an ambitious startup called IPX, headquartered in Dubai with offices in London and Sydney.
The innovative startup aims to connect brands with creators, producers, broadcasters, streamers and other content platforms to co-develop premium content and ownable IP.
Billed as the world’s first global marketplace for branded entertainment, IPX is being launched with the support of prominent international brand industry figures, including Toby Hack, a former top executive at advertising and marketing conglomerate Omnicom’s PHD Worldwide, and media entrepreneur Juliet Otterburn-Hall, founder and managing partner of British consulting firm Value Squared.
Mr. Damianakis is a former commercial content director at Australia’s Boomtown Pictures and chief growth officer of Saudi Agency Network, an innovative advertising company where Mr. Ferguson is CEO and founder. Mr. Ferguson previously founded Nemorin Film & Video, a UK-based video agency whose client base included global brands NBCUniversal, Nat Geo, Hugo Boss, McDonald’s, Amazon and American Express.
While operating globally, IPX will have a strategic focus on the Middle East, “to encourage local production and capitalize on the region’s growing momentum as a global content and entertainment hub,” according to a statement. “IPX has established its global headquarters in the UAE and has deep penetration into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through its network of Saudi government agencies,” it added.
“Branded entertainment is a $100 billion industry with no real infrastructure,” Damianakis said in a statement. “Deals are made through personal networks, you don’t see opportunities unless you’re in the room, and there’s no efficient way for the right brands to find the right creators,” he went on to point out. “We’re using behavioral science and data insights, not intuition or relationships, to build the global marketplace this industry has long needed.”
“The Middle East offers a unique combination of attractive production incentives, ambitious distribution, a can-do culture and growing brand investment,” Ferguson added.
IPX launched on Monday (February 16), offering a live pipeline of secretive projects and securing early unspecified agreements from premium IP owners and major international organizations.
