Tribeca X – From Awareness to Action: How John Deere is Addressing Racial Inequities through Documentary Storytelling – NYC – June 14

The most effective stories for connecting with customers that care about your brand and the issues you endorse are compelling, authentic, and amplify your brand’s core values. Gaining Ground: The Fight for Black Land is a 90-minute first-person narrative documentary film produced by Al Roker Entertainment that educates and addresses land ownership racial inequities that have existed in America for generations. It also touches on John Deere’s commitment to working with various support organizations focusing on the work needed to improve the lives and livelihoods of Black farmers, with a particular emphasis on the preservation of Black-owned farmland in rural communities.

In this session, Al Roker Entertainment CEO Al Roker, John Deere’s VP of Global Communications Mara Downing, and Emmy-nominated Producer/Director Eternal Polk discuss the rise of brand storytelling as a change agent, How a first-person narrative builds trust, empathy, and a call to action, as well as how to strike a balance between message and marketing all while implementing real world KPI strategies to measure and evaluate the impact of social impact storytelling efforts. Moderator: Brent Lang, Executive Editor Variety.