But while the Rembrandt is famous, the same guard company commissioned seven other artists to paint their portraits around the same period. This made the artist nothing more than a commodity.

And it makes Rembrandt’s work one of the most famous early examples of sponsored content.

This was on my mind last week as I attended a conference on media convergence organized by The Economist. Executives, marketers, and designers discussed subjects including social media, 2.0, and well, the sponsorship of content. Here are some highlights.

Craig Newmark, chairman of Craigslist, said, “Trust is the new black.” Not surprisingly, personalization is his take on 2.0. He also said Leonard Cohen is his rabbi.

Bonita Coleman Stewart of Google sort of said the same thing—everything’s going local. For marketers it’s about quantitative measurement, assured return on investment. “Marketing,” she said, “is the new finance.”

Sony Pictures boss Michael Lynton, a man much at ease with himself, pointed out that the movie business used encryption early to minimize piracy. Sony Music Entertainment’s Thomas Hesse, on the other hand, a man haunted by piracy, had the air of someone pushing water uphill with a fork. He seemed a lot more skeptical about peer-to-peer communication.

What does this have to do with Rembrandt?

Read more on Fast Company