And what is Branded Content?

My good friend Javier Suso will probably say that Branded Content is just another way in which advertising people tries to sell smoke to clients.  I guess that we all have been guilty of selling smoke in our careers. In my case I have already confessed and repented !

Branded Content is not “the same stuff with a different name” and I really believe that it is going to the next big thing in which brands will engage consumers (audiences as we like to call them).

But I think is important that the professionals that work on Branded Content agree on what it is and what is not, and how we can differentiate our offering from other advertising and communication agencies.

Recently I followed closely (although I could not be there in person) the first Branded Content conference in Vitoria, Spain: Branducers2011.  I heard that most of the attendants were production companies and TV networks. A few brands were represented and only a couple of media agencies or advertising/creative shops. After the conference I had the chance to debate virtually with several people about the conference and realized that we are very far away of being all in the same page.

Just the composition of the attendants tells a lot. So far Branded Content is seen as a tool. Another marketing discipline led by production companies that needed to evolve and that helped TV shows to integrate brands in their content to increase revenue or to fund such content. Some of them have professionals with advertising background but most, at least in Spain, believe that Branded Content is just the evolution of brand integration in audiovisual content.

I know this view is not just in Spain. I have seen networks in the US trying to sell me as Branded Content what it was just a well-done product placement or a program sponsorship

I believe that Branded Content and Transmedia Storytelling (I will get into this in another post) are complete new approaches to advertising. 

(TV Series and Digital Platform "Norte a Sur" created by Levi's in Latin-america)

Branded Content it should follow these 4 parameters:

     1.     Must be owned by the brand

     2.     Must be founded on the brand strategy

     3.     Must tell a unique story based on the brand narrative

     4.     Must engage the audience

Let me explain…

1. Brands become producers and create content as part of their Owned Media. Actually, if done right, owned branded content should be able to generate direct and indirect revenue for the brands, as well as create Earned Media. In simple terms, the Brand ‘s CMO should be your Jerry Bruckheimer.
2. Any Branded Content work starts with the brand strategy. It must communicate the brand values and reflect the brand persona. In you don’t have a planner or brand strategist when doing Branded Content you are starting always on the wrong foot.
3. All brands have a brand narrative with different stories built over time or that have not seen the light yet. Our job should be to Find and Tell those stories through Branded Content. If you do it right the product will be unique. You can tell something is not branded content if the idea you are being presented can be in your competitor’s desk 30 min later. And we see a lot of that.
4. Branded Content’s role is to activate, not just entertain, an audience. Creating participation, inspiring co-creation, provoking word of mouth and influencing a community should not be just your communication goals but key communication strategies embedded in the story.

So, is an event branded content? Is a mobile app branded content? Is a music group branded content?

Yes, if it follows those parameters.

We tend to simplify Branded Content into audiovisual formats (TV or online) and that, in my opinion, is a narrow view of the possibilities that this approach can provide a brand to connect with an audience.  But it is understandable since so far production companies have guided the discussion.

If you open you mind, embrace true Branded Content and focus to tell stories instead of creating campaigns, you will understand that we are looking at the birth of a new world in advertising.