A non-sexy (but step-changing) prediction for 2011

Luke Aviet, managing director, GoViral, says this year, money will be made from strategic joined up plans for branded content (yes, putting the ‘interesting’ content alongside the ‘boring’ content): “In the first few months of 2011 this development is going to be one of the more interesting (but rarely predicted) step-changes in the industry”…

‘Boring’ and ‘unfunny’ instructional videos and ‘non-creative’ product demonstrations will become the dominant driving force in branded content in 2011.

At the start of a New Year it is tempting just to list your predictions for 2011, but with the speed at which this industry is developing there’s a very strong chance that in three months time this prophesising, if too glib, could seem rash.

Don’t get me wrong, there are some bankers if you wanted to make predictions. For example; Facebook will continue to overshadow YouTube in the content sharing stakes; publishers will become much more au fait with how to use Facebook in relation to branded content and its monetisation; “smart-reach” will become extremely important; and GoViral and its competitors will see themselves having to adapt their business massively to effectively tackle the rigorous technological demands of the industry – something smart companies have been doing for some time.

While the lead comment is slightly flippant, there is truth in there and in the first few months of this year this development is going to be one of the more interesting (but rarely predicted) step-changes in the industry. Yes the predictions in the 3rd paragraph seem sexy and on the zeitgeist, but the money is going to be made in finding a way to implement a coherent narrative that contains all facets of branded content.

There are reams and reams of research and statistics released around branded content showing how both investment and engagement is going to grow in the following year. And while these are wonderfully useful barometers of the state and strength of the industry, sometimes, to get right to the heart of what is happening in the space, you just can’t beat the tried and tested method of looking at what your own technology is saying.

And in the past few months our technology has been showing us that clients are looking for a much more strategic approach to how and what videos they distribute, with particular emphasis on when they’re distributed instead of just where they’re distributed.

It was a commonly held belief in the not too distant past that there were a number of defined typologies of branded content – snippets, instructional, creative, UGC, boutique, for example – and on the whole it was commonly held by marketers and agencies that never the twain shall meet.

The standard thinking was to get your 30/60 second creative content and your instructional video/tutorial/product demonstration, keep them as far away from each other as you would a Meerkat and Muskrat, find the best place to distribute them and let them go their separate ways with a specified time lag.

But no more. Agencies are beginning to see real results for their clients by implementing strategic joined up plans for all of their branded content. Instead of treating everything as separate entities it’s being hauled together in to one coherent narrative.

The content that’s perceived as ‘interesting’ such as the 90-second creative piece, the made for TV adaptation or the zeitgeist grabbing UGC are now being placed boldly alongside the ‘uninteresting’ promotional spot or the ‘boring’ product demo in a well structured and thought out marketing plan. It is the sign of a maturing market and it is a signpost to how creativity in the product and the planning can lead to profit.

Obviously, some clients are ahead of others through the immediacy of their product. Technology companies, for instance, are leading the way in this new thinking.

Handset manufacturers, such as LG, which release new handsets at such a rate that consumers often need to be told how to use the new technology as well as being informed of its arrival, have realised that a coherent narrative for its branded content can raise consumer engagement times exponentially by actually offering the consumer something useful as well as entertaining after they have drawn them in with an interesting creative piece.

The trick for agencies isn’t just about trying to put all of the aforementioned elements of branded content in to one piece of film, but intelligently planning the creative around a coherent narrative strategy containing a number of pieces of content being distributed as part of a joined up plan.