Achieving the Holy Grail of great branded content

Dean Baker, head of JWT Entertainment at JWT London, explains how to achieve the Holy Grail of successful branded content.

UK advertising is on the brink of change: with product placement regulations waiting in the wings to be finalised, it’s only a matter of time before brand names and product shots become a natural part of TV viewing. But how much of an impact will this shift have? Our global friends have been adopting the approach for years, and so UK consumers exposed to foreign exports such as American Idol or the Mission: Impossible films have already experienced placement in their TV and film viewing.

The issue is not how consumers will adapt to the supposed shock of seeing products advertised in this way, but whether it will actually change their behaviour as a result. The key to any advertising campaign is not how much exposure a brand has or how obviously it is displayed, but how engaging it is for the consumer. If brands are portrayed in a manner that captivates the audience and actively invites them to interact and continue the experience, the campaign has succeeded, whether it’s a traditional ad, brand integration or specially made ad-funded content.

Branded content is undoubtedly going to be the next big thing for the advertising industry. With consumers becoming more powerful than ever in terms of their content consumption, and on-demand tools meaning they can control how much advertising they are exposed to, it’s essential that brands find new and innovative ways to get in front of their audiences.

What we are doing with JWT Entertainment, which launched in January, is bringing brands, content creators and advertisers together to partner on producing great content. We see it as our role to guide our clients in this direction and ensure that we are creating engaging material which actively encourages consumer participation.

Currently, although ad-funded programmes do exist (The Krypton Factor and Orange Playlist, for example), there are still huge opportunities to push the boundaries, to bring advertising and entertainment together, and become part of social culture. If we are to create material which entertains audiences and engages each consumer, we need to think big and deliver quality, high impact entertainment.

The key is to get the balance between establishing the right level of presence for the brand and not overloading the consumer with messaging. UK consumers are cynical enough towards advertising that any overt branding will put them off entirely, regardless of whether the content is entertaining or not. The solution may sound obvious, but it’s vital that brands and advertisers choose exactly the right fit when planning AFP; choosing a theme or format that has an obvious affinity with the brand’s marketing campaign will ensure that consumers accept the association and don’t see it as gratuitous product placement.

It’s also essential to avoid overkill: for example, even though the brands used in the Sex and the City movie provided the right fit with the film, arguably the products were shoehorned in so many times that they ultimately served as an irritant to viewers rather than adding to the value of their experience. Moreover, if a food manufacturer were to create a cooking series, or a mobile phone company produced programming about music, consumers would not question the link. Once this ‘obvious’ partnership has been forged, it’s crucial that the content follows the traditional rules of marketing and is engaging, creative, relevant and targeted. Now that we are aiming to capture the attention of consumers who can easily look the other way if they find content uninteresting or irrelevant, it’s vital that we don’t miss an opportunity to present both an entertaining concept and a chance to increase their awareness of the brand.

So how do we achieve this? The answer lies in weaving funded content in with a wider integrated platform; a community and network which consumers can tap into and add their thoughts to, making the whole process an organic and live experience. If brands create ideas which look great on TV for 60 minutes but then essentially disappear into the ether, it’s a waste of a golden opportunity to shape a campaign that will live and evolve in many forms, being actively shaped and developed by the audiences it is targeting.

The result of this approach will be a form of ad funded content which captures the imaginations of consumers whilst still fulfilling the needs of the broadcasters. Commissioning editors may well be interested by the thought of a brand stumping up the full cost of a programme, but this alone is not enough; they will need to be assured, as with anything they greenlight, that it’s great content, as for them it’s all about ratings.

From a brand’s perspective, they will look for programming where the entertainment content is just the beginning. They will hope to drive viewers online to continue their experience through Facebook, Twitter or Bebo, ultimately adding to the brand’s success through high levels of customer involvement and advocacy, which ultimately drive sales. Only once advertisers and brands achieve this level of consumer engagement will they have truly cracked the Holy Grail of branded content.

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