ADTECH FULL FRONTAL: Brand content - will it replace the ad?

As it becomes harder and harder for advertisers to grab the attention of viewers and users, more and more interest and brand dollars seem to be turning toward brand content. Don’t interrupt the show, be part of it. Or even create and own the content or channel outright yourself. One way or another, marketers have to try harder to earn attention with their brand dollars and not just pay to interrupt content with brand messages.

Brand content ranges from product placement on shows like The Apprentice or Queer Eye to virally distributed brand films to full blown entertainment programming such as the proposal to create BUD.TV or Amazon’s intention to make a movie for itself.

The creative challenge is finding a natural fit between content and the product or service you are looking to promote, otherwise this is just back to the old world of soaps created by P&G as a vehicle for the sponsor’s message.

A better model from the past might be the Tour de France, cleverly conceived and created in 1903 by the Parisian daily sports paper l’Equipe to drive daily reading habits and national sales as the tour passed throughout the country.

The other factor fueling all the interest in brand content is the seemingly imminent collapse of the old production and distribution hierarchies. George Lucas tells us he is going to give the movie theatres a miss in the future and distribute content by other means. Wall Street, in putting more and more money directly into movie production, seems able to skirt round the studios altogether; Joel Silver of Lethal Weapon and Matrix fame has just cut a deal to do exactly this. Morgan Freeman and Intel have re-announced the intention to make a movie together and release it online as well as in theatres. David Porter, the man in charge of DVDs at Wal-Mart and who happens to sell $17 billion of them a year, is up at arms at Disney and Apple for making movies available on iTunes. What is going on?

As another Porter put it, Cole Porter, in the world of movies meet the networks meet the web meet Wall Street, it seems like nowadays “Anything Goes.” Brands need to get in the game.

- Mark Beeching, Digitas Chief Creative Officer

Comments

[Sarah]

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[John Young]

I think Fearless Leader Kenny is right on the money here. In the Second Life community, check out the distinction that residents are making between "indigenous" content and "corporate" content. Or the Wikipedia article on Astroturfing. It's not that people mind B2C communication; it's that they mind B2C communication masquerading as P2P communication. And that "informed and skeptical" consumer population is getting more of both every day.

Companies seem to feel like they have to hide their corporate-ness: "Oh, people won't trust us if they know where our interests lie." I don't think that's true at all, especially since the alternative -- trying to obfuscate your interests -- is disingenuous and damaging. As Kenny says, IF the company is genuinely committed to providing the service that they serve, IF the content is there as a service instead of as a baited hook, THEN it's not a predatory relationship. And that's important for a variety of good reasons!

[David Kenny]

It's not just brands that need to get in the game -- the whole company needs to get in the game and provide service. I am so touched by some of the medical content we're putting on the Web now -- healthy heart surveys to help people know when they are at risk; support videos for mental health victims to realize they are not alone; sponsored communities for people with MS; etc. This level of service can work for any company that wants to serve its customers -- auto companies wanting to help people be safe and fuel efficient and afford their vehicles; financial services companies wanting to help people make wise choices about savings and investments; food companies wanting to help people live healthier lives with healthier recipes; media companies wanting to help people create more personal connections with the world around them; etc. This is not the job of MarCom alone. The whole company, from the top, needs to commit to serving the customer with content that provides a noble service. It's good for the customer, and the brand will then be authentic as opposed to built (and lost) with a thin veneer of one way communications.

Maybe anything goes. But only the solid service will survive the harsh reality of an informed and skeptical consumer population.