Branded Entertainment

Dealmaking Strategies & Techniques for Industry Professionals

Damaris Valero

• Publisher: J. Ross Publishing
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781604277555
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Betriebswirtschaft
• Subtopic: Unterhaltungsindustrie

Our media options have increased and evolved more in the last decade then over the last century. This evolution affects all aspects of our lives and, more specifically, has forever altered how consumers interact with the brands vying for their attention on all types of media outlets. In today's world, a brand cannot just preserve the status quo but must be positioned correctly within a tumultuous world of options for both advertisers and consumers. One of the big questions for a brand manager is whether to place the brand inside content that's created exclusively with the brand in mind? This is the idea behind Branded Entertainment (BE). It is not product placement but a concept where brands and solid, entertaining content become truly intertwined.This book provides a thorough and practical understanding of the BE business including when it makes sense and when it doesn't. It explains the roles and thought process of all parties involved in a potential deal: the brands, the networks, the content producers, and the ad/marketing agencies. Branded Entertainment outlines the many different scenarios that could surface in these arrangements depending on who leads a deal and who accepts production costs. It summarizes the do's and don'ts of this business and gives the reader a checklist of things to keep in mind when at the deal table.

CHAPTER 1

Defining Branded Entertainment: What It Is and What It Is Not

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Our media options have increased and evolved more in the last decade than over the last century. Think about that. We are living in times that call for constant change. Changes all around us are happening instantaneously. Changes are being experienced at a surface level but are impacting us collectively to the core. How we act, react, and consume mutates constantly.

How does constant change impact a brand? Today, a brand preserving the status quo is almost nonexistent. Brands are experiencing a process of evolution: riding a fast track and being forced into an express lane. The positioning of a brand within a tumultuous world of options is the new challenge. Today, the labyrinth of media options that a brand must consider requires a new order for action. This new order redefines when it makes the most sense to be “in” and for how long. The big question is whether to live inside or outside relevant content (yes, inside content that has been created with the brand in mind). The informed answer to that question hinges on having an understanding of Branded Entertainment (BE)—knowing what it is and what it is not.

WHAT BRANDED ENTERTAINMENT IS

Branded Entertainment Is a Solution to an Evolution

The evolution of our media options has revolutionized the way we view entertainment. Viewers want it all now and are no longer willing to wait—the immediate self-gratification syndrome. This syndrome can also be seen in the world of brands. Brands continuously evolve, faster than ever before, while more brands are coming into the market to compete. With so many options available at only a glance, consumers do not want to wait for results. If a brand does not deliver its promise on the spot, the brand can be immediately replaced—with no remorse.

Brand “doctors” now have to rethink ways to evolve along with technology. Media evolution does not only mean having more options to choose from—media evolution also means creating ways to be quick and react in a blink before being moved out of the game. Brands now understand this.

As the playing field evolves, messages to consumers need to be more refined and emotionally engaging. The delivery of a brand needs to be more personal. The delivery has to have an emotional rhythm that speaks to consumers. A more creative way to do this has to be in the works. New, creative delivery methods are to brands like cement is to a foundation. Not reacting to this new (marketing) world order exposes brand managers and networks alike to losing consumers’ attention.

Figure 1.1. Omnipresence—the new keyword for a brand.

The consequences of slow evolution are simply concluded in one fact: consumers are less passive and more demanding regarding what suits their personal needs. A consumer no longer travels to content. Content must travel to the consumer. Therefore, omnipresence is the new keyword for a brand (Figure 1.1). A brand no longer holds center stage: it fluidly finds its way inside the social media world of consumers; it becomes part of a series drama; it is part of a song consumers cannot keep out of their heads.

Figure 1.2. Create outstanding branding content by cultivating brand participation and creative content simultaneously.

Branded Entertainment Stems from a Seed ... Timing Is Everything

When we think about marrying content with a brand, we rarely wonder who came to the party first. Was it an idea for content that came first and the brand was found later? Or was it the brand that was looking to expand into the content? Some would ask: why does that even matter? The truth is it does matter because how you start a creative process determines whether you finish it successfully. The key to creating outstanding branding content is to cultivate the brand and the content simultaneously (Figure 1.2).

There is a certain similarity in pairing branding with content creation to the germination of a tree sprouted from a seed. In creating content, the idea for the content (assuming there is a need) is the “seed” in this process. This seed should be grafted in its infancy to the story of a brand. Here, “infancy” is not the first creative impulse or the launch of a narrative arc. It is the moment when an idea that may potentially be targeted for a branded deal enters the picture. The key is to identify the moment and immediately begin looking for brands to partner with rather than to leave the brand out as a placeholder to be filled later. Because each brand has a story to be told, the unfolding of the story has to happen along with the development of the idea. To create a successful foundation for Branded Entertainment, the story of the brand within the content needs to unfold organically and alongside the content itself—the story must feel natural to the consumer; otherwise the message risks being ignored.

This creative mesh must continue refining itself and serving as the stage where the brand’s story will live. The brand can then be like an actual character within the content: it has a purpose, a message, and a destination. The idea can then transform into engaging content as the development process unfolds. The trick is that both the content and the brand need to be set on “START” about the same time.

The opposite of this would be for a brand to participate in or be inserted into some content already in existence. At this point, most likely the brand would merely select from a branch of existing options within the content. Because the content is already fully formed, flexibility is often limited and as a result, a proper fit between brand and content is rare. We see this in sponsorship deals in which the brand associates with the content at the end of its creation, but the content did not have the brand in mind from its inception. The content may have been brought to you by a fine product, but the association between the two usually is not strong enough to leave a lasting impression. Ultimately this weakness will fail both the brand and the content. The failure, however, is more significant for the brand than for the content creators.

Some of the best examples of failing to mesh the brand and content from the beginning concern mass consumption brands. These brands often have tried to create new content with no “star power” or at times have pushed a product based on a hard-sell approach instead of a soft sell—a sure recipe for disaster. Plucking product within content can be a serious turn off. In the past, cleaning product brands have fallen into this trap. Because their target is to reach a range of consumers as wide and vast as possible, some consumer cleaning product brands (due to their frequency of use and price point) must align with distributors and producers who can make outstanding popular and engaging content and not settle for anything less. If star power can be added to the mix, then instant recognition and an emotional connection are more attainable. Instead, too often, mass consumption brands go for the hard sell by making the product and its consumption too obvious (in your face) where it feels unnatural.

Figure 1.3. The soft-sell strategy: from the “ignition point,” simultaneously develop Branded Entertainment content united with the brand without being obvious.

Branded Entertainment means content needs to be united to the brand from the “ignition point,” at the same time, without being obvious (Figure 1.3). This technique is a soft sell strategy. Nowadays, brands are around only for short periods of time. Some even say their time on the shelf is “predestined.” Others say “mutate often” in order to survive. Destiny, however, can be altered when we understand how to become part of a new game. Be an agent of change, not of extinction. New formulas of brand + content exist. More and more they need to be the new formula inside a media strategy.

A word of caution: Any type of branded content to be created, short- or long-form, must first and foremost fulfill a gap, a visible need in the viewers’ world. Consider this concept to be a “universal law” in the world of Branded Entertainment. Once the new content finds a place within the landscape of consumers, viewers will tend to multiply awareness to others faster than any marketing campaign could. In other words, when consumers feel heard and a brand comes in to fulfill a dream, a wish, or an emotional engagement for a viewer, the viewer will become a carrier of the brand’s message. This scenario can be considered to be branded content success.

Remember the movie You’ve Got Mail? Who doesn’t remember that this flick jump-started the process of online dating? It brought home the concept of intertwining emotions with good marketing. Even the title was a homerun, linking the brand’s core message to a personal sensation evoked in any consumer.

Branded Entertainment Is an Independent Island

Branded Entertainment deals must live in a “Switzerland” of media and brands—the nature of being neutral to all parties no matter what. Earlier the idea of branded content was compared to a seedling that turns into the soul or essence of a project. If this idea holds true by delivering to viewers what they want while the brand is properly represented, then the deal will be healthy and have a strong foundation for success. This strong foundation needs to grow on independent ground, meaning that the idea ultimately brings together the pillars of media: agencies, networks/media outlets, and producers. The goal of these “newborn” deals, known as Branded Entertainment deals, is to support business inside this trinity and to encourage new ways to assemble deals among them: freedom with independence!

What happens if this freedom and independence are not part of the foundation? What happens if instead an idea is born from:

• Pressure to make cheaper content
• Pressure to generate new business because of a shrinking 30-second advertisement world
• A lack of funding to get an idea sold

In these situations, the seedling idea may grow fast, but it may also perish at the first sign of a storm or a drought. What we truly seek in Branded Entertainment is longevity for content that now nurtures a brand inside it. Branded Entertainment is about allowing, not constricting. When freedom is allowed, chances are the lifespan of a concept will last more than a season.

Branded Entertainment = Emotional Connection

Who really knows what Branded Entertainment is? One clue to finding useful sources of information on the subject is to ask experts. These “experts” usually understand what it means to be emotionally connected to something. Establishing an emotional connection is a goal in itself. When a brand reaches a point that is intertwined to consumers’ emotions, we know it has “arrived.”

The same principle applies to content. When a show, a series, or a character inhabits the lives of viewers and is recalled or identified as part of who they are, that is when we know a connection has been made.

Many in this business ask: how long does it take for a brand to see results in a Branded Entertainment deal? Usually a brand has to execute a full “first season” of content on the air to properly interpret the experience of consumers and the type of emotional attachment felt about the newly created Branded Entertainment content. Basically, after a full season has aired, a brand can start to measure results.

What Branded Entertainment seeks is a long-term emotional connection. If the brand is in, then the mission is accomplished. An in-love experience, better known as an “emotional bond,” creates a monogamous relationship. In these days of “intense affairs,” failing to reach monogamous status is a luxury brand managers cannot afford (Figure 1.4).

WHAT BRANDED ENTERTAINMENT IS NOT

Branded Entertainment Is Not Product Placement

To understand Branded Entertainment, product placement, what it is and how it came to be, needs further explanation. The origins of product placement date back to the first days of television. Back then, networks were looking to find solutions for integrating brands that wanted in on the business of reaching the masses. In return, these brands offered cash to fund the big shows.

Figure 1.4. Branded Entertainment seeks an emotional connection between the content and the brand that can lead to a long-term “monogamous” relationship.

Long before the idea to generate 30-second commercials came to be, the networks found ways to integrate brands “inside” TV shows. A...