Branded Content - The Technique

The Technique

In the 1930s, radio broadcasting became popular, which in turn led to companies increasingly using the airwaves to sell their products in the form of radio advertisements. As radio advertising gained momentum, they began allowing sponsors to buy time slots during the scheduled radio programming in order to sell their products. This is when the first glimpse of branded content media occurred. While listeners would tune in solely for entertainment purposes, they were consistently, yet briefly, interrupted with ads for products aimed at the demographic listening to the specific program. For instance, during many day time radio shows featuring dramatic story lines (which mainly stay-at-home moms enjoyed), advertisers would promote goods such as soap, thus came the term “soap opera”. In order to sell these products to the public, advertisers of the time focused more on what the people wanted to hear rather than the legitimate facts about the product. By creating an ad that convinces the listener that they need the product, yet at the same time coming across as something other than an advertisement, was the first introduction to branded content as we know it today. In this way, both advertisers and consumers come away satisfied.

This notion of an advertiser or company producing media which is engaging for the consumer in order to sell more products has been around for decades. The term branded content, however, really took hold as a new marketing technique in 2001, when The Hire was produced and distributed on the internet and DVDs. It featured a series of short films by Hollywood "A-List" directors, with the BMW car as the real star of the action. The popularity of these films spurred other marketers to create films, music, games, interactive content and real-life events, which merely exists to entertain and educate the consumer, keeping their attention long enough to market a product or service. In this way, both advertisers and consumers come away satisfied.

Product placement and incorporating products into entertainment mediums have become an essential marketing tool in this age of TiVos and DVRs. These recording devices allow viewers to simply fast forward through commercials, making traditional television advertisements seemingly useless to market products. Thus, various entertainment vehicles have chosen to create close relationships with firms and products in order to lower the cost of advertisement production and enhance the integrity of the ad. As branded content has grown in respectability, so have the partnerships. In order to receive the necessary amount of upfront money, many networks have chosen to offer marketers the opportunity to stealthily intertwine their products within a storyline so as to captivate the audience’s interest without blatantly focusing on the product. One-time deals have turned into long-term commitments, even including brands and networks conceptualizing television shows collectively. Today, marketer support has spread to include sponsoring events, creating video games, and creating online webisodes both the brand and network’s website can use. As commercial ratings continue to decline, and companies constantly struggle to maintain viewership during ad breaks, this sort of partnership is a very valuable mechanism. Branded content allows more engagement with the product as well as the chance to charge companies even more than usual for these exclusive relationships.

Entertainment mediums, such as films, television shows, and video games, are a huge part of, and help shape, the culture we live in today. When the viewer sees a specific brand in one such entertainment medium, it is a significant and resonant experience. Since television rose in popularity in the 1960s, realistic portrayals of life have been common on most shows and actual brand names are necessary in order to create a sense of dramatic realism. In this way, the audience is attracted to the brand more so than they would have been in the first place, simply because they have viewed it in mainstream culture. Consequently, branded content tie-ins along with media commitments are quickly becoming the most effective form of advertising. Big-budget films are obviously an incredible medium for product placement, however when considering branded content as a whole it is oftentimes more profitable for companies to consider the whole spectrum – radio, television, podcasts, blogs, and so on. This method has the ability to create an emotional link in consumers that the industry greatly needs today.