A GLIMPSE INTO THE FUTURE OF BRANDED CONTENT MARKETING

@juzzie

WTF is #brandedcontent

It’s complicated

Branded content is any content that can be associated with a

brand in the eye of the beholder

Correct but not true if you want to win some tin!

BRANDED CONTENT IS A GENRE?  

People not product stories

Entertaining

Mostly b2c

Emotionally engaging

Winning hearts & minds

Used more upstream

Longer form

THE REST IS CONTENT MARKETING?  

Editorially informative

Useful

Often B2B

aka Brand Publishing

Closer to ZMOT

Linked to SEO

Sales ROI

More product USP focused

But is this branded content and do consumer care?

IS THIS BRANDED CONTENT AND DO CONSUMERS CARE?  

CONSUMERS DON'T WANT TO MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE. THEY WANT

BRANDS TO DO THAT FOR THEM ;)    

What else is on the horizon?

Branded content will be at the heart of every marketing strategy

“The ability of content to draw people in naturally through entertaining and emotionally engaging messaging to develop deeper relationships with audiences is why is more clients will adopt more branded content as part of their marketing strategies.” "  

PJ Pereira Chief Creative Officer Pereira & O’Dell

Adoption is being driven by digital and social, more standardized processes, and high-profile examples – making the approach less isolated and more integrated, rather than an afterthought whereby engagement is simply bolted onto an above-the-line campaign. Content-based approaches predicted to move beyond marketing to become the communication norm across the organization.

But more risks still need to be taken

FROM LONGER FORM TO FULL LENGTH?  

New agency models will emerge

“Brands need to be realistic about competing with content creators, unless they’re prepared to risk allocating budget that could result in failure. The Hollywood system is an example of a few successes bankrolling a large number of duds and also-rans.

I’d recommend collaboration, or deviation, whereby the type of content you create is not necessarily of interest to conventional content creators, but is of huge interest to a client or group of clients.”

Rory Sutherland Vice Chairman Ogilvy Group UK

There’s an increasing demand for those that understand editorial and programming, e.g. publishers and broadcasters, in order to produce continuous content rather than campaigns based simply on ideas with legs. 

Contract publishing is evolving, so that the content creators are become agencies themselves, e.g. Unilever’s £1 million sponsorship of The Guardian’s newly formed branded content Labs.  

MORE AGENCY-FACILITATED BRAND ALLIANCES  

There’s more game-changing disruption ahead that will continue to blur the lines between brands,

media owners, agencies and consumers until there are

no lines any more

"The most influential brands are no longer products or services, but people – living brands. They have become influential through digital word of mouth. The influence a living brand has over their fans is part of their overall equity. It is their social equity that can be monetised by making the brand stronger, by increasing loyalty and using advocacy to create long-term value."

Andrew Canter Chief Content Officer Global Living Brands + CEO, BCMA

But messages are getting lost in the over supply of content

and lack of continuity

“As every B2B brand turns to content marketing, we're about to be hit by a deluge of... crap”

Doug Kessler Co-founder Velocity Partners

Distribution being put at the heart of any strategy, but there’s a growing skills gap

“On one hand there are the ideas, content and messaging. Then there’s the actual frameworks and mechanisms for delivering those, which have swiftly become more algorithmic, programmatic and predictive in order to help personalise and optimise content across multiple platforms. But the modern landscape is more fractured and very complex, and doesn’t necessarily favour the thinking that comes out of more traditional media and creative organisations.”

Barney Worfolk Smith Managing Director Th@t Lot

And the creative catalyst that gives us cars rather than faster horses

is not found in the algorithm

Take a leaf out of the philosophies of Heidegger and Wittgenstein, so “don’t think, but look” and frame your problems as phenomena using ethnographic-style research to find insights in the Thick Description of people’s experiences, e.g. needs, fears, hopes, etc.

Because if you assume that your customers are fully aware of their needs and intentions, you will continue launching products that lack interest or excitement. 

Moving beyond customer-centric to being customer obsessed and the integration of Thick and Big Data

“Being customer obsessed by digging deeper and going beyond the desk and dashboard enables brands to out-innovate their competitors by offering more authentic, relevant and personal customer experiences.

Big data might help you to understand the ‘where’ and ‘when’, but it’s unlikely to show you the ‘why’.” 

Drew Rayman Managing Partner Tenthwave Digital

There’s lots of data that shows that bakers look at recipes online, but when we dug deeper we found that what they really really want is to show they care, express their love and lots of inspiration.

INSIGHT AND INSPIRATION

Pinterest-style responsive website solution with predictive search provides bakers with inspiration, and a platform to share their ideas with this UGC now accounting for over 80% of all content.

Average visit length has jumped 50% with the digital community tripling in just 20 months to 1.75 million – helping bakers bake more, as well as resulting in a namecheck for Duncan Hines® in NASDAQ’s Bull of the Day for investors, and a number of awards for Tenthwave.  

SOLUTION AND RESULTS

The rising new technology stars, and how market research is

about to get turned on its head

People won’t stop shifting to new media properties and platforms, so we’ll continue to see new tactics and technologies in branded content marketing, such as wearable tech, hyper geo-location, mnemonic gestures, the ‘Internet of Things’ and the growth in 3D Publishing. But there are other challenges posed by the fragmented media landscape, even before brands start looking at shiny new things and beyond.

“Brands are now faced with a dual challenge of not only trying to understand how individual channels or touchpoints work on a micro level, but also how they all fit together on a holistic level to make the whole greater than the sum of the parts.”     

Ian Wright Joint Managing Director Tapestry Research

“Market research is about to get turned on its head by the explosion of more data. The upshot is that we won’t be aggregating audiences around their demographics, but will instead be 'valuing individuals based on purchase probabilities'. This would radically change how media works, as well as who should be on the team to deliver and evaluate it.”

Tim Foley Managing Director Pointlogic

The only thing that will remain constant is the desire for good stories  

“If you believe in story-led marketing, that changes everything about how you go to market. Brands are going to have to change their processes and do something marketers don’t like to do and don’t do easily. They have to change the skillsets of the people they hire. They have to change the timeframes they work on. They have to change the way they allocate and think about budgets. They have to change their definition of creativity.”

Scott Donaton Chief Content Officer UM

And it will still all be about relationships

 

“Marketing fundamentals will remain the same, namely that the relationship with customers and clients will be built one person at a time. We can’t be blinded by the light of bright shiny objects to ever, ever forget that relationships are paramount.”

Charlene Li Co-founder Altimeter Group

Thank You

@juzzie

@juzzie

This slidedeck was presented at the 21st Golden Drum advertising festival in Slovenia by Justin Kirby, VP, Content Strategy at Tenthwave Digital. Justin is a writer, speaker, and strategist who curates the Best of Branded Content Marketing (#BOBCM) eBook and event series in partnership with the Branded Content Marketing Association (BCMA).