Branded content (also known asbranded entertainment) is a type ofentertainment product made or otherwise funded by anadvertiser. They are designed to buildawareness for a particular brand by presenting content that reflects itsvalues and image, without necessarily being presented as a promotion first and foremost. Branded content is distinguished fromproduct placement—a business practice in which advertisers pay to have references to their brands incorporated into a work (although branded content may still otherwise contain product placement), andcontent marketing—the use of content to specifically promote a product, service, or company.[1]
Unlike conventional forms of editorial content, branded content is generally funded entirely by a brand or corporation rather than a studio or a group of solely artistic producers. Branded content has taken the form of television programming, films,internet video and otherdigital content,video games, events, and other installations. Modern branded marketing strategies are intended primarily to counter market trends, such as the decreasing acceptance of commercials andadvertorials.[2][3]
The concept of branded content dates back to the early era of broadcasting; many early radio and television programs were controlled by their sponsors andbranded with their names, including theColgate Comedy Hour,Hallmark Hall of Fame, andWestinghouse Studio One. Typically, the sponsor coordinated the entire production of the program, with the broadcaster only providing studios and airtime. These programs featured advertising segments for the sponsor's products, typically featuring the brand's spokesperson and demonstrations of new products. Notable spokespeople often became celebrities in their own right, such asBetty Furness, aB-movie actress whose fame was elevated after becoming a spokesperson forWestinghouse appliances onStudio One (Furness would later work as aconsumer affairs reporter forWNBC-TV in New York City).[4][5]
Manymelodramaticserial dramas targeting women, such asAs the World Turns, were produced by the consumer goods companyProcter & Gamble; this prompted the genre as a whole to be dubbed a "soap opera".[6] TheRevlon cosmetics company gained significant prominence after sponsoring thequiz showThe $64,000 Question—which was, for a time, the most-watched program on U.S. television.[4] In 1956, theFord Motor Company's new marqueEdsel sponsored aCBS variety special,The Edsel Show, which starredBing Crosby,Frank Sinatra, andBob Hope. The special was a critical success and widely viewed,[7][8] but its success did not transfer to Edsel itself, which was a high-profile commercial failure.[7][8] By request of Crosby, the special was credited as a production of hisalma materGonzaga University, with its revenues helping to fund the construction of a new campus library.[9][10]
In the late 1950s, thequiz show scandals exposed that several major television game shows had been manipulated, or outrightrigged under demand of their sponsors, in order to maintain viewer interest andratings.Dotto andTwenty One were at the center of the scandal, with both shows having been accused of presenting staged matches with pre-determined outcomesas if they were genuine. Testimony by a producer ofThe $64,000 Question revealed that Revlon founderCharles Revson had personally exerted control over the program in order to favor specific contestants, but did not go as far as to rig the show. The aftermath of the scandals, as well as increasing production costs due to factors such as the rollout ofcolor television, prompted networks to begin assertingcreative control over the production and scheduling of their programming. Broadcasters also phased out of the "single sponsor" model, in favor of having sponsors purchase blocks of time during breaks in a program to runcommercials instead.[11][12][13][14]
Conventionalproduct placement andcross-promotion still appeared in films and television, but it was often argued that overuse of placements can distract from the entertainment value of the work. The filmMac and Me was widely criticized for containing extensive placements ofCoca-Cola andMcDonald's as major plot elements (going as far as crediting the chain's mascotRonald McDonald as appearing in the film "as himself").[15][16][17]Hallmark Hall of Fame still occasionally aired on broadcast TV until 2014, when it was announced that the franchise would move to Hallmark's co-owned cable channelHallmark Channel in the future.[18]
After releasing its hockey-themed filmThe Mighty Ducks,Disney established aNational Hockey League expansion team known as theMighty Ducks of Anaheim, which was named in reference to the film. Disney subsequently produced twoMighty Ducks film sequels, and ananimated series inspired by the team set and in a fictional version of Anaheim. The films and cartoon series also featured cameos by Mighty Ducks players. These works were designed to increase awareness of the Mighty Ducks as a brand, and create synergies with Disney's core entertainment businesses. The NHL felt that theMighty Ducks cartoon could help to promote the game of hockey among a younger audience, and counter the stereotype of hockey being associated with Canada and the U.S. Northeast. The team's merchandise, which was sold atDisney Parks andDisney Store locations in addition to the NHL's main retail channels, was the best-selling among all teams for a period.[19][20]
In 2001, automakerBMW began a marketing campaign entitledThe Hire, in which it produced a series ofshort films that prominently featured its vehicles, staffed byprominent directors (such asGuy Ritchie) and talent. The films were advertised through television, print, and online marketing which directed viewers to a BMW Films website, where they could stream the films, and access ancillary information such as information about their featured vehicles. BMW also distributed the films onDVD withVanity Fair magazine to increase their distribution among the company's target audience. By the end of the campaign in 2005, the eight-film series had amassed over 100 million views, and several of the films had received both advertising-related and short film awards.[21][22]
In 2010,Procter & Gamble andWalmart began to fund a series ofmade for TV films, distributed through the former'sProcter & Gamble Productions division, such asThe Jensen Project andSecrets of the Mountain. They were all targeted towards family viewing, aired primarily onNBC astime-buys, and featured product placement for P&G brands and Walmart'sstore brandGreat Value. In turn, Walmart erected promotional displays of P&G products related to each film, and sold the films onDVD immediately after their broadcast. Both companies used exclusive advertising time during the films to promote their products. P&G reported that the favorability of the products featured inSecrets of the Mountain increased by 26% among mothers who saw the film.Advertising Age felt that despite lukewarm reception and viewership, "as case studies for successful branded entertainment, they've become the holy grail of how networks and marketers can use entertainment to achieve scalable audiences, measurable product sales and active fan communities."[23][24][25]
The Canadian beer brandKokanee (owned byAnheuser-Busch InBev) partnered with its agency Grip andAlliance Films to produceThe Movie Out Here, a feature-length comedy film set in the brand's home province ofBritish Columbia. The film was released in April 2013, after being featured at the 2012Whistler Film Festival. Kokanee beer, along with characters from its past advertising campaigns, make appearances in the film, and an accompanying campaign allowed bars inWestern Canada to compete to be a filming location, and users to vote on the film's soundtrack and have a chance to be listed as a "fan" in the credits. Grip's creative director Randy Stein stated that viewers had become more accepting of branded content, and that there would be a larger focus on the emotional aspects of Kokanee as a brand as opposed to the number of placements.[26][27][28] In 2018,Pepsi similarly backed the comedy filmUncle Drew—a feature comedy adapted from a character from aPepsi Max ad campaign.[29]
Theenergy drink companyRed Bull has relied heavily on branded content as part of its marketing strategies. The company operates several Media House studios, which coordinate the production and distribution of original content targeted towards the interests ofyoung adults—particularly music andextreme sports. Alongsidedigital media content such asonline video (via platforms such asRed Bull TV), and print media such asThe Red Bulletin, Red Bull has also organized events and sports competitions which carry its name, such as theRed Bull Air Race World Championship,Crashed Ice, andFlugtag competitions,music festivals and events, and askydive from the Earth's stratosphere byFelix Baumgartner. These ventures are consistent with the company's image, bolster Red Bull as being alifestyle brand in these categories, and build awareness of Red Bull without necessarily promoting the product itself. An executive for Red Bull Media House North America remarked that the growth of digital media platforms had made it easier for brands to produce and distribute their own content, and stressed that branded content was most effective when it is "authentic" and high-quality.[30][31][32]
In 2019, the housing rentals serviceAirbnb premiered a self-produced documentary—Gay Chorus Deep South—at theTribeca Film Festival, which documented a 2017 tour of theSoutheastern United States by theSan Francisco Gay Men's Chorus. The company's head of creative James Goode stated that the film was consistent with the company's values of "telling stories of belonging and acceptance", and its involvement and support in theLGBT community. Goode did not consider the film to be branded content, stating that it was an effort to "support the chorus and make the highest-quality piece of content we could."[33][34]
Some branded content efforts have not been as successful. Theassociation football (soccer) sanctioning bodyFIFA budgeted the 2014 filmUnited Passions, a dramatization of the organization's history. The film was released to negative reviews, focusing primarily on its poor writing and self-serving nature, and with many considering itone of the worst films of all time.[35][36][37] The film's North American release also coincided with theindictment of FIFA officials by U.S. federal prosecutors under charges of corruption, leading critics to point out the irony in its depiction of FIFA presidentSepp Blatter.[35][36][37] The film only took in $918 in the U.S. box office, making it the worst-grossing film of all-time.[38]
In 2003, the Branded Content Marketing Association was formed in order to promote branded content to a wider, international audience. In January 2008, the BCMA conducted a study intending to analyze the efficacy of branded content compared to traditional advertising. Reportedly, over one-third of people were skeptical about traditional ads, and only one-tenth trusted the companies producing such adverts. The study concluded that "in the overwhelming majority of cases consumers preferred the more innovative approach compared with traditional advertising".[39] Over 95% of the time, web sites that feature branded content were more successful than web sites featuring typical advertisements, and are 24% more effective at increasing the purchase intent of viewers. Branded content is most effective in the 18-34 age group, who tend to react with more positive opinions and being overall more responsive to branded sites. Online Publishers Association’s President Pam Horan concluded, “In nearly every category measured, ad effectiveness scores on branded content sites were numerically higher than on the web in general, on portals or on ad networks.[40]
These positive results, however, having come from an organization which endeavors to promote the marketing practice, are subject to criticisms of bias.
Webby and Lovie awards among other had recognized Branded Content as a category in prior instances, but mostawards within the advertising community officially began to grow to include branded content in 2012, when "Branded Content/Entertainment" became a category atEuroBest, Dubai Lynx Spikes Asia andCannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.