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Brands as Media Producers
Branded content in its most basic form sees
brands becoming media creators in their own right.
Whether through partnerships with established
content producers, or in-house by developing new
media divisions, brands are learning that offering
consumers a cultural experience drives loyalty.
“By 2020, the simple reality is that every brand
will be a media brand, requiring everyone to
consider how they produce, distribute and
manage their content ecosystems. In tandem
with brand experience and marketing products,
brands will be focused on the overlap between
content that informs a customer about
products, services or propositions; content that
educates them in its use or in the things they
can do; and content that entertains them around
the core proposition of the brand.”
Karl Heiselman, CEO of Wolff Olins
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US comedy website The Onion is partnering
with brands from Dove to Hilton Hotels to
help them tap into The Onion tone of voice
and reach their influential millennial audience.
It has notably partnered with Microsoft.
“Microsoft realised they lost the faith of
technophiles, and they were looking to poke
fun at themselves,” said The Onion’s national
advertising director Matt McDonagh in an
interview with digital marketing website
Digiday. The Microsoft/Onion mock-
campaign, The Browser You Loved to Hate,
delivered parody content across Tumblr
and YouTube.
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UK supermarket chain Sainsbury's is now
creating original content in a partnership with
British TV channel C4. What's Cooking? from
the Sainsbury's Kitchen is a daily lunchtime
format. Sainsbury's has been involved from
its inception as “a format designed to put
the brand firmly in the spotlight and push
product placement further than ever before,”
according to UK newspaper, The Guardian.
This is part of a significant shift for the retailer
towards content creation in its marketing.
“Sainsbury’s recently said it wants to act
less like a retailer and more like a publisher of
different content,” Richard Armstrong, partner
at UK branded content agency Kameleon,
told Stylus.
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Redefine
Consumer Engagement