Future of Branded Content Event

Fire Circus brought us “The Future of Branded Content” hosted by the Hospital Club yesterday. Here are a few highlights I took away from the day. Russell Buckley kicked things off with the fundamental IDEAS for advertising:

• I information about the product
• D deals, where you can get the product
• E engagement how you engage with consumer
• A advertainment entertain the consumer
• S services provide a decent service for consumers

Howard Kingston of Future Ads Labs pointed out the ineffectiveness of banner ads “you’re more likely to survive a plane crash than click on a banner ad” the solution to this is ads you can interact with, like Playcaptcha.

Stephen Upstone from Loopme highlighted the importance of ratings: 72% of people don’t buy if there’s no rating on Amazon. On Loopme you can rate the ads you like, stop, share…

Giles Pocock of Propaganda demonstrated entertainment’s role in branded product placement in TV, film, music… Media is changing, consumers are changing, brands need to engage: for example Nokia camera phone launch, going in at both ends of the market with creative content. A Katy Perry music video and a photographic assignment for National Geographic to reach broader audiences. Consumers want immersive and interactive experiences – second screen dynamic, direct relationships, voting…

Next up was story time with Peter Burns from Waitrose. The brand has been telling a story for years and now has a growing cross channel network. As well as TV ads, Waitrose have a magazine and Waitrose TV online. A great example of a brand who have a content platform that is much more than a simple e-commerce website. Giffgaff “the mobile network run by you” was a perfect example of creating content for the consumer first, not the Brand.

Chief Marketing Officer Emma Jenkins gave a great presentation on a brand that has “members not customers” and a truly innovative approach.

Paul Gaskell of The Value Engineers champions taking content and making sure it fits with the brand. The Tour de France was created by French newspaper l’Auto (now L’Equipe) to have its own content to write about, perfect example of how positioning is everything. The tip is to run multi-channel campaigns. Don’t market to one consumer any more. “Before, in a world of one way comms, you could have a structured message that everyone knows. Now it’s very difficult to know what a brand is, content is now leading brand instead of vice versa.” People will engage with the content you put out. For example, if you google Battelfield 3, although 40 videos were made by EA; 4,410,1000 results appear with videos made by the end user. Work out your brand personality; the unavoidable blockbuster example being Red Bull.

Steve Paler introduced us to YouTube Creative after lunch. It is essential to maximise that first 5 seconds of an ad online. Turkish airlines ad: Messi named and seen within 3 seconds, Kobe within 7, audience hooked. You MUST move and entertain people and remember that “there’s no such thing as viral, you have to publicise”

A great question from the floor: “Difference between an ad and a piece of branded content?” Answer – the lines are very blurred. Vice came bursting onto the screen in all its chaotic, loud glory.

Dan’l Hewitt gave us the breakdown: Vice took ten years to get 1 million subscribers to the magazine. It took 1 year to get 10m on the digital platform. Oriented to young people, run by young people. For those who don’t know about Vice yet, check out what they do.

James Booth of Rockabox gave us a well-rounded talk on content distribution across all channels which tied the previous talks together nicely.

There was plenty to take away from today’s speakers and panels. I just look forward to the day when Redbull isn’t the go to example of great branding, who’s going to knock them off the top?