Whitespace: Brands - the new kings of content

Issue 42: October 2008

Television commercials. Banner ads. Press ads. Even radio ads. Mass media advertising as we know it is dying.

The online environment has given consumers the power to skip, delete, ignore or filter content that doesn't interest them. And avoiding sales pitches is high on their blocking agenda.

While this might sound like a dire prediction for marketers, many communications professionals are fighting back with new approaches to consumer engagement.

One of these emerging paradigms is content marketing – the creation and delivery of advertising-free media content by brands.
Content marketing may still be in its infancy, but numerous signs suggest it may well emerge as the future of an entire industry.

The new face of advertising

You may have noticed a growing number of ads on TV featuring messages that in no way relate to product benefits.

Cadbury's viral video cum television advertisement featuring a man in a gorilla suit intensely anticipating and then playing the drum solo of 'In the Air Tonight' has nothing to do with the experience of consuming chocolate.

Indeed, the point of this ad is not to sell the benefits of chocolate but to entertain. To offer an experience that leaves the audience with a positive feeling about the brand.

This form of advertising is a response to the realisation that people generally zone out during ad breaks. The theory is: forget the sales pitch, let's entertain them.

The same premise forms the basis of content marketing, which can be described as the sharing of high quality, relevant and valuable content with prospects and customers.

Brands as patrons

Several luxury brands are emerging as 21st century patrons of the arts by funding online delivered short films and feature length movies.

BMW has been a trailblazer in this area with its production of edgy short films made by renowned directors. To promote the release its new fragrance for men, fashion house Prada is following this trend by funding nine short films that also work together as a feature film.

And don't expect a series of nine perfume related films to be produced.

Prada does not want the filmmakers to mention its products. Their services are required to make pieces of entertainment, the cool factor of which Prada hopes will translate into brand equity.

It's only a game?

It's not a pretty word, but advergaming is resulting in some pretty big profits for its early adopters.

After developing two online multiplayer games of the Xbox gaming platform Burger King claims to have experienced an associated 41 per cent increase in quarterly profits.

Commentators say Burger King's venture into online gaming worked because they avoided the temptation to force sales messages down gamers' throats, instead they devoted considerable time and effort into creating games people enjoy playing.

With demand for games and applications for the iPhone and BlackBerrys growing quickly, the future of advergaming is currently looking very promising.

Welcome to Brand TV

A TV channel consisting of nothing but brand funded content?
It's not a pipe dream, it's an unfolding reality with online video channel Honeyshed currently being fine-tuned to give entertaining brand-made content a place to live on the internet.

According to BusinessWeek, Honeyshed offers no banners, no rollovers and no 30-second commercials; it is entirely devoted to breaking down the distinction between advertising and entertainment.

The popularity of virally spread content has been growing for some time. (You'll find a list of the internet's top 10 viral ads here).

Honeyshed aims to harness this cool factor and build customer loyalty for its cohorts in the process.

More than just entertainment

Another (and possibly the most influential) approach to content marketing is to provide information of value to your market.

To increase its exposure to the small business market, Vodafone has started producing original feature stories that are published by media partner news.com.au.

These stories do not contain sales pitches or even a telecommunications focus. They offer objective journalistic articles on how to start, grow and manage an SME.

Writing recently in The Australian, media strategist Philip Phelan predicts an increasing number of brands will directly hire journalists to develop high quality content.

Phelan says these writers won't be producing PR messages in the traditional sense; instead they will be helping advertisers "find something interesting to say".

The big picture

There's a lot of hype around about content marketing. And for good reason. It makes sense for brands to explore new ways to communicate with wired consumers.

However, some cultural shifts are required to get content marketing right.

The approach of including obvious brand messages or product placement has to be considered carefully. And the quality of content must always be of a high (and this often means expensive) standard.

But the effort may well be worth it with consumers flocking to brands that offer entertaining or incisive content while at the same time avoiding sales pitches with a click of their mouse.

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