Branded content 101

Branded content is growing fast, but with so many terms and definitions around the subject, it can be confusing. Craig Morris, head of Newscast South Africa, the specialist branded content division at ZenithOptimedia, has put together a branded content 101 guide which should leave one in no doubt as to what branded content does, who should produce it, and why it differs from other forms of advertising.

Essentially, content marketing is a technique to create and distribute content that is both relevant and consistent, says Morris. The aim is to attract a clearly defined audience and drive sales.

Usually, the brand owns the platforms it uses. There are various forms of branded content. These include native advertising, branded entertainment, advertiser funded programmes, viral videos or user-owned or paid media platforms to distribute content.

“I recently saw native advertising described as ‘camouflaging adverts to make them look like news stories’,” says Morris. “It’s a description that gives content producers a dilemma. On the one hand, the better the native advertising works, the less likely consumers are to recognise the advertising aspect of the content. That said, we also want the consumer to credit the brand with the content and for the content to build brand loyalty. However, this can also risk the integrity of the content (and with that the channel or platform) once the consumer realises that the content was created by a brand with the specific intent of driving consumer communication.”

However, there is a difference between traditional advertising and branded content. The differentiator, says Morris, is whether the story being told is one which focuses on product features or benefits, or if the content – be it educational, entertaining or informative – is enriching in some way. “A good brand content story is engaging and establishes meaningful brand communication that is long-lasting and memorable,” he says, adding that consumers will engage with branded content if it’s worthy of their time. Authentic content is therefore paramount and there must be some benefit or added value involved for the consumer.

With content advertising expected to grow by over 300% in the next four years (according to Peter Minnium, IAB, Marketing Land) there is much debate around who should be producing the content – is it the publisher, the ad agency, media agencies, digital agencies or the brands themselves?

“Ultimately, quality content is the only thing consumers care about, and not who produced it,” says Morris, as long as it’s useful and engaging. Choice of platform matters because audiences must be able to find the information they’re looking for.

He likens branded content without a search engine optimisation and search engine marketing strategy to a Ferrari with no door handles. “There is way too much content being produced on a daily basis for brands not to provide a way to help audiences find their content.”

For greatest impact, the nature of the content should be determined by a content audit to identify the audience, the type of content they will find meaningful and where they are likely to be seeking that content. Morris says anyone responsible for producing branded content should be working with a specialist branded content agency to produce the best results.

The big take-out: It doesn’t matter who produces branded content provided it’s meaningful to its audience.