By Clement Charles, CEO & Founder, AllTheContent News Agency
In a context of overabundant commercial messages and cautious advertising budgets, some companies are now going straight from commercial communication to delivering added value. Today’s consumers have cracked advertising codes, when they don’t feel outright contempt for them, all the while continuing to require service.
Amongst the most promising ways forward, branded entertainment revolves around a brand and is generally circulated on a company’s website and social media, while in creative partnerships, the brand, its content creator and media outlet work together, blending entertainment and communication.
Generating massive advertising revenue, “The Apprentice,” Donald Trump’s reality game show, went on to adapt its commercial concept, tailoring itself to technological developments which avoid advertising breaks (TiVO). As early as Season Three, producers made it possible for advertisers to participate directly in the show’s narrative concept, creating an enhanced, more durable product placement, which had the advantage of getting people more involved. Instead of working out fictitious cases, candidates were called upon to create marketing solutions in order to launch a new Coke flavor, a cosmetic, or GM’s latest car.
Outside traditional spaces, and most often on new media, branded content / edutainment projects may just as well relate directly to the product as to its conceptual universe. Thus, a food brand might create fun, practical content, suggesting recipes and original menus based on its line of products. The brand name remains present without being overwhelming, since the main goal is to offer “free” added value to the target audience, which the client will then associate with the brand.
In this perspective, an information agency such as ours creates bespoke media for corporate clients. When this type of content is interpreted as a brand associated with added value, intended for a precise target audience, it is in the interest of companies and institutions to launch their own media, which will establish a direct link with their clients and prospects by giving them a fine blend of practical information, industry material with high added value, and product communication. This link also makes it possible to seal the communication loop by stimulating information feedback via various tools.
Insurance companies might for example launch health portals, featuring advice which offers real advantages to clients in a market which is not very differentiated by nature. Furthermore, if only 10% of traffic were to follow this advice, it would be enough to lower insurance reimbursements. Following the same reasoning, banks proposing real estate loans should invest in a portal dedicated to the home (building, financing, taxes, home improvement, landscaping).
Public or private institutions use these tools to better inform their existing lenders (backers, taxpayers) of projects which have been carried out with their financial contributions. Supported by their considerable communications budget, local authorities and public institutions should be the first to implement this type of media, to inform their citizens/taxpayers on how their pennies were allocated.