Procter & Gamble is embarking on its biggest venture into branded content with the launch of Hugo Urban Rules, a nationwide music competition for Hugo fragrances.The company has linked with MTV, Galaxy and Kiss FM and performers such as Joe and Sway to create workshops, events and TV…

Procter & Gamble brand Pringles has tied up with Sony BMG for a pan- European digital music giveaway. Its on-pack promotion Pringles Presents is being supported by a branded digital download store created by 7 Digital.

It will profile several students in a class sponsored by VH1 Save The Music. Their online stories show how music education has improved their lives.

Grey Music

THE WORLD’S #1 HAIRCARE BRAND PUTS
MUSIC IN FRONT OF MILLIONS EVERY DAY can you write a head-turning song?
> it has to have a “loved by all” sound (main-line pop)
> make women feel strong & empowered
> be immediately branded yet never a jingle
> work as an instrumental and in various formats & lengths
> creatively interpret the brand message of “shine” & “let the best
of you shine through” (but not be a slave to those words)

can you make the playlist?
The Grey Music Director and Pantene will evaluate submissions
before MIDEM and create a Top 20 Playlist. Join Josh Rabinowitz
|at MIDEM Listening Session for presentation and evaluation.Send to
midem.greymusicnyc.com - deadline 22 january, 2008

can you go global?
submissions will be accepted on behalf of Pantene (P&G) for 2008
campaign consideration in North America and potentially beyond.

brand promise

MusicEquity

“The power of music in branding”

Strategic Branding

music consultancy

Songseekers Group, which works with Brands, their Agencies and the Music Industry.

Music is a powerful medium

help companies recognise the value of music in the context of branding.

how to evaluate music opportunities and
successfully integrate them into a wider, long-term business strategy.

Brand identity carried through music

experienced-based
marketing that focuses on communicating the emotional values of Brands is the
current trend and way forward.

multimedia platforms such as interactive mobile phones

The television commercial has historically been the initial platform where
Brands have used music to support a visual idea.

music DNA:

a formula that clicks in the consumer’s mind

The public started to talk about The GAP commercials outside of the environment of
the commercial - its reach was extended and other media started to contribute to its PR
strategy without it costing the Brand a penny.

Rather than The GAP commercials looking like a rip off from something from MTV, artists
from Brandy to Britney Spears and The Backstreet Boys copied The GAP style and looked like
a GAP ad. The company had developed it’s own aesthetic, which spilled out into music and
other advertisements.

The GAP have created a music
metaphor for consumers to feel great about their products.

A Brand is essentially a
promise.

Every time
a Brand uses music in any area of it’s marketing it will create an asset or a liability for the
Brand depending on the success of music selection and usage: the artist, the arena and the
platform.

customer touchpoint

“What does my Brand sound like?”
This is not to be confused with “Sonic Branding”

Consider the message from Microsoft when
they used The Rolling Stones copyright “Start Me Up” for the Windows 2000
launch. Almost every newspaper headlined the story with the alleged $8,000,000
paid for this track. Microsoft were forgiven for not using the original Rolling Stone
master sound recording, (a fact this was never openly communicated.) All that the
public remembered was that Microsoft paid more than ANY other company for a
song for a commercial from one of the biggest bands in the world.

MusicEquity as ‘the net commercial
value of the Brand’s relationship to music taking into account its
assets and liabilities that can be commercially leveraged and measured in other
areas of its marketing activities

The Music Industry should look to recent success stories of where music in a
commercial has directly helped their bottom line. A great example is Nike’s recent
use of an old, relatively unknown Elvis track as the soundtrack to a commercial.
The commercial gave the track huge airtime on broadcast media, something that the
radio stations would not give to an artist who had been dead for 25 years.

The hype was not about the quality of the
commercial or the cost of the shoot but the fact that the Elvis estate had been
persuaded to allow a modern remix of the track by a popular DJ, JXL and that this
was the 25th anniversary of the death of a superstar. The amount of column inches
that the partnership produced was beyond the wildest PR expectations.

It is relatively simple to see who were the principle financial beneficiaries of
the Elvis partnership. The key question is what more could have been leveraged for
Nike, had this been part of an overall Music Strategy with objectives, aspirations
and financial opportunities clearly mapped out.

collaboration between content and marketing,

(GAP, Levis, Target, Pepsi etc.)

Dirty
Vegas “Days Go By’ might have been a flop if it had never been featured in a
spot for the Mitsubishi Eclipse, but the commercial launched the previously obscure
song into the music charts and helped it receive a Grammy nomination for Best
Dance Recording.

“The most powerful proof is when a DJ comes onto the radio and
says, ‘And now, the Mitsubishi song.’ It’s hard to explain the phenomenon,” says
Pierre Gagnon, Mitsubishi Motors N.A. president and CEO. “What we’re so pleased
with is we know we’re breaking through when these songs become more popular.”

how to convert PR
attention into commercial buys.

How do you make the success of music translate
into more car sales?

“If your marketing
is intrusive, you’re going to lose them, so you have to provide entertainment that’s
an asset to their life” (Jarrod Moses CEO Grey World Alliance on behalf of P&G
Pringles latest entertainment partnership July 2002)

One of the reasons that music is currently undervalued by many organisations
is because it is difficult to directly measure its impact and influence on sales.

David Aaker uses five dimensions when measuring Brand Equity: Lifestyle,
awareness, perceived quality, associations and loyalty.

Entertainment value,

Research has shown that people relate to Brands in a very
similar way that they relate to people. They form relationships based on personality,
appearances (style and image) and trust.

“What a customer hears may make the difference
between their choosing and not choosing your Brand” (Gerald J. Gorn The Effects of
Music In Advertising on Choice Behaviour 1982).

“If a new model isn’t developed, the old one will simply collapse” (Steven J. Heyer, Coca-Cola)

In a marketplace where compelling messages, consistent delivery and emotional
experiences are at the heart of a Brand’s success, organisations need to actively
develop fully integrated and powerful multimedia music strategies.

there for the taking for the marketers.

the ways that music is used to sell products and
services

the ways in which Brands, Agencies and the
Music Industry continue to transact in music and yet miss the true currency of
their exchange.

…
songseekers

Kärleks kalkylator: Testa din kärlek, och visa det till världen

music branding

Joost™ Announces Deal With Creative Artists Agency - Press

excerpts

The widget, called Coke Bubbles, allows people to personalize and share specific moments from Joost with their friends. When the Coke Bubbles widget is installed in Joost, people can comment about specific scenes in a show by sending a Coke Bubble to anyone in their email address book. Coke Bubble recipients receive an email alerting them to the scene, and when they visit Joost to watch the scene, their friend’s comment will appear in a transparent bubble on the screen.

“In creating Coke Bubbles, we wanted to give people a widget that would recreate the experience of chatting together with friends while watching TV– free from the constraints of time and space,” said Stafford Green, head of interactive marketing for the Coca-Cola European Union Group. “We are always striving to become enthusiastic investors in interactive community innovations, and creating the first commercial widget has been a fun, collaborative project for both The Coca-Cola Company and our friends at Joost.”

Viacom to be key content partner with Joost™, the world’s first online global tv distribution platformFebruary 20, 2007

Excerpts

social tools

“People have always relied on their friends’ recommendations to figure out which movies they want to watch, or talked about their favorite TV shows and moments with friends and colleagues

integrated

The new website features a number of ways that people can interact with video and with other people on Joost: they can voice their opinions about video through comments, “shouts” or tags; they can find out what their friends are watching by adding friends through most major online webmail services via the Friends section; or they may interact with others in the Joost community through groups around their favorite shows, characters or artists.

JoostFeed, which aggregates all of the activities that are happening on Joost in order to help guide a person’s Joost experience.

http://press.joost.com/

…

http://press.joost.com/2007/02/

Viacom will be a key content partner

range of brands and programming

for free to consumers

 enables premium interactive video experiences

while guaranteeing copyright protection for content owners and creators.

Joost will allow users to have free access to thousands of programs and channels not readily available on the Web.

Through Joost, viewers can watch programming from many of Viacom’s brands on their computers through a customizable platform with advanced television viewing features such as links that lead to more information or related websites based on the content; and a variety of plug-in applications, such as instant messaging, message boards, and news tickers.

Joost combines the best of TV and the best of the Internet

offering viewers a unique, TV-like experience enhanced with the choice, control and flexibility of Web 2.0.

the first online, global TV distribution platform

Joost can be accessed with a broadband Internet connection and offers broadcast-quality content to viewers for free.

key partner

next generation in broadband video technology

the number one portfolio of entertainment sites in the world and unrivaled distribution on mobile devices

fantastic user experience

compelling and sustainable business model that respects both content creators and consumers

Janus Friis, founder of Joost said, “We built this platform from the ground up, with companies like Viacom in mind. Our platform provides scalable distribution, in a completely safe environment that protects the interest of content owners and advertisers, while delighting viewers.

enabling Viacom to reach new audiences for its new and classic programming

content strategy and acquisition

be a part of Viacom’s digital strategy

premier content

Welcome - Joost

Mentees

…

After all, loyal customers are less likely to suffer betrayal or jealousy when the competition can’t offer them the same “value proposition.” Companies with strong brands, such as Sony, can charge higher prices than the competition, even when those prices are readily accessible on the Internet, Zhang adds

Targeted pricing allows firms to “charge lower prices to new customers without giving discounts to those who do not need any inducement to purchase from the firm,” says Zhang. “Big firms with large market share really value the flexibility of targeted pricing because it allows them to act like niche companies. Who wouldn’t want the incremental sales?”

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=739

…

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/india/article.cfm?articleid=4295

Sabyasachi Satyaprasad, senior director at advisory firm NeoIT, says the absence of a strong labor arbitrage in the domestic market will in fact compel vendors to offer a higher-value proposition, such as solving business problems for their domestic clients.

“When one is operating in a market where there is no arbitrage benefit, you have to innovate and add value to the customer.

…

http://www.wharton.universia.net/index.cfm?fa=viewArticle&id=1257&language=english&specialId=

We’ve partnered with companies like Oak and Disney very effectively. And to give credit to these other companies, their strategies to succeed in China are very localized. They don’t take a global marketing campaign or marketing playbook and just execute in China; they really factor in the needs of Chinese consumers and present their value proposition in localized terms. And that I see as one of the key success factors in China.

This enables us to build our brand in a very direct way, because there are many tactics we can use to convey our brand’s value proposition. The best way to build your brand is to have people touch and feel your product. That’s what Apple does so well in the United States, and that’s what we do in China.

One of the reasons why China is such an attractive market is the fast-growing middle class with huge purchasing power. Also, we’ve been working with a lot of our partners to bring value propositions that are very attractive and affordable.

…

The reason it happened was that all over Southeast Asia, people began to see a value proposition — which was high value in terms of clinical outcomes and high-quality care — at one-fifth of what they would traditionally pay in the U.S., and probably a third of what they would pay in a country like Singapore. As a result, we started attracting patients from all over Southeast Asia.

And with that we started getting patients from the West as well. Most of them use the Internet as the medium through which they schedule their appointments and arrange consultations with doctors. But again, it’s this value proposition that is really driving consumers. I would say that currently 10% of our total revenues come from medical tourism. That is not really a large amount, and it has grown by 2% to 3%.

value proposition

“Like Martha Stewart, Donald Trump places his name on everything he gets involved in: buildings, gambling casinos and airlines. He is a visible, vocal brand voice,” says Siegel. “Ralph Lauren and Michael Dell, on the other hand, also brand their companies with their names, are intimately involved in all aspects of their businesses and serve as spokesmen for their brands. So there is this connection to a person, which is desirable because the public can easily identify with a company or product when they can personalize it. But these two companies have cleverly created a separate, institutional identity that doesn’t make them so vulnerable if they have a personal problem.”

But not all companies can manage their image to that degree. Reibstein, for one, says that the nature of the business can play a large role in the ability to determine how closely the public face is tied to the firm’s value offering. “Consider Henry Ford,” he says. “Despite the fact that he was involved with some controversies, his company’s value proposition was the vehicles it built. Even though they carried his name, the man himself was peripheral to the sale — the key factor was the quality of his cars.”

Reibstein goes on to note that the same could be said of Donald Trump. “The Trump value proposition is primarily seen as real estate, which is judged on location, amenities and other considerations,” he notes. “So whether you like the man or not, your decision to buy an apartment from him, gamble at one of his casinos or fly his airline is likely to be influenced by factors beyond his personality. In a case like Martha Stewart, however, the person and the goods and services were indistinguishable. Customers were buying her tastes, not a stand-alone asset or service.”

Luxury Brands: Marketing the Upscale During a Downturn - Knowledge@Wharton

Excerpts

brand reputation

expansion into some of the world’s fastest-growing economies, including the so-called BRIC nations of Brazil, Russia, India and China, as well as the oil-rich Middle East.

Conspicuous consumption

shopping in their own closets

glum tone

core customer base,

price point

the value of a brand with a well-established name for luxury

“With high end fashion, you’re buying into a lifestyle,”

mass-market companies

Targetization

upscale

fashion firms are likely to focus now on pampering their best and most loyal consumers, using computer technology to increasingly customize upscale products that will be designed or tailored especially to their needs.

“Everybody wants to be a lifestyle — and they’re going to want to stay for 10 or 15 years with your product,”

“This is not a time to panic,” added Gillespie, referring to the difficult fiscal environment. “This is a time to define and redefine the brand.”

Selling a more glamorous way of life to aspiring consumers. “You’re buying into that dream,” Kabat said. “And you’re buying into that grand theme, which is our job.”

What’s now “in” for marketing luxury in this difficult era is pampering the wealthiest and most loyal customers with everything from monogrammed shirts to personal in-home visits.

The Mary J. Blige franchise, signed in June, will launch this fall as a series of animated webisodes. The deal resulted from overwhelming fan response to an animated large screen video created by SLM - depicting Blige as a warrior against social predators and champion of the innocent - which has opened each of her sold-out summer shows. In addition to the webisodes, to be voiced by Blige, the company envisions the growth of the franchise into such areas as TV, film and print.

 
Strategic communications agency Naked

has moved into the branded entertainment business

as traditional agencies are warned they face having budgets slashed by advertisers keen to move into the space.

Exponents of branded entertainment claim it will grow exponentially especially in the areas of TV, films and music, and argue advertisers are diverting cash into innovation budgets in a bid to better connect brands with consumers.

Naked has been working on its branded entertainment division, Stickywood, for five months, and has already created work for soft drink brand Sprite and Ninemsn.

Stickywood, named in a nod to the glitz of Hollywood, will act as an “entertainment broker” between clients and creatives outside the agency who will then craft branded content.

Naked’s move is the latest in a series of launches by agencies and brands into branded content,

and follows recent branded entertainment activity such as the Vodafone Live at the Chapel and the Coca-Cola Live N Local event.

Vice Australia, the youth culture media company has also created branded projects for Adidas, Corona and Virgin Mobile.

Brand New Alliance, part of the STW Group launched last year to steal a march on the sector, and Australia’s largest media buyer Mitchell & Partners, have also got in on the action launching Digital Artists last August.

Georgie Summerhayes, founder of Brand New Alliance said advertisers were keen to explore non-traditional branding ideas.

“Australia is a more immature market than the UK or US when it comes to branded content – our first six months were spent educating clients who were just used to sponsorship and product placement,” she said.

“But there has been a complete shift change in attitudes since we founded and it’s only going to grow.
Australia is an aggressively creative nation, despite our malaise of derivative advertising.

“Brands are now prepared to take risks and have innovation budgets, which was unheard of a few years ago. I can see branded entertainment growing exponentially year-on-year, especially in film TV and music. We could well see budgets cut from sponsorship, above-the-line and PR as a result.”

BNA has just clinched the account of property developer Hannas and is developing a website to be used as a discussion forum for the construction industry.

Ben Liebmann, vice president of licensing at production company FreemantleMedia, producer of Australian Idol, Neighbours and Thank God You’re Here, said he saw a future of ad-funded online and TV content. “There will be a time when we both receive briefs for new content from agencies and pitches from media companies. There are exciting ways to integrate brands into storylines, which we are just touching upon now,” he said.

Naked’s six-strong Stickywood team, headed by entertainment director Kate Richardson, will link brands to a range of specialists in the gaming, film, music and television industries. The division will be overseen by John Du Vernet, head of special projects at Naked.

Mat Baxter, chief executive of Naked Australia and New Zealand, said: “Brands need world-class, bespoke content. Much of the stuff out there at the moment is really bad, but we are not wedded to what the agency can do within our four walls.

“Clients are already part of the way there, they are moving away from print and TV to user-generated, long-length content. The question is how agencies respond.”

He added: “There are a lot of agencies out there touting branded entertainment, but the difference with Stickywood is that we don’t produce content ourselves in a kind of land-grab to make up for falling TV revenues.”

Stickywood’s work already includes the ‘Truth Hunters’ activity for Sprite, which used up-and-coming comedy group The Nice Guys to feature in a series of short films looking at the experiences of 16 to 24-year old males, the product’s target audience.

The division also facilitated the creation of The Fix, an online entertainment portal on Ninemsn.

Naked plans to hire creatives in the gaming, film, music and TV industries.

Baxter said that Stickywood was aiming for a $1m turnover in its first year, which he admits to being an “aggressive” target but stressed that clients were increasingly looking to branded entertainment as a way to reach consumers.

22 February 2008

MMB recently created a division that specialized in branded entertainment mediums. The agency, which is NY-based, is planning to release its first project: a Web film for the Harvard Business School’s Executive Leadership Program

access to the world’s largest Spanish language programming producers and a unique ability to create and distribute client-generated content through conventional and new media channels.

TOP 10 BRANDS WITH TV PRODUCT PLACEMENTWeek of Oct. 20-26, 2008

To attract those customers, Pizza Hut is launching a promotion with eMusic.com that gives customers 75 free downloads in exchange for buying a pizza online. The chain is hoping to boost awareness of its online ordering, up its cool factor and build its customer database.

Marketing and licensing one’s music is more important than ever,

CMJ Music Marathon

conversations with the publishing and advertising worlds

“Clearly, in the past year or two, there’s been a major change not only in regard to bands being willing to take on sponsorships, but also sponsors being the new consumers of music,”
said Robert Haber founder and CEO of CMJ Network.

 ”It’s fascinating because they’re just as enthusiastic about emerging acts as fans are.”

Wednesday morning’s panel, “Sponsorship: A Futuristic Music Industry Strategy,”

“The most important strategy is knowing who you are and communicating that philosophy to the brand,”
Maurice Bernstein, president-CEO, Giant Step,

 ”You need to make them want you. Create your own buzz through MySpace and your web page.

Using marketing lingo like “branded entertainment,” “metrics” and “ROI”

Moderator Marcie Cardwell, president, MAC Presents, cited a change in musicians’ attitudes with pop star John Mayer, who had resisted brand campaigns for years until he struck a tour sponsorship deal with Blackberry.

Ms. Cardwell played a promotional video for the deal wherein Mr. Mayer spoke about his love for the Curve device, which prompted a few attendees to murmur the familiar epithet “sell-out.” Afterward, Ms. Cardwell acknowledged the sentiment, shrugged it off briskly and moved on.

Mr. Bernstein:
 ”Brands have to understand they’re getting in bed with the rock n’ roll business.
There’s a possibility thsoe brands could get burned by behavior of people in the rock n’ roll business.
Artists also need to understand they’re getting involved with corporate America, and it’s a very tentative marriage.”

tour sponsorships

entertainment marketing

pockets of resistance from artists

advertisers are in an enviable position. Not only can they outspend labels’ marketing budgets by a wide margin for relationships that consumers seem to be responding favorably to, but they’ve also got a glut of options at their disposal.

Panelists told prospective bands to hit up music conferences to hawk their records to music supervisors and marketers, but also acknowledged that there were thousands upon thousands of bands looking for deals with just a handful of marketers.

Deconstructing Boundaries: Hip-Hop Media Co. Goes Old School - Songs For Soap - Advertising Age

“Our whole model now is to figure out how to incorporate what we’ve developed with our music and entertainment relationships and apply it to branded content to connect with the youth market,” Mr. Bittenbender says. “We want to use brands as a launching pad for our talent and vice versa.”

In the past year, agencies and record labels have gotten cozier;

in April, lifestyle marketing firm Cornerstone partnered with ad-supported digital label RCRD LBL,

in July Euro RSCG Worldwide grabbed a majority stake in The:Hours.

In April, Sony BMG (soon to be Sony Music Entertainment) performed a move similar to Decon’s (but on a much larger scale) when it formed an in-house agency, Arcade Creative Group, which has since landed general-market campaigns and utilized its parent company’s music catalog in creative executions.

Decon has been involved in commercial production for years; it’s most recent projects include

Most of Decon’s projects, explains Mr. Goldwatch — who admits he shuddered when the company introduced the word “brand” into its vocabulary — tend to begin as creative endeavors, not ad campaigns.

 ”We want to do the projects we think would be great and try to attract a brand to them,” he says. “I want to make new media weird alchemist shit, and whatever brand is savvy enough to be like ‘That’s killer,’ we’ll work with them.”

Mr. Bittenbender says Decon’s track record as a hip-hop label makes the shop more authentic than other agencies or labels when it comes to engaging younger audiences.

“Myself and others in the company are in the age demo to know what’s happening,” he says.

The record label side gives us insight and credibility into what’s happening. If you can sell records, you can touch an audience, and that’s pretty important.”

From the start, Decon has been committed to a multimedia experience of hip-hop.

At the same time, Mr. Bittenbender says, having working relationships with marketers makes his label more attractive to extraordinary musical talent.

He wouldn’t name names, but he says that artists on his roster picked Decon over major labels with bigger pockets because of the insight and diverse creative talent he can offer.

These resources allow Decon to offer what it calls “DCN360,” an approach that provides support for a musician in almost every stage of his or her career.

“DCN360 is something we can do that’s absolutely a dug-in, hands-on approach,” says Mr. Goldwatch. “Sign to our label, we do all your videos and design work, we take out ads, put together your tour, and then put you in the middle.”

And, although they’d like to remain small, Decon has expanded its staff in order to fulfill its new role as a full-service creative shop.

It’s brought in VP-Strategy Sebastian Eldridge, who hails from traditional agencies such as Kirshenbaum Bond & Partners and Translation, in order to complete a full-service slate with strategy and account services.

new creative agency, which promises to wrap together a footing in multimedia production, hip-hop record label expertise and new-media design

After single-handedly caring about Billy Bob Thornton’s band, Dell is moving some brighter lights into the Dell Lounge. The computer company announced today that it’s sponsoring “Spectacle: Elvis Costello With…”, a 13-part, one-hour program featuring the man himself interviewing various people, whom the press release doesn’t name — we’re working on this detail — but may perhaps include Elton John, who’s the executive producer.

With ‘Fist of Oblivion’ Web Series, Carmaker Keeps Chasing Youth Target That Some Say Can’t Save Brand

By Claude Brodesser-Akner

Published: November 12, 2008

For Scion, Mr. Roman Coppola has produced a live-action, nine-episode puppet series called “The Fist of Oblivion” that will appear on its marketing website, Scion Broadband.

In “Fist,” kung-fu-fighting puppets seek to exonerate a cop who has been sent to prison for murder; new episodes will launch every Tuesday through the end of December.

To date, the Toyota sub-brand has chosen to live or die by its guerrilla marketing, forgoing broadcast TV advertising and favoring billboards, online marketing and the odd cable TV ad, begging the question: In such a yawning recession, can a struggling, neophyte marque really stick with chop-socky puppets as its brand message and hope to survive?

Adrian Si, Scion’s interactive manager, said Mr. Coppola’s edgy fare will “resonate with our audience and stay true to the culture of the brand.”

Empty-niche syndrome
“The fundamental issue facing Scion is that it is perceived as a niche brand, not a household name”

 ”In times of economic uncertainty, we see consumers making safe choices, taking to familiar things. You’ll never be questioned as to why you bought a Honda Accord or Toyota Corolla.”

“coming back to the Scion Broadband site again and again.”

Mr. Coppola had also recently directed a string of commercials for Volkswagen that aired over the summer, wherein celebs like Heidi Klum, David Hasselhoff and Bobby Knight were interviewed by “Max the Beetle,” a 1964 classic VW Bug.

Coppola also directed this VW spot that features Heidi Klum.

demographic to show up with cash in hand

No incentives to buy
“They’re sticking with the one-price selling,” said Mr. Toprak. “It’s ‘If you’re interested, buy it, but we’re not going to give you any other reason.’”

directing their efforts at an audience that is out of the market, currently

 You can spend all sorts of money marketing edgy stuff, but the reality is that that’s not converting many people to a new car acquisition, and certainly not 18- to 30-year-olds: Even as high as [age] 25, parents are controlling the purse strings now.”

felslut

attempt at branded entertainment

…content that people will want to watch for the entertainment value alone. We can take a brand and create a concept that will directly appeal to the target audience. That concept could be anything from a TV programme through to a short video for an online newspaper site. In our experience branded entertainment is most effective when supported by a campaign around the content. For example video content on an online newspaper website could be backed up by editorial, links to the brand’s website, prizes, interview with presenters, banner ads etc.

 As audiences become increasingly fragmented through the proliferation of TV channels and the use of the internet, branded entertainment is only going to grow and grow.

Branded Entertainment?

While the answer to this question can be complex, its influence on the advertising and entertainment industries is simple: it is changing everything.

Technological advances in the last five years have provided audiences with unprecedented control of how they enjoy their entertainment options.  Where advertisers once could rely on tried-and-true commercial breaks to reach consumers, the proliferation of DVRs and on-demand viewing has made the already daunting mission of a 30-second spot even more difficult. 

Companies and their products are now seeking fresh, innovative ways to reach audiences by merging commerce with creative content. 

The result is Branded Entertainment. 

Rink Entertainment has created and perfected a serial story vignette format utilized in commercial pods. 

A company or brand is attached as a sponsor for each series of vignettes with special care taken to integrate their product organically into each scene.  The result: an entertaining, narrative-driven short that manages to hold viewers through the break.

This unique blend of story-telling and advertising can be tailored for any demographic or sponsor.

By having both a Television division and a Branded Entertainment division, Rink Entertainment understands the concerns, goals, and challenges for advertising and entertainment companies.  We have worked directly with major brands, advertising agencies, television networks, and ad sales teams, as well as major record labels and music artists.  In essence, we are uniquely qualified and positioned to help any party involved, individually or collectively. 

Taylor Swift

Branded Entertainment is one of the fastest growth sectors in marketing communications worldwide. It’s where advertising and TV collide to form a new tool that combines the strengths of stand-alone high quality TV programming with brand partnerships to create a stronger, deeper link with consumers and viewers.

GoFish Launches Branded Entertainment Division and Hires Three Executives Formerly of YAHOO!

SAN FRANCISCO - November 14, 2006 - GoFish Corporation (OTCBB: GOFH), a leading user-generated video company, today announced the launch of a branded entertainment division

 established a solid track-record

collaborated with creative talent in the development of original programming initiatives

an early entrant into the user-generated video sector

provides people with an online platform for uploading, sharing, searching for and watching videos from around the world.

“Our Branded Entertainment Division is focused on original programming that taps into the energy and enthusiasm around user-generated video, an approach that we believe will deliver a superior experience for viewers, creators and advertisers alike-and will revolutionize online entertainment,”

 ”America’s Dream Date” - the first reality themed online show harnessing user-generated video that was sponsored by a national beverage brand.

Animax Entertainment Launches Branded Entertainment Division | Reuters

Animax’s reputation for online branded content is renowned. Its diverse
portfolio includes original short-form content such as “Off-Mikes,” a series of
webisodes produced for ESPN, for which Animax won the first-ever Broadband Emmy;
“Ink Is It,” an award-winning campaign for Kodak that features a series of
viral videos, games, and blogs; and the Beanie Babies 2.0 and Ty Girlz virtual
worlds, both built and supported by Animax.
	
 a sought-after commercial director 
	
American Express’ pioneering webisodic series “Adventures of
Seinfeld and Superman.”
	
    “Brands are well-aware that traditional advertising tactics are losing
effectiveness.
	
 Animax Unplugged creates the perfect union by melding entertainment, branding, and interactive experiences
	
value proposition is unique: first, focus on creating engaging
original branded content and second, use a 360-approach to distribution
including interactive campaigns such as casual games, Facebook applications,
iPhone applications, and widgets to fully support the engagement.
	
    “Our philosophy is simple — by creating truly engaging content we can
transform individuals within a target demographic into product evangelists and
brand ambassadors,” 
	
creates online experiences that increase brand equity.

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signal that the organization has deep competence in their area, Haas notes. “Consultants frequently travel to sales meetings with potential clients accompanied by experts from the firm who help them convey the message that the consulting work will be done by competent individuals. Also, the names and credentials of advisors often are listed in proposal documents, identifying them as contributors to the proposal and to the future project work.”

(CNN) — Barack Obama had a formidable online presence during his quest for the White House, and he is once again turning to the Internet to communicate with the American public as president-elect.

President-elect Barack Obama has launched a Web site to chronicle his transition.

Within 24 hours of last week’s historic vote, his transition team rolled out change.gov, a Web site that promises to be “your source for the latest news, events and announcements so that you can follow the setting up of the Obama administration.”

In today’s brand-led world, Independent treats everyone as an individual but recognises that individuals have the potential to become a brand.

Independent is the new name of the London based talent and literary and model agencies formerly known as ICM.

The talent and literary agency, which was originally formed by the merger of talent and literary agencies Duncan Heath Associates and the London offices of ICM Inc. has been established for more than 33 years. Following its management buyout from ICM Inc. in 2002, the agency has seen consistent annual growth in all aspects of its business. It launched a models subsidiary in 2003, which has quickly established itself as one of the key players in the UK fashion industry.

The change of name was effected in September 2007 as the final stage of the management buyout. This anticipated name change reflects the group’s true independence in the marketplace.

ICM - International Creative Management

ICM will provide TiVo subscribers with TV show and film recommendations personally selected by some of the most well-known Hollywood actors and directors.

Sale said ICM could work with other talent agencies representing brands, media and ad agencies, product placement and branded entertainment firms or directly with advertisers in developing branded entertainment opportunities for its clients. She said her new group could facilitate a brand working with ICM talent across various entertainment platforms, such as film, music, TV and publishing. “I look at this as a grocery store full of talent, and a brand can come in the door and walk out with a cart full of stuff. If you offered a brand the opportunity to get involved in all these different areas at one time, you’d be able to create a tremendous amount of impact.”

“ICM will not represent brands,” Sale said. “That space is being handled very nicely already. The strategy for ICM is to facilitate entertainment and content opportunities for ICM talent and to foster dialogue between brands and ICM talent across all divisions of ICM.”

The global branded entertainment division, which has 10 employees in L.A. and New York, is designed to sell clients to brands, as opposed to some agencies that represent brands with the goal of connecting products to celebrities.

Product integration is as old as Hollywood itself.

It wasn’t just television comedy that NBC’s “Seinfeld” managed to shake up during its eight seasons on the air. The groundbreaking show about nothing is credited with finally breaking down the decades-old resistance by the major broadcast networks to product placement in primetime.

It was Jerry’s butter fingers with an infamous box of Junior Mints candy in the beloved 1993 episode “The Junior Mint” that showed marketers the way of the future. They didn’t need to settle for mere placement on a shelf in a kitchen scene. With a little creativity, a product could find its way into the script, becoming an integral part of a storyline and assuring that audiences would remember it the next day.

“Seinfeld broke the barrier on brand-name products in television,” says Brad Brown, who co-founded one of the first major product placement agencies, Davie-Brown, in 1985. “The brand became a plot point, and it was so successful that they (NBC) looked the other way.”



The pioneering Lumiere Brothers, who created the first motion picture projector in 1895, recognized immediately the potential their invention had to influence the masses. Their 1896 short film, “Washing Day in Switzerland,” was one of the first motion pictures ever projected on a screen — and it featured strategically-placed cases of Sunlight Soap. Much like the way deals come together in today’s business, the placement was engineered by the film’s producer, Henri Lavanchy-Clarke, who also worked as a publicist for the soap’s manufacturer, Lever Brothers, according to Jay Newell, assistant professor at the Greenlee School of Journalism at Iowa State University.

“Product placement is much older than Hollywood,” Newell says. “And this first placement was no accident.”

Branded entertainment
Branded Integration

10+ Cases in this article

In Portugal, the global home improvement retailer Leroy Merlin has been working since 2005 with Briskman Entertainment, the producers of SIC Mulher’s popular TV make-over show “Querido, mudei a casa!” to integrate their wide range of product in the renovation projects. In just 2 years, sales of Leroy Merlin, rose by 72%, and the brand boosted across Portugal becoming leader in its segment.

Office products retailer Staples and its entertainment marketing agency Davie Brown Entertainment worked with the producers of NBC’s popular show “The Office” to integrate the MailMate shredder into the theme of the November 16, 2006, episode. Amid impending layoffs, one of the show’s key characters showcases his value to the company through his role as a “master shredder,” using his newest tool: The MailMate shredder from Staples.

David Goetzel, a media and marketing writer for Media Daily News, described the integration as follows:

In the Nov. 16 episode, the character Kevin, a low-key but mischievous accountant at paper company Dunder-Mifflin, somewhat morosely says how little responsibility he has on the job. But, he adds: “They do let me shred the company documents, and that is really all I need, by the way Deskey is lame.” He then ferociously begins using the MailMate – Staples says it offers “ferocious shredding power for identity theft protection” – while speaking to the audience at the same time (”The Office” is done in faux documentary fashion, where the characters often speak to the camera as if they’re being interviewed by a journalist.) Barely able to restrain himself, Kevin (played by Brian Baumgartner) says: “This thing is so awesome! It will shred anything!” On the show, the whole scene is funny and effective–and it fits in organically. After Kevin has shown the machine’s practical benefits, in keeping with the wonderfully twisted humor of “The Office,” he drops salad leaves into the MailMate. Then, he pulls out the bottom refuse bin which has a full salad ready to eat. After pouring on dressing, a coworker enters and asks, “Where’d you get that salad?” “Staples,” he says.

The most common way to integrate brands into programming is by using product placement. Instead of simply using a product as a prop or background filler, the product will be woven into the plot or dialogue of the program. For this reason, the term brand integration is more commonly used. The objective is to create a link in the viewer between the program and their product. This is also a guaranteed way for their advertising to be seen, no matter what method the viewer chooses to watch the program in.

Hottest Mom in America

Hottest Mom in America, a reality television series that auditions American women vying for the title of “Hottest Mom”, is one of the first entries by a pharmaceutical company into Branded Entertainment. The show from Buzznation studios is backed by a single sponsor Medicis Pharmaceutical, the makers of the Restylane cosmetic injection treatment.

A example of true branded entertainment is “City Hunters”, an animated TV series for AXE Body Spray. The series premiered throughout Latin America on October 2006 on the FOX network. It was co-produced by Unilever for the AXE brand. It is a male-targeted series that integrates the AXE brand into the storyline. The animated series follows the antics of an aging Casanova, Dr. Lynch, and Axel (a reference to AXE), the young man Doctor is training in the art of seducing women. The series was created by Catmandu Branded Entertainment, a branded entertainment firm in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The characters were developed by Italian illustrator Milo Manara. The series, also has an on-line component: http://www.cityhunters.tv/ar.

The difference between basic product placement and branded entertainment are the people behind the projects. If done incorrectly, “branded entertainment” becomes annoying, blatant product placement. But, if executed correctly, branded entertainment can be the most powerful tool in advertising.

There are many people who say they are experts in branded content and while the Americas in particular are highly developed in this the UK and Europe lag behind - companies in the UK are often able top provide part of the solution but not all - in order to create effective Branded Entertainment a company must offer all the attributes of marketing agency and programme maker - there are very few companies that offer this.

Branded Entertainment is not simply product advertising or product placement - branded entertainment is a piece of entertainment that perfectly aligns with the brand attributes, and is a reflection of the advertiser’s brand personality. A piece of branded entertainment for Jack Daniels, for example, doesn’t need to feature a bottle of Jack Daniels it merely has to fit within the entertainment preferences of its audience

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - With a new five-part travel series premiering Saturday on the Oxygen Network, Kahlua has accomplished what many advertisers are talking about but have yet to achieve in the branded entertainment space.

The coffee liqueur has created, produced and maintained full ownership of its own TV show, allowing it to control how its product and brand messages are portrayed.

Jeff Greenfield, an executive vice president with 1st Approach, a Boston advertising agency, specializes in product placement in movies, television and the Internet. With media growing more diverse, Greenfield said, the advertising industry is rapidly shifting to adapt.

“Non-traditional is the way to go these days,” Greenfield. “If you go back to the days when there were only a couple of channels, it was very easy to reach the majority of the country. Now, with hundreds of channels, the Internet and video games, it’s very difficult to reach everyone.”

With the media world evolving every day, companies are forced to think creatively to get their brand in the public’s eye, he said. Greenfield described Williams’ strategy as more of a novelty, or lighthearted entertainment, than an actual trend in advertising. Still, he said, creativity is key.

Representatives for ABC’s “Good Morning America,” NBC’s “Today” and CBS’ “The Early Show,” all produced through their respective networks’ news divisions, say they allow no product integration of any kind. But they do feature the brand names and logos of the sponsors of their concert series on the stages where their musical acts perform. They also run billboards announcing the sponsors of their various news segments.

Looking Ahead
“Obviously, more and more content is being made available via mobile devices,” said Jaenicke. “Once we start watching movies on a phone, where is revenue going to come from? Not traditional 30-second spots, as it would be unacceptable for a consumer to have to pay bandwidth charges to watch a commercial.”

An offering that can combine free or low-cost advertising based television with mobile devices would be attractive and a good use of virtual product placement, Jaenicke believes.

“You can target the viewer demographically; for example, you can have three different versions of the same film or program to download and stream the most appropriate one to the viewer, based on knowledge obtained when they purchased their telephone,” he said.

Still, it may be too early to nail with certainty the strength and speed in which virtual product placement will travel in the mobile-device marketplace. “Mobile entertainment is only in its infancy stage,” said PQ Media’s Kivijarv, “and advertisers have to be convinced that it is a viable alternative to other media. The small screen makes the seamless integration of a product into a scene extremely difficult.”

Working together
Jeff Bell, the Chrysler group’s vice president of product strategy, says his company saw the script for Firewall in its early stages. Chrysler officials and the movie’s producers worked together on integrating the 300C and Pacifica in both the film and related ads.

“We suggested where we thought there would be opportunities to naturally and appropriately” include the vehicles, Bell told Automotive News.

“They already had (the) vehicles in the film. We said we can use this footage for promotional purposes. They made sure that when they were shooting it, they would do it in such a way that the vehicle looked great and the stars were present.”

Even a virtual soldier gets hungry sometimes. That’s why one new firm is helping Subway, the sandwich chain, embed advertisements for its $2.49 daily specials in the video game Counter Strike. The real ads - still in test mode - appear on signs an alert gamer encounters while patrolling a virtual city.

And they appear to deliver. The company, Engage In-Game Advertising, surveyed online players recently after they had encountered the ads and recorded 94 percent recall. That’s a “phenomenal” result compared with other media, says David Smith, vice president of business development for Engage in San Francisco. Subway’s sales numbers also spiked in the test market.

Product placement meant to foster brand affinity has been commonplace in video games for several years. The practice is widely embraced by gamers, who prize realism - a FedEx delivery truck as opposed to a generic one, for example, in a street-racing game.

But “this is more,” says Mr. Smith. “This is actually immersing traditional advertising, like billboards, into the games.” The ads are local-market specific, and can be updated by means of an Internet “patch.”

The move is the latest step in marketers’ ongoing bid to capitalize on the rising number of PC- and console-based games that include, if not require, an online component. It has some watchdogs worried that more ads will pitch to younger-than-intended gamers.

Though many games are targeted to older teens, members of the age 12-to-17 set are most likely to play, according to one 2004 study.

“In-game advertising is here to stay, and will increase as more games and platforms hook up to the Internet,” says Jeff Greenfield, executive vice president of 1st Approach, a marketing firm in Dover, N.H. “Gamers love the reality, and brands are excited about reaching their core demographic.” It’s a willing audience.

“This new generation of consumers does not consider its experiences ‘authentic’ unless advertising is involved,” says Mario Almonte, a vice president at Herman Associates, a public relations firm in New York.