What is Branded Content and Its Impact on Consumers

What do you Mean by Branded Content: 

A branded content or branded entertainment is the practice of marketing through the creation of content produced by advertisers. 

Branded content is usually designed to build awareness for a brand by associating it with the content that shares its values and may not necessarily need to be a promotion for the brand itself.

Branded content is quite different from traditional mode of advertising. It includes posting of videos, podcasts, articles and live elements that bring relevant value to the final consumer. 

Branded content is capable of entertaining people and even teach new things through new information resulting in a better brand engagement returns for the advertiser.

The History of Branded Content:

The history of branded content goes back to the early era of broadcasting during the 1940s when many radio and television programs had a specific sponsor or even a brand to create their own content. 

During the 1970s – brands like Proctor and Gamble created soap operas and even produced shows like “Guiding Light And The World Turns”, “The Jensen Project” and “Secrets of the Mountain” etc that are all targeted towards family viewing aired primarily on NBC.

How Branded Content Works Better than Traditional Advertising

As of now branded content is visible everywhere in the form of videos, web series, articles, and virtual reality. Research do show that when a consumer watches a branded content, their brand recall is up to 59% higher than traditional display advertisements, In addition, viewers of the branded content are seeking out extra content from the same brand. 

Brand content gets more attention than traditional advertising due to the fact that consumers like branded content due to the fact that branded content is more consumer-focused when compared with traditional advertising.

Some Reports About Branded Content

GE Reports

The best example of branded content is of GE Reports which GE launches from its website. GE Reports features articles pertaining to different articles with topics about latest innovations, digital transformation and other subjects and their website is a source for news and information without any direct sales propaganda about their products. 

Netflix Report

Another example of modern branded content is of Netflix - The American Entertainment Company that wrote an article in New York Times about the issues being faced by woman inmates as a branded content and this content was related to their show Orange is the New Black. This article was read by more than one million readers of the New York Times. 

Nielsen Report

According to Nielsen, brand recall was 86% for good branded content when compared to regular advertisements which were only 65% among the consumers. 

Nielsen found that there exist certain qualities in all good branded content such as unique concept, central theme/personality, and connection with the audience. The style of the content does matter for the brand.

What is the Future of the Branded Content 

The future of branded content is exuberant and those who are creating it are getting good results. 

Yet many of the marketers are getting inspired by branded content and as such some of them are jumping into the bandwagon of branded web series and podcasts with amazing titles such as “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee”, “Marvel series – Runaways”, IRL podcast by Mozilla, “GE’s The Message which is an 8-series weekly podcast, and LEGO The Movie etc.

Finally, it can be said that branded content is here is stay and would continue to evolve further and become more popular with your customers in the years to come.