Branded content material is among the many most misunderstood of all content material techniques.

Whereas it’s a definite strategy, it’s simple to confuse it with different paid marketing campaign techniques like native promoting, influencer advertising and marketing, or social media advertisements.

Its non-salesy strategy, marked by deeply immersive, entertaining, and academic tales, makes it the most effective automobiles to bridge the hole between consciousness and ongoing affinity.

And although it’s typically used for brand-building objectives like model consciousness, viewers engagement, or demand era, a number of the most profitable examples make little or no direct point out of the model or its services and products.

Branded content material might not imply what you assume it means. However when you perceive what it’s all about, you’ll see its vital advertising and marketing benefits.

What’s branded content material?

To know what branded content material entails, let’s begin with a abstract of the definition provided by the web’s default dictionary, Wikipedia:

“Branded content material is the apply of selling through the creation of content material funded or outright produced by an advertiser… (it’s) designed to construct consciousness by associating (the model) with content material that shares its values.”

As definitions go, it’s a great begin. Nonetheless, it doesn’t clarify what distinguishes branded content material from different paid content material promotions. And it ignores the tactic’s contribution to lower-funnel advertising and marketing objectives.

For the file, DWS subscribes to the detailed clarification Robert Rose outlined (based mostly on The Definitive Guide to Strategic Content Marketing):   

“Branded content material is a content material creation tactic, sometimes produced via a sponsored or paid partnership between the model and the media, that encourages audiences to have interaction with the model based mostly on its leisure, info, and/or academic worth.”

A take a look at some hallmarks of correctly executed branded content material campaigns illuminates greatest practices for the method and its place in your content material advertising and marketing combine. One of the best-branded content material campaigns:

• Take an immersive, sensory-driven strategy to storytelling. Branded content material sometimes makes use of wealthy multimedia (video and audio) codecs and may embrace interactive options. These options allow a extra immersive and emotionally resonant expertise than textual content or static photographs alone.
• Construct viewers connections via mutual pursuits and shared values, not gross sales objectives. Nice branded content material balances leisure and informational worth, making it a great format for establishing thought management and enhancing model notion. By exploring points and concepts about matters of viewers curiosity, branded efforts usually tend to be considered as trust- and attention-worthy, in comparison with product- and pitch-driven codecs like digital advertisements.
• Affect advertising and marketing objectives throughout a number of funnel levels. These tales can develop attain and seize new audiences’ curiosity. But, they will additionally drive lower-funnel objectives. Analysis from Advertiser Perceptions discovered that 31% of manufacturers use the method to extend product consideration, and 29% use it to drive gross sales.
• Allow on-the-go engagement. Entrepreneurs sometimes publish branded campaigns throughout a number of social networks, third-party media properties, and different exterior platforms. This broad-reaching strategy makes it simple for customers to find and entry the content material whereas participating of their standard on-line actions. And the audio and video elements make them well-suited to cellular consumption.
• Contain a sponsored or paid media partnership. Manufacturers collaborate with media companions to create and promote content material personalized to the goal media platform’s viewers. Co-producing tales with related publishers may help your model’s messages achieve traction. It additionally provides each companions a vested curiosity in making certain the content material succeeds — a profit that won’t exist with native promoting or when working with paid influencers.

A {custom} mix of inventive enchantment and industrial influence

Nice branded campaigns create advertising and marketing experiences on par with the standard of non-branded content material from movie studios, TV networks, streaming providers, and media retailers.

For example, the branded content material film Barbie delighted audiences, created a information media frenzy, and generated over $1 billion in revenue worldwide as a standard function movie. Its emotional resonance, empowering messages, and high-profile promotional partnerships helped relaunch the long-lasting toy model for a brand new era of potential clients. Following the movie’s success, the model’s worth rose to $720 million, based on Statista data (account required).

Branded content material can have an analogous influence on B2B customers. Take into account Murder in HR — a fictional true-crime podcast co-produced by Caspian Studios and company wellness providers supplier Gympass (now Wellhub). The sequence satirizes well-liked podcasts (Serial, Dr. Demise, and so forth.) with a custom-scripted story a few newly employed HR govt who investigates the loss of life of a co-worker throughout their company retreat.

The model is subtly and organically built-in into the narrative via the characters’ reflections on the Gympass providers employed by the corporate. A solid of A-list voice expertise (together with Kate Mara and Brett Gelman, proven within the promo picture above) and a storyline designed to resonate with HR professionals elevate the present’s potential to have interaction Gympass’ audience.

Content material excellent in your model’s subject

After all, not all branded campaigns are created alike. Manufacturing high quality, model transparency, and shopper enchantment range. The extra time and expense required could make this promotional format unattainable.

Price range and logistics aren’t the one potential obstacles to success. You’ll additionally must make considerate choices about what model story to inform, which media to companion with, and whether or not the potential advantages make it well worth the effort.

These rigorously crafted campaigns exemplify easy methods to make this system repay. Whereas they don’t all comply with the official definition to the letter, every strikes a stability between highly effective media positioning and compellingly persuasive model content material.

Honda’s Battle of the Bands

Firms typically develop branded content material round causes and points that align with their values. For instance, Honda Battle of the Bands (HBOB) showcases a celebrated instance of the tradition at Traditionally Black Faculties and Universities (HBCUs). The marketing campaign is a part of the model’s 30+ 12 months dedication to supporting HBCUs’ legacy of educational excellence.

HBOB is a multifaceted sponsorship highlighting the abilities and achievements of HBCU college students. Its reside performances, which many contemplate the marching band homecoming occasion of the 12 months, are hosted on the HBOB stage and broadcast to digital viewers.

To deepen group attain and engagement earlier than, throughout, and after the reside present, Honda teamed up with the VIVA Inventive company to provide dynamic on-line content material. For the 2023 occasion, that content material included a microsite detailing the annual Honda Campus All-Star Challenge and the model’s partnership with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, plus 100+ graphic, movement, and video belongings for social media.

The model additionally collaboratively produced a four-part docuseries during which HBCU marching band members and program leaders share their views on the HBOB expertise. Every episode revolves round one of many program’s central themes: dwelling, band, tradition, and unity.

On this unity-themed video, for instance, Dr. William Hudson Jr., Florida A&M College VP for pupil affairs and enrollment administration, describes the emotions of belonging college students expertise when seeing somebody carrying a shirt from one other HBCU. College students from Florida A&M and different HBCUs add their views of the non-public, social, and tutorial advantages they obtain from this group.

 

Lenovo Late Night time I.T.

Tech model thought management content material is usually text-centric and jargon-heavy. However laptop electronics producer Lenovo delivered one thing completely different with Late Night I.T., a comedy information program printed on business media website CIO.com and accessible on YouTube.

The movies cowl most of the similar matters that Lenovo’s rivals do (knowledge administration, blockchain know-how, cybersecurity, sustainability, and employee burnout).

However Late Night time I.T. stands out for the irreverent, unfiltered spin host Baratunde Thurston and his visitors placed on these conversations. This strategy makes for a extra entertaining, accessible, and relatable expertise for tech decision-makers.

Viewers can inform instantly that this present gives a recent tackle tech. An episode on psychological well being within the office units the tone with a no-holds-barred title: Mental Health: Generation Burnt-the-F-Out. The teaser copy doubles down by posing a refreshingly forthright (and legitimate) query: “Is wellness woven into your digital transformation technique? Or did you deploy a self-help app and name it a day?”

In keeping with Lenovo’s inventive companion StudioNorth, the newest season of Lenovo Late Night time I.T. grew to become a cult favourite amongst clients and garnered reward throughout the press. Even higher: Bloomberg TV picked up the present for an extra two months of airtime.

Knorr Yummy Ks

With the suitable mixture of on-line and in-person promotions, branded content material initiatives can have a tantalizing influence on customers — and their style buds.

Take into account this instance from Unilever-owned meals and beverage model Knorr, which had discovered itself on the sting of a relevance disaster. Recognized for its bouillon cubes, dips, sauces, and different recipe-starter substances, it struggled to compete within the fast-food, delivery-centric tradition embraced by at present’s on-the-go younger customers.

This viewers could also be cash-strapped and time-constrained, but Knorr acknowledged they strongly desired uncomplicated and yummy meals. In actual fact, 81% of Gen Z consumers say they’ve made recipes they found on social media. This perception grew into the model’s 360-degree effort to persuade Canadian customers to commerce quick meals for “good meals, made quick with Knorr.”

Along with Edelman Canada, the model remodeled a house into Yummy Ks — a first-of-its-kind takeout joint and digital supply service. It additionally enlisted the assistance of celeb Canadian chef (and The Bear solid member) Matty Matheson to design a menu of easy but scrumptious dishes impressed by well-liked TikTok recipes. Prospects’ orders had been packaged in Knorr-branded bins with samples of the model’s recipe substances to encourage them to recreate the meals of their kitchens.

A platform of branded on-line content material, out-of-home advertisements, and social media promos that includes Matty drove the message dwelling. Tik-Tok-style recipe videos and Yummy Ks promos leaned into Matty’s energetic, fast-talking foodie persona.

@mattymatheson I’M HERE AT YUMMY Okay’S WITH @KNORRCA AT 179 CRAWFORD STREET IN TORONTO AND WE’RE SERVING UP MY TASTE COMBOS! COME GET SOME BBQ CHOPPED CHICKEN SANDWICHES OR CHILLED CHILI SOBA THIS WEEKEND ONLY LET’S GO! #KNORRVSCOMBO #AD ♬ original sound – MATTY MATHESON

Salesforce Salesblazer

Not all branded content material efforts conform to the usual, paid digital media strategy. For its Salesblazer initiative, for instance, Salesforce labored on the reverse finish of the content material spectrum: Quite than distributing its topically related content material via a partnership with exterior media, it developed a definite content material model that it operates as a media firm.

Salesblazer is a multichannel gross sales profession hub. Whereas the platform is subtly Salesforce-branded, the content material doesn’t instantly promote (or essentially even point out) the corporate’s merchandise or service choices. As a substitute, it provides gross sales professionals instruments to be taught new expertise, join with their friends, and develop extra profitable careers.

Salesblazer brings sellers collectively at in-person and digital occasions and helps these relationships on-line with newsletters and web site content material organized by roles, business verticals, and matters of curiosity.

As you may see from the microsite snapshot picture under, the hub’s content material consists of trend-focused articles and professional recommendation. Neighborhood members may entry movies, coaching, certifications, and a community of business specialists.

Image source

Salesblazer embodies the model’s philosophy that enterprise could be a platform for change. Firm representatives report that this system has turn out to be the default mannequin for content material advertising and marketing inside Salesforce, serving to refocus its efforts towards creating community-centric applications that cater to a selected viewers’s wants.

A brand-building pitch audiences can’t wait to catch

These examples present how nice branded content material campaigns may help construct rapport with new goal audiences, develop companies’ inventive horizons, or just entertain and have interaction the experience-loving lots.

Are you experimenting with this system? I’d love to listen to what it’s serving to your model obtain.