Choosing Business Goals

Branded Content Campaigns: An Introduction

24 January 2019 by Wade Wheeler

The average person is consistently and constantly bombarded with ads from the time they get up in the morning until they go to bed at night. You get up and listen to your favorite podcast and there are commercial ads halfway through. You get in your car to drive to work and there are ads plastered on the billboards you pass. You even catch ads on YouTube while you watch your favorite music videos in the afternoon. But branded content campaigns are something else entirely, and you may not even know you've been exposed to them. 

What exactly are branded content campaigns?

Branded content campaigns are like the new take on advertising that focuses specifically on connecting with the audience. Branded content campaigns can come in a lot of different forms, from written content and media to produced shows and movies and everything in between. The campaigns bring the relevance of an idea or product to a customer instead of trying to sell them something outright. Imagine going to see a car salesman but instead of that salesman telling you all about the greatness of the car, they tell you a story about their very first car and how it served them, and that car just happened to be the kind you're looking to buy. 

What are some examples of branded content campaigns?

Did you and your kids go to see any of the LEGO movies? This was one of the most creative and successful branded content campaigns and most people had no real cognition that they were watching an advertisement. Sales for LEGO actually jumped 25 percent in 2014 after the initial release of the first movie. This is only one example, but if you look closely enough, there are many. Shows produced by certain companies to create interest in their product brand, newspaper articles written by show producers to generate interest in a topic, and interesting contests and campaigns to garner public attraction in brands. 

Why do branded content campaigns work?

Branded content campaigns work for a lot of reasons, but there is one big one: the campaigns connect with the audience on a different level than the basic ad. In other words, these campaigns do not make consumers feel like they are being told to buy something. There are no real sales pitches or advertising that is in their face. Instead of being told they need a product, brand, or service, consumers are shown something relative to the product that resonates on a different level. 

Share  

Search