Branded content is not a new topic and many consider it to just be just the latest buzzword of the hour. However, I’m going to attempt to outline some of the reasons why I believe it’s important for everyone in a media agency to understand why good content is so important for a brand and why there is a real value in having specialist content divisions within agencies.
When I first started in media I was somewhat clueless to what a media agency even did, let alone what branded content was. I learnt very quickly that content can be borne out of pretty much anything, and delivered in many different ways from TV sponsorships and ad-funded programming to social media and SEO. This opened my eyes to the huge variety of ways that content can play a part within brand strategies. Some of the projects I’ve worked on have ranged from the cool, interviewing Ed Sheeran for Dell’s sponsorship of a UK festival, to the not so cool, handing out flyers for Dulux at an experiential event.
Whilst branded content itself is certainly nothing new, it is developing at lightning speed. The huge increase in channels, new technology and the explosion of social media has driven the need for brands to devise new strategies to engage with their customers beyond traditional media buying. Branded content provides this platform.
Brands need to know who to speak to, what to speak about and where and when their content is best placed to achieve maximum return on investment whilst being relevant to the target market. Content-based projects often involve a multitude of stakeholders that need to be carefully managed and client teams often simply don’t have the time or resource to do this themselves. Dedicated content divisions can also drive incremental revenue through the wider business by being able to charge additional fees for their specialist services that invariably fall outside the traditional media agency scope of work.
Having a niche specialism within a media agency can however be both a blessing and a curse. I work within a specialist content and brand engagement division and the benefit of this is that we get more direct access to client strategies and are able to influence the direction of campaigns more easily from the out-set. We’re also able to wear many different hats from content producers and content strategist to project managers. Every project is different and brings with it opportunities to develop new skills and new challenges!
As a specialist department we’ve been able to showcase our skills via diverse projects such as XXXX Island, The Beer Factor and some cracking TVC’s with Merv Hughes for Unibet. We also ended up being shortlisted for B&T 2012 Emerging Agency of the Year! As someone still relatively new to the media industry, it’s been great for me to experience working on successful campaigns that have both exceeded client’s expectations and been well received by consumers.
On the downside, when sitting within an agency it can sometimes be challenging to ‘sell in’ our services to the client teams. Some are far more on board than others and we have to demonstrate our value in being specialists in this area. Ideally, we want to be briefed in at the early stages of planning to ensure that content isn’t an afterthought but a key ingredient of the strategy.
I believe every media agency should offer clients specialist resource that’s dedicated to the creation and management of branded content, but I might be slightly biased!
Sophie Reeves
Campaign Project Manager Australia
Zenithoptimedia
THE ADNEWS NGEN BLOG: Why branded content divisions can deliver value
25 March 2013