Branded entertainment: product placement in the entertainment business

A brand that rushes too hastily into a branded entertainment strategy, however, without its managers having questioned beforehand what it really is, what its objectives are, what could and should be its message and to whom that message should be delivered, will be wasting its money. In this context, we often in a symptomatic manner refer to a brand's DNA. The analogy is a relevant one, and taking it into consideration is fundamental. Branded entertainment should make it possible to reveal the brand's DNA, confirming its legitimacy and offering it an emotional dimension. Those who think that it will help them to replace it, quickly and easily, are making a grave mistake. A brand's DNA cannot simply be changed with a publicity operation.

Care should be taken not to repeat the errors of the past, through urgency and because the promises of brand integration into many and varied programmes of entertainment seem to be within easy reach. The advantages of branded entertainment can only serve the brand if it forms an integral part of its communications strategy. If it is only envisaged as a supplementary `tactic', disconnected from any logic of identity, then it risks rapidly becoming the involuntary instrument of the persistent degradation of the brand's capital.

Care should be taken not to repeat the errors of the past, through urgency and because the promises of brand integration into many and varied pro-grammes of entertainment seem to be within easy reach. The advantages of branded entertainment can only serve the brand if it forms an integral part of its communications strategy. If it is only envisaged as a supplementary `tactic', disconnected from any logic of identity, then it risks rapidly becoming the involuntary instrument of the persistent degradation of the brand's capital.

The effects of a branded entertainment action go far beyond the only direct benefit of the integration of the brand into a programme of any kind. It contributes to short-term awareness of the brand, but also to its image and all its constitutive elements in the medium to long term. Yesterday considered a distraction by advertisers in love with cinema, branded entertainment is now a communications medium that is increasingly better defined, more rigorous, and genuinely strategically orchestrated. Paradoxically, at first glance, this professionalization of the process contributes to blurring the lines a little more between what is entertainment, and what flows from brand strategy. This is merely the expression of the success of an accomplished integration. It is difficult then to know whether the advertiser is the brand or in fact the programme that is its medium.

What lessons can we draw from this? Branded entertainment offers exceptional advantages for creating a link with consumers, but it will not do everything. Although a brand leader has the luxury of hesitation, missing such an opportunity could cost a smaller brand dearly.

In the United States, certain rappers, who do not wish to lose part of their potential target audience and above all opportunities for broadcasting on large networks, have been recording different versions of their songs for several years now. Certain versions are classed as explicit, indicating that some of the lyrics might be thought violent and vulgar. Other versions are labelled clean, since their text has been bowdlerized. If product and brand placement is developing uncontrollably, perhaps it will one day be possible to see a film in its explicit version, or in other words full of all kinds of placements, or in its clean version, that is, stripped of any reference to a product or brand. The strategic opportunities of branded entertainment would then be reduced to nothing. Consumers, and particularly the youngest among them, are today able to identify the faintest marketing approach and the smallest sign of advertising. If it seems to them that there is no technical, artistic or simply practical justification for a placement, it is immediately rejected, or in any case sufficiently well identified that it has none of the impact expected by the advertiser. It is quite simply a case of respecting the target audience and consequently potential consumers.

By entering into a film, a brand can contribute to its entertainment. By hijacking the film or even a simple scene to turn it into an advertising spot, it breaks the possible emotional link that a natural integration might have offered it. Whether it is a programme, a novel, a song, a videogame or any other vector, every medium must be the opportunity for a fusional relationship, benefiting both the brand and the medium. It seems a simple rule. It is often still neglected, however, by brands in search of common-sense publicity tactics to cure all their ills, in the very short term. Branded entertainment is not a miracle solution. Respectfully and strategically orchestrated, however, miracles cannot be ruled out.

References

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