Segment, commercial, commercial, commercial, segment. Repeat.
That was the way we consumed content whether it via radio, TV or even online, but over the past decade consumer content and advertiser branding began to blend.
When I was an impressionable teenager falling in love with basketball, my friend showed me these YouTube videos of our favorite players like Tracy McGrady, Tim Duncan and Dwight Howard teaching kids basketball at an Adidas-sponsored camp, except the videos were shot completely differently than any commercial I’d seen before; In fact, I never even viewed it as any sort of marketing campaign at all.
Keep in mind, this was back before YouTube became the international phenomenon that it is today, and marketing campaigns like this were certainly considered out-of-the-box, if not far-fetched.
The campaign came in episodes and would often simply show conversations and funny interactions between these NBA superstars and eager kids that could easily have been you or me.
“Brotherhood Is Bond” was the theme of the campaign, and my friends from my childhood and me still talk about those episodes today. I even still buy Adidas basketball shoes.
How’s that for branded content?
Adidas was an early giant that saw the trend coming, but now it’s not just shoe conglomerates with massive marketing budgets producing branded content.
A major client of Brand Ranch Media has created a branding campaign behind the slogan “Do a 180”, featuring a third-party talent, and the entire campaign has impressively improved the client’s web traffic, radio listenership and overall sales.
We’ve recently helped published a book to further promote this campaign, inform the client’s audience and create brand awareness in an alternative way rather than just use traditional marketing routes. Furthermore, we help our clients with web seminars, live streams and traditional broadcast over the radio and other platforms.
At Brand Ranch Media, we have also recently completed a stand-alone project for one of our clients to act as a helpful tool for them to bring in new business. For more information about our branded content campaigns, please email bill@brandranchmedia.com.
Why is this form of marketing useful to not only large companies, but also small and medium-sized businesses? As the saying goes, ‘content is king’, and in today’s world, particularly with Millennials, consumers will pay extra for the brands they identify with most.
It’s important to not fool your audience or potential customers into thinking you’re something you’re not; Instead, provide quality content that not only your brand’s demographic will find relatable but will also align with the values of your own company.
Is the campaign scalable? – Do you have the resources (city coverage or # of locations) to capitalize on a mass market campaign? If your buying broadcast radio in Houston, Texas and your business is a single-location, brick and mortar store in Pasadena, Texas… I’d imagine you are casting too large of a net and diminishing any potential for a solid ROI. Scalability gives the advertiser a higher yielding ROI as their business grows and expands.
For example, the call to action could be to “like” your social media page or to go to your website to sign up for a newsletter, etc. The goal here is to create an audience to engage and build credibility with. Of course, it is much easier to lure in prospects when there’s an incredible offer, but not every business is in retail and not every ad campaign needs a “blowout sale.” The bottom line is that all prospects need to have the ability to easily fall into the sales funnel and there needs to be a system in place to collect such data and follow the prospects through the sales cycle. If these measures are not in place, you can kiss your ROI goodbye.
Is there a system in place to track them and collect data on your visitors (such as web analytics) and get them to easily buy or enter their information into a lead funnel? If not, you are probably better off getting the website taken care of first. It takes a lot of effort to get prospects to your site and first impressions count. One bad prospect experience can cost more to your business in the long-run than any short-term gains you’ll get from getting new visitors that are unimpressed. Reputation and referrals count.
No customer is going to do business with you simply because you ran an ad. Many times, local businesses fail in their marketing efforts because of this mindset.