Branded content is a relatively new form of advertising medium
marketing communications activity that blurs conventional distinctions
between what constitutes advertising, product placement, program
sponsorship and what constitutes entertainment. Branded content is essentially a fusion of the two into one product
intended to be distributed as entertainment content (programming),
albeit with a high
ly branded quality. Branded content, unlike
conventional forms of entertainment content, is generally funded entirely
by a brand or corporation rather than, for example, a Movie studio or a
group of producers, but differs from traditional advertising in that it
does not contain overt commercial messages about the product or
service featured. Its nearest reference is product placement, but the
difference lies in that branded content is scripted so that the story
enhances the product or service and creates a natural reference, rather
than, as in product placement, finding a relevant slot for the product or
service in an existing script. Program sponsorship, finally, is about
associating your brand with an existing program or format with little or,
at best, minimal influence over the actual content and/or production.
