Branded content made its foray into television during the U.S soap operas of the 1930s, but today it is much more sophisticated thanks to a rapidly shifting digital world, advertisers’ desire to engage with an increasingly fragmented audience and their enthusiasm for reality TV. While still highly effective, it is becoming barely enough these days to just air a television commercial (TVC) in the hope viewers see, and more importantly connect, with it. The rise of personal video recorders (PVRs), the increased popularity of online catch-up services, which have little or no advertising, and new mobile phone content mean one thing: the consumer is more in control of the content they view, when they view it and whether or not they bother to watch advertisements at all. Advertising is still the lifeblood of most networks however, so it makes sense broadcasters and channels have had to revise their strategies to make up for viewers turning away or switching off from traditional television-based entertainment. Branded content is seen as a way for networks to not only keep advertisers but to get more money out of them. “It is a way for marketers to stand out from the advertising clutter, and so such branded content is considered by many networks as premium advertising, which in turn commands a higher revenue commitment,” says Germaine Ng Ferguson, general manager for advertising sales at Singapore-based media group StarHub. “It also translates to a much better yield for the broadcast network as production costs are often fully funded by the advertisers.” But advertisers must take care in this brave new world. This shift from simply making ads to funding an entire episode, or series for that matter, can be detrimental to the brand if care is not taken with the actual content it is being aligned with. Like capitalism and socialism, branded content works best not in its purest form, but rather as a melding of the two concepts of quality content and pushing of a brand’s message. Anita Karnik, principal partner at media agency Mindshare, based in Mumbai, says that India is one of the boldest markets for branded content, due to a lack of any real government interference. She has watched the industry gain traction as it tries to find the right balance between pure content and product placement. Over the past decade, branded content has moved from companies just being a title sponsor of a program to further integration. “When they launched Fame Academy on Sony TV we had what we call Sponsorship Plus, which was not just product placement, like the Coke cans on the table in American idol,” says Karnik. “Unilever and Fame Academy actually launched a product on the show.” Contestants re-enacted Unilever’s Clear Shampoo TVC as part of a challenge, “In terms of recall it did beautifully for us,” she adds. But Karnik has watched the pendulum swing too far in the latest incarnation of branded content. Indian broadcasters have opened up their non-prime slots as a dumping ground for what they call AFP or Advertiser Funded Programs, content provided purely by companies to push a product. The shows receive minimal input and virtually no on-air promotion from the broadcaster. One of the first out of the gate was mid-last year when Star India got into bed with consumer products group Godrej on a reality game show – Godrej Khelo Jeeto Jiyo (GKJJ). GKJJ, which aired on all the three Star Hindi general entertainment channels, had contestants compete for the chance to win a “Godrej home” full of the company’s products. In a further ruse to win-over customers, all contestants had to purchase a Godrej product to be eligible. While this was a more premium version of an AFP it was not long before other company’s followed suit and quality fell away quickly. Karnik believes the AFP model to be flawed in that it had never considered the long-term effects of overly brand-heavy entertainment and that there has now been a correction. “From sponsorship to AFP we are now moving to co-productions,” says Karnik. StarTV was bringing The Perfect Bride into India but needed an advertiser that was willing to take a large chunk of the budget. Unilever again came on board in an effort to promote its Lux brand. “What the broadcaster was willing to do was allow a lot more integration than they would have normally for a typical sponsorship,” says Karnik. “So it was pretty much close to an AFP, but with other brands associating as well, which was a win-win for all.” The result was a program that did not feel like a visual assault from just one brand. In a market with a strong appetite for matchmaking formats Perfect Bride achieved a solid audience share and also boosted recognition of the Lux brand. Riaz Mehta, president and founder of content provider Imagine Omnimedia in Singapore, goes one further suggesting that it is not broadcasters that pick the vehicle in the hope of attracting an advertiser but that sponsors are driving broadcaster’s format purchases. “Format acquisitions are driven by two factors: demand from sponsors for branded content and the producers’ vision and commitment to the format,” he says. “As the global economy has picked up, I see a growing demand from sponsors for branded content, which I believe will see more format acquisitions in Asia.” This is good news for reality TV format owners as Mehta believes there is a growing appetite for locally produced reality TV in the region because, unlike the US, the market is far from saturated. He points to local versions of The Biggest Loser, Amazing Race and Idol franchises as successful Asian branded-content vehicles, but he still believes in taking a well-thought-out approach to what and where brands appear. “Branded content works best when integrated in the story line in a seamless fashion so that it does not appear as advertising from a viewers perspective. This of course is an art and not a science,” Mehta says. One format that has been a boon for branded content in Australia is MasterChef, Australia and production company FremantleMedia Enterprises is currently shopping the format to several Asian territories. Australia’s tendency to follow the US trends has seen it lap up reality TV and with it branded content, but MasterChef has taken the concept to a whole new level. The major sponsor, supermarket chain Coles, recently signed on to the reality cooking show for another two years at a rumoured A$5 million after the “MasterChef effect” caused double digit sales growth for foodstuffs that have featured prominently on the show. So successful has the deal been that Coles also signed on to be the supermarket sponsor of the Seven Network’s rival food show, My Kitchen Rules. As part of the deal, Coles has its name on the studio pantry that the contestants raid for challenges, it hosts in-store challenges, promotes recipes used in the show and has a sponsored link on the popular MasterChef website. It is also a great way for the retailer to tie itself to the message on the show that fresh, seasonal ingredients are the cornerstones of modern cooking. There is no need for overt product endorsement. Instead hosts, Gary Mehigan, George Calombaris and Matt Preston talk about the importance of topquality produce and the Coles branding is highly visible so it is easy for viewers to make the connection that the chain equals quality. So important is this form of advertising for Ten, the role of integration officer was created at the network last year. Stephen Tate now oversees all of the its integrated marketing. He says MasterChef has been a unique challenge as there is no rule book as the format is imported from the UK where rules on branded content are so strict that all bags must be covered to prevent the brand being seen. He adds he is not keen to create too many rules for himself, as flexibility is the key to succeeding. Excessive branding rules may suit one program, but not another. “We are the first market to strip the show and the first market to commercialise it to the level that we have.” And the key to that is not to go too far: “We believe the relationship with the audience is sacred and the moment you break that trust the relationship with that programme is over,” Tate says. He adds that free-to-air audiences are reasonably tolerant of integration – they understand they are getting a program for free and that someone has to foot the bill – “but what they won’t tolerate is the editorial integrity being compromised by client interest, and you must never underestimate your audience.” But you can be creative. “Sometimes the alignment can be lateral and while the product may not be relevant to the show the philosophy of the company may be relevant,” Tate says. Tate cites the use of carmaker Mitsubishi in Ten’s popular quiz show Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation as one such example. Generation is an Australian format that pits three teams from three different generations – Gen Y, Gen X and Baby Boomers – against each other and the car company is a major sponsor of the show. “You might say, ‘What does a car brand have to do with a multi-generational quiz show?’ but they relate by showing that they, as a brand, have a sense of humour,” he says. Ten is not alone in this search for integrity; StarHub agrees that it is one of the company’s main balancing acts. “There’s no way around it – good content is good content, so it should always pique the interest of the viewers,” says Germain Ng Ferguson. “Advertisers especially need to subtly include their brand attributes into the content dynamics of the programme, and not allow its key messages to be too direct to the viewers.” Says Anita Karnik: “Of course broadcasters want totally clean content. What we have to do is find a compromise.” Another platform is new media, where some mobile phone operators and online streaming sites are clamouring for content and advertisers are only too happy to oblige. But it is crucial that content is tailored to the specific media channel and the unique way that media is consumed. It is no use just shoe-horning a half hour series onto mobile phones; this triggers integrity issues as well. Original content should ideally be produced for each platform, they should also be able to work together, which is proving yet another challenge. There has been something of a stampede for short webisodes but they face the same issues as India’s AFPs. Can media agencies produce a branded show that is of the same quality as program makers? Major brands are already in the webisode space creating short episodic videos to help push their brands. L’Oreal is one example that is using this form of media to promote its Yue Sai cosmetics brand in China. Similarly, LG in Thailand is using webisodes to advertise its youth-skewed Lollipop mobile phones. In Singapore, education group PSB Academy launched “Room 101” on YouTube and on its own website. The online reality game show saw contestants undergo eight different challenges, all of which backed the PSB message of better education and became an online hit earlier this year. And demand throughout the whole region is growing. In October, mobile advertising group Out There Media announced it had partnered with Globe Telecom in the Philippines, and soon after, major brands including HSBC, McDonald’s and Unilever committed close to US$4 million in advertising to the Filipino mobile channel in the country. At the time Ed Sunico, media director at Unilever Philippines said the group was “constantly looking for new ways to engage with our target audience”. Specific branded content was not yet outlined, but the Philippines is particularly aggressive in the area. Many territories would flinch at a kids show sponsored by a fast food chain, but Universal McCann branded content arm UM Entertainment launched Jollitown, a half-hour kids show for kids funded by the Filipino fast food chain Jollibee. The show stars the chain’s mascots and was a hit soon after its debut. Jollibee is now in its third series. While acknowledging branded content’s obvious synergies with reality TV and new media, Riaz Mehta cautions brands not to ignore dramatic offerings as “it works equally well for scripted and unscripted TV shows”. Karl Cluck from Mindshare spearheaded Unilever’s sponsorship of Ugly Wudi (Ugly Betty) in China and found its promotion of the corporation’s Dove brand to be an unqualified success. The first series of Ugly Wudi, launched in September 2008, attracted 73 million viewers on its opening night on Hunan Satellite Television and it averaged a 9% audience share in a difficult and fragmented viewing market. The second series last year did just as well. Dove saw a 22 per cent lift in sales as a result of its association with show, but Cluck says fiction has its unique challenges. “We have not yet identified a single way forward,” he says. “Ugly Wudi had a narrative benefit in that it was set in an advertising agency and while some may feel it was gratuitous it was a success in using brands, but not all shows can be set in an agency.” Cluck says that for reach you still cannot beat a general TV ad, but he believes branded content still has an important place in an overall brand plan. “Branded content is complimentary to TVCs,” he says. “It is more opportunistic and less plannable, so we are always on the look out for opportunities, but it is not a linear process.”