BACK TO CONTENTS Even though there’s a recognition that advertisers and broadcasters are more open to branded programming, getting a project off the ground remains a huge challenge though. It needs to be the right idea for both parties, which is no easy task. “It’s hard to get all the stars to align in the same place at the same time,” says Hayday. Notably, the brand should have a logical fit with the programme. Branded entertainment works best when the integration and alignment of brand and content is so seamless that viewers will associate the two with minimal prompting or mention of the brand. Image: Extreme Everest © Channel 4.
Broadcasters have long Been sniffy aBout allowing advertisers to have a say in the editorial of shows.
Hayday says Extreme Everest with Ant Middleton (pictured left), which saw the SAS veteran attempt to scale the world’s highest peak, was a good example of a show that “just fits the brand.” Backed by energy tablet Berocca, “it didn’t feel like the brand was having to crowbar itself into the show.” He also cites Supermarket Sweep, the retro game show relaunched last year on ITV2, backed by the supermarket Tesco. Tesco helped to build the set for the show, which used Tesco fonts and colour cues, and was stocked with Tesco own-brand products. “It just ticks so many boxes,” says Hayday. Getting to this stage is the hard part though. Fergusson says branded content producers need to be skilled at getting different partners to pull in the same direction. “It is complicated. You need to have a lot of empathy, you need to be able to understand the politics of a room well, and to have first-hand experience of negotiating those deals.” If you come up with an idea, for example, you might need to make it look as if it was dreamt up by the new marketing manager of a brand. “Just understanding that world is really valuable.” It’s a point echoed by de Terville: “Agreeing on an editorial proposition that aligns with both brand and broadcaster is not without its complexities.” This begs the question of who is best placed to deliver branded content shows: TV producers who are specialists at creating long-form content for broadcasters, but might lack experience of working with brands, or commercials producers who are skilled at juggling the needs of advertisers, but may lack long-form experience. Many think those best-placed to benefit sit somewhere in the middle. “Brands seem to still be establishing their preference for partners, but I think the organisations that have experience in the commercial world who also play in longer form production will have the most success,” says Nick Martini, founder of Los Angelesbased Stept Studios, which produces both commercials and branded content for advertisers such as Facebook, Canada Goose and New Balance.
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“The blend of experience working with brands and products combined with the capabilities to execute content on a larger scale is something everyone is searching for.” Indeed, many commercials producers say that branded funded programming has not been as fruitful a business as they might have hoped. One commercials producer tells makers that the budgets to make long form branded content for broadcasters are not normally enough compared to traditional commercials rates. “One of the reasons it has fallen apart in the past is that there isn’t a standard rate for work.” TV producers, meanwhile, have hired or bought in branded content specialists – many of whom have honed their skills in the digital world – to juggle the competing needs of brands and broadcasters. This explains Argonon’s acquisition of branded specialist Nemorin in December 2020. Hayday says Argonon – whose TV production companies make shows including The Masked Singer UK and House Hunters International – “clearly thinks there is something going on in the TV market that indicates branded content is an interesting place to be. On the digital side of things, it has just been growing year on year.” Fergusson makes the case that branded content specialists who can tap into the skills of TV production houses, as Nemorin is able to within the Argonon group, are best placed to lead on brand funded programming. It’s a similar model at Zinc Media Group. De Tervillle – a former Sky sponsorship controller – talks regularly with producers about ideas in development and commissions, and takes them to brands and agencies to “put together a package of rights and benefits that make it an attractive proposition for a brand, but in a way that doesn’t undermine the editorial integrity of the content.” Brands will either fully fund or part fund content, depending on the idea. They might also want to retain some of the IP for the format as well. Brands, says Fergusson, often prefer to part fund with a broadcaster because it’s a signal that the broadcaster really wants the show, and may also give it more marketing support. But he suspects that broadcasters would prefer brands to pay in full for a show. “So, again, there’s a tension there.” It’s this tension that lies at the heart of the question of whether brand funded programming will really take off. For it to do so requires collaboration and understanding between brands and broadcasters and for producers to successfully navigate a course between their sometimes competing needs. Given the commercial challenges facing broadcasters, we are likely to see much more brand funded content on air in coming years. Along the way, production itself is likely to become a whole lot more complicated for programme makers.