What Exactly is Branded Entertainment?

I realized that I have covered multiple examples of branded entertainment, without ever really specifying what it is. So what is branded entertainment, and what does it do?

Branded Entertainment is defined in Advertising & Integrated Brand Promotion as, “the blending of advertising and integrated brand promotion with entertainment, primarily film, music, and television programming.” But as I have shown it can reach much further than those main platforms, out to books, mobile applications, video games, sporting events, and even online videos and webisodes. At the center of branded entertainment is product placement. But what was once only there to enhance the realism of the story, products now play an active role in it. A product is intended to be linked into the entertainment so seamlessly that viewers do not recognize it as an advertisement. The brand is not simply a player in the story, but the star of the program. When creating branded entertainment the goal is to write a story where the brand is hero, it should play a significant part in the development and execution of the plot. If a viewer recalls a movie or television episode where a brand played a positive role and it left them with a good feeling towards the brand, then that case of branded entertainment was successful. Never forget viewers are also consumers, and when they are out shopping, the purpose of branded entertainment is that the brand will now hold a higher position in their mind, hopefully gaining brand preference.

A huge advantage to branded entertainment is not running into a consumer’s resistance to advertising. Advertising has become so ubiquitous that as soon as consumers recognize it, they immediately tune it out. People are bombarded with so many different ads daily that they no longer even read them. We flip through channels during commercials, or use or Tivo’s to fast forward straight through them. By inserting the brand into the story we are telling, people are much less likely to ignore it. Another pro to branded entertainment is it is considered artistic speech, not commercial speech like traditional advertising. This allows a brand to be depicted however they want, without as many regulations and disclaimers. Branded entertainment also gains mass exposure. Placing your product in a popular television show or movie ensures that a great numbers of people will see it. An additional benefit of building your brand into the plot is more explicit communication. When the plot revolves around a product, characters will not only talk about its benefits, they will also provide product demonstrations for viewers. After listening to a discussion on a brand, people will come away with more understanding of it. 

Branded entertainment is a very broad category that is ever-changing. Brands can now place themselves into essentially any form of entertainment. While our understanding of branded entertainment continues to grow, I believe its popularity and prevalence will only increase as well. What the future holds, I’m not quite sure. But I do know that brands will find a way to put themselves in the front and center of whatever it is. 

Brown, Millwary (2007). Branded Content:More than Just Showing Up. Retrieved from: http://www.dynamiclogic.com/na/research/whitepapers/docs/Millward_Brown_POV_Branded_Content_Feb07.pdf


O'Guinn, Allen, Semenik (2009). Advertising and Integrated Brand Promotion. South-Western: Mason, OH.