Brands cannot be space invaders

Stanley Edwards of Playtpus Productions at MIPTV, Cannes

MIPTV used to be an exclusive haunt for programme traders, but these days, it’s a must attend event for advertisers and marketers and they’re making up more and more of the delegates, delivering keynotes, talking on panels and, in Ogilvy’s case, asking for pitches for 360 content and even sponsoring the event. So what are they all doing at a TV event?

At last year’s Association of National Advertisers conference in the US the theme was life beyond the 30-second spot and this year it’s TV advertising in the new TV era, so it’s something the advertising community is taking seriously.In South Africa, we’ve had 18 applications for satellite broadcast TV licences, regional television is on the cards, mobile TV is in final testing and IPTV (Internet TV) will be a reality in the future. TV has always been the big daddy of advertising but how do brands follow the consumer to other platforms and how do they engage them?

Rethink TV business model

According to Jaffe, TV’s business model needs to be rethought because it is not consumer-centric. “We are not talking to consumers on their terms. We have to partner with our consumers and work with them in a permission based way.”

For Jaffe, the key to this notion is capitalising on what he calls TV’s “fundamental currency – tune in. We are witnessing a fragmentation of audiences, so broadcasters have to think more than ever about maximising the potential of viewers tuning in and staying tuned in. We are starting to see a lot of creativity in this sense, as well as in ways of continuing involvement long after the programme has ended.”

This creativity can come from two areas, the advertising agency and the production house. What needs to be re-looked at is how we can make this happen and keep the client, broadcaster and their respective advertising sales divisions all happy. This is often where the creative idea fails to take off and we go back to traditional marketing approaches.

Jaffe’s core message will sound familiar to many in the entertainment industry: brands need to let the consumer go first. He pointed out that, with the new forms of advertising increasingly intertwined with consumers’ daily lives rather than restricted to 30-second spots and billboards, the risk of their message becoming intrusive is immense.

Clutter is significant

Jaffe agrees that, in today’s fragmented world, clutter is significant. “Consumers are exposed to over 6000 marketing messages in a day. Brands cannot be space invaders anymore. They need to make our lives better in some way. Quite simply, we are bigger than brands. When brands get down off their pedestal, roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty and partner with their consumers, that’s when the clutter will disappear.”

Many brands have taken up the baton and lead the way, some being more successful than others. Audi have its own TV Channel on Sky Digital in the UK, Budweiser created BudTV, a seven-channel Internet based offering, and user generated content and social networking sites are attracting more and more ad spend. Many brands are also creating and owning branded entertainment content.

Branded Entertainment or Advertiser Funded Content is a new and innovative style of advertising which perfectly blends marketing and entertainment to showcase brands so that consumers pay attention and move from a model of interruption to engagement. This integrated approach creates a loyalty and an emotional connection to a brand never before seen. Branded Entertainment crosses all media platforms from broadband to mobile and in terms of consumer engagement is a worthy successor to the 30-second spot.

To listen to an audio interview with Joseph Jaffe, go to www.reedmidem.com/miptv/media/interview.html.