How can you make sure that your content is visible in a world where the attention span of audiences is very low? When it comes to telling a story about your brand, authenticity should be a key factor in your messages. Nowadays, most brands are shifting from commercials because television viewers tend to avoid them. Who would blame them, anyway? In a world where responsibilities and bills are the norm, entertainment helps customers to relax; that’s where branded entertainment comes in.

What is branded entertainment?

Branded entertainment, also known as branded content, is a form of entertainment that is funded by and complements a brand’s marketing strategy. In simple terms, it is the integration of advertising into entertainment content by embedding content into the storylines of television programs, films, and other forms of entertainment.

Is branded entertainment similar to product placement?

Product placement refers to the insertion of branded merchandise and brand logos into films and television shows.

There are many subtle differences between product placement and brand entertainment. For instance, product placement is sales-driven; therefore, it focuses on the short-term economic metrics of conventional advertising. Branded entertainment, on the other hand, focuses on building long-term relationships with customers and increasing loyalty.

In product placement, brands use passive visual or verbal placement whereby they show appealing images of their products. Marketers look to form connections and develop an emotional appeal in brand entertainment. Therefore, rather than passively integrating their products they weave their brand into the storyline, where it plays an active role throughout, and fund the television program or movie.

Brands that have used brand entertainment for customer engagement

The LEGO movie

The LEGO movie is one of the best movies that uses brand entertainment. Following its release, LEGO recorded a 25% increase in sales.

The movie shows a young boy who sneaks into the basement to play with his dad’s childhood Legos. In the end, the boy and the father become close as they share valuable time playing with Legos.

LEGO is an old company, and its audience had grown up; hence their sales went down. Showing parents, who were their customers in the past, that they can still have fun playing with Legos with their children and reliving their childhood increased engagement and persuaded them to buy the toys for their children.

Vogue magazine

Vogue takes a humorous look at the lives of celebrities in the 73 questions series. The magazine team releases “behind the scenes” and interview videos which promote the magazine and increase engagement without mentioning the brand.

Branded entertainment helps you to: reach audiences who do not want to listen without being annoying or seeming blatant, reinforce your brand story, grab attention, and tap into established audiences as in the case of LEGO. You can look up the examples discussed above on YouTube and learn how to turn off VPN when you are not using it.