The Consolidation of Branded Content in Brand Communication
Branded content is a communication asset produced or co-produced by a brand. Through the use of formats that entertain, inform, and are generally useful, it aims to communicate its values and connect with the audience. If it is considered relevant, the audience voluntarily devotes its attention to the brand. The definition provided by the most influential organisation involved in branded content, the Branded Content Marketing Association (2021), is striking in several ways. On the one hand, it speaks of a communication “asset”, avoiding any reference to the format, thus leaving it open to interpretation. The fact that the audience considers this content relevant and decides to dedicate time to it may be the most revealing factor, without a doubt, due to the fact that like advertising, branded content is generally considered to be the opposite, having to capture the audience's attention (López, 2021).
However, branded content is especially linked to entertainment, where the brand (the advertiser) becomes the producer of its own content in which it includes its organisational values (Ramos, 2006). Advertising has traditionally been a type of branded content that uses an entertainment format, which also allows for the incorporation of intangible brand value (Pineda et al., 2013). This power to entertain has always been the case. The most relevant moment was in 2001 with the start of short films promoted by BMW. Titled The Hire, BMW highlighted the corporate values of the brand's future by using a narrative starring its vehicles in action (Del Pino & Olivares, 2007).
Today, branded content has established itself as a useful strategy to reach audiences who, in a context of information overload, multi-screens, and short attention spans, are looking for relevant content, either for the information it contains, its ability to entertain, or both. Advergaming, gamification, newsgames and branded content offer new formats and strategies to reach an infoxicated public, where capturing attention has become a feat in which creativity is essential (Viñarás & Llorente, 2020).
Although the Branded Content Marketing Association (BCMA) lists 140 different ways of producing Branded Content (FOCO, Content Formats, 2020), these can be summarised in the following: documentary / podcast / live shows / magazine / short film / series / video clips / apps / visual stories / social networks / digital videos / video games / programmes / articles / editorial / web pages / feature film / blog / and others.
Another aspect to consider is the convergence between entertainment and other sectors (Gambetti & Grafigna, 2010), as well as the confluence of new genres and formats available in multiple transmedia formats, which has allowed the audience to become the protagonist, or at least a privileged participant (Jenkins, 2006; Scolari, 2009). The development of these new, increasingly interactive branded content formats has led to a permanent transmedia reality, which is becoming more and more pressing, allowing the creation of new spaces for conversation between brands and users in different media, whether conventional or non-conventional (Castelló-Martínez & Del Pino Romero & 2014). This offers value to the public, or an experience (Castelló-Martínez et al., 2016), either as informative or entertaining content related to the brand (Castelló-Martínez & Del Pino Romero, 2018).
Currently, branded content has been established as an essential format for building brand image due to its emotional aspect in transmitting corporate values, among other reasons (Formoso-Barro et al., 2016). Its ability to connect emotionally with the audience allows for the creation of links that are directly involved in the persuasive force of the message.
The reaction of the audience is also measured by its interaction, and it has been observed that the interaction between audiences and branded content is growing as well (Sabaté et al., 2014).
Therefore, based on the content delivered by brands, new content is generated by the user, and new user-generated material is incorporated into social networks, platforms, content sponsorships, and other formats that are more effective when the content is organic and unpaid (Kim & Song, 2018).
The quality of content has been improving over the years and consumers now receive unique content that is carefully produced and entertaining (Rappaport, 2007). As such, users interact with the content, and the result has been improved relationships and experiences with brands, as evidenced by the fact that 72% of social media users, in the case of Spain, follow brands on social media (IAB, 2019). This content is so outstanding that the audience voluntarily accesses the branded content and decides to follow it and share it with others (Mayar & Ramsey, 2011).
With regard to the formats included in this category, those that are experiencing constant growth are the following: content marketing; branded content related to news or educational content in online media; advergaming; content integrated into video games; entertainment; and content related to entertainment (Asmussen et al., 2016: De-Aguilera-Moyano et al., 2015).
Finally, in terms of brand communication, we must not forget that its development is aimed at achieving certain objectives. Regarding the effectiveness of this strategy, it seems that there is still a long way to go (Núñez et al., 2020), as there are currently no specific techniques. For the BCMA (2021), the KPIs of branded content are the following: engagement, awareness, likes, consideration, preference, average exposure time, reach, views, attribution, and purchase intent.
As expected, many of these features are shared with traditional advertising, while others are the result of interaction, something that is more common with social media. In recent years we have experienced profound changes. Numerous studies show how social networks have changed content and given power to users and citizens (Hilde, 2019), building new formats and content (Rees-Roberts,2020). In conclusion, branded content is now a consolidated option in brand communication strategy (Llorente et al. 2022b). Due to its attraction and information, in addition to its ability to interact, branded content generates emotional and rational links between brands and audiences more successfully than other communication strategies.