While it’s certainly not a new form of advertising, a confluence of events within the entertainment industry has set the stage for branded content to make an evolutionary leap over the next few years, according to a panel of experts at an Ankler panel at Advertising Week New York in Manhattan last week. The biggest Hollywood headline this summer was Barbie…..
Not new is an understatement. For stage and music performances, branded content was the ONLY content until sometime around 1800. At first all music and plays were done in and for the church or pre-church religions. Copyrights were an official record of church sponsorship and approval. When Protestants broke the church-state connection in 1500, branding switched to aristocratic patronage. All plays and music were paid by kings or dukes or barons, and were specifically dedicated to the greater glory of the patron.
Radio was initially just Morse, used mainly for ship to shore messages or other “dispatch” purposes. When audio became possible in 1918, the first commercial stations were run by stores or companies, and were nothing more than extended infomercials. Music and plays were attractive advertising for the store. Intrinsic branding continued until 1950. Fibber was officially The Johnsons Wax Program. Ripley was The Bakers Program. Discussion of the product was mixed into the script, so there was no way to exclude it without losing part of the plot.
Movies and phonograph records were unbranded from the start. Sponsored movies were a small niche, exemplified by the Jam Handy movies made for GM. Each was lively and dramatic (unlike the deadly dull unsponsored educational films!) and most didn’t mention Chevy in the audio. But you were always aware that Chevies were the centerpoint of the drama and information.
So the Ankler is correct within the context of Hollywood. Branding is genuinely new for mainstream films.
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