This year’s brand-funded entertainment highlights point to a bumper 2022
Media Leaders
We’ve taken a look at some of the success stories from the past 12 months and looked at how these brands have used their ownership of TV IP to create exciting and effective campaigns.
2021 has been another record-breaking year in the UK broadcast market for brand funded entertainment. And while the TV industry continues to reckon with reduced commissioning budgets since the pandemic, with broadcasters now making it easier for brands to get involved, it’s fair to say that branded entertainment is here to stay.
Driving this growth are brands’ and agencies’ ability to demonstrate ROI. Whilst using talent, clips and companion content to create social assets is now the norm, the more forward-thinking brands are taking their partnerships one step further and using the valuable IP they can access to create through-the-line campaigns that reach consumers across a range of touchpoints.
Meanwhile, broadcasters are getting access to shows they might not otherwise have been able to afford; talent they might not have had access to; and archive formats that they may not have been on their radar. Alongside helping to reach regional and BAME production targets, branded entertainment can be a win for all the stakeholders concerned.
So as the year comes to a close, we’ve taken a look at some of the success stories from the past 12 months and looked at how these brands have used their ownership of TV IP to create exciting and effective campaigns that increase reach, target new and difficult to reach audiences, and work hard to complement overarching marketing strategies. We’ll take a look at where we think the sector is heading in 2022 and what we might be writing about this time next year…
Hellman’s: On-air manifestos and mailing-list subscriptions
Channel 4 has long been the predominant broadcaster in this space, and this year they’ve commissioned more than 10 brand-funded series as part of their linear output.
While they’re experimenting with digital platforms with 4studio taking a strong lead in short form, there were many stand-out series this year on their linear channels, including Hellman’s co-funded Cook Clever, Waste Less.
Fronted by national treasure Prue Leith, Hellman’s used the IP from the show to create a social teaser campaign, as well as online video and social activity to coincide with the launch.
On-air, alongside their sponsorship idents, they also produced a “bespoke branded manifesto” – a contextual ad featuring co-presenter Dr Rupy Aujla, promoting their mission to reduce food waste.
Hellman’s backed this up with a food-waste hub on their website featuring clips, recipes, tips and a downloadable book driving subscription to their mailing list.
M&S: companion series, in-store activation and a spike in sales
Over on ITV, M&S proved that with the right strategy, TV IP can be used far and wide.
The brand’s Cooking With The Stars series ran for six weeks and went out in the coveted 9pm slot.
The Ofcom code limited the amount of branded food that could be featured on-screen, but they cleverly decided to product place a range of cookware instead.
Not only did they create contextual ads, they also produced a companion show to run on social media headed up by YouTubers Woody and Kleiny.
But it didn’t stop there; in-store, a limited edition CWTS Percy Pig was available, alongside staff in matching aprons and plenty of point-of-sale promotion.
Nearly two million recipe cards were distributed across the series and featured items saw huge spikes in sales. Loyalty card holders were treated to bespoke promotions tied into the show.
Adobe: extending reach through off-air partnerships
After a few quiet years on the AFP front, Sky had a successful 2021 with their first brand-funded commission on Sky Arts (as well as a brand funded documentary on Sky Sports).
My Greatest Shot was a six-part series funded by Adobe Lightroom – the perfect brand partner for a photography show.
Sky Arts created a social community to support the series and Adobe partnered with multi-platform photojournalism and culture title Huck to amplify and promote the partnership – increasing reach and adding credibility amongst their key audience of creators and creatives.
Anheuser Busch: appealing to audiences beyond the UK
Although we’ve seen feature docs making an impact on the streamers, Beer Masters: The Search for Europe’s Next Great Beer – funded by Anheuser Busch – is the most high profile factual entertainment brand funded series we’ve seen so far on Amazon Prime Video.
This competitive format saw pairs of home brewers battle their way through various challenges in order to be crowned the champions. In line with the title of the show, it had a distinctly European flavour woven throughout every episode.
Although it was presented by two Brits, the singer James Blunt and brewer Jaega Wise, it featured teams and breweries from across the continent – keeping an eye on distribution and ensuring the show would appeal to audiences beyond the UK, whether the Amazon platform or conventional TV channels.
What to look for from Branded Entertainment in 2022
With confidence growing, 2022 is shaping up for a handful of shows to be recommissioned. This is fantastic news as most brand-funded series so far have been contained to a single outing. More shows will have global distribution built into them from the offset, not only enabling huge economies of scale but further demonstrating ROI value.
More importantly, we’re hoping that brands will move on from short term product placement-led strategies and push further towards thinking more like studios and producers; developing entertainment IP that audiences want to watch, which can then be resold, generating ROI and audiences who can eventually become consumers.
It’s a much longer term strategy, and for most brands it’s about moving away from a marketing mindset and developing an entertainment mindset.
We’ve seen some great examples from the likes of Unilever, P&G and Nike, particularly in the US, but this approach isn’t just for the behemoths – it’s something all brands should be considering.
Vicky Kell is commercial director at Cornerstone Studios