Forget the product, it´s all about the brand

For majority of companies, a brand is just a tool to sell products. A necessity to increase the value of a product line or a factory. Their eyes are on the product, which for any company is short sighted.

If companies would shift their focus from products to brand, they could discover new opportunities that a strong brand can create. Take Angry Birds. A Finnish game company that set out to create positive brand experiences for their fans now has wide set of products ranging from toys to soft drinks (a cola that in some markets outsells Pepsi and Coca-Cola on a weekly level). The mobile game they started with, only brings about 30% of their revenue (depending on the media that reports). Their ToonTV now distributes content from Disney and Sony as well as stuff from Stan Lee turning them into a media house. Red Bull has also made content a thriving business, by shifting the focus from an energy drink to "the world of Red Bull". Jamie Oliver is a household name in food industry, because he is not focusing on one single product, but on the brand called Jamie Oliver and the potential it has to grow in to new business areas (knowingly or unknowingly). What all these brands have in common is that they constantly develop new ways to use the brand to engage, not just optimising single product sales.

At the same time media companies have less and less capital to produce content for the ever increasing demand and this opens new possibilities for brands to create compelling stories that build awareness and drive business. In a fast moving world, who else has the knowledge and the expertise to produce specific quality content but the brands. It´s just a matter of turning sales in to positive brand experiences for the fans.

In the future this is also necessity for brands. As more channels appear and the major ones try to monetize their audiences, it just get too expensive to reach the hearts of fans through plain marketing. Brands need to start producing quality content that we all enjoy and share. In social media or in real life.

Transmedia Storytelling – the secrect sauce of marketing

Storytelling is in the heart of every culture, community, family and human being. And no matter the what changes occur in the evolution of media, stories or content, which ever name you prefer, is in the heart of human interaction. In todays higly digitalized world every touchpoint between the consumer and the brand is media and media needs content.

Transmedia storytelling can be defined as a story that unfolds across multiple media outlets, touchpoints and platforms, and although it doesn’t always happen, with a degree of audience participation, interaction or collaboration. The purpose is to create a unified and engaging experience for the audience, where each medium really makes its own contribution to the development of the story. It is the best and most effective way to connect especially with the new generations of consumers and build a sustainable audience around a brand, as Red Bull has demonstrated.

It is also profitable because it redefines and increases ROI, increases impact over media, and can create new sources of income. Marketing executions no longer communicate about a medium that contains the story (tv ads directing you to see the product) but can actually be a part of the whole story. This can be seen in our upcoming brand content platform "Buy This!", that mixes fictional story with actual brands and their marketing content.

Why it is the future marketing

The noise in media is getting even louder while media keeps saturating. In order to get their voice heard brands and entertainment IP´s need to have multiple touchpoints to the audience and this means bigger budgets in the traditional marketing models. Transmedia storytelling lowers production costs by sharing assets across media and increases effectiveness, since no part is just a vessel for a message, but a part of a bigger story.

The challenge for entertainment IP´s to do transmedia storytelling is that different channels are owned or controlled by different partners that might not share the same vision or the long-term commitment. Usually this is because the main focus is given to the film or tv-series, making other channels and platforms just a way to capitalize the hype.

Product and service brands on the other hand usually have a clear vision and long-term commitment, but often face the problem of not having a consistent plan on how to do transmedia storytelling across multiple mediums and platforms while driving better business at the same time. This usually is because brand content is not considered to be something that the audience is willing to pay for, making the brand content and it´s distribution a marketing investment instead of source of income.

What will happen next 

We already have greater connectivity and consumer empowerment than ever before. Never before have people had so many devices and screens from which to follow a story, and now the consumers seek new experiences and a deeper engagement. That has created an on-demand culture, where consumers can turn on and tune-in 24 hours a day, creating an unseen need for content and storytelling. Brands find new revenue streams from content and become media themselves, offering besides great products and services, great content and stories.

Content Wheel of Fortune

The way I see content marketing or effective distribution of any message should be done, is divided in three parts. Everyone of the parts affects the other and every part is vital. Of course when looked closely, everything comes complex, but I think this is a good way to model your content development and distribution. I call it the Content Wheel, but my colleagues call it "väkkärä", which means a crooked bunch of things, or something.

First there has to be an Understanding of the needs and motives of the audience and the state of the brand or an IP. I´ve also used the word Analytics here, but that seems to guide the thinking into gathering data instead of using all the data to develop the content. What this means is that every time content is distributed, there has to be a clear set of KPI´s as well as data gathering. Also just as important is studying the audience. The old school demographics of "urban females aged 25-44" no longer apply, we need to profile our target groups through needs and motives and keep in mind that these differ depending on time, place and economy for other things. Understanding what distribution method works for particular content gives the message a chance to get through the static.

Second comes Content, although the crucial piece of the puzzle (without it there´s nothing to understand or distribute), relies heavily on understanding and distributing. The ideal would be a steady stream of charming, exiting and emotional content, developed to engage the audience according to their needs and motives, in a format or channel of their choosing. This is something that often is overlooked. The media consumption is changing rapidly and understanding how the audience wants to consume the media is vital for any brand or an IP. Finding the balance between the brand message and audience motives is a delicate work, but no rocket science. Nobody wants to listen to a brand or a person, who goes on blabbering about their ideas instead of listening and contributing to a conversation. Basic human communications really.

Third piece of the puzzle is Distribution. The right content, in a right channel, at the right moment. Here the format of the content and the media channel play the central role. No point of showing 30 second pre-roll ads before a 60 second YouTube-video about cats unless you´re absolutely sure your message is more interesting than a grumpy cat (be honest). Good question also is should one use the existing channels or create one of its own. Creating your own media has never been so easy and although the cost of cutting through the static has risen, it´s still relatively cheap if you have content that your audience loves.

All brands should be Lost

The idea of broadcasting is deteriorating as more entertainment is distributed online and that is making an impact on advertising too. TiVo and other digital recording services offer viewers the option to skip the commercials and watch the content they want at whatever time suits them the best. Netflix has started to created their own content and are releasing it all at once to indulge binge-watching, without commercial breaks. And the experience doesn´t stop anymore to television. Shows like `Lost` let the viewers explore the islands twisted history in an online game, making the engagement more deeper. Creative storytelling has evolved into transmedia engagement where every channel takes the story forward in a way that best suits the media as well as consumers mindset.

So what happens to advertising in the middle of all this? Unfortunately brands still rely on the strategy of disturbing. Instead of continuous flow of entertainment, we get steady stream of bland commercial breaks that keep us from the conclusion of the season finale. None of the brands seem to bring anything more to my TV-experience or deepen the engagement. They just want to ram their message down my throat instead of adding value to the content. The same can been seen in almost every channel. Take in-game advertising for example. Ever so often we see brands trying to engage the fans by painting their logo inside the game or better yet, showing static banner ads while i´m trying to make a high score. Brands have a lot to learn from shows like `Lost`.

A part of the blame seems to be the advertising industry. Instead of creating engaging brand content worth the consumers time, the toolbox seems to have the same tools that were used in the 50´s (yes, there is a thing called internet, but all the banner ads are just animated prints). Same formats, same messages, none of the engagement. No connection to the consumers current mindset, motives or the media they are consuming.

But a change is coming. Hollywood and the entire entertainment industry is forced to find new revenue streams because of the declining DVD markets and the ever growing piracy. The same time brands need to start creating relevant content that engages the consumers, not just in the traditional media and not just in a traditional format. The entertainment industry has the tool box needed for deeper engagement. The IP´s, writers, directors, producers, channels, game studios and so forth. The only thing keeping them from devouring the advertising industry is their lack of knowledge and experience in traditional brand managing, but that is changing too. Couple of good recruitments will do the job. First indications can be seen in collaboration between Ridley Scott and Coca-Cola or the whole media business of Red Bull. I know, it´s easy to refer to Red Bull and yes, there are no other benchmarks, but that also tells us something. It´s possible to make money with brand content and few brands are doing it.

But it doesn´t have to be a match between Hollywood and brands, since most of the local brands can´t afford it and they already produce content - just not in a way that engages consumers. Take food industry for example. Every food brand produces hundreds of recipes every year, have their chefs, web sites and YouTube channels and appear in TV almost every night. To me, that sound like a framework for a hit cooking show and this would also have the products to back it up.