Kneebone: TV networks ‘disengaged’ and ‘disinterested’ in branded content
Jonathan Kneebone speaking at today’s Festival of Branded Entertainment
Advertising creative and co-founder of The Glue Society Jonathan Kneebone has told an audience that Australia’s major free-to-air TV networks are largely “disengaged” and “disinterested” in creating and broadcasting effective branded content.
Speaking at The Festival of Branded Entertainment today, Kneebone chastised the industry for how it was engaging with advertiser driven content and singled out the TV networks who he argued still preferred to focus on 30 second commercials.
“The free to air networks are entirely disinterested – and in the main – disengaged. They’d prefer to keep running – and prefer to keep making more money from – ads that last 30 seconds, rather than ads which last 30 minutes,” said Kneebone.
So what examples did he cite of good branded content in Australia?
Dumb ways to die, Doug Pitt, Welcome Snoop?….
Have a dig around a few award shows.
It’s because branded content (as a TV show) is so transparently obvious it’s brand first, content second. Masterchef was almost brand free in series one; It worked as a show first and then people accepted Coles coming on board second. I doubt it would’ve been as accepted if it started as a Coles vehicle from the get go, but now it’s held up as the poster child of brand funded programming.
Cheap programming with a lot of eyeballs is rare. Unless a brand wants to fund an X-Factor level show for $20 million then it will always be half arsed and obvious. It’s not uncommon for a company to spend $200k on a 30 second commercial, yet baulk at $100k for a one hour show. You get what you pay for…
Networks are disinterested at all. Their entire reality slate is ultimately funded by brand integrations which is a much more tasteful way to insert brands than the branded content solutions this guy and everyone else at this conference is trying to peddle. Content and great stories come first, then brands work out how to subtly integrate and pay big bucks for the privilege. Programming execs focus on good content first and foremost as ratings are their currency. If it is a half assed 30min TVC masquerading as “content” ratings will be bad!
What total bollocks.
The media agencies are driving the branded content agenda with the media companies and they are doing a good job of it.
“Recipe to Riches is at least an attempt to bring brand and programming together, but perhaps the balance was still a bit favouring the brand rather than the audience,” he said.
A bit? It was one long advertorial – which is why no-one watched it. If “branded content” was popular with viewers, Bowflex infomercials would be top-rating TV shows.
Here’s just one example of a great, local, branded content execution we presented at SPAA Fringe three years ago.
Yates & FOXTEL ‘The Party Garden’ – http://www.slideshare.net/mart.....ringe-2010
If the TV content is good, and the brand’s involvement is relevant and doesn’t interfere in the experience (or even better enhances it) then people are happy to swallow it. Regardless of whether you think it was overkill, the last two seasons of The Block demonstrate this.
The actual amount of in-show placement Coles had in Masterchef was well and truly dwarfed by the excellent job they did of leveraging their involvement with the property. It’s not rocket science, just the old sports marketing model of spend on the asset, and then invest twice or three times as much leveraging the asset.
To say the networks are disengaged is over simplistic. It’s a much more complex proposition to make a piece of entertainment in which a brand is a key stakeholder rather than a sponsor.