Branded Entertainment: Here to Stay?
分享者：游佳芳
原文網址： http://meetschmitt.typepad.com/schmittblog/2006/03/branded_enterta.html
每個人都認同，在這個時代下傳統廣告的經營更加困難，即使是美國廣告業的中心－麥德遜大道( Madison Avenue)，在見證持續的大量30秒曝光的威力(有正確的品牌、策略及創意)後，開始找尋提供“360度”塑造品牌途徑的新方法－廣播廣告就是其中之一。
廣告同業花費很多時間思考的方式之一即為品牌娛樂( branded entertainment)(或稱“品牌整合”及“置入性行銷”)；這個風潮開始於BMW獨特的線上電影－花費大筆預算，並邀請頂級導演及許多明星，每部影片包含許多駕駛Beamer情境的酷炫故事情節。
從那時起，模仿風潮興起，廣告業紛紛嘗試製作大眾會選擇觀看的廣告內容。某些公司學習BMW的做法，製作線上電影；某些公司投資了大筆現金將它們的產品置入實境節目或是高成本製作的電影－如駭客任務：重裝上陣( The Matrix Reloaded)中使用的手機，或是電影偷天換日( The Italian Job)中駕駛的車輛都是案例。
一些業者如Ad age的Scott Donaton，宣告這已是未來的發展趨勢(見Scott Donaton的著作“ Madison & Vine: Why the Entertainment and Advertising Industries Must Converge to Survive”)
但群眾已開始對置入性行銷感到反感，如現在網路上有一個相當有趣並諷刺Tyra Banks的”超級名模生死鬥”的模仿影片，及一個在subservient chicken網站上，滑稽模仿“誰是接班人(The Apprentice)”的招牌叫賣。
商業週刊的David Kiley在本週文章中提到福特促銷其Lincoln及Mercury品牌的新線上影片；但他也抱怨，雖然這些品牌的汽車幾乎沒有在電影中出現，但他抱怨說，在電影裡幾乎看不見這些車，僅有一些古怪的人會喜愛這品牌的如此做法。
然而，是否所有的品牌整合是否太過度操作？或它只是被以一個蹩腳的方式執行？(毫無新意－不良的行銷手法令人生厭，即使你使用的是時尚媒體)。BMW最後放棄了電影製作方式，即使它仍是大家都想擊敗的頂尖模範。
Donaton在去年哥倫比亞大學的演講中，該場討論幾乎都圍繞在營運模式上(是的，若我們都開始使用TiVo做廣告，電視網絡將把產品置入所有節目中以應付這個潮流)，但它並未真正集中全部的注意力在關鍵問題上：何時品牌娛樂才會產生預期效果，而在何時並無法發揮？
品牌娛樂是否如同一個能適用於各式各樣品牌的行銷工具一樣，能傳達訴求及影響顧客?或就只是另一個像在計程車後車廂上的廣告一樣的陳舊想法?
行銷人員需了解如何運作品牌娛樂讓它的效果就像BMW一樣好；否則，在未來的晚餐派對中，當人們問道“你的職業是什麼?”時，只能羞愧的低下頭回答“置入性行銷”。
Everyone agrees that times are tougher for traditional ads. Even Madison Avenue, while testifying to the continuing power of a great 30 second spot (with the right brand, strategy, and creative) is searching for new ways to offer a “360 degree” approach to branding – where broadcast ads are just one piece of the puzzle.
One of the newer pieces that ad folks spend a lot of time thinking about is branded entertainment (or “brand integration” or “product placement”). The frenzy really started with BMW’s glamorous online films – big budget affairs with top-tier directors and a variety of stars, each featuring a cool storyline that involved a lot of driving around in a Beamer.
Since then, there’s been a wave of copycats trying to create content that is basically an advertisement that people will choose to watch. Some companies are making online movies like BMW’s, others are paying buckets of cash to feature their products on reality TV shows, or in big budget movies—whether it’s the cell phone used in The Matrix Reloaded, or the cars driven in The Italian Job.
Some folks like Scott Donaton of Ad Age herald this as the way of the future (see his book “Madison & Vine: Why the Entertainment and Advertising Industries Must Converge to Survive”). But people are already getting sick of product placements. There’s a really funny parody video online lampooning Tyra Banks’s hocking of products on “America’s Top Model” – and a spoof of the subservientchicken website making fun of The Apprentice’s brand huckstering (www.subservientdonald.com) Businessweek’s David Kiley writes this week about Ford’s new online movies to promote its Lincoln and Mercury brands. But he complains that the cars hardly even appear in the movies—just some eccentric cereal-obsessed characters in their 20s who are supposed to inspire affection in Gen Y web surfers that will mystically rub off on the brand.
Has all this brand integration gone too far? Or is it just being executed in a crappy manner? (no news there – bad marketing stinks, no matter what trendy medium you use) BMW eventually got out of the movie-making business while they were still the top model to be beat.
When Donaton spoke at Columbia University last year, the discussion stayed mostly on the business models (yes – if we all start TiVo’ing out the ads, the networks will try to put products into all the shows to keep afloat). But it didn’t really zero in on the key question: when does this work and when does it not?
The power of social proof is one reason what its hard for follower brands to attack Leader Brands. Provided Leader Brands do a good job of constantly renovating and refreshing their core business, people will tend to stick with what most people see as the best product or service.
Is branded entertainment viable as a marketing tool that can be used for a variety of brands, and in a way that appeals to, and influences consumers? Or is this just another rotten idea like advertisements in the back of taxicabs? Will marketers figure out how to make it work well like BMW did, or will they be hanging their head in shame at dinner parties of the future when people say “So, what do you do?” and they answer “Product placement.”
