Abstract
Research on the study of the effectiveness of branded content actions shows that the reference data to draw up projections of results are neither standardized nor homogeneous. This is one of the main barriers that brands encounter when undertaking content creation actions: the mechanisms to measure their effectiveness. The aim of this chapter is to analyze what tools exist in the market to measure branded content, establishing a comparison between them that, in turn, can be used as a basis for the creation of a standard and homogeneous results measurement system. All this with the final intention of measuring the real effectiveness of branded content.
TopBranded Content As An Advertising Format
In the 21st century, advertising, present in all its media and formats both online and offline, has adopted a less intrusive, more honest and involving philosophy. Consumers are participants in the so-called convergence culture (Jenkins, 2006), where all possible stories are told, brands are sold, and the message tries to reach across multiple platforms. Convergence, in turn, implies the merging of media industries and the migration of audiences from one screen to another in search of the content they want. Savar (2013) calls this society a society of “connected viewers”, as they use several devices at the same time to access information and entertainment: television, portable tablets, laptops, and smartphones, among others. The digital environment eliminates boundaries between brand and consumer and allows the relationship with customers in the buying process to be amplified. Likewise, through information, education, and entertainment in online media, it is possible to offer continuity in the task of building customer loyalty. For the first time, brands are becoming generators of entertainment, audiovisual producers, publishers of print and online content, online TV channels, radio podcasts. The important thing is that the content is of quality and the consumer has access to it whenever and wherever they want.
Among all the existing formats in this digital environment, the following pages focus on the study of branded content, specifically on the set of actions aimed at measuring this communication technique to determine its effectiveness.
Although the nature of this technique and its essence can be adapted to various definitions, we choose to consider branded content as an advertising technique for the creation of informative, educational, entertaining, or useful content. The brand acts as creator, producer and distributor on many occasions and provides consumers with such content in its own, earned, or paid media and through online and offline channels (Rodríguez-Rabadán, 2019).
Del Pino, Castelló & Ramos Soler (2013) point out that branded content should not be confused with product or brand placement, which focuses on the specific presence of a product or brand in the narrative context of an entertainment space (this difference is conceptualized schematically in Figure 1).
Figure 1. Principal differences between brand placement and branded content
Branded content is mainly framed within the discipline of the study of Communication Sciences and brings together characteristics of Audiovisual Communication and Advertising. Soriano (1988) synthesizes it in the art of transmitting information, ideas, and attitudes from one person to another. One of the disciplinary pillars of studies in Advertising and Public Relations is the knowledge and analysis of relationship marketing processes, as well as its specific techniques: positioning, segmentation, analysis procedures and effectiveness measurement, among others (Spanish National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation [ANECA], 2005).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Rich Media: Name that groups a series of digital advertising formats that use advanced technology and allow richer functionalities. Rich Media formats enable a more complete user experience using interactivity and playing with audiovisual elements.
Marketing: Process by which companies create value for customers and build strong relationships with them in order to obtain value from them in return.
ANECA: Agencia Nacional para la evaluación de la Calidad y de la Acreditación en España (the Spanish National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation).
Web Metrics: Quantitative measure that allows us to know the status, component or process of a Web site, for a given attribute or parameter.
Branded Content Formats: These may be traditional (films, short films, radio program, magazine articles, publications and physical events among others) or digital (eBooks, mobile content such as an App, podcasts, research papers, microsites, videos, case studies, blogs, newsletters, social media conversations and Webinars among others).
Efficiency: The cost of achieving the quantitative objective. A campaign will be more efficient the lower the cost of achieving it.
Effectiveness: Quantification of the objective achieved.
Branding: Targeting a message, confirming credibility, and building consumer loyalty.
Display channels: Google Analytics, Content Marketing Score and Linkedin's Content Marketing Engagement, among others.
AIMC: Asociación para la Investigación de Medios de Comunicación (Association for Media Research).