TV channels step on the pedal in branded content race

Even as television remained the first choice of brands for long when it came to their branded content and content integration needs, over-the-top (OTT) players, digital content platforms and creators moved faster to capture the space on the back of their agility and cost-effectiveness.

Realising that the brands were shifting their marketing budgets from traditional advertising to branded content, the TV channels also upped their game.

Ferzad Palia new

Ferzad Palia, Head, Youth, Music and English Entertainment, Viacom18, said, “Brands today realise that the pure-play 30-second TVC is not making a mark with their customers. Due to its nature of being engaging as long format content, branded content has been getting extensive growth over the past few years. The Gen Z of today will soon become the spending consumers of tomorrow and this segment will not respond to a regular TVC. What they prefer is smart communication and branded content gives you that opportunity to be subtle and yet be of relevance.”

Ashish Sehgal

An important point to note is that the brands are no more looking for product placements and AFPs. Brand integrations have become more meaningful. Ashish Sehgal, Chief Growth Officer, Zee Entertainment Enterprises, said, “There is a seismic shift from logo exposure to a contextual association (deep fitment) of brands’ philosophy in content. This is not just restricted to product placement but seamlessly integrated across storyline, promos, character sketch, etc. Moving from TVC to have a relevant story to showcase your brand is the need of the hour in the cluttered multi-platform environment.”

Considered a big move from a TV network giant, last year at the Cannes Lions Festival, Jan Livingston, EVP and ECD, Fox Networks Group, mentioned that the group had decided to reduce ad time from 12 minutes per hour to two minutes per hour by 2020. Instead, the channel is thinking of showing branded content in that same time slot that was earlier available for regular advertising.

Avinash Pandey

Channels are already seeing a shift in the modes of revenue generation. Branded content has become an important contributor to the overall revenue. At ABP News Network, branded content contributes 10% of the total revenue. “We’re hopeful that in the coming time, we will be able to increase it to 30 %,” said Avinash Pandey, CEO, ABP News Network.

Palia of Viacom18 had told BuzzInContent.com a few months ago that their youth channel MTV was targeting 20-25% revenue from branded content in two years.

Sehgal said, “Revenue growth from branded content is growing at a much faster pace as compared to the industry growth rate.  Going forward, we estimate close to 30% of the business coming through solution-led initiatives as compared to pure vanilla campaigns.”

One very important benefit that TV brings on board than the rest of the mediums is its quality and quantity of reach. Palia said, “It’s needless to say that the TV’s reach is unparalleled within the universe of over 835 million viewers.”

Sehgal added, “Reach and brand building continues to be TV’s biggest advantage. Multiple studies globally have proved that for any campaign to be successful, TV is the primary medium.”

ABP News Network has produced some content solutions for brands like Titan, Datsun, Tata Salt, Haywards 5000, Mercedes Benz, HP, Premier Badminton League and Woodland Hospital among others.

Elaborating on one of the strongest content piece done for Titan, Pandey said, “One of our most recalled campaigns was ABP Ananda’s partnership with Titan when they launched the ‘Titan Forever Kolkata’ collection of watches as a tribute to Bengal. Our team conceptualised the campaign around key attractions of Kolkata to further commemorate the life of the city. The ROI of the campaign was close to 25%, which contributed significantly towards increasing sales beyond the set target.”

MTV has collaborated with leading brands across the industry for curating tailor-made content like LinkedIn’s ‘Get a job’, NescafeLabs, Ceat ‘Chase The Monsoon’, Airbnb MTV Live There, JK Tyres MTV Trackstar and Pantaloons Style Superstars. A few of the content solutions that Zee has produced are Nestle Maggi Kitchen Journey, Castrol Truckers Abhiyaan, SME Express (SAP).