Why news channels need to think beyond advertiser-funded programme in branded content partnerships

Recently, a large-sized start-up with a significant budget started scouting for branded content partnerships with news channels for its first brand building exercise.

But within a couple of weeks, the brand had to drop the idea of doing branded content and opted for plain vanilla advertising as the news channels were unable to come up with bright ideas that could have yielded the desired results.

The start-up told BuzzInContent.com that the channels were largely offering AFP (advertiser-funded programme) on the weekends while the other ideas were mostly clichéd.

This problem isn’t new for brands when it comes to partnering with news channels for their content marketing needs.

While brands with large budgets have used news channels for long partnerships for purpose-driven campaigns, such as Save The Tiger on NDTV and Mission Pani on News18, a pure-play brand building exercise with a limited budget is perceived to be a rare success story.

When and why should a brand bet on a news channel?

Sandeep Walunj

“Although there is segmentation within the news channels because of the proliferation of channels and the audience is getting divided, they provide a massive reach. Influencers are important, but news channels will always hold sway because of their plug and play nature. People do switch on a news channel to watch the current news. At times, one reads news on social media like Twitter but news channels have their impact,” said Sandeep Walunj, Chief Marketing Officer, Nippon Life India AMC.

“Pantene Khud Par Karo Yakeen” of P&G was the first women anchor hunt which the brand did with CNBC Awaaz. When the brand went and convinced the channel to simply do it, they said it was unheard of. They actually gave a job to both the winner and the runner-up.

P&G’s other campaign “ShaveIndiaMovement” that won big at Cannes Lions was done completely on the news channel.

On choosing news channels for content-led partnerships, a former P&G executive said it totally depends on the kind of content you are trying to create, who it appeals to and what is the right channel and genre. “For the Gillette Shave India Movement, if you want to create a debate then the news channel is the perfect platform,” the executive said.

“Even after the advent of digital, if I have to do something similar right now in the form of a debate, I will still go ahead with the news channel because it has got a certain environment. It depends on the idea, the audience and reach. I could have done a women anchor hunt on radio. News channels bring credibility to the brand,” the executive added.

Sooraj Bhalla

Sooraj Bhalla, Founder and CEO at MATES, Madison Teamworks, said that for a brand to associate with a news channel’s content offerings, it has to be highly contextual and relevant. "Typically, a person watches news channels to consume the latest news, to watch breaking news stories, new developments happening in the world. If a brand wants to be around such a scheme of content and context, then being on a news channel can be interesting for it,” he said.

Explaining with an example, Bhalla said, “If a news channel has a show on automobiles and within that show if an auto brand wants to integrate brand communication, it could be really relevant and the right space where the dedicated set of audience wants to watch auto content.”

Talking from the perspective of the BFSI category, Walunj explained that a news channel could do a story, highlighting the heightened uncertainties of life and how proper financial planning can mitigate some of these. “Now relevant brands can plug in their messages about investments, savings, retirement plans, insurance, etc. The contextual nuances a channel adds can make it more watchable. That makes a brand’s messaging reach a larger number of people in the context that interests and engages them.”

Branded content on news television — not a cakewalk

Bhalla said, “News channels come with their highs and lows. One needs to catch the highs and always keep in mind why people come to a news channel. People go to news channels to watch news and not to consume content. Therefore, not too many brands have jumped on the branded content bandwagon with news channels as much as they have with GECs, social media and OTT."

Bringing in the conversations around toxic content and TRP scam, Bhalla said such issues put a brand off at any given point of time. "The clients will be cautious and unfortunately in our country, news reporting format is not very viewer-friendly. The reporters and anchor yells on screen, which isn’t pleasing to the eyes. These are some pros and cons and brands need to navigate, be cautious and park their investments accordingly.”

Kumar Deb Sinha

However, this sort of challenge is not there with the business news channels, according to Kumar Deb Sinha, Director, India Production Hub of GSK. "They are factual and primarily driven by the stock market. Business news channels survive driven by AFPs and brand associations in the weekend slots. These are a few months of long initiatives supported by on-ground events and all,” Sinha said.

“But business news at times lacks that entertainment quotient or the packaging leverage for a brand’s message to reach a number of people meaningfully,” Walunj said. “But on the other hand, business news channels often act as catalysts for brands to reach their message to a large number of audiences by creating the context that prepares the audience for that message.”

Is AFP the limit for news channels?

All experts BuzzInContent.com spoke to agreed that with so many new-age entertaining options for content consumption available at the consumers’ disposal and a reducing attention span, it is important for the news channels to think out of the box.

“Channels need to think out of the box, think of innovative ideas and package content in a manner that is different and is not just a half-an-hour show. For B2B brands that want to create credibility on business strengths, then half-hour shows may work,” the former P&G executive said.

Sonia Kapoor

“What usually happens is that news channels create AFPs and place them during the weekend slots. This may be great PR for people who are interviewed on the show, but does nothing for the brand,” said Sonia Kapoor, Lead in Charge, The Confluence Studio.

The former P&G executive also believes that half-hour shows are not going to drive anything. “Even if you do an AFP on a GEC, it may not drive anything because the timeslots they give you are quite bad, which are not best performing and they come at a high cost.”

Having said that, the same half-hour show can work if that is the culmination of all the build-up during the show that includes vox pops, vignettes and aston bands during main news days, the executive said. “It’s about how you create it. Just paying for a half-hour show is not right, but building up content for the tune in a different thing. The final episode must have been half an hour, but what you do to create curiosity around the show is important.

Walunj said, “It often becomes mechanical and formula-driven. Most of the times, it is either the media agencies or the channel pushing the client and the client not thinking through properly about how the end outcome can be optimised. AFP isn’t as simple as buying commercial time on channels. It is a work of art and not science and that is why sometimes people fail.”

The problem is two-pronged, according to Walunj. “Most of the time, clients don’t think through much and follow a formula, a defined dotted line and say okay to whatever content integration the channel proposes. One will have to go above and beyond and only then can good quality integration happen,” he said. “The content providers also need to be open. They should believe in their clients and understand that the clients also understand creativity, content integration and have a good understanding of their subject. At times, the content providers lack flexibility because they have the wrong impression that clients don’t understand creative content integrations.”

Walunj highlighted that content integrations are extremely expensive and that makes a brand very much cautious. “Content providers should be pragmatic and see what their content is delivering to the client and accordingly fairly charge.”

“In totality, the world of content marketing appears to be in a negative spiral. Neither are the content providers willing to come down from their high horse, nor are the clients willing to understand that it is a piece of art, get involved and create it with the providers. But when the twain meet, it's a massive win-win and there are some shining examples around us,” he added.

Sinha of GSK said AFP is the limitation of the sales team of news channels. “It is easy to replicate what you already have. There are a lot of challenges in creating new formats. Similarly for the marketing team. They are not editorially driven and their objective is to maximise reach."

Have news channels evolved enough?

Smriti Mehra

Putting forward the news channels’ point of view, Smriti Mehra, CEO, Business News, Network18, said, “News collaborations are the least AFP-led definitions because we are not limited to active and passive placements of brands and products. They are largely drawn from the audiences that the news platforms engage with. The engagement with the audience is done in the space of community development, recognition, mentorship, information dissemination, which goes beyond just AFPs. It is about developing communities, nurturing and recognising them.”

Raktim Das

Raktim Das, Chief Operating Officer, TV9 Studio (Digital & Broadcasting) at TV9 Network, said, “More often than not, such initiatives are referred to as ‘AFP’, a term which has over a period of term lost its true meaning and getting associated to mundane stuff such as running a slot on a TV channel at a particular time slot or just simply doing a ground event with some sponsors."

Talking about his channels breaking the set rules and going beyond AFPs, Das said, "At TV9 Network, our specialist Custom Content Unit - Studio9 works with leading brands to develop compelling offerings that are woven around smart innovation to enable purpose-driven, meaningful brand engagement for its customers. Be it using the language of the target audience to enhance their comfort level with the brand or adopting a participative approach by inviting the target audience into the content creation process to building tech-enabled immersive virtual platforms or building thought leadership platforms for global brands or developing skilling initiatives or driving community engagement to curating influencer marketing initiatives to marquee network initiatives, Studio9 has over a very short span of time built a distinct name for itself. Over the next couple of years, one will very clearly see content marketing transition past its early phase and we will see brands and media organisations collaborating and working even more closely to build consumer-centric custom content propositions.”

Kapoor of The Confluence Studio feels news channels should start creating more short format content pieces which should be integrated into regular news shows seamlessly during the weekdays and in a way that doesn’t jar.

"To achieve this, editorial teams should be engaged and involved in creating interesting branded pieces. News Stories are way more valuable to a campaign than a half hour show played out on weekends. The editorial team can create stories covering macro industry where the reporter or the anchor subtly integrates the brand in the information/content. Brands on their part should be ready to pay a premium for this content integration during weekday slots, during the time the channels fetch maximum eyeballs. This is a win-win situation for both the brand and the channel," she said.

Sinha of GSK feels that news channels should respect the reason why brands go to them and brands ought to ride on the news channels' credibility, be it content or the face of the channels. "Nothing new happens because the conversation is happening between the marketer and the sales team. The moment the creative team, editorial team, sales and marketers get together, I still believe a lot of magic can happen through the voice of editorial content. Formats are more or less the same. It’s the editorial voice that will matter,” he concluded.

(Opinion expressed by Kumar Deb Sinha in the article has nothing to do with GSK as a company)