branded content Articles

Branded content is a relatively new form of advertising medium that blurs conventional distinctions between what constitutes advertising and what constitutes entertainment. Branded content is essentially a fusion of the two into one product intended to be distributed as entertainment content, albeit with a highly branded quality. Unlike conventional forms of entertainment content, branded content is generally funded entirely by a brand or corporation rather than, for example, a movie studio o...

Companies Focus in on Video for Branded Content Marketing

Back in 2009, 37% of North American companies used video for content marketing.  Last year, that number rose to 52%.  While almost every company uses websites, e-mails, and print media to get their message across, video is becoming more and more important.  We all knew ...

Jumping On The Bandwagon: Amazon Wants To Make Shows Too

Is Amazon trying to keep up with the Joneses? According to Forbes, Amazon may be turning a little green with envy watching Netflix, Hulu, & YouTube get into the premium original content creation game, because they're apparently gearing up for their own turn as a TV ...

Online Video, Digital Advertising, & Storytelling For A New Generation

Last year, brands were still spending more money on regional newspaper advertising and classified press ads than on digital display ads like banners, video and social. Given that the internet as a whole has cut a swath through other media to become the UK's biggest ...

Moe's Southwest Grill Takes A Page From Will It Blend, Scores Big YouTube Hit

Lately it seems like I'm always finding a great example of branded content.  If you're an advertiser looking to make a splash, destroying things to make a point seems to be a good thing to try.  With Blendtec, they've blasted off with branded content showing ...

The Weekly Online Video News Round Up - YouTube Update Edition

As usual, there was plenty of news in the online video world this past week. And as usual, you were probably a bit too busy to keep up with all of it. We saw more major updates to YouTube's design and services, some important Google ...

20th Century Fox Gets YouTube Stars To Promote "Chronicle"

20th Century Fox has teamed with Big Frame, a YouTube talent company, to produce videos promoting their new movie Chronicle opening on February 3.  And Chronicle is the perfect type of movie to get some YouTube promotion, as it is one of the latest films ...

The Future Of "Branded" Content - Katalyst Media Launching YouTube Channel

Katalyst Media was founded by Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg in 2000.  It began as a simple film/TV development home; Kutcher's Guess Who and the company's most recognizable property, Punk'd, were produced under Katalyst.  In 2005, they added a social media division, and what they ...

YouTube Announces Four Original Extreme Sports Video Channels

The original channels are coming in fast now.  Four new ones, all dedicated to the world of skating, surfing, skiing, biking, and all of the other ice, wind, gravity, and water sports you can think of have been announced by YouTube and they have an ...

Every Brand Will Be A Studio: Philosophical Musings On The Future Of Video

I think I'm going to write an e-book... call it "Drop Out Of College & Learn Video." I had this revelation after an email chain with ReelSEO writer, Chris Atkinson. See, Chris and I are not only co-workers, but we've been friends for more than ...

A Look Back At BMW's The Hire, Branded Content In The Dark Days Of Online Video

Back in 2001, Internet video for me was watching movie trailers, and there was no thought that anything longer, or anything of more substance, would be coming along soon.  I very much doubt many people thought they would be seeing high-quality films from top-notch directors ...

Coca Cola's Secret Branded Content Formula Revealed: Liquid Content

A couple of paragraphs further down, the secret formula of Coca Cola will be revealed.  Jonathan Mildenhall, Vice-President, Global Advertising Strategy and Creative Excellence at The Coca-Cola Company, calls it "liquid content.” But, before you go any further, I feel that I should issue a ...

2011 Online Video In Review - Industry Leaders Reflect On The Year's Trends

Along with talking to people about online video advertising in 2011, I also asked around about how many thought the year went for online video in general. My specific question was: What was the biggest driver of online video in 2011?

Unruly Media Raises $25 Million; Funding To Fuel Global Social Video Expansion

On Jan. 4, 2012, Unruly Media announced a $25 million Series A investment from Amadeus Capital Partners, Van den Ende & Deitmers, and Business Growth Fund.  Founded in 2006, Unruly has delivered a number of high profile social video campaigns for global brands, including industry ...

Future Of Television: Internet TV To Explode In 2012

Mark Suster is a technology entrepreneur turned venture capitalist. He's started and sold two companies, worked at Accenture, founded Launchpad LA and is a part at GRP Partners, the SoCal venture capital firm. So he has his finger on the pulse and recently spoke at ...

Create Content To Encourage Social Activity For Better SEO

Content creation has been a central part of most SEO strategies for years. In the beginning, we based that content around keywords and phrases we wanted to rank for. When links gained much more importance with the engines, we began to create "viral' content designed ...