There has been a lot of discussion of late on brands becoming media companies. One brand that has managed to achieve this accolade is Red Bull. There is a fantastic article in Fast Magazine about what it really means to transform yourself into a media brand.
Read the full article here and key excerpt are included below:
Now that there’s no longer a firm line between content makers and the brands that glom on, every company, from American Express to Burger King, seems encouraged to consider itself a media company.
"We make content that [audiences] can consume the way they like." Scott Bradfield, Media House’s head of production.
"They are as good an example as exists of a brand pulling off being a media creator," says Noah Brier, cofounder of Percolate.
"Red Bull is a media company that sells drinks instead of ads, and I get the impression they think of themselves that way" Noah Brier, cofounder of Percolate.
"This is a natural evolution," Media House managing director Werner Brell says. "[Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz] knew that success would be in how you market the product as much as the product itself."
RE-ACTIVE MARKETING: BRANDS SHOULD BE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE BRITISH SEASONS
By Alex Vaughan
As an intern starting in the online video world for the very first time, I have been flooded by ideas and methods used to help create an ad that sells the right idea with the right product; but to what extent are brands sending the right message?
Even now well into the summer, ads for brands nation-wide are still widely promoting their summer sales with the blinding sun shining in the background and children and families exploring in t-shirts, swimming trunks and flip-flops. But where is the sunshine? With expectations of it being the wettest Olympic Games ever recorded, brands should be reacting to this, rather than pushing unrelated content. Surely it is the beloved stereotypical English style of waterproof Barbour jackets, wellington boots and umbrellas that should be splayed on the front of every shop window, not beach towels and picnic equipment.
It appears that although the daily showers that spread across the nation continue, we do not waver from our socially constructed seasonal expectations. Surely the UK, above most others, could not expect to have the consistency of sunshine that they have for example in the South of Spain. This being said, a few brands have managed to take advantage of the doom and gloom that is the British weather.
Kellogg's has rather innovatively portrayed the back of the cereal box, normally stared at by children half-asleep at the breakfast table, into a compelling activity for rainy holidays. Parents don’t need to rely on iPads to entertain their children when a simple Rice Krispies box can offer so much more.
A sporting brand that has harnessed the British weather is Adidas who has shown that its running trainers can handle even the most torrential rain. Hopefully our British athletes, training throughout the English seasons, will have a significant advantage over their competitors.
Forecasters are predicting the weather will improve over the next week, hopefully for the rest of the summer we still have remaining. Have the brands with the sun shining ads predicted the future? Perhaps. But what is clear is that the brands that react the quickest and adapt to the changing circumstances around them, will most likely improve their sales and increase customer loyalty.
GO COMPARE AD RECEIVES NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS - BUT HAVEN'T WE ALL WANTED TO BAZOOKA THE GO COMPARE MAN?
The latest ad for Go Compare featuring television presenter Sue Barker attempting to kill fictional opera singer Gio Comario has been criticised for being 'offensive' and 'inappropriate'. The Advertising Standards Authority has so far received 43 complaints, even though the character is seen crawling out of the crater at the end of the ad, ready to sing again.
While branded videos must be carefully thought out, particularly when using weapons in an ad at a time when there is heightened security ahead of the Olympics, it is clear it is a light hearted attempt from the brand to change consumer perceptions of it.
Nick Hall, Go Compare's marketing director, had said of the new ad: "We know a lot of people find the character irritating and this is us saying 'we get it'".
Pepsi MAX went to a pick-up game in Bloomfield, NJ pretending to shoot a documentary on a basketball player named "Kevin." When his Uncle Drew came into the game, things got interesting...
CODE CLUB - THE FREE AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITY THAT TEACHES CHILDREN TO CODE
Code Club has been set up to create a nationwide after school coding club for children aged 10-11. With the support of Founders Forum, a community of the best global entrepreneurs, inspiring CEOs and key investors in media and technology, they created the below video to help promote Code Club.
Featuring a wealth of famous faces being put in their places by three children, this is a fantastic, lighthearted film that will certainly help drive interest in Code Club.
For more information and to support Code Club, visit the site here: http://codeclub.org.uk/
