Content
This week the latest Bellwether survey brought more doom and gloom for the marketing industry with a record 25% of companies having reduced marketing spend at the end of last year. Although most of us expected this to be a hard few months, things do seem to be looking up for the digital sector, with spend on the medium going up by 20%.
But despite dwindling budgets elsewhere, editorialised branded content is still seeing continued investment, perhaps because it is relevant to any sector. In fact, since the medium is set to defy the recession to grow from £904m to £1.1bn by 2012, it would appear more and more brands are realising the power it has in reaching and engaging consumers.
Editorialised branded content inherently avoids the hard-sell usually associated with consumer communications and instead delivers entertaining and informative content, which encapsulates a brand encouraging consumer engagement and loyalty. As experts in branded content, customer publishers now not only deliver customer magazines, but have translated their skills across video and mobile content, podcasts and websites for brands. Research from Royal Mail in fact highlighted that when combined with the speed and response of online, posted material such as print magazines can actually increase customer spend by a quarter.
When considering editorialised branded content though, it is not a case of choosing offline or online, video or mobile, it's about producing the most relevant content for the audience you want to reach. With these channels all providing great access to a brand's target audience, more often than not an integrated approach is the best option.
The travel and leisure sector has witnessed great success through the medium- take British Airways who has taken full advantage of the captive audience in-flight. Already publishing three customer titles for in-flight, High Life, Business Life and First Life, the airline is set to launch its new magazine The Collection exclusively for "valued" BA Holidays customers. Having reaped the benefits of its other three titles and supporting online content, British Airways was in fact named as one of the country's top trusted brands within its respective category in the Reader's Digest annual survey- perhaps a result of its continued communication and engagement with its customers.
However, BA is not alone; Virgin Holidays too has invested heavily in editorialised branded content. Rock & Roam, produced by River Publishing is mailed to 60,000 members of the Frequent Virgin Club and is also available in Gatwick's lounge. Targeting a diverse demographic from singles and young couples to families, older travellers and luxury backpackers, the publication builds closer ties with its customers by providing them with inspiring holiday ideas. A slick, engaging and much-loved publication, it even won Best Travel & leisure Title at the APA International Customer Publishing Awards last year.
As so many consumers are now going online to book their flights, hotels and entire holiday experiences, it makes perfect sense for travel and leisure brands to invest wisely in editorialised branded content. Holidays are for many the biggest investment of the year, so why not give something back to those investing time and time again- interesting, informative and visually appealing content on and offline.
For those that do decide to invest, the cost of engaging through editorialised branded content is hugely varied, but it is a medium that guarantees measurability as one of the most effective marketing tools when looking at levels of ROI. At a time when budgets are low, it is no surprise that the likes of Abercrombie & Kent and Co-op Travel are all investing in a method of engaging consumers that actually works.
Editorialised branded content still seeing continued investment
26 Jan 2010
Category: Feature
Source: APA
This week the latest Bellwether survey brought more doom and gloom for the marketing industry with a record 25% of companies having reduced marketing spend at the end of last year. Although most of us expected this to be a hard few months, things do seem to be looking up for the digital sector, with spend on the medium going up by 20%. But despite dwindling budgets elsewhere, editorialised branded content is still seeing continued investment, perhaps because it is relevant to any sector. In fact, since the medium is set to defy the recession to grow from £904m to £1.1bn by 2012, it would appear more and more brands are realising the power it has in reaching and engaging consumers.
Editorialised branded content inherently avoids the hard-sell usually associated with consumer communications and instead delivers entertaining and informative content, which encapsulates a brand encouraging consumer engagement and loyalty. As experts in branded content, customer publishers now not only deliver customer magazines, but have translated their skills across video and mobile content, podcasts and websites for brands. Research from Royal Mail in fact highlighted that when combined with the speed and response of online, posted material such as print magazines can actually increase customer spend by a quarter.
When considering editorialised branded content though, it is not a case of choosing offline or online, video or mobile, it's about producing the most relevant content for the audience you want to reach. With these channels all providing great access to a brand's target audience, more often than not an integrated approach is the best option.
The travel and leisure sector has witnessed great success through the medium- take British Airways who has taken full advantage of the captive audience in-flight. Already publishing three customer titles for in-flight, High Life, Business Life and First Life, the airline is set to launch its new magazine The Collection exclusively for "valued" BA Holidays customers. Having reaped the benefits of its other three titles and supporting online content, British Airways was in fact named as one of the country's top trusted brands within its respective category in the Reader's Digest annual survey- perhaps a result of its continued communication and engagement with its customers.
However, BA is not alone; Virgin Holidays too has invested heavily in editorialised branded content. Rock & Roam, produced by River Publishing is mailed to 60,000 members of the Frequent Virgin Club and is also available in Gatwick's lounge. Targeting a diverse demographic from singles and young couples to families, older travellers and luxury backpackers, the publication builds closer ties with its customers by providing them with inspiring holiday ideas. A slick, engaging and much-loved publication, it even won Best Travel & leisure Title at the APA International Customer Publishing Awards last year.
As so many consumers are now going online to book their flights, hotels and entire holiday experiences, it makes perfect sense for travel and leisure brands to invest wisely in editorialised branded content. Holidays are for many the biggest investment of the year, so why not give something back to those investing time and time again- interesting, informative and visually appealing content on and offline.
For those that do decide to invest, the cost of engaging through editorialised branded content is hugely varied, but it is a medium that guarantees measurability as one of the most effective marketing tools when looking at levels of ROI. At a time when budgets are low, it is no surprise that the likes of Abercrombie & Kent and Co-op Travel are all investing in a method of engaging consumers that actually works.
