Pushing vs. Pulling

Jean Sarhadar
Jul 23, 2017 · 5 min read

Is ‘pushing’ a thing of the past and is branded content the new mechanism to ‘pull’?

Push: exert force on (someone or something) in order to move them away from oneself; The motion of pushing an object away from a person’s body.

Advertising is traditionally known as a means to push, push customers towards a brand, a product or a service. And it is this old way that fails to resonate with consumers and audiences — this is evermore exemplified by the rise in the use of ad-blockers where ad blocker usage surged 30% in 2016, according to a new report. Interruptive advertising is a thing of the past, with calls to reduce spend on digital disruptive advertising. If you have a mobile phone or use Netflix as your main means of TV viewing, those 30 second TV spots become a thing of the past. The audience cannot be easily pushed any longer.

Pull: exert force on (someone or something) so as to cause movement towards oneself; to move an object closer to the person instead of farther away.

Pulling audiences to brands and to their associations begins to hold more prominence when it comes to advertising. Pulling, by causing movement towards oneself, is deemed less disruptive, encouraging an audience-first mindset and bringing brand associations closer — and with more authenticity — to the audience. This is in part due to a broader phenomenon: distrust and the move towards authenticity.

Branded content is considered a significant means of pulling audiences to brands. A 2017 Content Marketing Institute study found that 42 percent of marketers planned to increase their content marketing spend and that 73 percent expected to produce more original content in 2017 compared to 2016. Brands are recognising that branded content is evermore important.

But can it be taken further and be considered the future of advertising to adequately fill the new ‘pull’ paradigm?

Branded content?

The term branded content is an incredibly broad one. Content is in itself very vague and notably ambiguous; it could literally mean anything that can be expressed through some medium.

And this is where part of the problem lies: what exactly is branded content? According to the BCMA, “branded content is any content that can be associated with a brand in the eye of the beholder”. Even then, it is still unclear how this plays out in the industry. Is it is a holistic phenomenon — which involves any manifestation that triggers association with a brand — or a managerial concept — where branded content is interpreted as something that is in part created and funded by the brand’s owner ? That remains to be determined. Is branded content anything I can create that can be associated with, say, Nike or does it have to be content that is at least owned by Nike?

What make the concept of branded content that more confusing is that it exists amongst a plethora of jargon that occupies a similar space: content marketing, native advertising and sponsored content and more. Although lines, limits and definitions have been set forth for these terms, branded content still lost — making it difficult to determine why exactly branded content is deemed as the future of advertising without determining the impact of these other elements of content marketing. Without doing so, declaring branded content as the future of advertising, the new mechanism to ‘pull’ audiences, is rather premature.

How much brand?

Although called branded content, it has been suggested that taking the “brand out of the branded content” is key to its success. There is truth to this. Pulling audiences through engaging content means trying not to sell anything rather providing a compelling narrative can counter the interruptive advertising which has encouraged the use of ad-blockers. That 76% of consumers believe the content that average people share is more honest than advertising from brands goes to show how story and narrative is key.

This means not providing a logo every 5 seconds, or ending with a needless promotion that stalls the emotional effect of the video. For instance, Gatorade’s “The Boy who learnt to fly” was notably lacking in Gatorade logos and references, focusing on telling Usain Bolt’s compelling origin story. It has to offer a level of value for the audience — although what value in this context remains to be defined. When looking to the future of advertising, ironically, it may mean reducing the amount brands are noticeable within created content.

Pulling audiences is important — but how to reach those audiences and do so effectively?

It is easy to say advertising needs to focus on ‘pulling’ audiences by offering engaging, compelling content — preferably with a great narrative — but without some effective ‘push’ towards conversions, the prospects of branded content as the future of advertising will inevitably wane.

This is already beginning to be an issue; more than 85% of marketers publish branded content, but only 36% feel they’re doing it effectively. Branded content should encourage relationships with the audience. But there should be more. Regarding native advertising, this is remedied by sponsored where a major proportion of the traffic via native ads is actually attributed to social media and paid media. Buzzfeed’s “Social Discovery” in-house team — dedicated to buying traffic from a range of social media sources — illustrates the need for pertinent targeting, even with compelling branded content. Effective targeting of this branded content is paramount; branded content has potential as the future of advertising when set alongside this.

The Rise of Brand Lab — who ultimately pulls the audience?

The term “Brand Lab” immediately seems a clinical, aloof one. One that does not immediately associate itself as the means to remedy an age of disruptive advertising through encouraging the wave of branded content. However, publishers have seen the value of branded content: the Guardian Lab, the New York Times Brand Studio and BBC StoryWorks are demonstrable of this. In fact, the New York Times T Brand Studio created more than 150 programs for almost 100 brands to date.

Although it is unclear exactly what role these studios will have in the future of both branded content and advertising, this phenomenon therefore calls into question as to whether it is the future of advertising industry or, rather, the future of the publishing industry. Will the Guardian or BBC Worldwide lead in branded content?

It is ultimately hard to see branded content as a ready mechanism for the future to ‘pull’ customers to brands. But it has potential to be a strong force with brands and their audiences.

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