Branded content

The fascination with branded content is intriguing.

If it means that the mediocre can be filtered out by the consumer, or the curator/editor doing the filtering or compiling of content on behalf of a subscribing consumer set, then fantastic. And if it means that the pressure is on to engage, in what's been termed the age of engagement, then again, all good.

Great creativity will love the new imperative to create branded content. The skill will be to orchestrate and measure its effect so that marketers will support doing it. It's clearly going to have elements of a long tail argument at times, and at least it will be a very complicated ecosystem argument that econometrics may have real problems quantifying, but the lack of precision just makes the onus on intuition, agility and creativity bigger. There should be a lot of prototyping and risk taking, like Droga5's Honeyshed.

I think intuition, agility and creativity are key things to have because a brand that has a highly tuned intuition to what it's about, what matters to the people it cares for, and the culture it is in, is likely to respond more on target and more inspiringly, more rapidly and with greater efficiency than its competitors.

If a business or brand truly understands that content is king then, being agile enough to act on finely tuned and nuanced intuition and information is a great first mover and innovator's advantage, and having the best and most imaginative minds to hand to concept and create new things that inspire, is the final piece in the capabilities of a game shifting organisation.

Nike + is a phenomenon because user generated content has been catalysed into life by a service created through an imaginative application of technology. Innocent Juices's 'Fruitstock' music festival in the UK is also a service set up as a thank you to devoted consumers that becomes a great big piece of branded content through the experience people have there and what people hear about it.

Ultimately I think the fascination with the 'branded content' phrase is unhelpful. I'd suggest those agencies who are trying to figure out what it means are those well behind those already doing it, those organisations who are completely happy with the idea that everything communicates.

I'm a big fan of Crispin, Porter and Bogusky because they have that view and they have done great game shifting things in marketing brands that have been tagged breakthrough and non-traditional. They've been great at the traditional stuff too. Fundamentally though, they have shown a determination to engage. Media choice has been largely irrelevant, but the driving pursuit of cultural phenomenon creation has seemed to be an aim, by whatever media means necessary.

Everything a brand creates or does is branded content, and the new clamouring for depth and engagement at every moment of encounter is a good thing and a wake up call to those who have been satisfied with not engaging and inspiring people outside the usual opportunities. Traditional media channels clearly aren't dead, but arguably, traditional mindedness certainly is.