If Louis Vuitton can make content, why can't Zone make handbags?
Two interesting news stories from the world of branded content caught my eye this week.
The first ran on The Times website on Monday (I’d link to it if the paywall allowed, but that’s a topic for another day…). Entitled When Is An Ad Not An Ad?, the piece introduces the idea of merchantainment - “the younger, more chic cousin of the dowdy advertorial” – and highlights the launch of the Nowness.com website as an example.
Nowness.com is owned by LVMH, the luxury goods group behind Louis Vuitton, who have set up the digital publishing venture in order to provide a platform for premium brands to “really express the rich diversity of their core DNA in a chic environment… ”, according to senior vice president Kamel Ouadi. So far, so good – if luxury brands feel there’s an opportunity to connect with audiences via digital channels, that’s good news for agencies like us.
The second story came from the traditional publishing sector. Bauer Media announced the launch of Bauer Access, a scheme to give advertisers and agencies access to the company’s editorial expertise: “…to provide clients and agencies with increased access to editors, programmers and the key creators of our content – and a route to build deeper connections with audiences.”
Again, this is a very welcome initiative from our point of view. The more the brands and agencies holding the purse strings see editorial as a way to build deeper connections with customers, the better for specialist content agencies like Zone.
But what struck me about both stories was the assumption that companies as diverse as LVMH and Bauer can move seamlessly into the world of branded content. Throw up a website and hire a couple of hacks, or drag a team of reluctant editorial guys up and down Charlotte Street – how hard can it be, right?
In our experience, creating content for brands is a bit more complicated. Creating stuff that works for the brand, but also resonates with the audience, is challenging. And exploiting the full range of digital options to create an integrated content strategy takes specialist and experienced expertise.
I hope both of these ventures succeed – as noted above, there are plenty of brands and plenty of opportunities to go around. But I can’t help thinking if it's easy for companies to charge into a new industry, maybe we should start manufacturing Zone-branded luxury luggage.
