Branded content is not an “if” for marketers; it’s a must-have, says Eric Weisberg, Executive Creative Director at JWT, in an interview with Beet.TV. To be effective, branded programming needs to deliver on the right combination of entertainment and utility.
As an example, he points to work that JWT did with Johnson and Johnson for its “Once Upon a Care” initiative. The brand asked grade schoolers what caring means to them, then created several children’s books based on what the kids had said, and now donates a book to a library each time one of the ebooks is downloaded.
“When brands start building a story consumers can participate in, consumers get excited about that,” he explains. “No one gets up in the morning and says ‘I want to watch a two-minute ad. So [advertisers] need to ask ‘how do we create something they want to watch online?'” JWT has also worked with Listerine, College Humor and Jimmy Kimmel on branded content.
We interviewed Weisberg at the Beet.TV leadership summit on branded video. You can find additional videos from the event here.
