Marx Creative
Targeted Marketing Solutions

Brand Integration Done Right

By David Marx - Co-President, Marx Creative

Today, we all know the media marketplace is fractured. With hundreds of channels, the web, smartphones, and time-shifting, it's too easy to avoid or ignore a TV spot and normal advertising, so marketers are rediscovering the power of creating closer ties between program material (or other forms of education or entertainment), and their brand.

It's called Brand Integration–we've all heard the term tossed around. Sometimes it's called "Branded Entertainment", or "Branded Content". In the past, people practiced "Product Placement".

It's all basically the same concept—Support your branding strategy, whether it's for a service or product in a unique, entertaining way, by making it part of a larger story.

You can't avoid examples of simple product or logo placement, but that's just kindergarten stuff.

You must find some positive, creative way to make a connection between your brand and your target audience. Again, not by just showing your brand, but by making it integral to the story.

For Kraft Foods we created a nutrition segment that just happened to use recognizable Kraft products. The story wasn't about using Kraft Foods, or about any specific Kraft product. In the larger story, the context was nutrition.

People don't want to be sold, they want to buy. The old style pitchman is a tired concept. It's just too easy to turn the channel or click to a different page. On the other hand, people do want to learn about things they are interested in, and they will buy what they are familiar with, products that align with their interests. It's a matter of finding content or producing content that dovetails with a brand's characteristics or attributes.

For Walgreens, we produce a 30 minute television program that airs on Lifetime cable channel called Health Corner. It presents useful, entertaining health information including suggestions and comments from Walgreens pharmacists and Take Care nurse practitioners. Take Care clinics provide basic health services inside of select Walgreens stores. The viewer of the program connects the Walgreens Brand to helpful health related information without a heavy sales presence or the danger of being "zapped" if it were merely a 30 second TV spot. Health Corner TV and its associated website support enhance the Walgreens brand in a way that's friendly and not commercial.

Marx Creative would be happy to meet with you to discuss ways to use Brand Integration for your company.