Most interesting? see below: MediaPost Publications Branded Entertainment 'Must Be Measurable'

During the panel discussion, Everson said that Microsoft plans a branded entertainment program in January (possibly for Unilever or Kimberly-Clark, though she wouldn't say). "It came as a consumer insight about what working moms are doing in the digital environment these days. When we dug deeper, we saw how they multitask, what they do online. We are building a branded entertainment hub because Unilever and Kimberly-Clark asked what these consumers are dong in the digital space. 'What is the consumer insight we can build content around and who will develop content with us?'" She said the "the dirty secret in branded entertainment" is the challenge of building a real audience.

Everson echoed other panelists' argument for "de-siloing" marketing functions. "We have lots of data on what moms are doing online. And when you sit with Unilever and Kimberly-Clark and P&G with their 100 years of building brands, they also have unique data sets. Those 'ah-ha!' insights will only come from all of us sitting at the table together and sharing what we know. So I like the collaborative approach. What astounds me is how much is being done but not shared." She concluded by wondering out loud what the benefits would be if agencies and marketers stopped doing research for 30 days, "and instead spent 30 days sharing. It would be amazing."

via mediapost.com

I'd dispute the next day sales correlation model & I'd push this point further to think about what online can social do that trad. advertising can't:

"...That's fine for product volume, but what about marketers who say they want programs that build awareness and engagement, not necessarily sales volume the next day. "I love those assignments," Everson said. "Because our tools are quite good for measuring brand affiliation, awareness, attribution, pre- and post-studies, and search-behavior tendencies. I can solve for someone who says, 'I want brand awareness.' What's hard is 'Prove to me this thing works.' And the level of scrutiny by marketers is getting higher."

Kawada argued that you can't measure branded entertainment and brand integration the way you measure ads. "It's not an ad model. It's about relevance; the consumer brand has to be relevant from the network-brand standpoint. Brand perception and attributes have to be hand-in-hand with content. So the question should be, 'Does my product fit here?'"

Posted via email from Siobhan O'Flynn's 1001 Tales