Branded content secrets from AOL Canada’s head of content

ITWC’s lead web designer/developer superstar attended the NextMedia conference in Toronto. He shares some of his lessons learned and passes on the best Twitter quotes from the session.

I am attending the nextMedia 3.0 event at the Mars Discovery District in downtown Toronto. I am not a writer. I am a developer and a designer so be patient and enjoy the pretty pictures.

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Brad Cressman Head of Content, AOL Canada

We are in an age of disruption

  • Media has been upended. Screens, economics, distribution all are rapidly changing and evolving how consumers connect with media.
  • Not just disruptive, it’s additive, it’s addictive.

Video is disrupting TV

  • Online video advertising  spend and mobile video views are rapidly escalating.
  • 47 is the average age of traditional TV viewers.

Culture is storytelling, and it is evolving.

  • Simplify the Internet for consumers. Connecting the buyers of “code” with collectors of culture.

Some examples of great branded video content.

A few examples of non traditional advertising were shown to illustrate how you can tell a great story first and worry about the product second.

Cheerios #howtodad
http://youtu.be/6GYxH2-WeZY

This is a great example of storytelling and connecting with your audience by having a discussion that is not product centered.

Dollar Shave Club 

A great example about how a small budget and a new direction can allow interesting content to reach millions of potential customers.

Consumer views on Branded content.
One of the more interesting takeaways I had was as he brought up some research on public opinion around branded content. User experience is always something that comes up when discussing branded content, I thought it was great that it basically boiled down to:

Do you care if content is branded?

Answer: I don’t care, if it’s good.

Keep in mind that it is always important to be transparent, make sure the user knows what they are reading. The fact that the consumer doesn’t mind should make it easier to make it clear where the content originated or where it came from.

Some Twitter  wrap up 

 

https://twitter.com/aolca/status/531823142357180417

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Jim Love, Chief Content Officer, IT World Canada

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Jeff Radecki
Jeff Radecki
Web designer and developer of IT World Canada. Skilled in WordPress, Photoshop, mobile, SEO, and social media.

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