Entertainment: unleash the power of your content to make the most of media

By Dom Draper, Media Account Manager

Great creative can be difficult and expensive to get right. But many entertainment advertisers are fortunate to be sitting on a wealth of great ready-made content. Photos, films and artwork featuring exciting productions and great talent can all be put to good use in advertising. But too many entertainment advertisers are not making use of what they have at their fingertips and as a result are not are getting the most from their media.

Here are six things that entertainment advertisers can do to unlock the creative potential of their media:

Plan ahead and work with your partners (producers, distributors etc) to get all of that content so it can fuel your media strategy. Book media as early as possible. Not only does it allow access to better opportunities but it also gives more time to ensure the creative is right. All too often we find that creative is the last piece of the puzzle, delivered right on deadline, rather than being the inspiration for what media gets booked.

Make best use of your creative assets. Be confident with graphic designers and videographers. As marketers we know what to show audiences to get them to buy a ticket. All too often we receive video advertising that is simply too long. If you’ve not grabbed the audience’s attention in the first few seconds, you’ve lost them. Make sure your videographers are fully briefed on what advertising formats you’ll be running and what you need each edit to achieve.

DOOH is your real-world media partner. There are great opportunities to use the latest digital out-of-home sites to share your content with your target audiences. While static OOH is still the norm for many advertisers, more are now experiencing the engagement potential of digital. However, we regularly receive creative that is a re-hash of the static artwork. DOOH gives you the option of animation, so make best use of your amazing video content.

Make the most of digital – unlock the power of YouTube with your video content.

The engagement power of video has been known for a while now and it almost always outperforms static creative. And YouTube’s media performance continues to improve at a rate that outpaces a lot of other platforms. In fact, many major advertisers are now diverting budget away from TV to YouTube. It’s a great awareness platform for entertainment advertisers and it importantly also delivers fantastic results in terms of consideration and even action.

You can afford TV through VOD and the results are great. Whilst traditional TV advertising can be surprisingly affordable, unfavourably large coverage areas mean that the wastage is simply too high for most entertainment advertisers. However, VOD gets round this through smart geo-targeting, together with other demographic and interest-based targeting. And, as more VOD is watched on the TV screen – we’re now seeing 80% of impressions served on the main screen – you’re getting something very close to a traditional TV buy but without the high entry costs.     

And, be curious about what’s working for other advertisers. All sectors can sometimes find themselves in a bit of a bubble, repeating the tried and tested rather than going for something new. Look at advertising in the real world, from different types of advertisers, and think about what works and what doesn’t. What drives attention and what doesn’t, it will likely provide great ideas and inspiration.

Photograph courtesy of Marc Brenner