The branded content invaders are coming.

By Gonzalo López Martí     LMMIAMI.COM

• If you’ve been watching Stephen Colbert &/or Jimmy Falllon as of late you guessed it already: branded content and product integration is where the money will be at in the future.
• Marketing dollars will increasingly be spent inside the shows.
• Campaigns will be built into the programming.
• As opposed to the sidelines of the commercial break.
• This is certainly not new.
• Been around since the beginning of marketing as we know it.
• But it’s coming back with a vengeance.
• And now for the bad news: if we ad folks don’t react pronto, if we don’t circle the wagons, like, right now, TV people are gonna ride the “branded content & product integration” horse into the horizon without us.
• At this pace, we will be Sancho Panza to their Don Quijote.
• Those TV folks are one ruthless bunch.
• They won’t hesitate for a second if & when they have an opening to eat our oatmeal.
• Let’s see what some long-time TV insiders have to say about the phenomenon.

This week: Gastón Fernández Volpe

Apart from being VP of Production & Operations at Intavision Media Productions ( www.intavision-media.com ), Mr. Fernández Volpe is at present the exec producer of Oppenheimer Presenta, the long-running political & current events talk show broadcast by CNN in LatAm and the US Hispanic Market. Oppenheimer Presenta reaches 60 million households in in the Spanish-speaking world**.

Let’s move on to the Q & A, yes?

–Mr. Fernández Volpe, do you see interest among your TV colleagues in the so-called “branded content” or “brand integration” territories?

Definitely. The last couple years most big networks have started their own “in-house agencies” to develop branded content initiatives for advertisers. It goes way beyond the good old practice of “product placement”. Networks are aggressively offering and executing original on-air & online content for clients.
It’s a natural reaction to our shifting lifestyles and media consuming habits. Except for some big live media events (sports, Academy Awards and the like) the so-called appointment viewing is over. We all “tivo” or stream our shows and skip the commercial breaks. Dish went as far as making this “commercial free TV” a built-in feature of their DVRs to automatically skip the ads. This is why brands are shifting away from the commercial break. They know they must be present inside the shows with original content that attracts the public and adjusts to its shifting media consumption habits.

–Have you been approached by advertisers to develop such initiatives?

Yes. We are in the process of producing ten branded content capsules for a blue chip advertiser, to be used nationally on Spanish-language station.
Most of these projects are also utilized on web & mobile. Snapchat seems to be the next big thing in the streaming & webcast realms.

–Do you think ad agencies have a role in the mix?

The ad agency of record usually has a role in the process but I know of several advertisers who are by passing their agencies to produce their branded content material dealing directly with TV insiders. They go straight to the source, the stations or TV production companies with experience in the field. Not sure whether it is a budgetary issue.

–Do you think clients truly understand what they’re getting themselves into or they just do it to out of sheer groupiness?

I don’t think it is groupiness or some sort of showbiz glitzy siren song. Brands have realized they must change and modernize their message and the way it is delivered. They must connect the dots directly, without beating around the bush. Today content consumers have more power and options than they ever did. Commercial messages simply cannot be an intrusion or interruption anymore. The message has to be delivered through engaging, entertaining storytelling.

–What is the ROI?

Branded content is generally cheaper to execute from a production standpoint than the average 30 second TV commercial. Plus.it has the advantage that it lives within the show, as opposed to fighting for attention during the commercial break. The viewer will naturally gravitate to a product or service that seamlessly associates itself with his or her favorite show. Apart from better, ROI is also faster.

–How do you measure –and put a price tag on- the thrill of seeing your brand basking in the pixie dust?

This is another advantage of branded content over traditional dvertising: there are multiple options to adapt the effort to any budget. As opposed to the finite nature of traditional advertising inventory, when it comes to integrating a brand into a show the whole logic becomes way more flexible and adaptable, it can fly first class or coach but there’s always a seat available.

**During his 11 years at the helm of Oppenheimer Presenta, Mr Fernández Volpe has produced interviews with world leaders and personalities such as Barack Obama, Alvaro Uribe, Juan Manuel Santos, Jimmy Carter, Fernando Enrique Cardoso, Cásar Arias, Alejandro Toledo, Jose María Aznar, Michelle Bachelet, Evo Morales, Ricardo Lagos, José Mujica, Vicente Fox, Enrique Peña Nieto, Ollanta Humala, Otto Perez Molina, Christine Lagarde, John Kerry, Ban Ki Moon, Shakira, Bill Gates, Deppak Choppra, Juanes, Oliver Stone, Maná, Paulo Coelho, Joe Arpaio, Isabel Allende, Mario Vargas Llosa, Fernando Botero, Sir Richard Branson, Alejandro Sanz, Paul Krugman, Donald Trump, Eckart Tolle, Muhammad Yunus, Rev. Alberto Cutié and much more, while handling weekly production coordination with US government agencies, universities and ONG’s like, BID, OEA, World Bank, IMF, OMS, PAHO, Department of State, Columbia University, MIT, Brookings Institute and more.

Mr. Fernández Volpe has also been director & exec producer with broadcast companies such as CNN, ESPN, Fox Sports, Fox Deportes, Rogers Sportsnet, Univision, Telemundo, GolTV, Concacaf, Gearhouse, PBS, Directv Latam, Televisa, TV Azteca, Caracol, RCN, Rede Globo, Mediapro, Imagina US, Plural Entertainment, Venevisión, Media Network (Telefónica), Torneos y Competencias, Traffic Sports, TyC Sports, CMI Colombia, Telefe, Artear , NBC’s Golf Channel and much more.

He also has 20 years in the sports broadcast field, covering the most important sports events. Concacaf Gold Cup 03/05/06/07, Copa Panamericana Directv, Copa Centroamerica TV, More than 100 International Friendlies in US, Major Concacaf Tournaments, Concacaf U-20 Championship 2005, Concacaf Olympics Qualifying 2008, FIFA World Cup Under 20 Argentina 2001, Conmebol Libertadores Cup, Argentinian Soccer League, FIFA World Cup Qualifying, IRB Rugby World Cup Seven Argentina 2001, Volley World League, ATP Master Series Miami, Ericksson Tennis Cup, PGA Tour and much more.

Last but not least, he exec produces and sometimes directs projects for Fortune 500 companies in the form of corporate videos, webcasts, live Q & A meetings, kick-off videos, media trainings, Live Satellite Media Tours, podcasts and vodcasts working close to CEO’s, COO’s, VP’s and several executives from companies such as UPS, FIBA, SAP, Oracle, Cisco, McDonalds, Blackberry, Brightstar, Bacardi, Citi, HSBC, Coca Cola, Janssen, Latin Trade, Development Bank of Latin America (CAF), Siemens, Skype, Johnson & Johnson, Janssen, Novartis, Diageo, Monsanto, General Mills, Winn Dixie, Pioneer, DHL, Ficohsa, Goodyear, Siemens, Chevron, Sony Broadcast, Google, Nokia, Barrick Gold, Dialogic, ATP, HBO, Directv, ESPN, México Tourism Board, United Nations and much more.