Thin Line Between Advertising and Entertainment

Published March 27, 2014 at 7:45 am

When it comes to marketing campaigns, the lines between advertising and entertainment are becoming increasingly blurred every day. As brands compete for attention online, the ones who are able to provide an entertaining edge to their content will have an advantage over those who don’t.

In today’s world where you can pre-record television shows and fast-forward through advertisements, companies are striving to create ads that people will actually want to pay attention to. This especially applies to millennials, who get much of their content from the Internet where it’s especially easy to avoid advertising. However, due to the nature of social media and sharing, there’s also big opportunity for brands to reach this audience and resonate with them.

A recent article in Adweek discusses how the landscape of branded content is changing to look and feel more like entertainment. This trend represents an effort to grab and retain the attention of the millennial generation in the coming years. As brands compete for consumer attention, the challenge is to make your brand entertaining. Especially in a world of viral videos, a viral advertisement can garner millions of views. The goal is to inform as well as entertain and provide value, and those who accomplish this will have the upper hand.

Millennials aside, no one wants to sit through a boring advertisement. People don’t want to be annoyed by advertising, especially when they have the chance not to be. The more entertaining you can make your content, whether it’s an ad or another aspect of your marketing plan, the more likely it is that people will pay attention to it. Provide your intended audience with content of value, and you just might be able to hold their attention.