Content marketing and promotional marketing can work together, argues Tim Tsung of Grey Shopper

Traditional advertising begins by delivering features, benefits, and a USP through a product story, then connecting them to people in a creative way. Branded Content focuses instead on finding the stories that would resonate with its audience, then creatively connects these concepts to their product. Or as Robert Rose explains more colourfully, “Traditional marketing and advertising is telling the world you’re a rock star. Content Marketing is showing the world that you are one.”

Essentially, as The Content Marketing Institute explains, companies consistently create and curate content in order to “attract and retain customers” (drive loyalty) and subsequently “change or enhance a consumer behaviour… with the objective of driving profitable customer action” (increase sales and save costs).

What this “Content” entails and what format it takes ranges from short films (e.g. Volvo’s Human Made Stories) to apps (e.g. McVitie’s iKitten).

“Content is King”

Bill Gates’ Microsoft focused on the software inside the computer as opposed to the hardware themselves. As such, when he declared that “Content is King” in 1996, he firmly believed that content would drive the success of the internet. In the same way, many brands use Content Marketing to drive their success by distributing what consumers really want to see and encouraging them to engage with the brand in a longer-lasting and more organic way, as opposed to simply “jam[ing]” their logo into your “periphery.” (Keith Blanchard).

Therefore, Branded Content is a more integrated approach to communications and as such, is much less intrusive on people’s lives. This is important as it makes the marketing more digestible and less-prone to being avoided outright by the consumer. Needless to say, if the content generates enough passion and entertainment, consumers will pay attention to the brand – “Content is King” only if the content is good, relevant and valuable.

A fine example of Branded Content is American Express’ OPEN Forum, labelled as the “Gold Standard” of Content Marketing. OPEN Forum owes its success to a perfect blend of quality content with a passionate community. On here, American Express provides small businesses with the advice they need to be successful and subsequently, became a destination for business owners to share ideas, seek guidance and develop plans. American Express clearly benefits from running OPEN Forum because the platform is the company’s #1 source of leads for new card members.

Implications for Promotional Marketing

Promotional Marketing is designed to “influence and incentivise sales or action.” Therefore, by definition, Promotional Marketing is enacted with a desired outcome in mind. On the other hand, Content Marketing is designed not to “pitch, but, rather, inform.” As such, it appears at first that Content & Promotional Marketing are at odds with one another.

Yet the implications for Branded Content are that it can add another dimension to Promotional Marketing. This is because brands are beginning to re-define “promotion” as meaning more than just “promoting” a product or action but rather, promoting the brand’s tenets, ideals and principles on a macro level.

An often cited example is Red Bull’s Content Marketing strategy. From hosting live music in the London Eye’s pods (Red Bull Revolutions in Sound) to sponsoring cliff diving (Red Bull Cliff Diving), Red Bull’s activities and content all support, ladder up to and re-affirm its overarching brand principle of “Giving Wings.”

Red Bull’s Content Marketing may not directly increase sales as obviously as other forms of Direct Marketing but tellingly, Euromonitor reports that Red Bull is to energy drinks what Coca-Cola is to soft drinks, even though it sells at a 50% premium over other energy drinks. This is significant as Red Bull rarely runs price promotions or prize promotions, meaning its Content Marketing plays a big role in driving brand equity and making it desirable regardless of offers.

Tim Tsung is a Planning Account Executive at Grey Shopper

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Red Bull is launching a new free social media tool called Shout/out, which incorporates speed-reading techniques to turn users’ text into ‘flash card’ messages, removing the constraints imposed by, for example, Twitter’s 140-word character limit.

Shout/out launched to the public for the first time two weeks ago at GLA x LDN in Glasgow, which is part of Red Bull’s Music Academy UK Tour. Created by agency The Marketing Store, Shout/out is supposed to be “a new disruptive social media tool,” according to a launch press release, which continues: “The disruptive platform will be used as a fun and innovative way for fans, as well as Red Bull athletes and artists, to broadcast their experiences live from Red Bull events. Shout/out provides each post with unique standout, helping users words cut through the clutter of boring, uninteresting or sponsored posts and get noticed by fans and peers alike.”

Shout/out is completely customisable and works by letting users type in their message into the Shout/out platform on the Red Bull website, which can be found here: http://www.redbull.com/uk/en/music/stories/1331824298133/grime-a-side-semi-finals-dates. The tool then renders the words as an animated speed reading gif, where each word appears in rapid sequential order but is still readable by the human eye. Red Bull then gives users the option to customise the post with imagery before they share it online.

Chris Tyas, head of digital at The Marketing Store, says: “The need to express yourself and be heard is a key part of what makes us human. However, the full power and emotion of the written word is slowly being diluted as Facebook and Twitter specifically engineer their platforms to capitalise on promoted content, and in doing so reduce the impact of organic content. The Marketing Store and Red Bull decided to take a stand and reclaim social feeds for the consumers. We’re pleased to have worked with Red Bull to create this world first, to help people express themselves better, get noticed, and give their words wings.”

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Red Bull has launched a limited edition Gaming 4-pack linked directly to its biggest eSports event, Red Bull 5G.

Red Bull 5G offers consumers the chance to compete in five of the biggest online games around – Hearthstone, League of Legends, Project Cars, Rocket League and Street Fighter – and pits gamers from the North and South against each other.

The tournaments are being run for Red Bull by ESL Play, part of German based company ESL which organises e-Sport tournaments around the world.

The winners of the Red Bull 5G national finals will be taken on an all expenses paid trip to Japan.

Each pack will feature a unique code to redeem on www.redbull5g.com, which unlocks exclusive power ups and in-game add-ons. Red Bull says 25% of gamers consume energy drinks whilst gaming, with video gaming the third strongest association with Red Bull, just above music. 84% of gamers think Red Bull is a good or perfect fit for eSports.

With a growing number of console users, the UK market value alone is set to reach £3.9 billion in 2017.

The limited edition 4-pack runs across Energy Drink, Sugarfree and £4.49 Price Marked Packs and was meant to be in store from August 8th. The messaging on pack and POS will invite consumers to pledge allegiance to their region and battle it out to be crowned the best gamers in the UK.

Gavin Lissimore, Head of Category Marketing at Red Bull, comments; “This campaign will be pitting the best gamers from North against the best gamers in the South. When the campaign launched in the states with Destiny, a huge global game, we saw consumption of Red Bull whilst gaming double. In the UK, our customers Asda saw a 6.4 increase in average base sales for Red Bull, with the Destiny pack.”

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Red Bull Culture Clash limited can

Red Bull has launched a limited edition Culture Clash can to support its summer music event, Red Bull Culture Clash, which brings together four new crews and four new sounds in a showdown inspired by Jamaican soundclash culture.

The London event takes place in June, aimed at driving relevance and brand love for Red Bull with 18-24 year old consumers. From April 18th 2016, all Red Bull Energy Drink Cans will feature a limited edition design that includes striking visuals of the live Culture Clash, reinforced with in store POS. The event will also be supported with city wide advertising and sampling, while a competition on the Red Bull website offers fans the chance to win VIP tickets to the event.

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Red Bull is inviting entries for its Red Bull Can You Make It? 2016 challenge, where teams of university students from around the world have to make their way across Europe using only Red Bull cans as currency.

On April 12, 2016, 165 selected teams from across the globe will depart from one of the five starting points in Europe – Barcelona, Florence, Berlin, Edinburgh or Prague – to an as-yet undisclosed destination. Each team will be required to hand over their worldly possessions – cash, cards and personal phones – and will have just one week to make it to the destination more than 600 miles away.

Along the way they will exchange only cans of Red Bull for everything they need on the journey – food, a place to sleep, transportation to the next location and other adventures.

Teams will create their own route by visiting Checkpoints in European cities (where they will be tasked with Body & Mind Challenges), completing as many tasks of an Adventure List as possible, and posting photos and videos that build support among their on-line followers.

In the last Red Bull Can You Make It? challenge, 100 teams managed to complete the course, achieving objectives along the way including getting tickets to a Champions League match to catching a ride on a private jet.

To enter for the chance to be chosen as one of the teams, three friends who are all university students must make a one minute video explaining why they should be chosen and submit it at www.redbullcanyoumakeit.com, no later than February 14, 2016.

164 teams will then be chosen from 49 countries around the world. The number of teams seems to be dependent on the size of the country and/or market for Red Bull – so the US will field 18 teams, the UK, Germany and Italy 10 each, all the way down to countries like Panama, Macedonia and India, which all get one team each. National teams will be chosen depending on how much support they manage to get on social media.

There is an additional 165^th team selected by sponsors red Bull partners Contiki Travels, made up of previous Contiki clients – this team will not be able to win, as it will be featured on the Contiki website throughout the challenge.

The selected country teams will get their travel to the starting destinations and home, plus their participation in the challenge as prizes. The three members of the team which wins the overall challenge win an ultimate European Summer adventure; they will be Contiki Travel Ambassadors for a summer, travelling across Europe and experiencing a range of local attractions and entry to Red Bull events.

Each team will receive a Welcome Kit including a team mobile phone, a map, business cards for the Main Event, safety instructions, a backpack and a case of 24 cans of Red Bull. Competitors may only bring one extra backpack each (for clothing, personal care items, umbrellas, ID etc.). They will be required to hand over all other items they have with them, including laptops, mobile phones and other digital devices, credit cards, cash and so on, which will be looked after for them until they complete the challenge.

The winners will be determined by combining scores for three separate areas: their Social Points, based on their social media support during the challenge; their Checkpoints Points, based on how they perform in a range of challenges at Checkpoints in different European cities along their route; and their Adventure Points, based on their completion of a range of adventure challenges along their journey.

Teams will be able to collect more cans of Red Bull at the Checkpoints along the route to use as currency in their journey.

More details are available at www.redbullcanyoumakeit.com

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