How has online branded entertainment changed since Fallon did BMW Films?
A.There’s been kind of a stampede lately into this area: branded content or branded entertainment. It reminds me a bit of way back in the Bill Bernbach era of advertising, when there was all this square, un-hip corporate-speak advertising. Then all of a sudden the Volkswagen ads showed up and said, “Think small.” Right after that, there was this stampede of people saying, “We can be hip too”. Dodge ads were trying to speak the lingo. It was just painful. Most of this stuff is very forgettable, very ignorable. It dies a quiet death. The big idea is not the shape of the container. It’s what goes in it. We did BMW Films back before there was a label called “branded entertainment.” It was the right thing to do for the client. We’ve since been very selective [in our use of it]. Look, the :30 spot has existed for decades. The format didn’t change, but the content and quality of ideas varied dramatically. The same thing’s happening today with branded content. Q.What are the notable trends you
