ABSTRACT
In the twentieth century, media production was the preserve of a limited number of professional companies. Now brands and governments are prolific video content producers, as are over 3 billion content creators. This is a fundamental industry shift. Readily available digital production and distribution tools, plus algorithm-driven targeting enable production content at far larger and broader scale. Marketing content has expanded as a result. It spans the entire screen economy at scale – from TV advertising, through branded content, product placement, paid influencer/creator marketing, and video distributed by consumer-facing companies, charities and government bodies. In this chapter the hero/hub/hygiene model is explained, whereby brands determine the style and cadence of different tiers of content and distribution. So is the paid/owned/earned model of content distribution. Paid content is advertising. Owned content is on a brand’s own channels. Earned content is discussion of a brand’s output by third parties. Each approach has advantages and drawbacks, and the best option for a brand is usually a combination. Video marketing content is then mapped through the four key stages of media value creation. Development requires both B2B and B2C market research, a positioning strategy and creative ideas. Production requires finance, usually external to the production unit/agency. Distribution turns produced videos and paid/owned investment into market traction, including earned media. Monetisation turns eyeballs into stronger client and talent relationships, which realise value in terms of sales, further production work and equity uplift. The chapter ends with diverse examples of AI used in marketing content creation and distribution, from Brazil, Italy, Holland, China, the US and India.
