Dive Brief:
- Comedy Central is running a single piece of two-and-a-half-minute branded content once per month, according to CNBC. The cable channel's new branded content spots take up a full commercial break in lieu of a series of advertisements.
- The first branded content offering is titled "Handy," which lampoons the trials of professional hand modeling and features early partners including the jewelry retailer Zales and Joe's Crab Shack.
- The new approach partially aims to foster second-screen activity with viewers, Chris Ficarra, executive vice president of integrated marketing at Viacom Velocity, suggested to CNBC. "Our goal is to produce premium branded content that will keep viewers engaged on air and will compel them to share socially," he said in a statement to the publication.
Dive Insight:
Comedy Central's branded content experiment arrives as another indication that the realm of traditional TV advertising is entering a period of reassessment amid a trend toward cable cord-cutting and dipping ratings, particularly among younger viewers. Comedy Central targets a presumably young audience — the type of demographic group that has been shown to be averse to studio-quality, pointed brand messaging.
Longer-form, creatively-driven work might better connect in these areas. While viewers often tune out for a series of largely unrelated traditional TV spots, a full two-and-a-half-minute slot dedicated to creative that fits into the larger Comedy Central mold could hold attentions.
The hard push for social engagement might also provide Comedy Central with a stronger gauge of success for its efforts, and underscores the importance of cross-channel marketing, or engaging on more than one screen at a time.
The pivot away from traditional advertising is picking up traction across the media landscape. Native advertising, like branded TV content, is gaining steam with digital publishers, though some have struggled to implement and measure the format for their advertising partners.