Last week I was searching for a video on YouTube and a video of a dancing teenage girl popped up. My daughter is a teenage girl, so yeah, I was interested! The three-minute video was about two teen girls and their long-distance friendship. I vaguely noticed that throughout the video the girls were video chatting using Skype. Then, at the final frame, the Skype logo appeared. It was a commercial for Skype! The story and product fit together so well that I had been “sold” on Skype before I even realized I was watching an ad. Is that the future… and the present… of advertising? Traditional commercials are still being shown, but now there are viral videos like the one I just described, and many other, perhaps less obvious methods. On this episode of Media Inside Out we explore the blurring line between entertainment and advertising. We explore the use of product placement, native advertising, branded content, and a few techniques you probably never realized were happening. Let’s go inside!
Episode 47 of Media Inside Out aired live on TUTV March 9th, 2020
Guests Included:
Josh Silverbauer – CEO/Optimizer Extraordinaire at Great Big Digital Agency
Nick Bailey – Brand Strategist at Brownstein Group