- Increasingly, there is a blurring line between commercial spots and short, subtly branded films. It is becoming important to get your brands into what the consumers are interested to see rather than what you would like to say. For example, cable networks in the US are now working closely with brands and creating trailers for their content, as consumers are interested to see this, more than just TV commercials. For example, Heineken is the sole sponsor on Friday nights with IFC - a cable channel. IFC works closely with them to create a promo spot just before the programs declaring Heineken as the " Official beer of Friday nights". These brand promos kick-off just before the programs and is closely integrated with the programming. Or Target works with them on exclusive Monday night movie shows called "Cinema Red" named after Target's e-commerce site cinemared.target.com
Increasingly, brands need to get into the minds of consumers by being in formats that consumers are interested in watching and wanting to get engaged with.
The challenge for brands is to forget the old formats or get creative by designing new kinds of formats. Else, sooner or later brands will become 'mind-blind' amongst its consumers.