Branded entertainment as an experiential marketing tool to Generation Y consumers in South Africa

Abstract

Branded Entertainment is defined as the integration of brands and brand messages into entertainment vehicles. Branded Entertainment has evolved over the last eight decades to become a popular marketing practice worldwide and a multi-billion dollar industry, spanning several forms of media and entertainment. Several insights into the evolution of Branded Entertainment, how it is defined, the benefits and challenges for practitioners and the environmental factors affecting its use today are discussed in this report. The purpose of this research is to offer a greater understanding of the views of practitioners and consumers in South Africa on Branded Entertainment. This study presents the views of a sub-set of South African consumers towards Branded Entertainment. The sub-set of respondents is Generation Y consumers, born between 1980 and 2000. This group of consumers is believed to be marketing savvy, disloyal and difficult to reach with traditional marketing; at the same time, this group is important to markets due to their sheer size and spending power. The research methodology adopted was a mixed method approach. Twelve semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with marketing practitioners from agencies and representatives of brands that are involved in Branded Entertainment. The results were content analysed to identify key themes. For the quantitative study, 330 Generation Y respondents participated in a survey using a structured questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of 20 questions relating to views on Branded Entertainment. The data was analysed using factor analysis and multiple regression analysis. The research findings, based on interviews with practitioners, show that the main factors affecting the use of Branded Entertainment are media fragmentation; competitive forces; relevance to the target market; relevance to the brand; technology; target market; integration; authenticity; media convergence; lifestyle; adds value and brand world. Based on the quantitative study, the factors affecting the use of Branded Entertainment are better entertainment; lifestyle, fun; values; and the acceptability of branded entertainment as a paid exchange. Overall Generation Y was shown to have a positive view towards Branded Entertainment.