[Video] When is that logo on your video content a turn-off?

Jessica Hubbard, Deputy Editor; 12 January 16

There is an ongoing debate around the size and placement of logos in video content marketing, and no proven formula for success. During a recent visit to South Africa, Jenni Romaniuk, Research Professor at the revered Ehrenberg Bass Institute in Australia, weighed in on the discussion with some evidence-based opinions…

In her view, the essential element with content marketing and branding is ‘knowing who it’s for.’

“The brand needs to be part of that equation, otherwise it is just content…and like a TV ad, if you don’t know the brand it’s just a little 30 second movie,” she says. “So you can write good stories, but to have an effect for the brand, it needs to be linked to the brand…”

She adds that this doesn’t mean that people will be turned off the story (simply because there’s a brand or logo in place) – ‘just as people aren’t put off by [branded] viral videos if the quality is good’.

“A well branded video will be shared just as much as something poor, so there’s no need to tone down the branding.”

Romaniuk states that when it comes to logos, it’s about ‘prominent branding’ and not ‘more branding’.

“There are execution tactics that work and that grab our attention for the brand…placing a watermark at the bottom of the screen is not one that works, and there’s a considerable body of evidence that actually shows this,” she adds.

Content Management

Romaniuk notes that audiences are ‘more fragmented than ever’ nowadays, and this is becoming a major challenge for marketers.

“There’s no easy solution – but the question of ‘what audience do you want to find’ is usually what trips up marketers,” she adds. “And the audience you want to find is anyone that buys in your category…”

Although one needs to take into account the LSM, location, and various other factors, she warns against going ‘too narrow’ with marketing and missing out on category buyers.

“…hitting the same person within a short period of time – with the same advertising – is ineffective content management,” Romaniuk cautions.