Marketers have been warned that good branded content requires not just an idea or a good piece of content but also an understanding of the “magic” and craft that goes into making a highly effective piece of branded content.

Speaking to a packed room on a panel at Nine’s Big Ideas Store, Zara Curtis, IAG’s Director of Content, told the room that good branded content didn’t always come with a direct, tangible outcome that could be sold to the board or finance department.

“It’s a very brave client that goes into long-form content, because it’s not a process you control if you understand creativity and the process that goes into making it,” said Curtis. “It is full of risk. It doesn’t deliver an ROI that your CFO is going to sign off on, so a lot of things have to align before you can jump in.”

Nine’s Director of Powered, Liana Dubois, agreed and argued that brands need to think about the outcome they are after before they jump in.

“There are significantly more risks for advertisers investing in producing their own long-form content than benefits,” said Dubois. “But if done well and for the right reasons, by people who are experts in long-form content creation, it can give you a compelling platform to tell an amazing brand story, as long as it makes you feel something, be it that you laugh or cry.

“That brand story can then be converted into short form and amplified across a digital ecosystem, paid, owned, earned, etcetera, and it can probably also give you a little fodder for public relations.”

Hamish Turner, Nine’s Program Director, said there were lessons for brands in learning from professional content creators before they embark on the journey of creating content.

“When we commission a show there are three things we think about: Who is the audience? What is right for our brand, in that the stuff that works for Channel Nine doesn’t necessarily work for Seven or Ten? And who are the content creators? We’re lucky in working with the best content creators in the business.

“So for us, with branded content, it comes down to will this content engage and excite our audience? Does it fit our brand? Does it fit our platform? And do we have the best people making it?”.

Amid an industry revival in branded content, the moderator, Powered’s Sarah Stewart, asked the panel what they thought was driving the push.

Dubois replied: “There seems to be, in some pockets of the industry, a concern that in making traditional advertising – a great 30-second spot for TV or radio, a great ad for print or premium digital – somehow the effectiveness of that advertising is on the decline. That is not the case.

“The other thing happening is that there are pieces of content that have been produced which do have a brand at their core, or have had a significant role in changing culture, that brands are trying to lean into,” she said, citing the success of shows like The Queen’s Gambit, The Last Dance, or locally, LEGO Masters.

“Every brand wants that, but for most of them it isn’t possible.”

Nine’s Turner responded: “Also, most of them weren’t created with the brand in mind – they were created for an audience.

“The best brand-funded content is the one where you don’t even notice the brand. It is seamlessly integrated and just goes on the journey with the brand you are trying to sell.”

Curtis agreed, arguing that marketers need to work with professional content makers who understand the craft that comes with long-form content.

“Consumers do smell a rat (when you are trying to sell),” she said. “You have to look at your brand tone and brand essence, and then it’s over to the (content creators) to align our brand with the right show and the right message. That’s where the craft comes and the magic, and I don’t think it’s always obvious.”