The year ahead for ... content.

Mark Whelan predicts that, in these difficult times, finding ways to entertain and reward consumers will become a priority for brands.

Times must be changing. An invitation to write a piece solely on branded content in adland's bible. Alright!

In fairness, coverage dedicated to branded content has increased in the past couple of years as more and more clients have experimented with the idea. Why are they interested? The media proliferation argument is an obvious one, but the more qualitative angle is more interesting. There's a refreshing wind blowing through (certainly our own) clients' view of their brands - humility. Clients are talking about customers rather than consumers. The language they use is becoming more human. Brands such as Innocent pioneered the notion of talking to people, as people. Even its copy is becoming a bit twee and try-hard, but it does understand relationships, and a relationship is the key to branded content. If you have a relationship, you give your customers what they want.

I have always maintained that great TV advertising is still some of best branded content around. Thing is, there is just so little of it. And, ultimately, it's one-way. I remember years ago when I worked with Rich (Flintham) and Andy (McLeod), they said they liked the idea of being in millions of living rooms in one evening. Nowadays, most ads feel like unwelcome intruders. How outdated do the ones that tell people that 'life's good' or to 'be' something sound? I know, I'm guilty of 'Evian: live young' (but only because it rhymed when said in an 'Allo 'Allo! accent and it was years ago).

The very premise of branded content is the notion of a brand creating a property of genuine interest for its customers. For it to work, it must harmonise the complex relationship between brand, customer, the content and the medium. Burger King + Seth MacFarlane + web animation + burger-hungry teenagers + no fear = JACKPOT! A genius follow-on from the Cannes Lion-winning gaming initiative.

Clients are much more focused and forensic in their investigation of the relationship. Digital has helped hugely in this. It has taken centre stage - as it has to be, as consumers are one click away from information, choice and price-checking. That is why digital is at the heart of most branded content. That is why companies such as Nike are increasingly creating a core content idea that lives digitally and then use advertising to make it famous. I don't mean awareness, I mean fame - 'this thing is so good, we made an ad about it'. The challenge for ad agencies in these hard times will be to prove that an ad campaign is more, or at least equally, effective at driving click-through than online advertising and outreach. I remember the last recession and the argument that strength and profile of brands is even more important. But now we are AD (after digital).

So, if digital's near future is looking even rosier, what of the young pretender: branded content? Well the rationale remains unshakeable: the strengthening of the relationship, through an engaging property, that is the embodiment of the brand. The question, as always, is over measurement. We don't have the industry standard; our proof points are a bespoke hybrid of media evaluation, PR coverage, online activity, live feedback and tracking data. Clients that make the leap rarely regret it, but they need the backing of bosses with the same intuition and courage What we have found is that repeat business is not an issue; once a client has created a content campaign, it wants more. Orange Playlist ran for three series, which is unprecedented for most TV shows per se, let ...