Content as Advertisement

1. Content as Advertisement
Why Red Bull is Paying People to Jump From Space

2. Traditionally advertisers would resort to
middle men to deliver billboard
advertisements. In the digital age these have
taken the form of social media platforms such
as Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.

3. Targeted advertising exploded across
the net, where the average user
would come across 1,700 banner ads a
month. [1]

4. Banner advertising lacked the ability
to reliably draw customers in, with
only 8% of viewers choosing to click
on display ads. [1]

5. By 2011, YouTube and Facebook promotions became cornerstone examples of advertisers failing to connect with the customer.
[2] [3]
By 2011, YouTube and Facebook promotions became
cornerstone examples of advertisers failing to connect
with the customer. [2] [3]

6. Many Social media platforms
began to lose active users,
while some failed entirely. [2]

7. The perceived value of traditional
advertising methods decreased, and
marketers scrambled to improve their
advertising process. [4]

8. “[Advertisers] could pay $600,000 to promote
[themselves], and be rewarded with thousands of
new likes and follows from bots, spammers and
scammers – and no ROI to show for it.”
-Sherice Jacob, Web Design Consultant [5]

9. This change in paradigm is creating
massive uncertainty in traditional
banner-based targeted advertising.

10. Uncertainty is bad for investment,
Lack of investment is bad for business.

11. Advertisers are turning to self-
published content in a time of increasing
uncertainty. Traditionally advertisers
would resort to middle men to deliver
content. [6]

12. Meanwhile, some brands experimented with in-
house promotion by creating desirable content
that users would seek out on their own. [6] [7]

13. For example, hundreds of applications and games
exist for the purpose of passively promoting a
brand’s image to a compliant user. [6]

14. Company-owned advertising cuts out the
middle man, saving advertisers money.

15. Red Bull’s Media Empire has become the envy of
the advertising industry, as many describe the
company as “a publishing empire that also
happens to sell a beverage”. [8]

16. “Our goal is to establish a global media network,
which covers all individual segments, such as
print, TV, mobile, music, and new media. It will
be the responsibility of the Red Bull Media House
to produce and distribute all the content Red Bull
is able to provide.”
-Dietrich Mateschitz, Red Bull CEO [9]

17. Creative solutions to consumer apathy
are being developed. The concept of
“blockbuster” advertising is making a
comeback.

18. Red Bull’s Stratos
Mission attracted
over 8 million
viewers on its
YouTube Stream
alone, and became
a popular
conversation topic
for weeks [10]

19. Successful advertiser owned content is
desirable to consumers because it adds
perceived value to their lives, and can
act a way to connect with others.

20. In 2016, Content Marketing is now the
go-to method of advertising for brands
looking to build recognition, gain
conversion, and achieve higher spots
on search engine rankings. [11]

21. Photo References (In order of slides)
• 1. Unsplash Commons, City Marketing Lights Night. 2016. Pexels CC0 Collection. Pexels. Internet. March 3rd 2017.
• 2. Wikimedia Commons, Advertising on the side of buildings, col. Condesa Hipódromo, Condesa, 2017, Mexico City. Wikimedia Commons. Internet. March 3rd 2017.
• 3. Pascale PirateChickan. aaAAAaaaaAhhHhHhHh!!. 2008. FGR. Flickr. Internet. March 3rd 2017.
• 4. Wikimedia Commons, Daveness 98 - Billboard Study, col. 2017, Mexico City. Wikimedia Commons. Internet. March 3rd 2017.
• 5. Wikimedia Commons, Facebook New Logo, col. 2015. Wikimedia Commons. Internet. March 3rd 2017.
• 6. Wikimedia Commons, Ad-tech London 2010, col. 2010. Wikimedia Commons. Internet. March 3rd 2017.
• 7. No Photo
• 8. Pixabay Commons, One Dollar Bills. 2016. Pixabay CC0 Collection. Pexels. Internet. March 3rd 2017.
• 9. No Photo
• 10. Pictures of Money. Investment Growth. 2014. Pictures of Money. Flickr. Internet. March 3rd 2017.
• 11. No Photo
• 12. Pixabay Commons, Woman Typing Programming. 2016. Startup Stock Collection CC0 Collection. Pexels. Internet. March 3rd 2017.
• 13. 3dman_eu. Untitled. 2013. CC0 Public Domain. Pixabay. Internet. March 3rd 2017.
• 14. No Photo
• 15. Wikimedia Commons, Red Bull Racing factory south-west, col. 2014. Wikimedia Commons. Internet. March 3rd 2017.
• 16. Wikimedia Commons, Red Bull Energy Drink, col. 2016 Wikimedia Commons. Internet. March 3rd 2017.
• 17. Wikimedia Commons, Umbrella Lineup, col. 2009 Wikimedia Commons. Internet. March 3rd 2017.
• 18. Deoman56. Red Bull stratos – freefall 4. 2012. Red Bull Stratos. Flickr. Internet. March 3rd
• 19.-24. No Photo

22. References
• [1] K. Saleh, "Invesp," 2016. [Online]. Available: http://www.invespcro.com/blog/effectiveness-online-advertising/. [Accessed 3 March 2017].
• [2] D. Wallace, "R.I.P. – Top 10 Failed Social Media Sites," 2013. [Online]. Available: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/r-i-p-top-10-failed-
social-media-sites/57554/. [Accessed 3 March 2017].
• [3] M. Rosenwald, "The digital media industry needs to react to ad blockers … or else," 2015. [Online]. Available:
http://www.cjr.org/business_of_news/will_ad_blockers_kill_the_digital_media_industry.php. [Accessed 3 March 2017].
• [4] M. Bonchek, "Making Sense of Owned," Harvard Business Review, pp. 2-4, 2014.
• [5] S. Jacob, "Here’s What Happens When Facebook Advertising Fails," 2014. [Online]. Available: https://blog.kissmetrics.com/when-facebook-
advertising-fails/. [Accessed 3 March 2017].
• [6] S. Matrix, Film 240: Media and Culture Module 2 Lecture 01, Promotional Media and Analyzing Adverts, Kingston: Queen's Universoty,
2017.
• [7] C. Toole, "Brands As Publishers: Inside the Content Marketing Trend," Curve, 2017.
• [8] J. O'Brien, "How Red Bull Takes Content Marketing to the Extreme," 2012. [Online]. Available: http://mashable.com/2012/12/19/red-bull-
content-marketing/#bN0LJ04f.5qV. [Accessed 3 March 2017].
• [9] T. Iezzi, "Red Bull CEO Dietrich Mateschitz On Brand As Media Company," 2012. [Online]. Available:
https://www.fastcocreate.com/1679907/red-bull-ceo-dietrich-mateschitz-on-brand-as-media-company. [Accessed 3 March 2017].
• [10] C. Smith, "Red Bull Stratos YouTube Live Stream Attracts Record Number Of Viewers," 2012. [Online]. Available:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/14/red-bull-stratos-youtube_n_1965375.html. [Accessed 3 March 2017].
• [11] L. Podlog, "Content Marketing vs. Native Advertising: What’s a Better Value?," The Daily Egg, p. 1, 2016.