• by Naomi , Chris Young , July 29, 2008

Recently I was on vacation traveling around the Mediterranean by boat. What made the nautical journey special, in addition to being with close friends on turquoise waters with a literal boatload of hummus, was that we all left our cell phones, BlackBerries and laptops at home -- with the rule that we were "getting away from it all."

We unplugged from the rest of the world and created an environment wherein the only way to reach out and touch someone was to physically reach out and touch someone. It took some getting used to. Before we got to the airport we had all begun tumbling down the Kübler-Ross ladder of grief and loss over not being connected. We denied that we missed IMing our co-workers and associates and then grew angry that no one snuck an iPhone onboard the boat. When we found out someone did sneak an iPhone on board, we bargained with each other that watching just one webisode or vlog wasn't cheating. We were depressed (when the iPhone fell into the ocean in a drunken mishap) and finally we accepted we were on vacation and had to enjoy ourselves despite not having the Web. We all took solace, though, in not having to deal with the advertising.

For a group of Internet ad men though, some from the video production and distribution side, others from the agency side and others from the angel investment side, this notion precipitated worrisome conversation.

In varying degrees, we have all become addicted to using the Internet, and yet, the cost of being barraged by pre-rolls every three minutes is universally despised.

Being avid users and entrepreneurs of the web, the question we discussed from port to port was "How do marketers get users to stop hating and embrace their brands?"

Marketers want to spend time with their audiences and audiences want to be online devouring content. What more, at the same time that brand enthusiasts are devouring content, they're also sharing it with their friends.

If people enjoy the Web because it takes them somewhere away from their desk and lets them watch a concert on the other side of the world, plumps them down into first row seats at fashion show, or lets them sit in the control room during a shuttle launch, why can't advertisers be the ones to take them there?

For advertisers who know their audience, live streaming relevant events into video players around the web grabs eyeballs instead of poking them. Gallo could live-stream an international wine competition on travel sites, Pampers could live-stream Lamaze classes on baby sites, Vidal Sassoon could live-stream themselves making you (and themselves) look good on style sites, etc, etc. amen. Producing scripted shows that their audiences will clamor around would also play well for online marketers.

Ultimately what we were talking about was branded entertainment and how it can effectively capture a targeted audience's attention without disregarding the medium or the user experience.

Be it by creating a show or event that springs directly out of a brand's philosophy and messaging, integrating a product or logo in an existing show or event to illustrate the product benefiting people, or by sponsoring a show or event to demonstrate that the brand understands and values the same interests as their customers, marketers can inspire a digital ecosystem where the right users embrace what their brands are doing.

Advertisers and content, working together, and not side-by-side, in-front-of or on- top-of one another was the recipe we came up with (and ultimately had to write down on napkins) for success.

What are your thoughts?