This is our fifth year compiling the top branded content partnerships and it's inspiring to see how far the industry has come. Branded content started a decade ago as a fledgling product offered by a handful of publishers. Fast forward to today and 88% of publishers derive revenue from branded content.
This year was particularly special for us here at Pressboard, as we joined forces with impact.com, the world's leading partnership platform for brands and publishers. We are excited to bring together our synergetic technologies, domain expertise, and most importantly our incredible publishing partners as the industry continues to shift towards audience-centric formats like branded and commerce content.
The future of publishing has never been more promising.
You can find all of this year's finalists at Pressboard Inspire, a searchable database of over 500 of the world's top branded content programs. In this post, we highlight 15 of the top-performing campaigns from each category that stood out for their performance, production value, originality, partnership fit, and the deep value they provide to audiences.
Here are the Top Branded Content Partnerships of 2022.
Note: Ranking any type of creative work is incredibly difficult. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder as they say. Pressboard receives hundreds of submissions, in addition to the thousands of campaigns that are measured through Pressboard Studio software each year. Campaigns are evaluated using a 50-point system. Points are awarded for audience value, originality, production value, partnership fit, and performance. Without a doubt, there are other campaigns that deserve to be on this list. If you have a great branded content campaign, we welcome submissions for future consideration through Pressboard Inspire | Submit a Story.
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Top Partnership - Performance
Publisher: The Zoe Report (BDG)
Advertiser: Walmart
The Zoe Report is a destination made for women who live and breathe personal style, making it the perfect partner to showcase Walmart's selection of fashion and home styles. This series features over a dozen shoppable articles and is the highest-performing content program of 2022 as measured by Pressboard Analytics.
See the other finalists for
Top Performing Partnerships on
Pressboard Inspire.
Top Partnership - Production Value
Publisher: FORTUNE
Advertiser: Salesforce
Produced by FORTUNE Brand Studio and Salesforce, "The Ecopreneurs" is an all-new, ongoing video series created to run on the new Salesforce+ video streaming platform. The series employs documentary-style filmmaking to demonstrate a global commitment to climate action while appealing to audiences outside traditional B2B areas. Sustainability and entrepreneurship are top of mind for both the Fortune and Salesforce audiences, and our goal was to show how businesses are solving some of the greatest challenges of the climate crisis. The pilot episode, “SeaTrees,” garnered more than 3.3 million views during its promotional run and averaged more than six minutes of watch time, which is greater than 50% of the episode. The Ecopreneurs is a leader in total watch time and average watch time among Salesforce+ shows.
See the other finalists for
Top Production Value Partnerships on
Pressboard Inspire.
Top Partnership - Partnership Fit
Publisher: Outside
Advertiser: Stillhouse
The challenge: Celebrate the pairing of summer adventure and Stillhouse spirits with content that evokes the fun of the season and the character of the brand. The solution: a high-energy, visually dynamic mix of tips and tricks that captures both in one seamless campaign. An interactive hub serves as the campaign's content anchor, encouraging readers to explore the wide-ranging advice in a playful way while incorporating rStillhouse products. In addition, we integrated a social campaign produced by the Outside Creator Network, as well as a sponsored editorial package (The Modern Guide to Camping) that aligned with the content hub. The result is a multichannel campaign that served audience and partner alike, and made for a one-stop planning resource for summer outdoor adventure.
See the other finalists for Top Partnership Fit Partnerships on Pressboard Inspire.
Top Partnership - Audience Value
Publisher: Hearst StoryStudio
Advertiser: Fannie Mae
Most of us don’t often think about our credit score. Some of us don’t even know whether we have one or not. But we should. While our minds are not always concerned with our credit history, that number is always with us, following us through our financial lives. And it’s not just important when we want to make big purchases like buying a home or car. Your credit score could keep you from getting low interest rates and bring you higher insurance premiums. So, what even is a credit score? And how do you establish good credit history and keep it? This hub has all the answers and more to give yourself the credit you’ll need to succeed.
See the other finalists for Top Audience Value Partnerships on Pressboard Inspire.
Top Partnership - Originality
First Winters: Globe and Mail + Destination Ontario
Publisher: Globe and Mail
Advertiser: Destination Ontario
The first time you step outside when it’s snowing, it’s magic. But for locals in places like Ontario, the winter season can often be uninspiring at best, or a miserable nuisance at worst. To reignite the feeling of awe around the winter season, we partnered with Destination Ontario to tell the stories of newcomer Canadians experiencing their first winters in Ontario, with all the whimsy and wonder that comes with it. We identified three newcomer Canadians, each from a different country of origin, who told their “first winter” stories to our writers. Then we hired three illustrators, newcomers themselves from the same places, to depict those stories in their own unique artistic styles. An animator brought them all to life so that the user was fully immersed in each story. We wrapped each piece with recommendations for winter adventuring across the province to encourage readers to recreate those wondrous experiences for themselves.
See the other finalists for Top Originality Partnerships on Pressboard Inspire.
Top Partnership - Arts & Entertainment
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Publisher: Narcity
Advertiser: Coors Light
This summer, Coors Light turned to Narcity to help inspire Canadians to take some time back for themselves, turn notifications off, and discover the unofficial spots that make their cities the best places to live in the world. We’ve all heard the age-long piece of advice, “travel like a local”. What people really mean by this is that you should avoid the mainstream tourist attractions and find the spots the locals actually go to. With the Official vs Unofficial Campaign, Coors Light and Narcity compiled and spotlighted the “unofficial” spots to “officially” experience three Canadian cities. Through a dynamic and interactive digital experience, content series, Instagram carousels, co-branded banners, pre-roll, and two custom videos, we generated high overall brand awareness and strong engagement for Molson Coors. In total, we generated almost 60,000 unique page views for the 12 articles and gathered over 7M social impressions!
See the other finalists for
Top Arts & Entertainment Partnerships on
Pressboard Inspire.
Top Partnership - Health & Wellness
Publisher: SheKnows
Advertiser: Pampers
Every parent remembers finding out when they were pregnant and learning their due date. It’s often assumed that there is so much joy in counting down to baby’s arrival, but for Black women, the journey to their due date is often wrought with health risks because of a system that fails them —– and that fear steals the fullness of their joy. In the U.S., Black moms are 3x more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than their counterparts, and 60% of all maternal deaths are preventable. Pampers and SheMedia launched a program during Black Maternal Health Week that highlighted this problem with real women and real statistics. The content was widely read and watched and continues to resonate with our audience months after the campaign ended.
See the other finalists for
Top Health & Wellness Partnerships on
Pressboard Inspire.
Top Partnership - Business & Industrial
Publisher: CNBC
Advertiser: Salesforce
“The Shift” is a documentary-style branded content television series spotlighting seven Salesforce enterprise clients as they evolved their business practices to adapt to changing landscapes with the help of Salesforce's innovative technology. This seven-part series positions Salesforce as a premiere enterprise strategy partner by convincing high-growth, high-profile companies (and Salesforce customers) to allow viewers behind their PR Team's steel curtain and into the decision-making process that led their organization to success. The paid programming series, a first-of-its-kind for CNBC, aired at 2:30pm EST on CNBC for nine consecutive Saturdays and was, furthermore, extended to CNBC.com, Peacock, and Salesforce+.
See the other finalists for
Top Business & Industrial Partnerships on
Pressboard Inspire.
Top Partnership - Home & Garden
Publisher: The Spruce
Advertiser: Sherwin-Williams
Sherwin-Williams wanted to focus on storytelling around hues and colors without overtly focusing on paint, so we decided to drill down into what makes color so impactful in our day to day lives, something we all share: memory. Maybe it was the deep blue of the ocean in your hometown or the rusty orange of your first car. Each sense memory affects who we are today, how certain colors make us feel, and what colors we’re drawn to. Here, we created a true one-of-a-kind interactive digital destination. Using unique parallax scrolling, this bespoke user quiz generates a Sherwin-Williams color recommendation based on your memories and nostalgic imagery to align the brand firmly with the shades you’re drawn to (and why) for your next project.
See the other finalists for
Top Home & Garden Partnerships on
Pressboard Inspire.
Top Partnership - Shopping
Publisher: Today's Parent
Advertiser: Mastermind Toys
Each winter Today's Parent publishes its annual toy guide to help parents choose the best holiday gifts for their kids. For the second year in a row, Today's Parent partnered with Mastermind Toys, the publication's official play partner. Building off the success of the partnership in 2021, Mastermind Toys is the exclusive retail partner for the Today’s Parent 2022 Toy Guide, which features almost 100 of the season’s latest must-haves. It also includes favourites from Mastermind Toys’ new namesake private brand collection launched this year, all tested by Canadian kids and families. The digital version of the toy guide is a dynamic and fun hub where users can find all the toys featured in the print issue, organized by age, and can click through to shop.
See the other finalists for
Top Shopping Partnerships on
Pressboard Inspire.
Top Partnership - Food & Drink
Publisher: USA Today
Advertiser: Texas Gulf Seafood
October was National Seafood Month — and what better way to celebrate than with a homemade seafood dinner? Grab your fruits and veggies, add some seasoning and spices, and discover a few simple flavorful recipes you can make with the ingredients in your fridge.
This campaign was a collaboration between Gannett's GET Creative studio, Texas Gulf Seafood and their agency
Strategar.
See the other finalists for
Top Food & Drink Partnerships on
Pressboard Inspire.
Top Partnership - Sports
Publisher: Yahoo
Advertiser: Degree
Degree partnered with Yahoo to help launch the "Bracket Gap Challenge," one of the largest women's basketball bracket promotions in the history of March Madness®, to help raise awareness for the NCAA Women's tournament and further the mission for gender equity in sports. Yahoo created an off-platform Bracket Challenge hub and contest for Degree® to host. The campaign included a branded content series on Yahoo Sports highlighting women in basketball to share their personal perspectives on equity in sports and to educate users on the best tips and tricks when entering a bracket challenge. Additionally, Degree sponsored key Yahoo Sports March Madness programming and high-impact media takeovers.
See the other finalists for
Top Sports Partnerships on
Pressboard Inspire.
Top Partnership - Finance
Publisher: Vox Media
Advertiser: Tezos
The story of blockchain technology today is a story of two consensus mechanisms: Proof of Work and Proof of Stake. Both mechanisms are widely used by the largest blockchains, and both are proven to safely secure the networks, but they are fundamentally different. This explainer video breaks down the difference in an instantly appealing way through the metaphor of a classic 8-bit video game, showing how the Proof of Stake consensus mechanism uses only a fraction of the energy used by Proof of Work. Making the complicated comprehensible is the goal of an explainer, and almost nothing could benefit from more clarity than blockchain!
See the other finalists for
Top Finance Partnerships on
Pressboard Inspire.
Top Partnership - Internet & Telecom
Publisher: Adweek
Advertiser: Twitter
Think Gen Z doesn't use Twitter? Think again. The generation of social media natives accounts for 33% of all Tweets in the U.S., more than any other generational segment. During the first half of 2022 alone, Gen Z posted more than 2.5 billion Tweets. Using exclusive research from the Twitter Conversation Report, this immersive story created by the Adweek Branded content studio identifies the key trends related to Gen Z's Twitter use and highlights how brand marketers can put this intelligence into action.
See the other finalists for
Top Internet & Telecom Partnerships on
Pressboard Inspire.
Top Partnership - Travel
Publisher: BBC
Advertiser: Tourism Montreal
Whether it’s Montréal or Québec City, the Laurentians or the Outaouais, as the seasons shift there’s much to explore in the beautiful regions of Québec! This branded series beautifully showcases various regions in the province of Québec: travelers can delight in new experiences, ranging from concerts, museums, and culture to relax the mind, to off-the-beaten-path outdoor adventures such as hiking, cycling, and camping to awaken the spirit, to gastronomic delights to whet the appetite. Whatever your desired vibe or atmosphere, you’ll find it in these regions in Québec!
See the other finalists for
Top Travel Partnerships on
Pressboard Inspire.
Thank you again to the hundreds of publishers and brands who submitted incredible work for consideration. To check out all of the finalists, use the Search function on Pressboard Inspire.
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