In the UK, Branded Content & Entertainment is not always a straight line for brands to follow.The BBC, for example, is not a commercial broadcaster and any implicit association with brands has been strictly prohibited. The boundaries are pushed through online support, but the commercial stations are more open to such relationships.

Traditionally branded entertainment has sat in Off Peak slots due to the production levels and associated costs of talent that peak viewing demands. OFCOM who oversee the regulation of such areas of content impose restrictions on the number of visual and verbal mentions that can be attributed to a brand.The challenge is to create programming where the audience is happy to understand the transaction between content and the brand. Often the driving force in the space has been in sport and music; however, networks are becoming more open to other areas such as food & cooking and the like.Cobra needed a partner that could allow a more fluid, editorial style partnership, in a way that brand partnerships have not behaved before. The Guardian’s heritage, values and ambition aligned perfectly with Cobra’s intention of associating ourselves with contemporary culture in a credible, editorially sound way.

On the day of launch, the content featured on the front page of guardian.co.uk for 24 hours, and 4 hours on the most prominent slot: the ‘Superpixie’. This was seen by a global audience of 60m. The films now sit on the Mumbai ‘My City’ section in perpetuity.

We achieved this due to quality of content (editorially sound in terms of production values and aligning with key Guardian policies), representing nations and people from their own perspective and executing a model of 'Open Journalism’.

The collaborators also accessed their own networks, pushing people through to the guardian.co.uk.

The campaign only went live the week Cannes entries were due, so sales data is not yet available. However early signs are very promising:After 1 week, we’d amassed 72,000 total views of the Mumbai City Guide, including over 23,000 views of the videos themselves.2 weeks into the campaign, we have over 10,000 new fans on our Facebook page and 370,000 views on our Cobra YouTube page.At this point business measures are purely anecdotal, but we’re seeing increased interest from pub chains and customers and an upturn in sales.In The Guardian’s own words, “Working with Cobra and BMB is the first of The Guardian’s commercial/editorial ventures in this area but the result has been ‘a content-rich, multimedia, interactive proposition that has worked in a virtuous circle for all partners. Our audience have just loved it and they want more…”