Presently branded entertainment in the United States is in its infancy.

This is particularly true of the broadcast television space. In the US, viewers of branded entertainment have grown accustomed to consuming entertainment on open networks such as YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. Projects in the broadcast space have typically taken place on broadcaster owned and operated platforms, which have significantly lower user adoption than open networks. These factors have made it difficult for broadcast-related digital projects to reach audience thresholds equal to those projects that are distributed on open platforms.In addition, because this project was related to a reality television program with voting there were strict fairness rules brought by the broadcaster to ensure that there was no perception of favouritism towards one contestant or another. This proves challenging when there are certain popular memes that emerge from the show over the course of the season that, if they are contestant-related, cannot be exploited unless it is applicable to all contestants.Additionally brands and show runners are pushing broadcasters to figure out ways to engage the rapidly growing audience for branded entertainment that exists. This confluence of pressures has brought about an environment that is ripe for experimentation.

The X Factor audience was drawn to the digital branded entertainment via:1.Social engagement: The largest driver of audience was social engagement. This included a dedicated social staff engaging with audiences and directing them to specific pieces of branded content.2.Broadcast messaging: The second largest driver was messaging during the broadcast. This included language and graphics that directed viewers to participate in any given number of branded entertainment properties throughout the season.3.Media buys: The final driver of audience was paid marketing that occurred at the beginning and end of the season to drive particular engagements.

From every perspective, the digital execution around the first season of The X Factor in the US was a terrific success. From an overall perspective, while the show was not a top-10 show in terms of viewership, it garnered the highest social interaction of any broadcast series in the US in 2011. From the broadcaster side, there were record-level spends on digital and all of the first season sponsors are returning for a second season. From a show runner perspective, there was a massive audience gathered to participate with the brand across all digital properties – over 2.5bn impressions over the course of 3 months. Finally, from a brand perspective there, there was massive audience engagement and traction within the digital ecosystem. According to BluefinLabs and AdAge, Pepsi saw a 41% brand lift in social conversations over the course of the season, Verizon saw an 18% bump and Sony Electronics saw their brand chatter rise by 9% during the season.