While the term “branded content” is widely used across the advertising industry, its definition is presently a work in progress. And without a concrete understanding of what the practice entails, the U.S. sector of the industry has, to date, been unable to establish official regulations in the same way that it has for traditional advertising models.

Regardless, organizations such as the Federal Trade Commission, the American Society of Magazine Editors, and the Interactive Advertising Bureau have respectively proposed ‘best practices’ for the creation and implementation of branded content. And while their opinions differ in numerous respects, one principle remains at the forefront of each proposition: that transparency is key to the success of content marketing.

As with traditional print, television, out of home, and even banner advertising, it has been proven that branded content must be utterly conspicuous in order to foster a relationship between the affiliated brand and audience that is grounded in trust.

And until a set of concrete regulations is created and enforced, it continues to be up to creative shops, themselves, to balance absolute creative freedom with the responsibility to self-regulate.

No one has ever explored and exposed the PMC world. VICE entered the world without a fear in site and met with infamous PMC players. The content we created spoke to our audience - who most likely will never have the chance to live outside the Call of Duty PMC experience.

The program was extremely successful because of our “discover approach”. VICE is known for creating compelling, outside-the-box content that challenges the conventions of traditional media - we went beyond just creating content. We discovered the story and utilize an imaginative and unconventional strategy. “Super Power for Hire” hit close to 2.1MM YouTube video views and Call of Duty: Blacksmith was the top selling game title of 2014.