By Leta Baker

In late summer 2006, Ohio-based creative cooperative leftchannel was pulling in a respectable 200 hits per day on its website. Then the studio’s latest short film, an abstract 35-second piece titled “Blissful,” was released to Motionographer.com. Leftchannel.com received more than 12,000 hits. A portal in Spain picked up the piece. And Site visits soared past 100,000.

The brand takes a backseat.
“Product placement in a film like ‘Austin Powers,’ sure, that’s a form of branded entertainment,” says Rainer Ziehm of leftchannel. But there’s also an entirely different calibre of work bearing the branded entertainment name, one far more sophisticated—and entertaining. Creative short films produced by forward-thinking companies (and in some cases, their customers) are popping up all over the web. And the brands being promoted have a surprisingly understated presence.

“Branded entertainment is a way for marketers to take the high road, to rise above the rabble of commercials and appear to be patrons of the arts,” says Justin Cone, editor of Motionographer.com. “If the branding becomes too visible, the whole thing backfires and the brand looks like an evil puppeteer.”