Philips gets the branded content thing right?

I think they might have. “Boyfriend?” is the first episode of Nigel and Victoria, the main characters in Philips’ stab at the genre du jour, and compared to recent efforts by other brands, the overall vibe feels mostly right. It’s an online series with Victoria Koblenko doing her own product review show. Ben Willbond’s Nigel is sent by the brand to make sure she stays on message. The show within a show theme isn’t new of course, but the way they pull off the product integration masquerading as its own review show works. Two things I’d do to it: Lose the Nigel has a crush on Victoria aspect and you still have a solid skit about a brand person ruining a shoot. (Where Ricky Gervais’ David Brent can’t help his boorish behavior, it feels out of place with Nigel.) I also wouldn’t mind if they toned down some of the music in each episode because it gets in the way, almost bordering on slapstick in parts. There are of course the requisite brand spankin’ new Twitter, Facebook and YouTube accounts with low numbers of followers/likes/views, so too soon to tell how much attention this will get.That I like it means probably not too many though. (Catch the other two episodes “It’s my film” and “Subdued” here.)

(Agency: Wenneker.tv.)