Lights! Camera! Brand action!

If it's Madonna driving BMWs in films funded entirely by BMW that you're looking for, then it's your lucky decade.

The next 10 years will be marked by the rise of "branded content" whereby advertisers either create or distribute entertainment to woo consumers and create credibility.

That's the view, at least, from one of the founders of the London-based Branded Content Marketing Association, a new international body that is in discussions to set up in Australia in the next month.

Since BMW launched its series of free, short films in 2001 in which high-profile directors were given a budget and an open brief, as long as it featured a BMW car, bmwfilms.com has seen more than 70 million downloads.

It is exactly the sort of result American Express was looking for when it recently commissioned Jerry Seinfeld to produce a new mini-episode exclusively for AmEx's website.

Branded content is racing up the corporate interest charts and Claes Loberg, a founding member of the association and the chief executive of "branded entertainment" group Cocojambo in London, said Australia would be at the front of the global trend.

"BMW makes films, Coke sells music, Nike makes video games and Heinz creates TV," Mr Loberg said. "Branded entertainment is here and growing. I know over the past six years working between Australia, the US and the UK, Australia is going to be an interesting hub.

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