There’s no sense in denying it and every sense in embracing it: 2015 is officially the year of content. Brands are maturing as publishers, audiences can spot the difference between beneficial and disruptive content, while technology is spurring agility.
The result is better content, delivering unforgettable experiences, that can be shared with simplicity, speed and scale.
Thanks to data, deeper evaluation, targeted social publishing and real-time distribution and analytics, we can play a hard-line with content wastage. Now more than ever, content can be efficiently used along the customer journey, allowing brands to cut through the white noise and help them to stand out.
Agencies who still plan campaigns over a period of months – coming up with content that has no distribution strategy – are wasting their client’s precious time and money. Brands who succeed where others fall are more active in the way they express themselves through content and more reactive to the response of audience. People expect to receive content that reflects and celebrates their interests, behaviours and values rather than pushes the brand messages regardless of the context.
Very few of us want to watch a repurposed TV advert online or be exposed to cheap short-form TV. To some extent, the good old days of branded content are over. People want their content to fit the environment of their choice – whether it’s on Vine, Instagram, YouTube or TV. What now matters is the relevancy of the content in the context of the audience.
In January, Havas teamed up with Universal Music Group to launch the Global Music Data Alliance, because we believe that the best way to make content more relevant is to increase the understanding of the people we’re aiming to reach. With such an alliance, we’re set on a path that will lead to profound insights on people, their passions and preferred brands. This marriage of data and insights will be used to guide previously untapped marketing opportunities for brands and artists alike.
Instinct used to be at the centre of every content decision. This is still true, but instinct can’t be used in isolation. Facts and behavioural insights accompany gut-feeling decision-making of matching a brand with a piece of content, an artist or a live event.
But it doesn’t stop there. Content marketing is not just for the bigger brands that work with big entertainment talent. Last week, Havas partnered with content marketing software company NewsCred to allow every single size of brand client to develop their own fully tailored content strategy in the most cost-effective solution.
NewsCred’s cloud-based software allows brands to place content at the heart of their strategy, reaching people with compelling and authentic stories, quickly and effectively. Thanks to a pool of more than 5,000 publishers directly available from the platform, a brand can instantly start engaging audiences on a topic it wants to own. All of a sudden, this turns dry and static corporate sites into platforms that are much more alive and sticky for consumers.
This impressive New York startup has created a simple way to understand how we can use content to build meaningful relationships with people. We all know that brands need more relevancy and consistency than ever. Our partnership with NewsCred provides our clients with the sort of agility and speed that can mean the difference between success and failure.
In 2015, content needs to be organic; it needs to self-propagate in line with the technology and the ever-exploding number of distribution channels. People nowadays – and I am especially referring to the millennial generation - understand the value of good content and recognise the benefits of good native, social or pure-play advertising in their day-to-day lives.
The global success of the Lego movie, for example, or the large crowds that attend the Red Bull sports events or have watched the six-part Chipotle series, really show us that consumers know how to recognise good quality entertainment even if and when it comes from a brand.
We’ve already crowned content as king and given our permission for brands to enhance our lives with entertaining, creative and valued content that’s personal to us. It’s now up to those of us who work in the advertising industry to make sure its reign beyond 2015 is a positive and evolutionary one.
Damien Marchi is global head of content for Havas Media Group
This advertisement feature is provided by Havas Media Group, sponsors of the Guardian Media Network’s Organic marketing hub.
