What are you most excited about in the digital marketing space at the moment?
I’m really excited for more unconventional partnerships. When we hear ‘partnerships’ it’s normally a telly thing like co-funded programming. Or it’s a PR thing for events, like the Red Bull stage at festivals such as Lovebox etc. It feels as if digital is finally getting up to speed with creating interesting partnerships that go beyond a microsite or a branding activity. You see this happening with companies like Glam where they are bringing brands, digital influencers and traditional display together to create content.
What’s your favourite example of innovative digital marketing?
Snapchat Stories. I typically hate it when brands jump on the bandwagon for new bits of tech, but Taco Bell and the LACMA museum (both in the US) are really getting it right. It’s difficult to show you the examples because it’s on Snapchat so not all of it is archived (unless someone’s taken a screen shot).
Taco Bell released a short film on Snapchat, Rush Order, for the launch of their new Doritos taco shells. It’s a great example of brand storytelling with, let’s be honest, a very loyal customer base. I’m from the States and I definitely miss my 2am chicken taco supremes after a night out!
Lacma Museum, as stylised on Snapchat, has turned classic art in their museum into classic banter. One of my favourites is how they turned August Rodin’s The Shade into a Queen Bey dance move.
Where do you go for great content?
Believe it or not, I go to traditional media platforms, press and TV, first. I’m a news junkie, and when I need great storytelling I tend to turn to current affairs or lifestyle pieces rather than a book. It’s a great way to keep on top of how true editorial is being written. TV’s the same. I’m obsessed with dramas, thrillers and comedies so I spend most of my waking hours watching a lot of shows. I somehow remember lots of small details as well: how one shot summed up 30 minutes of action; the types of music used to play with my emotions; jokes and turns of phrases that work for one type of audience/programming but wouldn’t work for another. I use this for a lot of my inspiration on what is/isn’t currently working and try to mimic that behaviour in our work.
What’s next for digital content?
Content production for brands appears to be taking the same shape as social content calendars. Everyone (hopefully) knows that if you start a branded page on Twitter, Facebook or YouTube and want to build a community, you need to give that page daily attention. Content, to a lesser extent, requires that same sort of attention, or as Google puts it, the Hero, Hub and Hygiene [pdf] content. Last year the industry was really good at making big fantastical pieces of content that were shared, but then you lose that audience until your next big bang. We’re now moving away from campaign-only content and beginning to do more evergreen and/or long-form storytelling content that lasts throughout the year, rather than just a campaign period.
What defines good content?
At Arena we’ve defined 10 tips for great content. The leading tip is storytelling, because without this it’s not content, it’s just an ad. To do this, the content cannot only live on one platform or media stream, so our closing tip is that it must be connected. If it doesn’t cross over, and work as a storytelling vehicle across media, it won’t be strong content.
What is the biggest myth about content marketing?
That it’s new. I’ve written extensively about this. We get ourselves in a hype trying to name the new ‘next big thing’ when really, all this ‘thing’ is, is just good marketing. Most of us in content roles point to the Michelin Guide or classic 60s advertising to prove that content marketing isn’t new – and it’s true. We should shut up with the hype and just do great work for our clients.
How are you amplifying and maximising your content?
We have a fairly efficient process: strategy – production – distribution - measurement. We give each part equal attention and along with the Editorial Director and Content Marketing Distribution Director, we work together to ensure our content recommendations are fully worked out from start to finish. Sometimes this may mean we work with influencers to help co-create content, which they will then help distribute on their own platforms. Other times it may mean that we create content specifically for content discovery sites like listicles or quizzes which tend to work well. Every touch point should be considered in the user journey for discovering, consuming and creating the content.
Please provide a link to something great that you have #discovered today
It’s not a recent discovery, but it’s something I want everyone to know about. I absolutely love music – to the point where if I’m not watching TV, I’m plugged into some tunes. I’ve recently become obsessed with YouTuber ScottBradleeLovesYa or the ‘Postmodern Jukebox’. Occasionally I see some of their videos (which are typically a 1920s – 1970s take on current tracks) get some traction with social shares. But I’ve only just discovered that they create new videos every week. If you’re bored of Top 40 music and want to hear it done much better, give his band a go.
How do you work with Outbrain and what is your experience?
My role within Arena’s strategy team is to recommend Outbrain to our trading teams and clients for content briefs. They’ve been particularly useful in helping me educate the agency on content distribution options: everyone knows their name and how they work!
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• Outbrain rising stars – interview with Chad Schneider, University of Texas
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• Outbrain rising stars – interview with Mike Saraswat, Ekstasy
If you would like to nominate yourself, or a colleague as a Rising Star please contact Outbrain@cubaneight.com with details.
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