You’re Doing it Right: Custom Content by Lowe’s
Lowe’s Companies Inc. is the second largest hardware chain in the world, behind only Home Depot. Although they may be second in size, they are the unquestioned leader when it comes to custom content. What makes Lowe’s custom content program so successful? Content, content, content:
Do-It-Yourself Videos
The heart of Lowe’s custom content program is their helpful how-to video’s. Lowe’s YouTube channel contains well over 700 videos, covering everything from “knot tying for a rope tree swing”, to “how to build a coffee table.” The videos are well produced, and make difficult tasks easy to understand and execute.
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Germany: Fast Forward
Quality and creativity drive Germany’s custom content scene.
By Jeff Heilman
Mature, growing, and widely embraced by the indigenous corporate marketplace, Germany’s custom content industry is a study in adaptability and evolution. Concentrated in traditional publishing strongholds including Hamburg, Munich, Berlin, Düsseldorf, and Stuttgart, the industry’s main operators combine classical marketing and branding acumen with well-engineered custom editorial approaches.
One such example is köckritzdörrich Group, the corporate publishing, creative, and branding arm of a four-unit communications agency located south of Stuttgart in historic Reutlingen. “After working with international brands for nearly two decades, I saw that pouring money into traditional advertising channels was not always the best investment,” says Berthold Dörrich, a veteran advertising executive who co-founded the firm in 2003 with journalist and publisher Michael Köckritz. “We felt there must be a smarter engagement model, not for two or 20 seconds, but for 20 minutes or more—and that the best way to achieve this is with high-quality content that today’s ever-demanding audience would actually enjoy.”
Custom Content Weekly Roundup: May 7 – May 11
photo credit: ad week
How to Turn Audiences into Activists: 5 Lessons in Social Engagement from Participant Media
NBA Expands Social Media Presence
7 Steps to Successful YouTube Marketing
The Future of Custom Content: Transmedia?
7 Content Marketing Mistakes You Might be Making
What Content Marketing can Learn from the Kentucky Derby
10 Greatest Marketing Campaigns of All Time
Bloomberg to Double Frequency of ‘Pursuits’
Alcohol: Brand Platform Innovators
5 Blunders Your Brand is Making on Facebook Timeline
Rogers Purchases Canadian Health and Lifestyle Magazine
An Interview with Sweedish Custom Publisher, Appelberg
Content Marketing in Highly Regulated Industries
What is the Value of Content in Selling?
Microsoft: Putting Storytelling Back at the Heart of Marketing
CCC Interview with Thrillist VP Shane Rahmani
The Custom Content Council is hosting Custom Media Day on July 18 in NYC. Already announced speakers include Thrillist Media Group VP, Shane Rahmani, BuzzFeed President, Jon Steinberg, and Ogilvy Entertainment Director, Abby Marks. To introduce our audience to the scheduled speakers, we will be featuring them in brief interviews in the coming weeks.
Next up: Thrillist Media Group VP, Shane Rahmani
Thrillist has become such a well-known brand name, how do you see it evolving over the next few years?
The Thrillist editorial team has done a great job building the brand through the years, resulting in a tremendous amount of trust and loyalty amongst our core consumers. Our city guides have unearthed the best of what your city has to offer – delivered via email newsletter every single day – with a focus on restaurants, bars, events and services. As we think to the future, we’d like to evolve Thrillist into new categories where our expert editorial can make a unique difference in how our consumers navigate their world. You can also expect an evolved focus across all platforms from email to web to mobile.
A Fan of the Ellies
I love the National Magazine Awards (http://www.magazine.org/asme/); ever since joining this business in 1984 I have always looked forward to the event – from the announcement of the finalists to handing out the last Ellie. Then I spend the next day perusing through all the winners and finalists and download a handful of the best entries to read. What a treat: reading articles from some of the best journalists in the world – and from an eclectic group of national and regional magazines.
This year TIME magazine took top honors for the coveted “Magazine of the Year” prize, the final award given out by the American Society of Magazine Editors. Managing editor Rick Stengel, accepting the award, said, “We’re 90 years old next year and we’ve reached more readers than any time in our history by an exponential amount — 50 million people or more per week — and we do that on every platform under the sun,” Stengel said.
The aura of winning a National Magazine Award did not last long. The news was overshadowed by TIME magazine revenues down. According to Folio:
“Time Inc. reports a loss in both advertising and subscription revenue in the first quarter of 2012. Ad revenue decreased five percent (equivalent to $19 million), with subscription revenue down two percent (valued at $6 million). These losses contributed to a sizable overall revenue loss for Time Inc., down from $798 million in Q1 2011 to $773 million in Q1 2012.”
So where does that leave us? Will I still have the National Magazine Awards to look forward to in the next ten years? As Content continues to dominate the marketing landscape will it completely eclipse traditional media?
Let us know what you think.
5 Awesome Examples of Branded Storytelling by Nike
Nike has branched out in recent years, moving away from their iconic “Just Do It” slogan to more niche oriented marketing. The following five spots demonstrate how Nike has effectively used branded storytelling to appeal to different sporting segments.
The only thing Nike Running’s newest ad is missing to be considered a full fledged rom-com is Matthew Mcconaughey (or Sandra Bullock). Nike combines humor, singing, and romance to create this awesome commercial, which diverges significantly from Nike’s previous campaigns. So did it work? With almost 1.5 million page views in April, the answer is a resounding yes.
Is Content Marketing Invading Traditional Journalism’s Turf?
By Peter Haapaniemi
Is content marketing invading traditional journalism’s turf? As content marketing becomes more sophisticated—and as it employs more trained journalists—it has raised the hackles of more than a few traditional journalists. The controversy came to a head this past March at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, when one reporter on a panel derided branded content as “infopollution.” Journalists worry that the line between journalism and marketing is becoming blurred, causing problems for people in search of objective information.
Content marketers, however, say that line remains bright. Indeed, rather than seeing traditional journalism as competition, many content marketers fret over its decline. “Traditional journalism has been somewhat under assault for a couple of decades,” says Philip De Jong, president of the Journey Group in Charlottesville, Virginia. But the problem, he says, is not confusion with branded content, but the emergence of a world where virtually anyone can easily distribute their own content—including marketers. When it comes to journalism versus branded content, he says, “I don’t find it an argument at all. I think there’s certainly a place for both.”
Custom Content Weekly Roundup: April 30 – May 4
Heidi Klum speaking at the Digital Content NewFronts in New York (Michael Loccisano, Getty Images for Digitas /April 30, 2012)
Why storytelling is the ultimate weapon [Fast Company]
22 cost effective content marketing sources [Heidi Cohen]
Digital Content NewFronts could revolutionize the custom media industry [LA Times]
6 lessons in launching a branded YouTube channel. [I Media Connection]
Web 2.0 is over, all hail the age of mobile [Pando Daily]
The new trend in content marketing: get real [Ad Week]
How Zynga plans to use branding to further monetize “Draw Something” [Next Web]
8 reasons why Red Bull is the King of Custom Content [CCC Blog]
Kickstarting a word of mouth content marketing program [WordOfMouth.org]
13 content marketing steps [Clickz]
8 required elements of a successful content marketing plan [Heinz Marketing]
Content promotion strategy 101 [Contently]
Companies that blog get us to 25x times more business leads [Other Side Group]
E-commerce and the future of custom content [Mashable]
Reflections on the first Content2Conversion Conference [DemandGen]
A Loaf of Bread, a Container of Milk, and a Lifestyle
Food retailers are moving customers into stores–and keeping them there–with content that lends inspiration and even a little glamour to an everyday activity.
By Anne Scout
Maintaining a competitive edge is tough for everyone, of course. But for food retailers there are special considerations. A famously lowmargin business, food retailing also involves an activity that, for many time-starved shoppers, tops the list of chores they’d rather avoid. Few consumers look forward with anticipation to their next visit to the dairy aisle. With that in mind, wouldn’t it make sense to find a mechanism for making consumers feel they’re doing more than just buying another carton of milk? That in fact they’re part of something bigger?
Increasingly, food retailers are using custom-published magazines to accomplish that goal. They’re discovering the way to attract shoppers—and encourage them to buy more once they’re on the premises—is by offering targeted magazines, distributed in the store, that do more than include recipes and cooking tips: With carefully chosen articles and the right design, they create a feeling of community, a sense that the consumer has entered a special world with a specific, attractive personality populated by like-minded individuals.
8 Reasons Why Red Bull is the King of Custom Content
Red Bull Media House has done an unbelievable job transforming the Red Bull company from a simple energy drink, to an all encompassing lifestyle brand. Thanks to a cutting edge content marketing strategy, Red Bull is known throughout the world. Here’s how they do it:
1. ONLINE VIDEO
Since joining YouTube six years ago, Red Bull’s videos have been viewed over 276 million times. Their channel features almost 1,800 videos, ranging from short clips to hour long episodes.
2. TELEVISION
Beyond Red Bull’s robust YouTube channel, Red Bull Media House also runs a television channel, ServusTV, “a free to air television channel viewed throughout Europe via satellite and in the core area of Austria, Germany and Switzerland via cable, and digital terrestrial distribution.” (Credit: Red Bull Media House)
3. PUBLISHING
Over 3.6 million copies of The Red Bulletin are distributed every month around the world. Distribution markets include Austria, Germany, Ireland, England, South Africa, Mexico, New Zealand, USA, and Kuwait. The Red Bulletin is also available in digital form via a free iPad app.
Steve Smith of MediaPost did a great Q&A about The Red Bulletin with Managing Director Werner Bell earlier this year. The interview can be read here.
4. MOBILE APPS.
Red Bull Media House has fully embraced the mobile-digital age with a full line of mobile applications. The iPad alone has eight custom Red Bull apps. Red Bull’s offerings include games, music, video, photography, and The Red Bulletin. All applications are available for free download.
5. Social Media
Red Bull Media House uses various social media platforms to distribute content and engage fans. Red Bull’s Facebook fan page alone boasts nearly 28 million fans. Red Bull can also be found on Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Foursquare, and Google+. It should come as no surprise that their Klout score is an impressive 77.
6. WEBSITES
Red Bull Media House runs an astonishing 900 domains in 36 different languages for the Red Bull brand.
7. MUSIC
Red Bull Media House does its own music publishing through their record label, Red Bull Records. Red Bull also owns their own 24 hour global online radio station, Red Bull Music Academy Radio. Throughout the year, Red Bull Music Academy hosts concerts, lectures, and workshops that help promote the Red Bull brand.
8. SMART PHONE PARTNERSHIPS
Red Bull recently partnered with Nokia on their Windows 7 smart phones. The press release states that “the partnership will result in a unique and compelling multi-platform proposition for consumers. The goal is to deliver access to amazing experiences, best sporting and culture content every day.”
B2B: No Boundaries Left
The innovative use of content is now key to reaching business customers–and many B2B marketers are embracing that reality.
By Peter Haapaniemi
Over the years, B2C and B2B marketing have been two separate worlds when it comes to custom content. In the consumer world, content marketing has often been innovative and edgy, with a constant eye out for the next big thing. Business content, on the other hand, has tended to be more deliberate and, well, businesslike. But all that is changing. Businesspeople—like everyone else—live in a world where tools and technologies are altering the nature of communications and interactions. And that in turn is changing the nature of B2B content marketing. “On the leading edge, there’s just some terrific work being done finding really compelling ways to tell brand stories and to create content that is extremely valuable,” says Tom Stein, president and chief creative officer at Stein + Partners Brand Activation. “We’re seeing B2B companies become the real innovators in the use of content as an integral part of the marketing mix—the multifaceted, multichannel use of content, in a multitude of formats, to really map to the purchase continuum, from awareness to consideration to actual purchase.”
