Brands can
learn a thing or
two from media
companies
Niko Ruokosuo
The Telegraph and The Sun are two more media companies
that have recently launched paywalls. Following in the
footsteps of The Times and The Financial Times they are
paving the way for more publishers to follow suit and charge
readers money for the news content they consume. However,
with so much competition from free online news sources,
both sites will need to offer exclusive content and a unique
perspective in order to convince readers to start paying.
The same challenge applies for brands, which are
increasingly acting like media companies and producing
their own content. Brands like Red Bull and Topman have
realised that the content they produce needs to be exclusive
and more than a thinly-veiled sales message if they are to
engage consumers in today’s plethora of advertising and
marketing messages. The most popular content is of genuine
interest and therefore it is highly valued, however, it can be
costly to produce. To keep costs down, brands should look to
the media to learn how to produce high quality content cost
effectively.
Curate valuable content
The Innovations in Newspapers World Report that was
presented at the World Editors Forum recently discusses the
importance of interactive storytelling for newsrooms, but
also how good content will become social organically. Savvy
brands have already acknowledged that content must be
valuable in order for consumers to share it. Whether that’s
making a friend laugh by sharing a video or providing useful
insight into current affairs in the form of a written article,
this type of engagement is invaluable for brands as their
audience does the marketing for them by endorsing their
content. Brands need to consider the ‘shareability factor’
when creating and curating their next campaign.
Produce engaging content
Media powerhouses like The Guardian and MailOnline
host large volumes of fresh, unique and topical image and
video-led content on their sites as this helps to increase both
page views and periods of time spent on the site. Brands
are similarly moving towards these mediums to produce
engaging and relevant content. Marketers in the UK are
designating nearly a third (27%) of their marketing budget
for content marketing and brand journalism activities in
the form of blogs, their own magazines and podcasts. By
utilising video and images, brands too can increase their
engagement with customers.
Engage the community
Media companies are now engaging readers by tapping
into their audience’s personal interests and creativity. Digital
media has brought about the introduction of reader comment
sections and alongside the rise of mobile and social media,
where people can share opinions on-the-go and quickly,
these forums have encouraged engagement and interaction.
In turn, readers are now a hugely valuable source of material.
Many publications turn to readers when sourcing photo and
video content for breaking news stories and other reports,
ranging from football matches, to community events, and
even issues affecting readers locally such a pot holes or
extreme weather. To source content quickly, more than 50
media companies are using Scoopshot to crowdsource
photos and video on-demand, including Metro International,
20 Minutes in France, Krone Zeitung in Austria, Hurriyet in
Turkey and WAZ in Germany.
However, this is not just limited to the media. Brands can also
use the crowd to gather content and ideas, and in turn enrich
the experience of their communities by involving them in the
creation of content. Oxfam is one brand that has turned to
the crowd as part of a global marketing campaign.
The charity recently partnered with Scoopshot to crowdsource
thousands of mobile photos and videos to highlight the
issue of land grabs. Working with Coldplay, Oxfam used
the content to produce a music video to raise awareness of
land grabs during the World Bank meetings. The campaign
was a great success, with more than 5,600 photos and 800
videos submitted. Aside from engaging the public about an
important issue, Oxfam was also successful in getting the
World Bank to agree to most of its demands, helping to bring
an end to land grabs.
In today’s always-connected world, brands and media
companies alike have large communities at their fingertips.
By harnessing this asset, brands can involve consumers in
the creation of content, while producing unique content that
the rest of their community will value and share.