brand journalism basics | prowly academy
TRANSCRIPT
Brand Journalism 101. Academy
. is a set of tools designed to:
Help you build
audiences around
companies, brands
and people
Manage media
relations
Create great
content
Pitch your stories to
relevant audiences
NICOLE V. SCOTT
Digital Marketing/ PR for 7 years.
Happily joined Prowly in March 2016
Is terrified of spiders
@NicoleVScott
nicolevscot
AGENDA
1. Introduction
2. What Is Brand Journalism?
3. How did we get here?
4. Kipling to Light
5. Brand Journalism Examples
6. What can you do?
7. Summary
8. Questions/Comments
What is Brand Journalism?
BRAND JOURNALISM:
Hybrid form of traditional journalism, marketing and public relations.
It is a response that uses journalistic technique to tell its story to the public.
How Did We Get Here?
DECLINE AND STARTING POINTS
1. In 2003, McDonalds was a in a major decline
2. In March 2003, BusinessWeek wrote ”Hamburger Hell”
3. Larry Light- CMO saw that there needed to be a change
4. He began making changes on every front- Staff training, restaurant refurbishment,
advertisements
5. The marketing that followed took on things in a very different approach…
WHAT PERSPECTIVE MADE THE CHANGES?
1. Outmoded Branding = One USP (Unique Selling Point)
2. Light understood that they needed to reinvent the concept of brand positioning by
instituting the concept of brand journalism.
THE END OF MASS MARKETING/MASS MEDIA
1. “We no longer live in a world where mass marketing to masses of consumers with a mass
message delivered through mass media makes money”- Larry Light
2. This created a new challenge for both marketers and journalist.
3. Light took a main journalistic tool, Kipling's “six little friends” (who, what, where, when,
why and how) and applied this to marketing.
4. This became immediately comprehensible to journalists and made another way for
marketers to look at how to address audiences
FROM KIPLING TO LIGHT
Who? Who are the people with these needs?
What? What are the problems with what the customer currently uses?
Where? Where do we meet the audience with information?
Why? Why do customers use this service or product?
WHAT DID THIS ACHIEVE?
1. Increased Transparency
2. Increased Trust
3. Candid approach by revealing secrets
THE RESULT
Now content is not just about creating content, but rather creating and adapting content not
just to the people consuming it but also to the how, when, where they are consuming it.
BUT WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN FOR YOUR BRAND?1. For many brands, the idea that they have to become publishers can met with
apprehension.
2. You’ll need to make the case for focusing on brand journalism all around your
organization.
3. This will require a shift from conventional selling into brand storytelling
N i s s a n N e w s r o o mh t t p : / / n i s s an n e w s . c om / e n - U S / n i s s an / u s a
M i c r o s o f t N e w s r o o mh t t p : / / n e w s . m i c r os o f t . c om
I n t e l N e w s r o o mh t t p s : / / n e w s r oom . i n t e l . c om
A l l e g r o N e w s r o o mh t t p s : / / m ag az y n . a l l e g r o . p l
BRAND JOURNALISM
1. Looks at how an audience can benefit
from content that has been created by
the brand.
2. Finds and tells stories that convey the
brands “personality”.
3. Build awareness and affinity
4. Dialogic
1. More promotional in nature
2. Generates leads and conversions.
3. Monologic
CLASSIC ADVERTISING
VS.
GAINING STAKEHOLDER APPROVAL
1. C- Suite want to know what it can do for their brand, what it will cost and what the ROI.
2. Start with a small test project : establish the audiences needs, identify business goals,
develop brand journalism strategies, be prepared to measure success.
3. Show how your community interacts with your online content and what may be wrong with
it and how this impacts whether or not they take the action you want them to take.
CREATING EDITORIAL STANDARDS
1. Style Guides
2. Content Approval Process
3. Content Lifecycle
DEFINING KPIs
1. Website Analytics
2. Social Media conversations
3. How many followers do you have compared to your competitors?
4. How fast is your following growing?
5. Positive vs negative sentiment about your brand?
FACEBOOK KPIs
1. How many fans do you have compared to your competitors?
2. What is your “talking about this” score?
3. How are you engaging with your brands chosen demographic?
YOUTUBE KPIs
1. Number of times your video has been watched
2. Engagement – Likes, dislikes, comments, shares
3. What are your top performing?
4. Keyword searches
5. Number of subscribers
1. The number of followers of your company’s page
2. The demographic on those follows
3. Growth reach of group
4. Growth activity around your content
5. Growth of engagement around your members
CONTENT AUDITS
1. Perform an assessment on all owned media assets.
2. Review each pieces performance
3. Decide what is below standard and what is missing
4. Bring objectivity to the process (analytics, data, IA,SEO)
ELEMENTS TO CONSIDER
1. Why is this content being created?
2. What business or marketing goals will this be addressing?
3. What audience segment is this designed to inform or entertain?
4. Which platform will we use?
5. How will success be measured?
Should You Create
a Brand Journalism
Newsroom?
YES
GETTING EMPLOYEES INVOLVED
1. Have executives answer questions in online forum setting
2. Have staff create blog posts
3. Employee interviews
4. Cover industry events
5. Repurpose content
