the content marketing deluge: making it suck less
DESCRIPTION
The advertising world is rampant with claims of content marketing expertise. In reality, creating great, engaging content is still emerging as a key skill in marketing. Most of it sucks. The global CEO and chief storyteller at Story Worldwide outlined the power of stories worth sharing and how to get there, including the importance of creating a process to locate the story on behalf of a brand that consumers will engage with. Kirk presented a case study about Story's work evolving the Green Giant mascot with stories that differentiate the Green Giant brand to show his point, and was joined onstage by Digiday reporter John McDermott afterwards for a discussion.TRANSCRIPT
STORY WORLDWIDE2014
LET’S TAKE OVER ADVERTISING.
LET’S TAKE OVER ADVERTISING.SOMEONE HAS TO.STORY WORLDWIDE2014
CREATE CONTENT PEOPLE WANT TO SHARE.
IN THE POST ADVERTISING AGE, THE most effective STRATEGY IS:
• Dismiss the intermediaries.• Own the audience yourself.• Engage your audience with valuable content.• Encourage them to spread your contagious brand
stories.
NIELSEN GLOBAL SURVEY: What media do you trust? What influences your purchase decisions?
RECOMMENDATIONS FROM PEOPLE I KNOWCONSUMER OPINIONS POSTED ONLINE
EDITORIAL CONTENT
BRANDED WEBSITES
EMAILS
ADS ON TV
BRAND SPONSORSHIPS
ADS ON RADIO
ADS BEFORE MOVIES
TV PROGRAM PRODUCT PLACEMENTS
ADS SERVED IN SEARCH ENGINE REULTS
ONLINE VIDEO ADS
ADS ON SOCIAL NETWORKS
ONLINE BANNER ADS
2009 2012
THE BEST ONLINE ADS OF 2013 WEREN’T ADS
THE BEST ONLINE ADS OF 2013 WEREN’T ADS
TOTAL MEDIA BUDGET: $
0
TOTAL MEDIA BUDGET: $
MILLIONS
0.86% ENGAGED
THE CREATIVE CRISIS:GREAT TV IDEAS ARE ALL ABOUT A
burst of disruption.
GREAT DIGITAL IDEAS ARE ALL ABOUT
sustained conversation.
“To wrest advertising from the cold, dead hands of the traditional agencies, the content industry is going to have to master and improve some BASIC BRAND MANAGEMENT skills, including branding, strategic planning, media planning, and measurement.”
—Me, writing in Chief Content Officer Magazine
Want to take charge of the brand story? You must have a PROVEN, repeatable process for finding a brand’s core story.
WHAT WE CALLA STORY PLATFORM.
The Heart of a brandIt’s important to understand that a Story Platform isn’t a tagline or product descriptor. It’s not something that will appear in your advertising or something you’ll tell customers. Instead, it is the emotional and rational heart of your brand and all your messaging.
Unified NarrativeIt is the single thought that should be apparent in everything your brand communicates. It is the core narrative you want to deliver in every story that the brand and your employees, your customers and potential customers, the media and the general public tell about your brand.
STORY PLATFORMS ARE DERIVED FROM EDITORIAL PLATFORMS
THE BUSINESS
EXPERT
Find the bottom line
THE GUIDE TO BEING
BEAUTIFUL
We’re still pretty
THE INVESTIGATOR
Uncover the truth
HOWIT’SDONE.
A LITTLE TASTE…
19The Story Brand Discovery WorkshopCollaborative workshops with key internal stakeholders form the foundation for strategic development.
THERE ARE THREE PHASES of a Story Discovery workshop
Pre workshop research
Workshop day Workshop output
BEFORE THE WORKSHOP
Stakeholder questionnaire/interviews, client research immersion & desk research
ON THE DAY
A full day of collaboration among key stakeholders to complete narrative exercises led by Story
KEEPING MOMENTUM
Insights synthesis, Story Platform & Pillar development,output creation andconceptual ideation
1 2 3
Pre workshop researchINPUT Capture each of the strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities, threats
OUTPUTQuick SWOT analysis to
capture where we are today and where we are headed. Warm up the group with a familiar strategic exercise
EXERCISE
SWOT ANALYSIS
21
Understanding where we are - today
• SWOT analysisINPUT Capture each of the
groups’ list of metaphors, ask the full group which descriptors are most provocative and/or useful
OUTPUTBreak out groups utilize
descriptive language to expand the accepted notions of the brand
EXERCISE
THE MIGHTY METAPHOR
22
Using metaphors to tell the story
Mighty Metaphor and SWOT analysis exercises
INPUT Group determines which (if
any) archetype best represents brand character and what the consequences are
OUTPUTIntroduce and explain the
archetypes and their traits; use table sorting exercise to narrow down to top nominees
EXERCISE
ARCHETYPES
23
Your brand’s personality
Archetypes and all prior exercises
INPUT Full team hones the primary
and secondary audiences definition
OUTPUTDefine or validate primary
and secondary audiences via audience definition pro forma list
EXERCISE
THE AUDIENCE
24
Establishing or validating the target audience
Audiences and all prior exercises
INPUT Audience journey from brand
touchpoint to brand touchpoint
OUTPUTGroups map out the offline
and online brand interactions of primary and secondary audiences
EXERCISE
AUDIENCE JOURNEYS
25
Understanding exactly how we interact with the audience at each touch point
General Mills
GREEN GIANT
