Remember When Content Was King? It Still Is.

I’m still relatively young in this industry. I have a tendency to speak having garnered only about half of the information I actually need before forming a solid opinion. That said, I’ve recently gravitated to the history of advertising. In just about everything we do, few would argue the importance of historical knowledge: what people did right and what they did wrong – we learn, repeating the right things and avoiding the wrong things…we become more efficient. I’ve noticed a trend with those in my “generation”: we love the idea of becoming “experts” in social media because it changes every day, and expertise in this field could not be more subjective. We like to think the old guys “just don’t get it”, and this becomes our unique value to our clients or our organizations. I would plead with young marketers and advertisers to get to know your history as I still am. You’ll be amazed at exactly how much hasn’t changed.

Where we were

I’ll keep it brief because you know the bulk of it. The copywriters were the heros. The “big idea” thrived. Think Clairol’s “does she or doesn’t she?”, Nike’s “Just Do It” and the Marlboro Man. These are ideas that built and sustained brands for decades. The idea feeds the content, and the content was great. These ideas and this content gave the brand a face and a personality. People trusted, bought and eventually evangelized based on the strength of this message and the content that communicated it.

Path we’ve been on

- Traditional to Digital
- Outbound to Inbound
- Building followers to building communities

Note that variables in which we’re seeing a shift are primarily media and engagement strategy. Does it make sense to reallocate budgets, skewing toward digital? Sure. Do we need to consistently be re-thinking how we’re engaging with our customers and prospective customers leveraging new platforms? Absolutely! But in the aforementioned list, I’m, first of all, not necessarily convinced that the latter is going to replace the former. They’re going to co-exist as they’re co-existing now. We need to feel as though this is moving in a direction that is going to simplify our jobs (i.e. traditional media and advertising is going to be obsolete). As I’ve mentioned before, it’s getting more complicated – not simpler. But in all of this change, evolution and innovation, there is a common denominator: great ideas and great content. In most cases, when industries evolve, it’s advisable to not lose sight of the common denominator. Many of us are losing sight of the fact that we still have to generate brilliant ideas and great content to get our audience’s attention.

Where are we landing?


If you look at our current thought process from the most zoomed out perspective possible, I think this is what we should be seeing. This is the forest. I went into detail on this process in a previous post, so I won’t go into it here, but as my business partner and creative director pointed out, everything up to “Public” is pretty stinkin’ obvious, and it hasn’t really changed. And if I took the time to highlight this diagram, I’d smother “Story” and “Content” in bright yellow.

While we’re struggling to keep up with the daily changes on the right side of this diagram, many of us are neglecting the importance and even necessity of a brilliant and consistent story.

Here’s the application: brands have facebook pages now. Few of us are still struggling to convince our clients why they need to engage in social media. They all have Twitter and the bold ones even have YouTube. But they’re doing it for the sake of doing it, and we’re helping them fail. I’m not mean enough to call on any specifics here, but I can’t count how many Facebook pages I’ve been to that have a list of announcements…and 50 fans (or people that “like” it…for goodness sake).

Now check this out: Old Spice homepage and Facebook page. These guys were losing market share daily from Axe. Their audience was old and dying (forgive the insensitivity, but it’s true). Someone had the idea to evolve Old Spice’s story and create great content to support it. Their engagement strategy? Post the videos. Post the one-liners. They’re getting about 1200 responses per post and generating true social currency, regaining market share and making Axe look like a teen brand. (Check out this Fast Company article for a good overview on generating social currency rather than just a giant list of followers).

That’s a big idea and great content that works anywhere. Sure, use the appropriate mediums available to you and debate how to engage, but don’t take the centerpiece off of the table. A great (big) idea hasn’t become a bunch of little ideas as I’ve often heard it put. This leads to disconnect that a struggling brand like Old Spice could’ve never overcome.

Build your story. Generate great content to support it. Your customers aren’t going to engage with you because you crowdsourced your logo or announced a bunch of promotions on Twitter. They’ll engage with you when you create a personality they like and find a great way to communicate it. If you’re a social media fiend, I don’t at all mean to downplay that. But think about it this way. You meet two people at a party. One does nothing but tell you every trip he’s ever taken and everything he’s ever accomplished. The other listens to you, generates your trust with the way he carries himself and is generally someone you like and enjoy being around. Which one are you going to want to hang out with again?

Not a Fan of Change? Become One.

Quite some time ago, I recognized the need for consistency within a brand or organization and the difficulty to maintain it. Develop your purpose, story, core and stick to it…no matter what.

My thinking has evolved to recognize the importance, and even necessity, of change for survival. Take a look at Cadillac. This brand folds a decade ago if it wasn’t for renewal. Not to sound morbid or insensitive, but it’s audience was dying. It was no small task to take the brand we all recognized as our grand-parents’ vehicles and turn it into something our generation wants to be seen in. (the tag of the Kate Walsh spot has to be one of the top 10 over the past 5 years)

One of my current favorites, Old Spice, has successfully adapted and renewed…and they continue to do so. It’s a classic brand, but one that was losing more of its audience every day. Post-renewal, it’s stronger than ever and targeting 18-35′s, competing with the likes of Axe. I’ll have a full write-up around this Old Spice campaign in the coming weeks. It’s so good, and we need to understand why (so we can all copy it).

In realizing the need for change and renewal, while also recognizing the requirement of consistency, we either have a fundamental conflict or the need for clarification. I’m taking the latter.


To expound a bit on the image:
This is simply a vertical hierarchy. The highest level feeds our decisions into the levels beneath. The law is beyond our control, and we’re bound by it (or should be). We can’t make any decisions around our core or story that aren’t pre-determined by whether or not it’s lawful. Next is the core. I’m a believer in purpose-based marketing. Your purpose is your reason for existing as an organization outside of making money. Under no circumstance should this purpose change. Lastly, we have the story (or system). This is where our change and renewal comes in. What are we to do with audience feedback, bad PR or cultural and social changes?

Adapt the story but not the purpose.

Back to our examples. I’ve never worked with Old Spice (P&G). I don’t know it’s purpose, but I’d guess it goes something like this: to help men appeal to women without compromising “manliness.” This was the purpose when we saw the old bottles of aftershave sitting on our grandfathers’ bathroom counters. It’s the purpose now. The story, on the other hand, used to be: it’s the classic brand…the brand that’s given men confidence for years…experience, stability, classic reputation. The culture shifted. Right or wrong, young men don’t want to emulate their father’s anymore; they want to individuate and avoid conservatism. Now, the story goes something like this: be a man…not for the women, but for you – and don’t take yourself so seriously. The content brought a healthy dose of humor, subtly getting in shots at the brands that try to tell us what it means to be a man.

Old Spice had to renew it’s story. They’ll have to renew it again. Don’t be afraid to change your story; but don’t compromise your purpose to do it.