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?

Oh, Tiger…

Don’t feel guilty for being enthralled with the Tiger Woods recovery campaign. It’s not a soap opera – it’s our business. It’s going to end up being a case study for all of us. There’s probably a 500-page PR recovery manual floating around out there detailing every word that should come out of the guy’s mouth, every word spoken of him in the media (that can be controlled by his people) and every time he leaves the house what his facial expression and non-verbal communication should look like. Let’s face it: the guy’s not a guy; he’s a brand. A very valuable brand.



I don’t want to talk about the whole shebang. It’s too much, but I’m fascinated with the new Nike spot that’s garnered 700,000 hits in a day. The bulk of the chatter I’ve come across seems to indicate a negative first impression. It’s creepy. It’s manipulative. Maybe, but I love it (disclaimer: my first impression was similar to the aforementioned responses), and here’s why:

1. Tiger doesn’t talk. We’ve heard him talk enough. He’s granted 3 interviews since it all came out, and we’re all exhausted from his apologies.
2. It’s spoofable. I guarantee you there are at least 50 spoofs currently being filmed as I type this post.
3. It’s emotional. We all knew Tiger and his dad had a special relationship (at least this is part of his brand). Whether true or not, his team is working to create the perception that he, all of a sudden, started making bad decisions when his father passed away. Many will not like that this spot exploits that, and Wieden and Nike knew that – but the emotions you experienced when watching more than make up for it.
4. It’s surprising (and simple). With so many things to say, Tiger said nothing. He just stood there. We don’t see anything other than his face. It all but literally burns the image of his face into our brains.
5. It communicates commitment, acknowledgement and extreme vulnerability (Tiger’s and Nike’s). Nike stuck with their man when no one else did. It’s a risk. Nike’s got some skin in the game here, of course, and that’s why some people feel manipulated. Nike and Wieden knew their audience well enough to play on the idea that young males HATE to hear from their fathers or father figures, “I’m not mad. I’m disappointed.” We all feel it. Tiger’s remorseful (we’ve heard it and his face shows it). Tiger’s hurting. Dad is upset but loves him unconditionally. Oh, and so does Nike, and then the message: so should we.

Very impressed with Wieden on this one (assuming this is their spot). They knew the first spot featuring Tiger for Nike was going to have to be something special. It was going to get millions of views even if it was 30 seconds of him standing at that stinkin’ podium and hugging his mother. It was going to get extremely negative responses because it was Tiger, and people already feel strongly about the situation. Advertising is not about changing a worldview; it’s about agreeing with worldviews that already exist, and Wieden gets that. It identified it’s young male target, identified a common worldview of that target and simply agreed with it. This spot isn’t necessarily perfect by itself, but it’s close to perfect in context.