Media

What’s NOT In Your LinkedIn Profile?

What’s one thing that’s NOT in your LinkedIn profile? One thing that’s NOT in my profile is this truth: I can’t tolerate watching myself on video. But in this case I made an exception. Because, well, this video is exceptional (for a few simple reasons). Check it out: Because I can’t help but dissect a good content idea, I’m compelled to say why Jason Miller outdid himself with this short, fun video and its execution: coaxing great and light-hearted responses from me as well as well-known content marketers like Joe Chernov, Michael Brenner, Jay Baer, Aaron Kahlow, Joe Pulizzi, Jeffrey Cohen, Carmen Hill and (my personal favorite) Michael Stelzner. When it comes to animal sounds, I thought I was talented — I can do a seagull screech so authentic that beachgoers protect their fries and scan the sky — but Michael’s creature repertoire steals the show here. What makes this […]

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The Best Political Ad Ever

I know that’s a strong statement, but I’d only amend “best political ad ever” with a “so far.” Because that’s how good this video is. It blurs the line between traditional political advertising and content marketing, because it tells an incredible story in a little over a minute. And in doing so, it breaks the mold in political campaigning: I’m certain that every politician in America directed his or her campaign manager over the past few days to figure out how they can replicate some of this magic, too. Take a look: Carl Sciortino is running for a Massachusetts Congressional seat in the 5th District, which includes several communities outside of Boston (but not mine). He is one of seven Democrats running for the seat in a special election this December that is part of a sequence of events set off when John Kerry became secretary of state. The 5th

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Airbnb: When Content Marketing Looks a Lot Like Art

We’re used to seeing companies producing content marketing that sometimes looks too much like advertising. (Like this. Ick.) But, increasingly, I’m noticing another trend: Content marketing that looks a lot like art. Yesterday, I wrote about Chipotle’s creepy but awesome new marketing program, “The Scarecrow,” which hauntingly depicts a dystopian world that makes a heart-wrenching statement about the sorry state of industrial food production. (You can read my write-up on it over at LinkedIn.) Then, last Friday, Airbnb released another bit of awesome, a first: An innovative short film directed via Twitter and shot entirely on Vine. Written by writer/filmmaker Ben York Jones and crowdsourced via Twitter, the story centers on the transformative journey of a white sheet of paper. (Stay with me on this one.) The resulting 4 ½-minute film was released Friday on Airbnb’s blog, on its Hollywood and Vines website and on the Sundance Channel. It’s beautiful.

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SXSW 2014 PanelPicker: This Election, Cast A Vote for Simple

Every fall, the SXSW PanelPicker process turns prospective speakers into something akin to politicians in election years. I’m allergic to asking for votes for anything, but in this case my friend Tim Washer and I had a little fun with the idea. Here is our smear campaign to promote our SXSW 2014 Interactive Festival proposal this year — which (incidentally!) is how to create compelling content. It’s called Hollywood Stories on a Boring Brand’s Budget. (See what we did there?) Please consider a vote for our 2014 SXSW panel here: http://bit.ly/sx2014story. (Note: You’ll have to register. Sorry about that.) I’m also participating… err, hopefully participating… in two other awesome sessions at SXSW Interactive: Beyond Social Media: Marketing in the Post-Ad Era with organizer Mark Schaefer and SXSW virgin Mitch Joel. Please cast a vote for us here: http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/vote/25837 and Influence Marketing: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly with organizer

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Why the Instagram v. Vine Debate Is the Wrong Conversation

The debate over whether Instagram’s new video tool will kill Vine, a platform which offers people a similar ability to create super-short stop-motion “films,” is the wrong argument. Instead, the question we should be debating is: Will Instagram’s new video tool gut Instagram’s wonderful photo tool? In other words, I’m less worried about Instagram killing Vine than I am worried about it diluting the very thing that made Instagram so wonderful to begin with. Immediately following Thursday’s Instagram announcement, it seemed that every technology site, content marketer and Twitter commenter put Vine and Instagram video in opposite corners of the ring. A trending hashtag on Twitter (which, ironically, owns Vine) on Thursday was #UsingVineIsLike, which mocked Vine as hopelessly unhip and old-school through comments like this: #UsingVineIsLike Checking myspace to see if you got a friend request. — OfficialAndOnly™ (@_AfricanKingg) June 20, 2013 Why the debate? “Both [Vine and Instagram video] are short-form video

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‘My Imaginary Well-Dressed Toddler Daughter’: The Story and Content Lessons of the Best Pinterest Board Ever

This is the story of Quinoa, a small, trendy child who wears haute couture and a model’s aloof expression. It’s also the story of how a hilarious Pinterest board for a fake child blew up this week on the interwebs, growing its follower base more than 100-fold in 24 hours, from around 100 to almost 11,000 (at last count). First, the child: More than a legend in her own playroom, Quinoa is an icon in the fashion world who always has the perfectly accessorized outfit no matter her mood or activity: She wears a chevron maxi for a stroll through a field of wildflowers; an outdoorsy kilt and cloak for a damp stroll by a bog; and totes a spare “urban outfit” in her mother’s purse in the event they’re going to be around a lot of chain link fencing. Pleather crushes her tiny soul. So does the poverty, which

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Ann Handley is not impressed. (The back story.)

Dani Hagen had the idea late last week to create a MarketingProfs version of the Olympic-inspired meme, “McKayla is not impressed.” Because I live under a rock, apparently, I had only a vague notion of what Dani was referring to. It turns out that she was referring to US gymnist McKayla Maroney’s sour expression after settling for a silver medal in the women’s vault final, which promptly birthed the Tumblr that transported the 16-year-old’s hilariously sour face to places far away from London. Like the Sistine Chapel. Into an Andy Warhol painting. And what not.

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A Message from My Marketing World… I’m Writing a Book!

I’m interrupting this personal blog to bring you a message from my business world: I’m writing a book! Planned for early December release, Content Rules is a how-to guide to creating compelling content for the Web. The talented and fun CC Chapman is co-author (David Meerman Scott is writing the foreword), and together we’ll answer questions like, How can you create so-called bold stories and videos and blog posts that will inspire people? How do you develop ideas that will arouse passion for your products or services? How can you cultivate fans? How can your ideas ignite your business? Any organization with a website is a publisher, right? So Content Rules applies to organizations of all sizes and stripes, whether you are a Fortune 500 corporation or a mom-and-pop on the corner, or anything in between: hospital, entrepreneur, nonprofit, sole practitioner or consultant, artist, government agency, church, school, political candidate,

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