“Content” isn’t just things we think of as “marketing.” A great example is Virgin’s new pre-flight safety briefing, which my friend DJ Waldow Skyped from on board a Virgin flight to share with me last week. If you haven’t seen it, check it out here: There’s much to love about this video. I detailed why […]
Social Media
The First Tweets of 16 B2B Brands (and a Few Familiar Faces)
What was your first tweet? As Twitter began trading on the New York Stock Exchange last week, I couldn’t help but consider how far this small, simple, fledgling network has come. Once mocked for being stupid and insipid, and plagued by its own persistent identity crisis, Twitter has nonetheless become a prominent and important part […]
Lessons from Skype: Your Story Is about People (Not Your Technology)
Whether you sell technology or toasters, your marketing should always be about people. In other words, your customers should be at the heart of your content, not your products. Your product might be as revolutionary as an escalator to the moon, but your story isn’t about that: It’s not about what you do or what […]
Why Innovative Content Marketing Is About to Explode in Denmark (and Why You Should Care)
I’ve just returned from an 8-day trip to Europe, the last few days of which I spent in Denmark, where I spoke at the country’s first-ever content marketing conference. I felt warmly welcomed there—in part because I spent time with some truly warm and wonderful people. (That’s always the key to a great trip, isn’t […]
This Is Why B2B Companies Need to Hire Brand Journalists
The key to being a thought leader is to… well, lead. The news broke at about 8 AM Eastern today that the world’s third-largest software company, Oracle, had acquired Compendium, a content management company. At the time, I was part of a panel for a UK audience with Brightcove—in other words, I was pretty much […]
A Simple Content Marketing Org Chart
I’m allergic to complexity, at least when it comes to content. So when I tried to find a simple org chart to help organizations visualize their own content team, I couldn’t find anything quite simple enough. I didn’t major in PowerPoint, so I drew one with a Sharpie instead. (Also, my artistic “skills” reinforce my […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]