I’m not sure why this is lost on so many.
This simple, profound statement by Sir John Hegarty in Campaign last week is at the heart of what’s been forgotten in the industry.
The power of a brand is echoed and amplified by those who recognize the position and meaning of a brand, whether they are actual customer or not.
We wear brands as badges. Brands reflect taste, choice, and personality.
And the fundamental impetus of a brand is that other people understand what they mean. What is says about someone.
This awareness feeds brand growth. It is what many in the marketing world have deemed unnecessary in this age of digital targeting and performance-based thinking.
How wrong they are.
Because building brand is what sustains long-term financial value.
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There are some obvious rules for good content, like make it useful and relevant. Give me something that makes my life better. Or entertain me, make me cry, laugh or ponder. Teach me something. Whichever direction you take, you have to deliver value. If I sacrifice my time to engage with you, you better do at least one of those things because if you’re not, you are wasting my time. I mean, who chooses to engage with content so they can spend time viewing a self-aggrandizing ad.
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For CMO’s today, options for building your brand are changing before your eyes. These days, leading brands are thinking like publishers, creating editorial calendars, hiring chief content officers and curating their asses off. This is all good and well, but curated content simply won’t deliver the benefits of creating original, emotive content that tells stories. While a good content strategy most often includes curated
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