contentcavalcade-blog

[contentcavalcade-blog]

From Gen Z to blockbuster content: here’s what I learnt at Marketing Week Live

Last week I went to Marketing Week Live to get my ear to the ground on top tips for content marketing, trend predictions for 2017, and to hear from some of the big names in the industry. I went from a video workshop run by video production company Sandstorm, to a talk on storytelling content – ‘no conflict, no story’ – from Ed Woodcock, Director of Narrative at Aesop, taking in award-winning director Asif Kapadia along the way. So, what is there to learn as Junior Content Editor at Marketing Week Live? Here are my 8 key take outs, from the small tips to the big rethinks.

1.     Be Bold

Being bold was a popular message across the 2 days – linking to a broader theme for 2017, with the hashtag for International Women’s Day this year being #BeBoldForChange. In Sandstorm’s video masterclass, the advice was ‘be bold and brave’. With video content you’re often relying on likes and shares to garner success, so it’s essential you make something different and exciting which is designed to shock or impress. From Soundcloud we heard that to capture the attention of Gen Z, nothing can be too bold. They’re an audience which is quick to learn and unfazed by constant change. Which makes an exciting prospect for the content of the future.

2.     Asif Kapadia is a genius

Front row seats for Asif Kapadia talking about the Burberry Christmas ad has to be the highlight of my MWLive. Inspiring, realistic and motivated by pure creative spirit, if I ever get to work with one Academy Award winning director, it’d be this guy. If you don’t know much about Kapadia, I’d recommend getting to know him in time for his upcoming film, Maradona.

3.     B2B can be dramatic

‘Conflict is at the heart of storytelling’ was the crux of Ed Woodcock’s take on content marketing. Exciting and dramatic, he certainly told a great story. But how do you find conflict in B2B content? That was one question asked from the floor, and I felt their plight. We can’t all be writing blockbuster stories – they’d be out of place on a white paper. Ed had the perfect answer: ‘people are always facing a dilemma’. Whoever you’re writing for, there’s always a problem you can help solve.

4.     Avoid brand-centricism

Josh Newman from TUI spoke about how their media is consumer-centric before it’s brand-centric, and is created to meet genuine customer needs. David Couch from Soundcloud made it clear that the best content – and the content that performs best amongst Gen Z – is delivered from a brand but not about a brand. It’s undeniable that this is where the most exciting content is being generated, so here’s hoping we’ll see a lot more of it in 2017.

 5.     Gen Z spend 4hrs a day with headphones in

It’s a simple fact, but it really stresses the precedence of audio content, particularly amongst the youngest generation. In a world of conversational UI and with branded podcasts making the iTunes #1 spot (GE’s ‘The Message), audio content fits perfectly amongst our ‘always on’ lifestyle. The next stage is working out when and where audio content is relevant, rather than just saturating the market.  

6.     A prediction for the future

It’s all too easy to get caught up in the latest marketing trend. For video content, that hype is VR. But according to video production company Sandstorm, VR isn’t going to take over the world. Want to know why? ‘People don’t like wearing glasses’. It really is as simple as that. Their video content workshop made it clear that we shouldn’t just all jump on the next trend. It’s about choosing the right format for the brief, and thinking about what will genuinely enhance your customer experience.

7.     Free stuff is yours for the taking

A top tip for any first-timers. You know there’s going to be free stuff, but what do you have to give away in return? Nothing! They’ve got the data exchange spot on. Approach a stall, have a chat, and leave enlightened and laden with ice cream/magazines/tote bags/sweets (mainly sweets).

8.     A case study to remember

Walking away from MWLive with one shining case study has to be the highlight of my learnings. Story goes, a new development was built on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. The company hired an agency to try and get people to buy the apartments. But the problem was accessibility, not awareness. So the agency decided the best way to sell the apartments was to build a bridge. The ‘Puente de la Mujer’ was built to connect the new development with the rest of the city… and within the first few months, every one of those flats was sold.

All in all, I learnt a lot. The talks and workshops I went to weren’t all about content. Nor were they all even about marketing. But listening to people who are motivated every day to create something which people genuinely want to watch, read, listen to and enjoy, is truly inspiring. Particularly when you’re holding a free ice-cream.

[contentcavalcade-blog]

Cavalcade’s Top 10 Favourite Books (of all time)

It’s World Book Day today! And because we aren’t allowed to dress up, we’re going to talk about our favourite books instead. Today’s the day when book nerds can emerge bleary-eyed from their library caves to share with the world what they love to read. Which is our cue to present… Cavalcade’s Top 10 Favourite Novels (of all time), in no particular order:

1.The Art of Fielding, Chad Harbach

A: I am not the kind of person who would be into a book about baseball. I’ve never watched a game and I don’t know the rules. So imagine my surprise when I picked up this book and bloody loved it. It might be set mostly on the baseball field, but that’s hardly important. This book transcends its own subject matter and wheedles its way into your psyche with gorgeous storylines and hauntingly real characters. That’s magical storytelling – getting someone who really doesn’t care to start caring. Harbach hit a home run with this one (couldn’t resist!).

2. NW, Zadie Smith

I: If you’ve ever read a book about what it means to be a Londoner, it won’t count once you’ve read NW. Every character becomes as real as the woman who gets your tube every day or the old man who lives in the flat next door. You’ll feel pride in our capital city and deeply uncomfortable with the injustices that reside there with you. And it has one of the truest depictions of female friendship I’ve ever read.

3. Special Topics in Calamity Physics, Marisha Pessl

A: This is a masterclass in structure. A page-turning murder mystery told by a teenager, each chapter is a homage to the literary classic named in the title. It works hard on the micro-detail of each mini story, and then pulls everything neatly together to make the macro plot really compelling. Pessl’s an ambitious writer, so when she doesn’t quite hit the mark with her prose (as is sometimes the case), it’s really easy to forgive her.

4. A Life Too Short: The Tragedy of Robert Enke, Ronald Reng

M: The most affecting book I’ve ever read. A moving and sensitive story of the life and death of Robert Enke, written by one of his closest friends. Enke seemed to have it all – he was a world class goalkeeper and tipped to go to the World Cup with Germany in 2010. But a constant battle with depression saw him take his own life, stepping in front of a train in November 2009. He was 32. Enke’s tale is told vividly by those who knew him best and goes to show that just because you’re a sporting superstar, you’re by no means untouchable.

5. Animal Farm, George Orwell

M: I know if you’re picking a George Orwell book you should go for 1984, but for me Animal Farm is just as – perhaps even more – masterful. Wonderfully provocative, the book develops characters and emotions better than any novel I’ve ever come across, despite being about a quarter of the length of most other books.

6. Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi

I: Is it cheating, to include a book that’s more pictures than words? I don’t think so, because Persepolis moved me like no other book has ever done. It juxtaposes comical intimate family moments with the utter despair of the millions of lives damaged by the Islamic Revolution. I don’t know what I learnt more about; growing up and becoming a woman, or the modern history of Iran. Simultaneously heart-breaking and life-affirming.

7. If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things, Jon McGregor

A: Being the poetry geek that I am, this book is right up my street. As much prose poem as it is novel, it slips in and out of the minds of the inhabitants of one British street to tell the story of one fateful day. At its core, the book is a tribute to the power of language – the prose is utterly mesmerising. Everyone who has an interest in writing and the influence of words should read this book.

8. Friday Night Lights, Buzz Bissinger

M: I really wanted to avoid picking two sporting books in my choices, but Friday Night Lights is one of those books that transcends sport. It’s not about American Football, it’s the story of small town America. A story about community. A story about obsession. It’s a powerful look at success and failure, about being young and having dreams. And about how those dreams can be dashed in a blink of an eye.

9. To the Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf

I: Thinking about this novel is like recalling a precious memory of a summer holiday, wrapped in nostalgia and tinged with sadness. It centres on the Ramsay family’s stay on the Isle of Skye, and is filled with cardigans and wet sand and all the dark undertones and underlying tensions of a typical British family holiday. But ultimately it’s a female narrative, which I love for all the elusive, misunderstood insecurities that come along with it.

10. e: A Novel, Matt Beaumont

We were keen to finish with a book related to the industry. But the internet is full of lists dedicated to The Tipping Point, Freakonomics and all those other texts you feel like you should read to expand your marketing brainpower. So instead, how about a novel based in an advertising agency, told entirely through emails, featuring characters and subjects that are far too close for comfort? Even 17 years after its release e is still instantly accessible, enormously enjoyable and utterly hilarious.    

[contentcavalcade-blog]

2016 to 2017: looking back and moving forward

Content marketers have had to deal with some difficult hurdles in the past year. With fake news thrown into the limelight and unexpected voices heard louder than ever, it’s hard to know what will stick and what could wildly miss the mark.

But that doesn’t mean that we should buckle down and stay below the radar. Nor that our content should only speak to the audiences we’re familiar with and reassured by. 2017 is an opportunity to speak to someone new.

We’ve picked some of our favourites from 2016 which have changed the way we think about content, and have has got us excited about the year ahead.

Each of them are doing something unexpected – and they’re all things we want to see and do more of in 2017.

The right kind of message

What would 2016 have looked like if we all knew our cultural ancestry? Travel search engine Momondo’s DNA Journey surprised people with the true story behind their heritage in a video which has over 5 million views. From there, viewers could enter a competition to win a DNA kit to find out where they were from – and a chance to win a trip to travel to every country on that list. The message was clear – ‘let’s open our world’ – and it delivered. Emotive content which gets people thinking about their cultural identity is welcome in 2017.

All news can be good news

You could argue that there wasn’t much to come out of the election shenanigans of 2016 to be proud of. But when you’re trying to produce timely content, it was exceptional fodder for many. Merriam Webster, for instance, found that words being used by the politicians were trending on their dictionary. So Trump’s ridiculous language became an opportunity for the brand to blog about the infamous ‘braggadocious’ (nope, still don’t know), and produce something which stood out in the quagmire of #election2016.

Unexpected partnerships

WeTransfer’s Creative Sessions celebrate diversity in the creative industry through a series of personal films studying particular artists. This year creative director Gilles Peterson took that diversity one step further by filming their third series in Cuba. Politically charged and relatively unknown, Cuba felt like an unexpected choice – but meant the films were filled with energy and real life stories. The authenticity strikes a chord, giving people a voice in a space where they wouldn’t normally have a platform. More of that please. 

Incongruous marketing

One of the biggest unexpected brand collabs of 2016 was packaged food brand Hamburger Helper’s hella mixtape Watch the Stove. Yes, there’s absolutely no connection between Hip Hop and hamburgers – but it got a load of listens on SoundCloud. The best part of the story is that it all came from a few young employees who were into their music and joked about producing a company mixtape. When they did, they did it properly, and listeners could tell that this wasn’t some big brand throwing money at something they knew nothing about. It felt genuine – because it was. Honesty will reap rewards in 2017.

[contentcavalcade-blog]

The Content Round-Up: Best of 2016

2016, it’s been… well, it’s hard to pick just one word for what this year’s been. From Bowie to Brexit to Trump, it has been one that will definitely go down in the history books. 

The marketing world has had its ups and downs too. It’s been the year brands had to take a long hard look at what it means to talk to people who don’t necessarily believe the same things as them. To consider different viewpoints in a world of uncertainty.

But to look on the bright side, that has had its advantages for our industry. After all, we’ve seen some brilliant work this year, across marketing disciplines. From amazing Christmas campaigns to Channel 4’s Paralympics spectacular, the boundaries of great creative have been pushed.

So before we wave (a very hasty) goodbye to 2016, Cavalcade thought it was time to take a look back at those who have been producing the really groundbreaking content this year. Here’s our best of the best in 2016.

Best for… Creating an entire content universe

FU2016 – Netflix

FU2016 was Netflix’s attempt at grabbing attention for their super-show, House of Cards, during a very tense American election – and they absolutely smashed it. Fictional character Frank Underwood’s campaign was brought to life through films, a spectacular microsite and even very real campaign headquarters. An example of the scope that a smart content idea, properly executed, can have.

Best for… Solving genuine brand problems

Surgeon Tryouts – Kurashiki Central Hospital

What better way to select the next generation of surgeons than by having them make origami birds from 5mm2 pieces of paper and sushi from one grain of rice? It might sound strange, but TBWA in Japan helped one of the top surgical training hospitals separate those students with the right practical skills from those who were just book smart. Top marks for creating something that’s so much more than a campaign.

 Best for… Raising awareness

Share the Orange – Alzheimer’s Research UK

A 90” live action spot that makes Alzheimer’s devastatingly tangible. The orange metaphor is one of the most powerful images in marketing comms this year. The #sharetheorange campaign dispelled misconceptions around what causes the disease. Thought-provoking and humbly shot, it’s a triumph of the power of the simple creative idea.  

 Best for… Creating meaningful content partnerships

Escape Plans - Atlas Obscura and Zipcar

This campaign is testament to the saying ‘greater than the sum of its parts’. Atlas Obscura and Zipcar partnered up to give each other something the other needed. And the result is a series of inspired day trips that allow customers to experience parts of their city that they wouldn’t usually have access to – because they were either missing the knowledge or the mode of transport. From ‘Castles of the Commonwealth’ to ‘The Inventor’s New York’, the guides provide route maps, itineraries, photos and highlights.

 Best for… Selling your product through content

You’re Better Than This – Sonos

Sonos’ ‘You’re Better Than This’ film pulls together famous faces and ordinary people to show that streaming music doesn’t have to mean tinny speakers and crap headphones. At October’s ‘Speaker Amnesty’ in London, the brand went one step further and offered people 300 free speakers in exchange for their older, less reliable systems. Meanwhile, the latest New York SoHo store includes different listening rooms for the ultimate brand experience. Three smart content plays to get the product noticed.  

[contentcavalcade-blog]

Blurring the lines between agency job roles

Before I became a content editor at Cavalcade, I was an account manager at our parent agency, Partners Andrews Aldridge. If I was saying this out loud, that would be the place where I’d pause for dramatic effect. Account manager.

There’s a lot of baggage that goes with the term – and indeed with every agency job title. Job titles are in danger of defining us as one thing, and one thing only. And in a world where we’re preaching collaboration, partnership and integration, this can only be a very bad thing.

The road less travelled

When I moved from ‘account management’ and into ‘content’, I was the first person in our agency to have switched departments. The move took about a year in total, quite simply because there was no precedent for it.

Everyone knew me as an account manager. An organiser, a client-appeaser, a facilitator. How could I be a ‘content editor’ all of a sudden? In my mind, I already was one. I had all the skills – a background in writing, experience in PR, good knowledge of the content industry. But my job title meant I also had a perception problem.

The rarity of these kinds of moves in agencies speaks volumes. For an industry that prides itself on constant innovation, this is something we really need to address. We’re ignoring people’s skills and potential value by pigeon-holing them at key stages in their careers. We’re missing out on the bigger picture.

And more than that, we’re rooted in the idea that only certain people can do certain things. But our industry hires some of the best and brightest. So why would we restrict them to performing just one set of tasks?

That’s not to say that everyone should now be moving job role or demanding a position in a new department. But how can we make sure we’re getting the most out of our people? And how can we make sure we’re not fencing ourselves in to specific job titles that could prove reductive?

Japanese agency Kettle tried to solve this problem by getting rid of problematic job titles altogether. In a move to create more integrated campaigns, staff retained their traditional specialisms, but ignored the hierarchy of the associated titles. The result? A melting pot culture that prized the idea over tradition and ego. I don’t know many agencies that’d be brave enough to go as far as Kettle have done, but it’s an interesting thought.

Why content agencies can be the driver

As anyone who works in our industry can attest, things move at light-speed. The word on everyone's lips is changing – 10 years ago, it was 'digital', now it’s 'UX', 'CX', 'content' and next year it'll be something else.

So it’s even more important that our agency structures adapt – and this is where content can be the poster child for alternative ways of thinking. As a component of the industry mix that didn’t exist five years ago, content is more resistant to the legacy of agency life. The content industry is made up of specialists from other disciplines who flocked to it precisely because it offered a new outlook.

And that’s in part why it’s become such a successful part of the comms mix. Teams of journalists, PRs, video producers, authors, musicians and designers have found a new discipline – whilst retaining their old skillsets.

The result is something that clients can really get behind – strategy and creative based on the correct solution for business and customer needs, not bound to the discipline of the people creating it. It’s a success story for what happens when you let experts branch out to new avenues.

The small changes that make a big difference

So how do we get there? It can be as simple as a mentality shift.

If traditional agency job roles are restrictive, then we need to start thinking beyond them. That means we need our new hires to be people who do more than one thing. And for our existing staff, it’s an invitation to move beyond established ways of working. Want to try your hand at something new? Do it. Want to be brought into that pitch that usually goes to a creative team? Put yourself forward. Your expertise is your anchor, but there’s no reason you can’t apply it to a non-traditional arena.

That’s how we foster a culture of people who are used to turning their hand to new things. That’s how we create an agency full of people who believe they can be the right person to pick up that last minute proactive piece that could just win a piece of new business.

Looking to the future

In my own experience, the strategists who started their careers off as copywriters write the best creative briefs. The content editors who started off as journalists understand the most newsworthy hooks. The creative technologists from the startups know the importance of agility in a way that excites and scares projects managers. And yes, my own background in client services makes me a better content editor, without doubt.

My biggest hope for the industry over the next 10 years is that traditional agency job roles continue to merge and that people can cross over when their skills allow it – and that we ultimately create an industry of hybrids.

So at Cavalcade, we won’t be thinking about our next hire as an ‘account manager’, ‘designer’ or ‘content editor’ – after all, what the hell do they even mean anyway? We’ll be looking for something much more ambitious – potential.

‘Blurring the lines between agency job roles – and how this can only be a good thing’ was originally published in The Drum 

[contentcavalcade-blog]

Cavalcade’s World of Content: November

We’ve said it once so we’ll say it again – content can be anything. And there’s a lot of great content out there. We’ve been away for a while, but we haven’t stopping finding content we want to shout about. Particularly podcasts. We love podcasts. So now we’re back with our top pick of content for the month. Here are our favourites for November:

Newsletter, by Imogen Lees

Lenny Letter

I never thought that 2016 would see me voluntarily signing up for a twice-weekly email newsletter. But I did for Lenny Letter, and I haven’t regretted it since. Lured in by creator Lena Dunham’s promise that it would ‘dismantle the patriarchy, one newsletter at a time’, I stuck around for the feeling of community in its readership and the fact it doesn’t shy away from addressing serious issues like race and politics. And it’s free.

Podcast, by Alexa Turnpenny

How I Built This

Ever wondered how Instagram went from crashing every hour to being the biggest photo sharing platform on the planet? Or exactly why VICE is so scrappy? Or how offering up a spare room to strangers spawned Airbnb? Well, wonder no more. ‘How I Built This’ interviews the masterminds behind the biggest movements in the world. Check out the Spanx one if you want to be inspired.

Show, by Matt Williams

Danny Baker: Cradle to the Stage

Can you recommend something that’s not been made public yet? Well I’m going to. Because after 40 years in media Danny Baker is embarking on his first ever stand-up tour early next year. And if I don’t tell you now, you might not be able to get tickets. Baker is my broadcasting hero, with a versatility, quick-wittedness and man-of-the-people shtick that goes unrivalled. For the upcoming 35-date tour he promises “no two nights will be the same”. For anyone who has had the pleasure of reading, listening or watching him over the years, you know that’ll absolutely be the case.

Podcast, by Veronika Bridgman

Malcolm Gladwell’s Revisionist History

I can’t remember the last time I listened to a podcast, let alone a whole series. So what’s different about this one? Firstly, it’s typical Gladwell – controversial and conversational. This time, he’s revisiting past events and challenging our historic interpretations of them. And secondly, what you get in audio vs his books is Gladwell’s voice, even more of his personality, and a more immersive experience with interview recording snippets and sound effects. It’s a good opportunity to ‘read’ with your ears and give your eyes a screen break.

Microsite, by Alexa Turnpenney

Inside Chanel

Atelier sketches, behind-the-scenes films and historical photography… Inside Chanel is every fashionista’s dream. It’s also every content marketer’s guide book. Designed with gorgeous graphics, animations and images and crammed full of the mouth-watering content you’d expect from a high fashion house, it really does have everything. It’s the perfect match of style and substance – pitched exactly right for the audience and for the brand.

Vlog, by Imogen Lees

Casey Neistat

There are a lot of vlogs out there. Most of them are filled with crap. In that respect, Casey Neistat’s blogs aren’t much different. But Casey Neistat can make a trip to the supermarket look epic. He packs in long time-lapses, sweeping city panoramas, intense close ups and rapid cuts, and while it feels super slick, you never forget that this is just a vlog. He shows you when he picks up the camera and how many takes he had to shoot so we can all pretend he’s an amateur and that if you made a vlog it would definitely be just as good. 

Podcast, by Matt Williams

My Dad Wrote a Porno

Want a hard-hitting podcast that delves deep into the inner workings of business? No? Then how about 3 friends sitting in a room reading through ‘Belinda Blinked’, a (really rather terrible) pornographic novel written by the host’s Dad? Each episode of the podcast covers a chapter of the book – they’re now on book 2 – and it’s even funnier, ruder and more excruciating for the host (remember, this is a porno written BY HIS OWN DAD) than you can truly imagine.

[contentcavalcade-blog]

Why we shouldn’t let disappearing content vanish from sight

To any creator of content, ‘produce less and use more’ will be a familiar maxim. And it’s a comforting one too. Once you’ve put in the effort and created a piece of content to be proud of, you’d like to think it can be used again and again. After all, what’s the point of making something that’ll be shared a few times before getting lost in the ether?

Here at Cavalcade we’re a proponent of structured content, and have already extolled the virtues of understanding your assets and planning your content better so it can be used across multiple platforms. Learning how to repurpose content means we can save a lot of our time and a lot of our consumers’ time – because the content they are engaging with is worth their while.

It’s what we all know about evergreen content too. Evergreen content isn’t time or trend specific so it stays relevant for longer - and that crucially makes it more valuable. If you know that what you create will continue to engage far into the future, you’re much more likely to produce better quality content than something which isn’t built to last.

If we look at what’s defined as non-evergreen content, we find a few key categories. Namely, breaking news, trends, event specific content, speculation, and dated statistics and data. These types of content are still valuable because they’re easy ways to drive engagement, but they’re often avoided by businesses because their short term appeal is simply not as valuable.

So why should we bother to create content which isn’t made to last – and does that make it worse quality than content which is? There’s more than enough content out there with a shorter shelf life than whipped cream. None more so, in fact, than ‘disappearing’ content.

Disappearing content was born with the arrival of Snapchat way back in 2012, when we were introduced to another social messaging platform to add to our list. Snapchat allows its users to take a photo or video and send it to their friends, who could then view it for a total of 10 seconds before it disappeared for good.

Young people took to Snapchat immediately, while adults remained skeptical. The concept of the disappearing photo was a confusing one, as we were used to taking a photo and keeping it forever, or posting it on social media as a permanent shared memory. But sure enough Snapchat increased in popularity, and today it has more daily users than Twitter and approximately 60% of smartphone owners use the app. The disappearing photo was fun, silly, temporary and we loved it.  

But just as lots of businesses avoid non-evergreen content, so have they avoided Snapchat. For most companies, Snapchap fits into those short shelf-life categories: it’s immediate and based on in-the-moment trends, events, or news. This betrays a certain short-sightedness on the part of businesses. With such a huge usership, Snapchat holds unlimited potential for brands.

Take this as an example: at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards, 12 million people viewed its Snapchat Live Story. That’s over 3 million more people than the number of viewers of the television broadcast.

Burberry were the first luxury brand to run a Snapchat Discover channel native ad, helping to revolutionise their image as a digital savvy luxury brand. The National Geographic recently announced that Snapchat is one of their main social media revenue drivers. And with the appearance of Snapchat-esque copy-cats like Instagram Live and Facebook Live, it’s clearly a popular trend that’s not going to leave in a hurry.

Snapchat and other social media livestreams have the ability to create a story and develop a narrative in the moment. And that’s not easy to do. Creating a Snapchat story involves curating an entire stream of 10 second videos which individually get the brands message across, but also come together to tell one coherent story.

Red Bull are a great example of this – their Snapchat story takeover from skateboarding champion Mark McMorris ‘Another day at the office for Mark McMorris’ was watched all over the world as it followed his on-brand extreme lifestyle. A carefully crafted snapshot of a moment can make a brand look spontaneous, fun and relevant.

The popularity of Snapchat and its potential for businesses proves that disappearing content shouldn’t be dismissed as lacking in value and quality. By categorizing disappearing content with non-evergreen content, brands are missing its potential value. And that value is immense.

After all, there’s only so much evergreen content you can appreciate before you want something that rewards because it’s temporary, in-the-moment, and most importantly, enjoyable. Which are all very important qualities in a world of increasingly short attention spans. 10 seconds short, in fact.

[contentcavalcade-blog]

Ten questions with Imogen Lees

Imogen is the newest member of Team Cavalcade, joining as Content Editor. She’s survived her first week, so now let’s get to the interesting stuff…

1. What’s the best thing about your job? 

It’s still a novelty for me that I’m in a space where people really listen to what you have say and where you can create something people actually want to interact with. Also working alongside really talented and creative minds. And having your ear to the ground for cool new stuff.  

2. What do you think will be ‘the next big thing’ in our industry?

Super personalisation. Eventually people will only consume what’s been specifically tailored to their interests and habits.

3. What’s your content inspiration? 

I was really excited when I discovered Lenny’s Letter and found there was some really current and important content being written – and read – for women (and for free!). It’s proved really popular and reminded lots of people that long-form written content is worth their time. Then at the opposite end of the spectrum, I really enjoy Brew Dog as a brand. They have their target market absolutely on point, and are almost self-aware that they’re ‘doing’ content. I mean, one of their beers is called the ‘Weird Beard Faceless Spreadsheet Ninja’. Enough said.

4. What is your content superpower? 

Reading a lot of words and sussing out the most interesting point and what’s unique about it.

5. If you weren’t at Cavalcade, what would you be doing?

Living off my really popular inspirational and ground-breaking feminist blog.

6. Favourite book?

I love Margaret Atwood, so something from her. Maybe ‘The Edible Woman’.

7. Favourite place you’ve visited? 

I spent 3 weeks in Xela in Guatemala learning Spanish, and could have stayed there for 3 years. Beautiful hikes, the friendliest people, lots of dancing and an unbeatable patisserie.

8. Signature cocktail? 

A lemongrass Collins with extra chilli is my new fave.

9. Recommendation for a restaurant in London?

I’ve just tried out Tombo in Soho which does poké – Hawaiian sushi bowls that are really tasty and surprisingly filling.

10. Most embarrassing moment? 

It was the end of university and I’d just finished my degree. My English professor asked me what I wanted to do now. I panicked said “I’m not too sure… maybe something in marketing… maybe I’ll study some more. As long as I don’t end up an English teacher!!” And then realised who I was talking to. Dreadful.

[contentcavalcade-blog]

What ad agencies can learn from supermarkets

I love going to supermarkets.

As a child - and, to be embarrassingly fair, as an adult – many a visit has been filled with intrigue about how the whole operation actually works. I always wanted to understand how staff immediately knew when to restock any product (it’s on the barcodes!), to how they decided exactly where to place each product on miles of totally identical shelving.

With the viability of supermarkets in their current state - much like, it must be said, agencies – under scrutiny like never before, I thought there might be some valuable comparisons that could be drawn between the two seemingly disparate industries.

After all, both sets of shops are characterised by a broad range of prices (and pricing structures), as well as a seemingly endless list of products, many of which represent much better value than others.  

With that in mind, here’s five key lessons agencies could learn from our nation’s sustenance superstores…

1. Trust and loyalty come from doing “your” thing well, rather than just trying to do everything.

There’s immense value in knowing your niche.

Aldi offer limited choice for unmissable prices. This appeals to a specific (if sizeable) audience, and so they prosper. Meanwhile, Tesco’s battle against online retailers has seen them put everything from barbeques to babygros into their huge, expensive Extra stores. They took on the vast possibilities available on the internet by combining a loosely comparable product range with the customer experience of a cold warehouse next to a busy ring road.

It didn’t work.

Agencies should heed this lesson. At Cavalcade, we make content that people talk about. While we understand (and champion) its value with a wider ecosystem, we don’t automatically assume the right to own that whole ecosystem. For shops both big and small, the value of specialism can speak for itself.  

2. That said, we still need to innovate.

Supermarkets, much like ad agencies, are increasingly seeing their work and longevity threatened by global tech behemoths. Reports in the US claimed that Amazon will soon sell own-brand groceries, and this is indicative of a wider trend. If they’re not careful, whole industries – including both those discussed here – could soon be swallowed whole.

However, as in point one, the solution to this problem really isn’t “take on the wildly successful, immensely rich and respected global phenomenon on their own terms”. Instead, it’s all about finding your own way through the system and into the hearts and minds of your audience. Much as Waitrose and Ocado can still cultivate a strong following through great branding and a seamless user journey, a nimble agency can topple much bigger players if their thinking consistently evolves to combine relevance and simplicity.

3. Staying true to your own identity creates more opportunities than it dismisses.

In industries as competitive as ours, it’s easy to lose sight of our purpose, and why we work so hard at doing what we do. We have all seen rates cut to win new business, or creative principles tweaked to meet a deadline. This is inevitable in our line of work. 

That said, if each project is defined by getting work out the door as cheaply as possible, or to make the biggest margin, we essentially enter into a race to the bottom that no one really wins.

Put it this way: the horsemeat scandal definitely wasn’t caused by supermarkets overpaying for their meat. Cheaper work may look good now, and may even get clients through the door. But it is quality work, crafted for purpose, which builds the most valuable relationships and wins awards.

4. You can’t trick your customers. Really.

The game is finally up. As supermarkets around the country slowly decommission confusing BoGoF offers and worthless loyalty schemes amidst a maelstrom of criticism – including a scary-sounding “super complaint” from consumer group Which? – it has become clear (if it was ever in doubt) that customer-centric businesses need to offer transparency and consistency alongside competitive pricing to ensure long term success. 

The same is true in our own industry. Eventually, jargon just becomes jarring. Our work needs to be accountable and transparent to both our clients’ objectives and their bottom line. Distorting or overselling the value of our work eventually, inevitably, erodes their trust.  

5. With great power, comes great responsibility.

I think that the signs of a bad agency or dodgy supermarket are broadly very similar. Enter the wrong one, and you’ll find yourself disorientated, misled, and, most probably, clutching some expensive biscuits that you didn’t even know you wanted.

Even looking outside the rarefied, puffed-up atmosphere that has been known to pollute our industry, it’s not hard to see that we can do important work. We connect people to brands, and in turn, have a tangible impact on the things people do and see every day. 

To avoid the undesirable examples of some of the retailers above, we simply cannot afford to take this position for granted.

Important work only truly retains its value if it’s being done for the right reasons. Shaping the tastes of a nation is a privileged responsibility to have, and to do the job justice, our focus has to remain on offering amazing work, or unmatched service, rather than just churning adequate work for profit.

To truly succeed, our ambitions - even those pitched at supermarket scale – need to be delivered with the care, attention, and charm of our favourite local merchants.  

[contentcavalcade-blog]

Should creative agencies be paid for the results they deliver?

Creative agencies sell ideas. Ideas are the product of the thinking and imagination of their owners. Just like any other product, ideas can be good or bad, spectacular or average. And it can take anything from ten minutes to ten months to develop an idea.

Think Nike’s ‘’Just Do It’’. In 1988 Nike targeted mostly marathon runners, their sales were at $800 million whereas Reebok owned the biggest market share. By 1998, sales had exceeded $9.2 billion. Just Do It had turned Nike from fitness gear to a statement of identity – mind all the ‘’Silver’’ or ‘’Air Max’’ requests that Santa had to deliver. So much for the many sceptics that claimed the campaign lacked the strength to unify since it targeted such a diverse audience!

And what about Apple? Admittedly by 2006 Steve Job’s business strategy had already projected Apple to less stormy waters and the products were certainly good, but after the Get a Mac campaign with Mac and Microsoft, their market share grew of 42% in one year. Chapeau. 

Or Orange. Many at Engine may have heard the story of how, back in 1994, WCRS’s Robin Wight came up with the famous ‘The future is bright, the future is Orange’. The tagline effectively created £3 billion in shareholder value for Orange, and all at the cost of a simple ad campaign.

Could Apple, Orange and Nike have achieved the same results with different taglines and campaigns? Perhaps. Or perhaps, had they been marketed in a different way, they’d have become entirely different brands or they wouldn’t have stuck with the audience as much. By all means, the creativity of their marketing people had a huge impact on their sales and identity.

Which brings us back to our problem – rewarding the value of an idea. What creative agency employee hasn’t once thought they should have been rewarded for that awesome idea they came up with, even if someone else developed it? Is there an account manager who has never had to fight for one more strategy hour with clients who constantly try to bring costs down? And how many clients, on the other hand, must have thought they were charged too much for work that wasn’t at all brilliant?

It seems that the advertising industry may have a pricing problem. Agencies are trapped between having to guarantee a stable income to their employees and increasing their profits by loading everybody with more work that could possibly be completed within the famous ‘billable hours’. Clients are wary of being charged by the hour and would often rather have something done quickly than done very well – or, even more often, they’d like an impossible combination of both.

And employees? They too want it all. The guaranteed income and the deserved reward for the quality of their work, a reward that cannot be quantified by a pat on the back by a manager or the prospect of maybe one day landing a better job.

But let us look at the most popular pricing model among agencies, a cost-based model. As it stands, most agencies either charge their clients by the hour, by product or by ‘project’, that is to say an estimate of hours that will be needed to complete the work. In other words, they charge for the expected ‘costs’ of getting the job done, hence rewarding efficiency. If the agency takes longer than expected, either they’ll lose money or the client will.

One alternative that has been whispered in corridors for years and is now being supported by IPA President Ian Priest, is the value-based pricing model. Broadly speaking, it means one agency’s work should be paid for the value it brings to the client’s business. After all, every client would rather discuss the benefits that your marketing can bring to their business rather than the hours you’re taking to get there. However, the definition of value is all but universal.

Although we all agree that eventually value means increasing sales or decreasing costs, there can be many other circumstances and factors external to the marketing that contribute to influence these results. A safer definition of value should therefore include primarily top-of-the-funnel variables such as traffic driven and leads generated.

One way to interpret the model is to consider the value that a certain output or thinking process will deliver to the business. For instance, one could estimate the costs, scope and value of delivering a content strategy or a brand strategy and establish a fixed price for it. Of course, estimates are by definition imprecise, but the experience of the agency, together with a careful understanding of both the client expectations and the scope of work, can reach a number that satisfies both parties.

Agencies whose work is more creative and less strategic, instead, may focus on the value of a particular idea rather than that of the thinking scope. After all, an average TV ad and a TV ad that resonates with the audience for years may have both taken two months to be developed, but they’d result in very different outcomes for the business. In this case, an agency could charge with any of the above models, but agree on certain targets that, once achieved, determinate bonuses.

Intuitively, clients should feel safer knowing they’ll only have to pay the bonus if the campaign has delivered more than what they expected it to, but Behavioural Economics may tell us otherwise. Positive results of a campaign may often become tangible years after the campaign has been launched – a long timespan that could tempt the business to attribute the effects to other variables and refuse to share a part of the profits.

In any case, many agencies seem to have started moving towards less out-dated pricing models and despite the fact that not all clients will be up to take the challenge, the direction for the change has been decided.

But if value-based pricing for agencies can contribute to everybody feeling liberated from time pressures and freer to think truly good ideas, how can the same thinking be applied and transmitted to individual employees so as to maximise motivation? At the moment, most permanent staff agree on a yearly salary and may or may not be given some agency bonus at the end of the year, a quota that is usually calculated and redistributed among all the employees and is not directly related to the quality of the work the individual has produced.

Applying the same principle, that is to say that not all ideas are worth the same, we should be able to reward those employees who came up with particularly good ones. Unfortunately, figuring out who the value is to be attributed to is not a straightforward task. As much as a great strategy or creative insight is worth, it won’t go far without a persuasive account person able to sell it to client. And even once sold, everything could still go pear-shaped without efficient project managers and competent creatives able to make it happen.

One solution, again, could be a set of incentives to be activated when the performance of the idea is outstanding. Each team could be assigned a fixed percentage corresponding to the contribution given to the work, plus a further percentage could be attributed to the person that came up with the initial idea. If the targets are achieved, the team gets the bonus. Certainly timings could be an issue, especially in a fast-changing environment such as the advertising industry, and some employees may have already left the company once their bonuses get activated.

All in all, as the industry finally starts moving towards a more just and innovation-focused pricing system, finding a way to share such benefits with the people that make an agency appears to be the next point on the agenda.

[contentcavalcade-blog]

Why apprenticeships can help solve the great industry debate

There were many great things about Trevor Beattie’s talk on the Drum Bus at Advertising Week Europe. When a man of such high esteem talks about the industry, you listen.

But what resonated most with me was his take on talent – particularly younger talent – in advertising.

For newcomers, he had some wise words of advice. Keep learning. Keep consuming. But make sure you look outside the industry for it.

It makes sense. The advertising industry is obsessed with its own celebrity. By championing those most like us. By thinking our world is the be all and end all. That’s a very dangerous game when our audience is as diverse and changeable as they come.

It’s why for his 'issue of inspiration' created for The Drum, Beattie shied away from the norm. He picked astrophysicists, social media influencers and models. Indeed the only creative director he selected was someone from a design background, whose approach to agency life completely bucks the industry standard.

I completely see – and am very excited by – Beattie’s view (although I would also suggest that our industry has also been responsible for some amazing and inspiring creative products, and we’re arguably shaping the worlds of tech and innovation as much as any of our siblings, so should be embracing and learning from it too).

But for me the issue doesn’t only stem from having to reconsider our own sources of inspirations, but by reconsidering who it is we actually hire in the first place.

Of course our creative figureheads are all going to be the same if everyone in the agency thinks alike. Of course we’re going to continue coming up with the same answers to the same briefs if everyone is from the same colleges and same walks of life.

The lack of diversity and dearth of talent in the industry is not a new topic. But ways to solve the problem are still in startlingly short supply. It’s heartening to see some agencies joining forces to kick start initiatives like Creative Equals and the Ideas Foundation, but what about some more actionable measures?

At Partners Andrews Aldridge we’ve just hired our first apprentice. This isn’t a word usually associated with the creative industries. Apprenticeships are for engineers, electricians and carpenters, right?

Clearly that’s an out-dated view. But it’s still noticeable how many people from within the industry seem genuinely surprised when I tell them about our scheme. We already have a pretty sought after grad scheme and a great creative placement initiative called Foot in the Door, so why look for apprentices too?

I think our creative director put it best when introducing our first apprentice, Ali, to the agency. Our agency mantra ‘Made by Partners’ isn’t just about our work. It's about our culture and our people too. Getting someone in before they've gone to university or set off on a particular career path means we can help individuals who wouldn't normally enter our world learn and thrive in our business.

Ali won’t be diving straight into the day-to-day. But he’ll be learning how the agency works, completing tasks that will embed him within the life of the agency, not just being ‘another new face’. That means status meetings, briefs, WIPs. It means asking questions that aren’t normally asked. Offering insights and thoughts that aren’t normally considered.

And indeed, it will be about completing tasks that used to be the remit of what were once called ‘agency runners’. You remember them. You might even have been one. Most of the big cheeses in the industry seem like they used to be – and they look back nostalgically on those times as shaping them to be who they are today. They’re the ‘go-to’ for every task. As integral a part of pitch teams as the ECD presenting.

They care. They want to learn. They have an outlook that’s ballsy, disruptive and challenging. They don’t have a sense of entitlement because they’ve experienced three years of university. They don’t think they know it all. Or have a safety net that many others do.

These are all sweeping generalisations, I know. And I know there are many exceptions to the rules. But as the industry challenges change, agencies must do too. There’s no one right or wrong answer. But I personally think that with apprenticeships, we’re onto an exciting start.  

[contentcavalcade-blog]

Cavalcade’s world of content - April

Content can be anything. A song, a story, the small print. But that doesn’t necessarily make it effective. So each month at Cavalcade, we root out the very best in seriously good content. Books, podcasts, magazines – if it’s good, we’re all over it. Here are our picks for April.  

Magazine, by Matt Williams 

Sports Illustrated

It’s not been a good few weeks for print, so I wanted to include Sports Illustrated as a counter point. Print fails when a publication offers low-rent content that can be found just as easily online. Where I still believe it succeeds is by providing longer, thought provoking pieces that are enhanced by settling down with a magazine, not staring at a mobile screen. Sports Illustrated does this brilliantly. It ditches the stuff that can be found online and focuses on 4 or 5 meatier articles from genuine experts. Which for a sports fan, makes it a must buy.

App, by Owen Keating Buzzfeed Video

I could never claim to be good at cooking. Happily, the Buzzfeed Video app makes me feel more like Rick Stein than a reluctant ready meal buyer. The app, which offers a smorgasbord of video content, featuring all the regular Buzzfeed channels, lets me discover recipes that are not only doable, but, more importantly, delicious. All the recipes are short, stylish, and devastatingly simple, and even better, there’s so many of them - with new dishes posted most days - that I’ll never go hungry again. Tasty.

Blog, by Alexa Turnpenney The Pool

Billed as ‘a platform for women too busy to browse’, The Pool is content perfection. From all-round smarty pants Lauren Laverne, the blog is full of clever, funny and thought-provoking articles and the content is easy to organise into your own personal scrapbook. Oh and the time-to-read icons on each post make it easy to identify what to read in the three minutes you have now and what to save for the 15 minutes you’ll have later. As always, Lauren, we salute you.

Podcast, by Jack Verlander Distraction Pieces Scroobius Pip does not sound like someone who could keep you engaged in an in-depth conversation for up to 90 minutes, particularly when he has a pronounced stutter. However, his strategy of just having a chat about any and all topics with people he admires is a remarkably simple, yet effective way of keeping you engaged. The breadth of people he has spoken to also helps keep this content fresh, ranging from comedians such as Russell Brand and Stewart Lee, to comic book writers such as Alan Moore, and even talking to a refugee fleeing her war torn country.  

App, by Matt Williams Talkshow

Talkshow is a new messaging app that allows you to hold – and more importantly view – text conversations in public. It’s in its infancy at the moment but I reckon that the potential, particularly if you can get brands and celebrities involved, could be huge.

Book, by Owen Keating Winners

A lot of business books are dry, wordy, and jargon-heavy. As you’d expect from one of the country’s most memorable political figures, Alastair Campbell’s “Winners” is absolutely none of these things. He’s used his extensive network of global contacts to curate scores of brutally concise, wholly applicable insights into how people – from world leaders to international athletes – win. As well as being a really interesting read, Campbell uses forensic analysis to turn access into genuinely usable content. Rather than just be a homage to the successes of global superstars, “Winners” gives every reader an efficient, inspiring blueprint for winning.

[contentcavalcade-blog]

Structured content: what it is and how to use it

We have a serious content problem. 

Every minute 211 million pieces of content will be generated and released into the world. We are overrun with the stuff. And over the last few years, we’ve seen a proliferation of agencies opening content shops or expanding their offering to help clients create yet more content.

But one thing we don’t seem to have mastered yet is what to do with it when it’s out in the world. Most agencies moving into the content space are well set up to plan and create content, but what about governance? When you have a dozen agencies each handling a different part of your content ecosystem, how do you ensure a consistent experience for customers? Or even that you're getting value from the content being created after day one, month one, year one.

There might just be a solution. ‘Intelligent content’ - or ‘structured content’ as it’s also known - is a methodology that aims to provide a unified customer experience through flexible, scalable, reusable content components. Simply put, structured content is a way of of increasing the effectiveness of the content that brands and publishers produce.

But how?

Structured content moves us from creating individual pieces of content, designed and built separately, to channel-neutral components that can be reused across multiple locations. The mantra is: create once, use again and again and again.

That’s not to say that structured content means a ‘one size fits all approach’ (though I’m sure it’s something that will be levelled at the method from some corners). Structured content is about being able to take the reigns on your content ecosystem and know exactly what assets you have available in order to surface them at the right time in the right place to the right customers.

Metadata to the rescue

What underpins structured content is metadata. Beloved by SEO teams everywhere and often neglected by everyone else, metadata is finally having its moment. Best described as ‘information about information’, metadata helps us to find, categorise and store content components, automate their delivery, and can even help us better understand how customers are interacting with the content we create.

What structured content means for the industry

In all honesty… Not much yet. Structured content is yet to hit the mainstream, and is still being pioneered by a few forward-thinking industries, organisations and agencies. It takes resource, effort and planning. Change is hard, but eventually change will be necessary.

Already companies have started using it as a competitive advantage. Netflix is one such company. They make creative decisions based on audience insights - insights which are possible because of a clever and rigorous approach to metadata.

Agencies who have traditionally been used to owning content through production and delivery will struggle to cope with the move towards planning. Although if this pushes agencies to deliver better content for brands and their customers, then it’s no bad thing.

(Picture: Drew Clemens on Seesparbox)

[contentcavalcade-blog]

Advertising Week Europe is raising important issues – but let’s cut the ‘celebs’

There’s a lot I really don’t like about advertising festivals. The awkward backslapping, the stream of talks that are little more than glorified case studies where agencies and brands pay an extortionate amount to try and convince you that their latest campaign wasn’t a complete disaster. The forced love-in where industry bigwigs come together under the pretence of championing creativity, when really they’re just looking for a way to massage their own egos and expense lunch. 

And of course, worst of all, the sessions where people slavishly sit and listen to a random celebrity – paid for by an agency in the hope that they’ll look cool and well connected – who say absolutely nothing of note, but still gets tweeted anyway because the attendees have to justify their presence to their boss somehow. 

Advertising Week Europe has so far more than lived up to that last gripe. I’ve seen everyone from Alesha Dixon to David Haye to Bernie Ecclestone giving their ‘unique view’ on the advertising industry. 

Of course, in cases like Ecclestone, you can at least guarantee they’ll say something stupid enough to get you coverage well beyond the trade press – and perhaps the WPP PR machine should be applauded for using the platform to have Sir Martin Sorrell’s name splashed all over the BBC Sport website yesterday. 

But if we really are here to stimulate prolific debates on the industry, is hearing Anthony Joshua tell you that “it’s important to stay relaxed in high pressured situations” really what we should be doing with our time? Oh, I’m sure you’ll definitely get the edge you need in your next pitch now you’ve paid for a ticket and heard that. 

That’s where my grumpy moaning ends though. Because there’s a flip side. And a pretty significant one. Sure, there’s a lot to dislike about these festivals, but they can play an important role too. And I have to say that Advertising Week Europe is doing a pretty damn good job at it. 

Despite being a relatively fun, free and prosperous industry, there’s also some pretty shocking injustices in advertising. Some are purely business issues that should be addressed – how some clients treat agencies during pitch processes, for example.

But some are wider social issues that require a genuine effort and forthright campaigning if we’re to make a real difference. Issues like gender equality, the ethics of advertisers, and the shocking lack of anyone working in an agency who’s not white middle class.   

Until recently, there was the odd effort to tackle such issues. But beyond some well-meaning initiatives and a sporadic opinion piece in the trade press, traction was hard to instigate. 

Now, however, it feels like we’re beginning to get some momentum. Credit to Campaign Magazine for using its influence to start doing some ‘campaigning’, and pushing the gender agenda beyond the usual channels. Organisations like the Ideas Foundation are picking up more and more champions too, and even the government are taking notice. 

And I absolutely love The Drum’s Do It Day initiative, which has brought together some of the world's biggest brands to attempt to improve the world in just one day. And now, high profile events like Advertising Week are giving these issues an even more prominent platform. They’re launching initiatives that feel tangible, that feels like action can be taken. 

I attended one such event this morning. This was the UK launch of MAKERS, a destination that assembles compelling stories of inspiring women. Because only with steps like this can things feel tangible. As Jude Kelly, theatre director, producer, and all-round incredible woman, said in the panel discussion: “only when you see it can you be it.” 

That really is what’s so important – and where we’ve fallen behind in the past. There’s been a lot of talking. A lot of column inches. But never such public action as we’re seeing at some of the sessions at Advertising Week (and will hopefully see again at Cannes and other such upcoming events too).

And you know what? If we start to genuinely get the change that’s so desperately needed, then I can put up with the hot air, backscratching and sycophancy that blight these festivals so. 

This post was first published on More About Advertising.

[contentcavalcade-blog]

Measuring Content

There is a common misconception that all content is good content, or that something is better than nothing. However, with the increasing importance that content now plays within a company’s marketing strategy, should we be ensuring it delivers business benefits too?

Content measurement is a conundrum that is still puzzling many clients and agencies alike. Not because there are no metrics associated with measuring content, quite the opposite actually. There are a wide range of content measurement metrics available to help companies understand the reach and buzz that content has achieved but measuring impact and influence is where it becomes more challenging.

Part of this has to do with the content platforms being adopted by organisations and a confusion around which platform should be used for different types of content & purpose.

So what are the most commonly used platforms?

·       Facebook

·       Google+

·       LinkedIn

·       Twitter

·       Instagram

·       Pinterest

·       Flickr

·       Blogger

·       Tumblr

·       YouTube

·       Vimeo

·       SlideShare

 At present you can measure a mixture of different social metrics to varying degrees such as:

·       Reach through…visits, geography, device

·       Engagement/consumption through…bounce, page views per visit, time spent, open rate, downloads, form completions  

·       Retention through…returning visits, unsubscribes, followers

·       Sentiment/sharing through…social sharing, email, comments

·       Leads through…new leads, existing leads

·       Sales through…direct sales, revenue, CVR

So how do we measure content? Well, performance should always be monitored in line with what’s important to your business. What does this mean? What was the objective of your presence on this platform? What were you trying to achieve with the content that you shared? How would you know if you achieved it? What would success look like?

Content measurement is a combination of metrics, not just those directly linked to the content itself but also the output across the rest of your business all driven by the interactions from your social channel.

The tricky part however is attribution: tracking is getting smarter and smarter but we are still not 100% there on being able to attribute long tail activity such as social media to goals or performance when the interaction with the business is not in the form of a direct click through to a site, if instead it comes in the form of a visit to a retail outlet, email or phone call how do we track & measure this?

It’s true that without the ability to measure these things directly it does leave the waters slightly murky however if we begin to embrace the development of new technological innovations then the measurement world opens up a whole new door to data capture and measurement.

Developments in omni-channel attribution modelling are fast approaching and will provide a solid framework that can be adopted and applied in other areas of digital marketing where there is a need to knit together gaps in tracking customer interaction with a business.

Whilst not an exact science the use of smart devices is playing a vital role in helping to close that gap - especially as significant numbers of consumers are accessing content primarily through their mobile devices these days. We are yet to achieve measurement perfection in content, but the level of data granularity achievable continues to evolve.

[contentcavalcade-blog]

Cavalcade’s world of content - March 2016

Content can be anything. A song, a story, the small print. But that doesn’t make it effective. Effective content is part of a connected ecosystem. It has a clear benefit to brand and customer. At Cavalcade we’re always on the hunt for effective content. And we’re always sharing our findings around the office. So now we want to share them with you. Here’s the content we’ve been loving these past few weeks.

Podcast, by Matt Williams

The Jeff Rubin Jeff Rubin Show

The strapline sums it up – it's a podcast that 'brings you interviews you didn’t know that you wanted to hear'. I love great quality content that can genuinely be surprising, and Jeff Rubin is the master at providing just that. Where else can you hear in-depth interviews with video game attorneys, paper airplane world champions, Beanie Babies experts and Buzzfeed’s Animals Editor all in one place?

Novel trilogy, by Alexa Turnpenney

His Dark Materials

Before The Hunger Games and Twilight were even a twinkle in their authors’ eyes, we were all obsessed with His Dark Materials. It might be over two decades since the first instalment came out, but it’s still a masterclass in captivating storytelling. And, like all good content, the spin-offs - like ‘Lyra’s Oxford’, a sell-out stage production and even ‘The Amber Spyglass’ movie - are proof that good content lives on far beyond its original iteration.

Film, by Gemma Ghelardi

The Great Beauty

Sorrentino’s The Greaty Beauty measures perfectly well all the necessary ingredients for great content. The execution is beautiful, the message is meaningful, the story-telling is interesting and each element perfectly serves its purpose.

Documentary, by Lauren Sudworth

Operation Moffat

Operation Moffat tells the story of Gwen Moffat, Britain’s first female mountain guide through the experiences of two young women who travel to Gwen’s favourite mountain haunts. They can’t climb the hardest or run the fastest, but what’s special about Operation Moffat is the women’s humble appreciation for mountain culture. In an outdoor film industry built on extremes, this documentary cuts through the adrenaline with an understated authenticity that made me bawl like a baby.

Email, by Matt Williams

The Brief

There’s nothing I love more than sitting down with a pint and a newspaper. But rarely does anyone have time for such a luxury. That’s why The Brief is brilliant – it’s a perfect way to digest the day’s most important news, written in a form that’s engaging, easy to understand, but not patronising. It’s helped me survive many a conversation with those more learned than me…

TV series, by Alexa Turnpenney

Making a Murderer

Netflix, you rarely disappoint, but Making a Murderer shows that slow and steady really does win the race. In a world of political thrillers and prison dramas, MAM cuts right through with it’s careful pacing and slow-build questions. And let’s be honest, who hasn’t stayed up thinking about the downright terrifying concepts it poses. Oh, and talk about a clickbait title. I get shivers just thinking about it.

Blog, by Gemma Ghelardi

The Book of Life

If you, like me, have a lot of questions about the meaning of life, work, love, capitalism and everything else, the Book of Life is the place to go. Philosopher Alain de Botton shares neatly organized, smart, efficient pills for emotional survival.

Short stories, by Lauren Sudworth

What we talk about when we talk about love

Beloved by creative writing students everywhere, Raymond Carver’s classic collection of short stories is an exercise in restraint and simplicity. If, like me, you err on the side of verbosity, this is a book that will inspire you to tell less, show more, and sharpen up your writing craft.

[contentcavalcade-blog]

Why content marketing is no longer a shiny toy

You’d have expected an event called ‘The Drum Content Marketing Breakfast’ to be a big love-in for content marketing, where everyone gushes over what an exciting industry we’re currently in.

You might not have anticipated it starting with someone claiming that content marketing budgets might be getting very quickly – and very severely – slashed.

It was refreshing to hear really. No longer are we getting all over excited about this thing called content, riding on a wave that could peter out at any second. 

We’re now drilling down to the nuts and bolts of content marketing, ensuring that what we’re doing is geared towards a genuine end goal, which results in better work, happier customers and more profitable businesses. 

The first warning came from the Institute of Digital Marketing’s Joe Edwards. He predicted that a demise in content marketing budgets would occur if too many agencies and brands ‘keep creating content for content’s sake.’

“We have to get practical and ask what it’s doing for a business,” Edwards explained. “Because if we don’t work out how to evaluate this stuff quickly then over the next twelve months budgets will be getting cut.”

Whenever we speak to someone about what we do here at Cavalcade we always talk first about our content process. Because we believe that’s what sets us apart. Too many content marketing shops are born out of a particular discipline or background, so every solution is geared towards their comfort zone. If your content expertise lies in strategy, then of course your recommendations are going to be to reestablish or refine a brand’s content principles.

If your content agency was derived from an advertising agency’s production department, then clearly your resolution will be to create bigger, bolder, brighter video content.

Sound obvious? Maybe. But the content marketing landscape is so broad that for many clients a content agency can mean anything, and it makes their job of picking one incredibly hard to decipher.

Because Cavalcade is born out of a customer engagement agency – and better still, a customer engagement agency that’s part of an independent integrated agency group – we don’t think discipline first. It’s about the customer. Which also means our process is smoother and less biased.

But you didn’t come here for a hard sell. Or any sell at all. You came here because you wanted to be entertained or informed. Or because you’re a mum of one the Cavalcade team.

So let me take that approach and tell you why we believe it. Why we think it works. And why you need to take note whether you like us or not.

In this day and age you can get content out to your customers very quickly. It’s relatively simple to create and very simple to distribute.

But that’s not good enough. It’s simply produced a sea of substandard content. Being churned out by brands believing they should be doing stuff because they have owned channels that would otherwise be left vacant.

What can you do then? It can be frustrating in such a fast paced world, where it feels like you have to always been seen to be doing something, but the first piece of advice is to take a step back for a moment.

Look at all your existing content. Ask yourself: is what we’re doing right for the brand?

At the Drum event one client was asked why he was in attendance. His answer was heartening. “We’re new to this and we’re here to learn,” he said. “We realise we can’t just throw a lot of content shit at the wall and hope some of it sticks.”

True, some brands are saying that because they can’t afford to make any mistakes. But it should be applied to more than just the cash strapped. To produce truly effective content, you need a solid content strategy. A fully thought-out distribution model. And a robust set of KPIs that you can learn from in real-time.

Unsurprisingly, this attitude resulted in much of the Drum talk centering around the role of media agencies within the content marketing mix. Some panelists went as far as identifying the media agency attitude to content distribution as “distinctly flawed”, while others stated that their plans were “about a year behind” what the content creators had in mind.

However this scenario plays out in the foreseeable future, there are things you can do to prepare yourself. Invest time in learning exactly who your audience is and what they want. Understand that when you are creating content, it’s not about you – you have to be able to let go of your brand if you really want to let your content shine. And once it’s out there, be prepared to react quickly. If you need to take a different route or change direction, you should have the ability and resource to be able to do just that.

It’s clear that content marketing is no longer a shiny toy for people to play with aimlessly. Of course lots of people already knew that. We’ve known it for ages, and the fact you’re reading this almost certainly means you did too.

And the fact that the wider industry seems to now be sitting up and taking notice too is great to see. But it also means your edge is no longer there. So the new question is, how will you ensure that you stay ahead of the game?