New Rules of the Marketing Environment

“Sharing content is the number one activity on the Internet,” says Ennen, calling content “the new epicenter of marketing.” But the dizzying world of content—and means of distributing it—opens the door to both opportunity and risk for marketers. “The plethora of content will give rise to digital curators who can separate art from junk,” forecasts Steve Rubel, senior vice president and director of insights for Edelman Digital. Ennen takes the warning a step further: “Marketers unattuned to their brand’s place within the media ecosystem risk both lost opportunities and the chance to defend the brand.”

The control factor is content that counts. “Brands are becoming media,” writes social media expert Brian Solis, a principal at San Francisco’s award-winning new media agency FutureWorks, “and as media, brands earn prominence and, hopefully, influence as rewards for contributing meaningful content.”

To be meaningful, the content above all must protect and reinforce brand equity and identity through its own strength, integrity and influence. And that means taking the time to figure out precisely what to say and where and how to say it. Will your otherwise brilliant, rich-media content render properly on multiple mobile devices? Owned, paid or earned content—or all three? Branded books, video and music, or a new tech effort? Whatever the choice, bad content, like bad credit, can damage a brand’s reputation.

So, before merging into the new branded content stream, stop, look—and as we will explore in the next paper—listen.