State of Content Marketing

Sector by sector, that is precisely what an increasing number of companies are doing, with some well-known brands using content marketing 
to make new names for themselves. 

Art and Soul

In a similar vein to conversing with customers, content marketing is also about making emotional connections with customers, as exemplified by Eastman Kodak’s strategy.

Utilizing a multifaceted online program that includes a visually arresting website, Twitter and multiple blogs, Facebook pages and games, Kodak’s appeal is in storytelling and nostalgia. Case in point: creating an iPhone app for its iconic 1960s Carousel slide projector product.

“This device isn’t a space ship. It’s a time machine,”
Kodak’s then-creative director reportedly said of the Carousel, and as the iPhone app’s popularity demonstrates, it’s a time traveler—and emotional connector—that lasts.¹³ Furthermore, the company thrives on customer conversation and feedback: “The worst thing that somebody can say about Kodak is … nothing,” remarks Thomas J. Hoehn, the company’s director of Interactive Marketing and Convergence Media.¹⁴

Since the early 1930s, LEGO has forged lasting customer bonds with the unique play values of its beloved toy bricks: creativity, versatility, build and re-build. According to LEGO’s vice president of Marketing, Michael Moynihan, content marketing helps to amplify those values and play experiences, making them even more compelling and relevant. “Engagement is essential in every element of our marketing mix, not just branded content marketing,” says Moynihan. “However, branded content increasingly emerges as a very powerful way for us to engage LEGO consumers and build brand affinity.”

Recognizing that consumers typically engage with its products and content in a non-linear fashion, LEGO’s content strategy reaches across multiple platforms, including traditional media (short-form programming events with media partners and LEGO Club Magazine), digital media (platform and Web gaming, online video and video on demand) and experiences (theme parks, events and in-store activities). “We aspire to deliver the best in branded content—that which delivers against desired marketing messages but in a way that feels authentic and relevant enough to consumers that it doesn’t feel like marketing at all,” says Moynihan.