State of Content Marketing

Focused on evolving the way it “produces 
and propagates content,” tech giant Cisco is advancing what it calls “exponential marketing,” or utilizing online and offline channels to connect people with content on Cisco’s website.¹⁷ 
On the consumer brand front, Del Monte’s 
leading Meow Mix and Kibbles ’n Bits brands capitalized on the budding “pet blogging phenomenon” by sponsoring Blog Paws 2010, billed as “the first-ever pet bloggers’ conference.”¹⁸

With myriad other examples besides, content marketing’s royal mix of multi-channel utility and consumer participation appears set for a long and fruitful reign. LEGO’s Moynihan sees several key dynamics shaping the future, including the increasing consumer role in creating, distributing, demanding and accessing content, the rapid expansion of content distribution points and new technology platforms allowing for even more interactive content. “We are energized by every one of these points,” he says. For Pulizzi, the way forward is this: “Brands must learn how to publish, through multiple channels, the best content in the industry—and do it as well or better than traditional media.”