Mihika Barua
ContentStrategyinaChanging
World
Agenda:
- Brandedcontentthroughtheages
- Componentsofacontentstrategy
- Innovativeapproachestocontent
- Q&A
WhoIam
Who are we?
Our software helps brands tell
their stories in a digital world.
If you’re creating content for many
channels and audiences everyday,
you need technology to help you
manage that.
Percolate is a software that helps
you manage and organize your
marketing activities.
Over800brandsarepoweredbyPercolate
Brandshavebeentellingstoriestoattract
andretaincustomersforyears
MeetAmerica’searliestcontentmarketing
1895
first issue
printed
2017
40 countries
12 languages
1.5M circulation
What’schanged?
Thewaysthatbrandscancommunicatetheir
contenttoaudiences.
Wecallthesechannels.
Content
Channels have multiplied over time
20001980 199019701960 2010—
?
Inflection point for content marketing
Brandedcontentboostedsalesasearlyasthe1900s
1904
Jell-O distributes free copies
of its first recipe book
1906
Sales grow to over $1
million
P&G:Thefirstcompanytoadvertisedirectlytoconsumers
1933
P&G’s Oxydol begins to
broadcast a radio soap
opera
2010
Last P&G soap opera
ends
1920s
Radio becomes a marketing
channel
Without content, radio networks
couldn’t attract audiences needed
to sell advertising space.
So the advertisers stepped in to
produce content themselves.
Until the Internet, distributing your content was relatively simple
19301890 1980 1990
?
2000
Until the Internet, distributing your content was relatively simple
19301890 1980 1990
“Channel explosion”
2000
“Mobile-first”meansyouneedtoreachpeoplewithmorespeed
andfrequency
TheaverageAmericanspendsnearlyhalfadaystaring
atascreen(CNN)
It’snot“onesizefitsall”anymore.Marketinghasgoneglobal
36,000+ restaurants
120 countries
65 million people served daily
Forcontentmarketers,thismeans:
– Your content (and your brand) needs to be in more places at once
– You need to understand the landscape of channels available to your brand
– Figure out where your audience is most active (Instagram? TV?)
– Make sure you’re creating enough, relevant, and interesting content
– Match your content to the medium you’re creating it for
Thecomponentsofacontent
strategy
Componentsofacontentstrategy
–Brand guidelines
–Marketing objectives
–Customer or audience persona
–“Content - market fit”
– Brand guidelines
– What is the brand’s personality, voice, tone and language?
– What do we want people to think of when they associate with the
brand?
– How does the brand represent itself in images and words?
– Marketing objectives
– Customer or audience persona
– Customer journey map
– Content - market fit
Componentsofacontentstrategy
WhatdoesNikeSoccerstandfor?
What does Nike Soccer stand for? What kinds of photos should Nike use in advertising?
Componentsofacontentstrategy
– Brand guidelines
– Marketing objectives
– What is the business need?
– Are we creating content to increase sales or build brand awareness?
– Do we want to change people’s perception of us? (GE, IBM)
– Customer or audience persona
– Content - market fit
Contentdoesn’talwayslooklikeanadvertisement.
“Nobodyreadsads.Peoplereadwhat
intereststhem.Sometimesit’s anad.”
—Howard Luck Gossage, 1986
Infact,peopledon’twatchTVadsanymore
Percent of users who pay attention to TV ads, 2016
Source: Google
Pay attention
Did not pay attention
45%
45% Pay attention to TV ads
Ourattentionspansare
shrinking,and
marketingneedstokeep
up.
Approach#1
Createsomethingengagingthat
doesn'tlooklikeanad.
MarriottHotels
- Marketing objective: To increase
hotel room bookings
- What they did: Produced a short
movie that tells the story of two
Marriott hotel bellmen and their
adventures trying to chase a world-
famous art thief.
- Why it worked
MarriottHotels
- Marketing objective: To increase
hotel room bookings across J.W.
Marriott’s properties
- What they did: Produced a short
movie that tells the story of two Marriott
hotel bellmen and their adventures trying
to chase a world-famous art thief.
- Why it worked: Unlike a traditional
TV ad, Marriott created branded content
that was entertaining and wasn't trying
to sell you something (well, not directly)
—David Beebe, Head of Marriott International Content Studio
“Weneedtostopinterruptingwhat
peopleareinterestedin,andbecome
whatthey’reinterestedin.”
Psst..RememberJell-O?
1904
Jell-O distributes free copies
of its first recipe book
1906
Sales grow to over $1
million
Componentsofacontentstrategy
– Brand guidelines
– Marketing objectives
– Customer or audience persona
– Who is my primary audience?
– What are their likes, dislikes, hopes, fears, and ambitions?
– What channels do they use the most to get their news and info about brands?
– Content - market fit
MeetJoy.
Joy+
Imageyou’reaLevi’smarketer.
Whatwouldyouneedtoknow
abouther?
Howoldisshe?
Wheredoesshelive?
Whatdoesshedo?
Whatdoessheliketodoinherspare
time?
Whatareherambitions?
Approach#2
Createanemotional
connectionwithyouraudience
#LiveinLevis
- Marketing objective: To show that
Levi’s jeans accompany their wearers
on important moments in their lives
- Customer persona: All denim
wearers
- Why it worked: Made Levi’s jeans
feel like a wardrobe must-have
#RealStrength:Shatteringmalestereotypes
- Marketing objective: To build its men’s
personal care product brand
- Customer persona: Men, and specifically
fathers
- Why it worked: Reinvented perceptions of its
target consumer
Componentsofacontentstrategy
– Brand guidelines
– Marketing objectives
– Customer or audience persona
– Content - market fit
– What can our content add to the conversation?
– How would that content tie back to our brand, products, and value proposition
for customers?
– What content will customers care about?
Approach#3
Createconnectionsbetween
yourbrandandthingsyour
audiencecaresabout
#adidasOriginals:“Aprovocativeapproachtotoday’sstreetwearculture”
adidas content doesn’t say “buy our stuff”, it says “be
original”
“Turns to the new generation of creators to inspire them to redefine their meaning of originality”
Celebrity promoters create immediate brand
associations
Approach#4
Haveotherscreateyourcontent
foryou
LoewsHotels:FromInstagramposttoadvertisement
— Loews Hotels realized their guests were sharing their travel experiences on Instagram
— Turned Instagram posts into print and digital ads
— Featuring “regular” people in ads makes the brand more authentic and accessible
Shinola:Capturinguser-generatedcontent
— Detroit-based watch maker Shinola created an entire brand campaign out of Instagram
posts that people posted wearing their watches, with the hashtag #myshinola.
— Through social media monitoring in Percolate, they asked for permission to use the images
in their campaign
Thechannelsthatbrandstodayusetodistributetheircontent
– TV
– Billboards
– Radio and podcasts
– Film
– Print
– Digital publications
– Digital ads
– Social media
– Word-of-mouth
– Celebrities and influencers
– The list goes on….
Andthere’smore…
Augmented Reality
Virtual Reality
Artificial Intelligence
Newchannelsaren’tgoingto
stopemerging.
What’snext?
Content (Demand)
Brands need to create more content than ever
20001980 199019701960 2010—
?
Inflection point for content marketing
Available resources
helps brands fill this gap
Technology helps.
Our software helps brands tell their stories.
Marketing isn’t just the final piece of creative
— it’s also all the steps before the ad goes out.
It’s important to get those steps right.
We help brands keep their ideas, strategy, and
content in one place.
Create and publish content Analyze how your content performed
So again, where do we fit in?
Mastercard
Mastercard uses Percolate for real-time event marketing
It’sanexcitingtimetobeamarketer.
mihika@percolate.com
LinkedIn:MihikaBarua
Questions?

Content Strategy in a Changing World