Insights into Interactive

For years B2B marketers have been using thought-leadership content to attract customers and deepen relationships. Companies realized relatively early on that potential customers are very willing to engage with your brand if you are providing them something of value - for free. On the flip side, the effectiveness of traditional marketing was dwindling, and continues to do so.

It's taken a long time for consumer brands to come on board with this tactic. In the past, the new frontier for consumer brands was branded (or unbranded) entertainment. After many years, we’re finally starting to see a shift.

Much has been made of David Carr’s NYT column this week, The Fall and Rise of Media, and it’s depiction of the end of a New York dominated by traditional powerhouse media publishers (“the large heaving engine of books, magazines and newspapers”) and the “bright young things” that are replacing them. It’s a phenomenon as fascinating to observe as it must be hand-wringing to endure.

Google’s new Fast Flip news reader, announced last week, seems to have one foot in the future and one in the past. With its quick-loading visuals and sequential page navigation, fast flip is clearly trying to more accurately replicate the experience of browsing a “real” printed periodical. But do we really want this?

“Dear New Shareholders: It is my privilege to welcome you to the fast-growing ranks of Citicorp investors . . . between you and me and the ATM, we probably wouldn’t have made it without your help.”
 
Thus writes the tongue-in-cheek Antony Currie in Breakingviews.com, who observes that, within a few short weeks, 148 million U.S. taxpayers will each gain a solid ownership stake in the sprawling and deeply troubled giant. Curry notes (as we did back in April) that this new, huge investor audience might be advised to pack their own breakfast when shareholders meet in about nine months. Last year, to shave costs, Citicorp eliminated the customary bagels and coffee. More troubling, however, it also severely restricted the scope of its annual report, so that all you got was a 10K wrap. (You want a little context? Get it yourself.)

As I wrote then, squeezing the annual, and investor communications in general, saves little money while eliminating an absolutely vital channel for building engagement. I cited studies that show that investors are swayed by narrative as well as numbers, that they want management to communicate more, not less, about their companies and industries.