Insights into Online Content

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.

It seems that marketers are finally starting to realize that delivering valuable, relevant content to consumers has some merit. In truth, this has been going on for years, and I'm surprised that there continues to be a debate about it.

Beyond welcoming content from your brand, today's consumer expects it—whether it comes in the form of how-to guides and videos, a consumer electronics video blog, or an iPhone app that helps you remove stains.

This shift is something that we've been talking about at Sequel for a long time. There's a saying we have when speaking with new clients, "You're now in the content business."

This week a dark cloud passed over the world of design as the 55-year-old I.D. magazine announced that they were folding.

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.