If you’re a marketer with a few grey hairs you’ll be aware of the marketing classic by Ries & Trout Positioning the Battle for your mind.
It’s one book that in the ever evolving world of marketing has some truths that still ring true and can be a good jumping off point when creating your content marketing strategy.
Reis & Trout talked about the fact, that with the barrage of information we are fed, our minds need to filter it somehow. So as a way to cope we automatically rank brands and place them on a METAPHORICAL ladder.
What this means today, is the brand with the most effective content marketing strategy, will take the top spot on the audiences ladder, meaning they will engage with the brand on their social feeds, which in turn is going to relegate competitors to lower rungs.
The key thing that still resonates from POSITIONING is if you want to be noticed in what has become a highly crowded social feed your content marketing strategy needs to stand out against all other brands in your competitive set - otherwise consumers will simply forget about you.
Be the first in the fish pond:
The first in consumers minds rings true when it comes to content marketing strategies.
The brand that comes out with a first from a content perspective and executes it with tenacity, will enjoy a competitive advantage. The other advantage is you can shape the customers perception of the brand by introducing a completely new line of content that is fresh, relevant and taps into their lifestyle or adds value by informing them in a compelling way.
This is why it’s important with millennial focussed brands to take the story into platforms such as Tik Tok in innovative ways, and why it’s important for every brand to create content that resonates their brand purpose in a way that has cultural context, ..... away from the pack.
Once you have defined an effective content marketing approach ....STICK TO IT.
By developing your content marketing position for the long term, you will create more cut through, higher recall, sales and advocacy. This is a challenge with the high turnover of teams members in marketing and content roles for brands. It helps to have a content marketing agency that can help the business not abandon the content marketing positioning that brought the business success in the first place.
Finally, to be successful today you must touch base with reality and the only reality that counts is what is already in the prospects mind. If you are a challenger brand in a competitive category your content marketing strategy needs to find a niche that plugs into consumers minds, not ride on the coattails with similar content to the leading brands.
It’s far from rocket science - but it does need a commitment to position your content marketing strategy to be different and the courage to look at the competitive set and if yours looks like me-too content, revisit your content marketing strategy to reframe the conversation.
If you’d like to know more, drop us a note here.
The higher education sector and vocational providers are already re-shaping their courses, making a shift from the traditional three-year degree to micro-credentials and flexible study.
The game at play
This ‘just-in-time’ mode of learning is gaining ground, giving access to knowledge just when you need it, while study via digital platforms is a crucial - ‘anywhere, anytime, on any device’.
We’re also seeing dramatic change in how higher education engages with industry to provide life-long learning opportunities for workers to constantly upskill and reskill.
It will be higher education facilities that offer work-integrated learning, that will lead the way. If educational institutions shift quickly to help individuals move from one job or career to another as they build a portfolio of skills, these institutions can spearhead the opening up of new markets for life-long learning.
Educational institutions from overseas with digital delivery will increase competition in the Australian market with their short, sharp learning experiences and offerings, catered toward the generation that is best suited to this style of learning.
It’s important for education groups to work together to define the educational landscape in Australia or in their local area, as international students are such an important part of survival for education in Australia. We need to understand these audiences and their decision making cues and give the story cultural context.
At 3rdspace, we’ve worked with a range of educational institutions and education groups to increase their appeal to both local and international students.
Our work with IEAA revolved around changing perception of international students within Australia, with a content strategy and a range of films and white papers addressing these perceptions and highlighting the benefits international students bring to Australia.
Similarly, our Study Gold Coast campaign was created to change the perception of what living and studying on the Gold Coast is like. Students were placed at the heart of this campaign, to reinforce a welcoming and safe message for both local and international students. The students were involved in the thinking and became the face of the campaign internationally that represented all education facilities on the Gold Coast.
When bringing this thinking into telling the story of content institutions we believe there are 3 factors to consider;
- As a way for institutions to define their purpose and their education facility against their competitive set, this is not about what courses we offer and our campus, but by highlighting they are aware of the changing ways of education, with inspiring content that involves the students in a way potential students can relate to.
- Using multi-segmented content to desired student personas. Those interested in the arts or creativity are going to engage with different content to those who want to follow a path in data science. The first step is to create a multi-segmented content strategy, followed by the creation of inspiring content. Putting this focus on each persona group will highlight how your institution understands and can help them the best.
- Content learning. Students are spending more than one third of their entire day consuming media content, with almost 90% of the millennial population watching video content. Therefore, learning platforms need to be interactive and video-rich so students can learn at their own pace, on their own device, or discover supporting content for their degrees. For education leaders to create innovative learning successfully they need to ensure that content is immersive, it utilises relevant experts and it provides stories that follow a guided model.
WIN WIN WIN
With such dynamic time in education everyone in the education ecosystem from institutions, government and independent providers, need to look for new ways to work together with different industries and stakeholders, to offer agile, adaptable offerings so that continuous, on-demand and self-directed learning becomes the new normal.
To find out more about the changing face of education and what it means to you and your business, we’d love to have a chat.
We’ve recently been working with a range of senior partners at Ernst & Young developing a content platform asking better questions of our nation.
As part of the immersion with the business we have been talking about some of the most pressing questions that our nation needs to be thinking about through the digital transformation era we live in.
One of the themes we uncovered, involves improving consumers’ digital experience, and how to ensure that your employees don’t get left behind.
Kurt Solarte, Leading Digital and Emerging Technologies Partner for EY Oceania, believes that the most vulnerable point does not directly deal with the customer themselves, but is more to do with the employees not being adequately enabled to win the customer over. Kurt explains that an employee can be easily ‘exposed’ in front of a customer, no matter how advanced or complex their toolset is.
“The customer now has more information about their service than the customer service person behind the desk or at the other end of the phone. Millions are spent on websites, apps and marketing, but staff are often working in the dark.”
“Employees are customers too - we should be turning them into valuable advocates for the brand.”
One of the approaches we have found highly successful is by not only looking at the research and data, but also immersing ourselves within the business, talking to the people who are on the front line.
From there developing a content mission to communicate internally the vision values and purpose of the business supported by a range of content pillars.
This includes content that brings the values to life, using visually rich content such as inspiring films to tell the story;
The content pillar that always gets plenty of love is the brand pillar....
But a powerful brand campaign should win them in the corridors before it goes to market and begins driving awareness and engagement with consumers. By doing this when customers do click on the website or come into your business, your staff will be on an empowered playing field to develop that relationship further with your customer…..instead of giving the customer that dreaded blank stare.
In the age of digital and social content the other key content pillar is learning and training.
Using content for training allows team members to stay up to date with product knowledge and initiatives within the business.
We find building interactive content platforms that allow team members to learn on any device at their own time and pace is the 3rd pillar that needs as much strategy and creative storytelling as a brand campaign and should always be executed in the brands tone of voice:
The old “the customer always come first” adage should be re thought as a people led approach.
Both customer and team centric, using the great content through the best digital channels, in a way that enables your team to have as much knowledge as the senior team of the business and allows them to become as great an advocate for your business as your most passionate customers.
To find out more about this inside out approach, please get in touch.
In the last 2 years we’ve seen more content generated than in the entire history of mankind.
...And yes a lot of that content is highly disposable.
However, in that time, we’ve also seen a lot of brands jump on the quick fix list of getting influencers to create the content - and while they may get some vanity metrics and potentially some increase in awareness, the content is often not aligned to the brand tone of voice, disparate and does not drive consumer action.
The other timeless marketing strategy has been to align brands to the original influencers, high profile sport, or sponsorship of high profile lifestyle events - whether it be music, fashion or the good old celebrity endorsement.
This is all about brand fit, not what the CEO is a fan of, (which still is sometimes the case!) To do this we use a range of data tools that takes the brand purpose, values and personality to find the right partnership opportunity.
Going down this path is a tried and true approach, but have a think about for example, the Australian Open, and try and name 7 brands who were partners in this years open?
...I bet you get stuck at 2 or 3.
And the ones you remember were gold partners plastered everywhere, OR the brands who took the time and had the courage to play the sponsorship game differently.
This is where finding the athletes in the sport who align with your values and personality is crucial. This is also where taking the time to craft a story that highlights this shared purpose comes into play.
We recently did a campaign with NEC, bringing their core value of lets play to win to life with Dylan Alcott and Joe Deng, with some powerful results:
https://3rdspace.com.au/portfolio_page/nec-lets-play-to-win/
The other brave way to play the game differently is what Guinness have done with the 'Made of More' series, which champions real people around the globe, instead of high-profile sports people. REAL PEOPLE who act with extraordinary integrity and character, to enrich the world around them. Previous films have included ‘Sisters,’ which told the story of two sisters who rose through rugby to eventually play for opposing England and Scotland national teams, and ‘Never Alone,’ which recounted the poignant story ofGareth Thomas, who, through the strength he received from his team, had the courage to become the first openly gay professional rugby union player.
We love the recent chapter in this series of mini documentaries, where in a year, men’s rugby will dominate the headlines, Guinness has unveiled the inspirational story of a Japanese women’s rugby team who stood together, in the face of societal pressure and pursued their passion for the game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=238&v=-V1XvowvjY8
'Liberty Fields' tells the remarkable tale of a group of women who defied the social conventions of 80s Japan, by forming an ultimately indomitable rugby team. In 1989 Tokyo, women’s rugby was almost unheard of, and the team faced ridicule and hostility from all angles. Despite their humble beginnings, they soon became one of the strongest sides around, with many being selected to represent their country in the Women’s World Cup.
Liberty Fields RFC played at this level despite having no coach, no doctor and very little support, instead relying on what they did have – a team. Balancing training with jobs and families, they set a new level for women’s sport in Japan, showing what you can achieve with grit, determination, and an unbreakable spirit.
What a fantastic way to share the brand’s purpose and values.
The other brave element, is that they have been far from overt about brand-telling the story as opposed to their approach of enabling the story to be told - then taking time to craft the story into a 5 minute mini documentary.
Our writers and directors love the way they have utilised the good old vox pop which needed to be used - but then have worked with the team to source old footage and then re create both game moments, and moment in the teams lives that highlight the struggles they went through during the elation of their journey.
If you enjoy this work and feel it is something that your brand should be doing, we would be delighted to get involved.
Summit Media’s 20th anniversary summit, Summit Audience Aware, was held in Manila earlier this month. It brought together international experts to discuss audience-first content planning.
I joined Ben Darr, founder of BrandTale from NYC, Nicco Tan of Genting Malaysia and Christine Ko of Summit Media, along with representatives from Unilever and Mindshare, Belo Cosmetics Company and Globe Telecommunications, to share our thoughts on what “audience-first” media means.
As 3rdspace’s mission is to create content with a purpose, I shared the key elements that make us tick and our content kick.
Here are the eight key takeaways.
1. Create a content mission that supports your brand purpose. Use it to guide you in defining content that adds value to your audiences’ lives.
People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.
All businesses exist for a reason – either to fulfil a human need or to make the world better in some way. This is your purpose. Your purpose should shine through in your content strategy and all your content should ladder up to your purpose in some way.
2. Think about the environment your content will best play out in.
The format of your content is just as crucial to your story as the narrative, so consider the best place to tell your story. Placing your content in digital environments that share the same passions and purpose of your brand will deliver higher engagement. Partnering with digital publications that have a strong alignment to your brand mean the use of native along with well targeted-social will deliver a higher ROI for your content.
3. Audience-First Content should involve the audience and provoke action.
Content shouldn’t just be appealing to your audience; it should highlight how they can get involved.
If you want your audience to consume your content and act upon it in a certain way, then it also needs to influence them to take action. Inspire them, entertain them, add value to the world they care about and then give them a reason to get involved -- they’ll enjoy the content more and become advocates for your brand.
Giving the keynote at Summit Media's #SummitAudienceAware
4. Target audiences that will share and influence their peers.
When thinking about your content distribution strategy, target those who have a predisposition to share and talk about your content to their networks.
Develop Advocate/Influencer panels, and involve them in your content creation.
Think about every link in the content chain. support your content mission with owned channels from inside to outside your business, including internal staff communications: if your team and your partners are living and sharing your brand, it becomes a lot more authentic... and it becomes an owned channel that doesn't need media budget.
5. Utilise both “always on” and tactical content around key events.
Think of your content as evolving story with a cast of characters and story arcs.
A brand is always on and evolving, and so too should the story it tells. Your content output should be dynamic, ramping up around key events that are relevant to your audience and that align with your brand’s prupose.
6. Seize the day -- have "thinking-feeling-doing" meetings.
News teams, breakfast show producers on TV and radio, as well as leading editorial blogs all conduct daily meetings to discuss the hot topics. They’re trying to figure out what are people thinking feeling doing and talking about on that particular day. Brands need to be doing this so they can reflect on what is going on in the world and what their consumer feels about it, as well as capitalise on relevant opportunities to get involved in the conversation.
7. Create diverse teams who understand strategy and how to tell a story.
Good ideas can come from anywhere – but you’re more likely to find them if you’ve got a diverse team, with a mix of skills, backgrounds and perspectives. An ideal mix would include people who are strategically minded from diverse storytelling backgrounds such as film, editorial, digital and media teams, as well as agency folk and influencers. The secret is putting the right mix of people together who understand the brand’s purpose and personality.
8. Drive results that meet your KPIs.
Too often we see content that talks at consumers instead of with them.
Whether it’s a brand strategy or product launch or topical tactic, your content should communicate your brand purpose and personality, as well as provoke an action that is going to move the business forward. Be clear about your KPIs early on, so they become a crucial part of the content plan.
As a final thought…here’s one to add to your KPI list of engagement metrics and sales:
How will the content you make have an impact on the world and to your audiences’ lives? Content that can answer that question is the kind of content that provokes action.
Who can forget the iconic picture of Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears circa 2000, donning double denim like the bosses they are. Yep, we didn’t think so, a double denim disaster!
A staple in every man, woman and child’s wardrobe…when we (sometimes) squeeze into our jeans every day, do we really think about the bigger picture? No, didn’t think so. Well in more ways than one, sadly the jeans we wear every day are part of a fashion double standard.
Here at 3rdspace we’ve got a bit of a passion for fashion and creating content with purpose. We’ve teamed up with our friends at the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), which represents 4.5 million workers in 148 countries around the world, to create meaningful change for the dock workers of Madagascar.
Why should we care about dock workers in Madagascar you cry? Listen up: The reality is way less cute than the Dreamwork’s film. Here’s the cold hard facts you need to know now:
- Madagascar is a manufacturer and supplier of denim to first world countries – especially if they’re Levi’s. Levi’s has a publicly stated high standard of workers’ rights in their factories, yet has failed to apply the same standards to the dock workers. It’s a double standard.
- The average dock worker in Madagascar earns only US16 cents an hour. Yes 16 CENTS! They would take up to 100 days to buy one pair of the jeans in the first world. Makes you think right?
- The workers are in a long fight for their rights to a fair wage for their work and a safe workspace. Sometimes they may even turn up at the docks to start work, with no guarantee of work that day, or in days to come
We have created the trending hash tag #doubledenimdare where our followers and influencers will challenge each other to raise awareness and create optimal exposure to the International Transport Workers Federation. Instagram is our main vehicle driving engagement and creating awareness through live feeds, information about Madagascar and the workers and re-sharing our true supporter’s posts.
The on ground events are to DISRUPT! Creating a global campaign with events happening in Sydney, London and New York, ITF want to truly knock on Levi’s front door.
If you love denim and engaging with content to make a difference visit:https://www.justicefordockworkers.org/
And why not take the double denim dare by posting your hottest (or most tragic) denim look with the hashtag #doubledenimdare and then tag a friend to do the same!
Instagram: DoubleDenimDare