Getting the content right for marketing with the newest technology.

Is it all just a case of “the Emperor’s new clothes”?

Do the more things change; the more they stay the same?

And what has Ryan Gosling got to do with all of this?

The other day, during a moment of reflection, it occurred to me how fast and how drastically my world has changed, thanks to technology, how I’ve adapted to it, and how those reaching out to me as a reader, customer, or consumer, have had to sweat blood to keep up with the pace of change.

In danger of sounding like a grandfather pointing across the city and saying to his grandchildren, “I remember when this was all fields,” it seems only a heartbeat ago when my consumption of media, advertising and marketing was considerably different to what it is today.

Six years ago I had a Blackberry – the old blue one with the grey screen, and I thought I was cooler than Ryan Gosling, because I could get my emails on the move, and even check the internet . . . slowly . . . very slowly.

Forgive the reference, and the wafer-thin excuse to include a picture of the ridiculously talented and unfeasibly handsome actor. I’m hoping it will help get your attention ;-)

Before this, my mobile phone could call and text people, and that was it. And if we go back into pre-history, I finished a PhD without having access to the Internet. To get my information I visited large dusty buildings called libraries that held thousands of terabytes of data in individual packets called books and journals, made of an ancient tree-pulp called paper.

I consumed news by reading newspapers and magazines . . . hard copies, each purchased separately. My consumption was limited to what the editors of these publications chose to publish and it was limited to when it was feasible to read it, at home, at my office desk, or on public transport.

In the last five years, I’ve been dragged kicking and screaming into the 21^st century and the world of smartphones, mobile Internet, and apps. My consumption of information has increased, and comes from a wider and wilder variety of sources, shared often through social media. These sources are text, audio and video and are often interactive, inciting my comments and responses, encouraging my participation. I write my blog and consume others, so I have become more than a consumer. I am part of what I consume.

I’m pretty certain that my experience is quite typical, and it’s something that savvy marketers have sought to keep pace with. With the introduction of Google Glass and the imminent arrival of smart watches, a new evolution is upon us. Whether these technologies will be widely adopted remains to be seen, but what is certain is that if they don’t, others will soon follow in their place, and marketers must keep up with change. 

 

Raj from "The Big Bang Theory" with his Google Glass, proving that moving with the times isn’t rocket science

 

New media are constantly being dreamed up to deliver messages, and messages are being tailored to these new means of delivery. Brands are now just as likely to create compelling promo mini-movies for sharing on social media rather than typical adverts. Just think of the amazingly creative output that the likes of Adidas, Nike and Beats by Dre released for the World Cup.

Arguably the march of technology makes real Marshall McLuhan’s famous maxim, “The medium is the message”, because changing media changes the shape of messages. Twitter vindicates his thinking. The imperative of publishing something significant in 140 characters or less barely existed before Twitter, outside of tabloid newspaper headlines.  Now look at its power and reach. And consider the salutary tale of Kodak, who failed to move sufficiently with the times, and who suffered as a result.

Furthermore, we are bombarded with information 24/7 on increasingly personalised devices. This deluge of information seems to require ever shorter and punchier sound-bites, in what some would see as a reductio ad absurdum that has resulted in a never-ending torrent of banal tweets. However, is this really the case?

When it comes to the crunch, as much as we’ve become information junkies, whether it be for political news, sports results, celebrity gossip or the newest, most cutting-edge product and entertainment releases, we want to know that what we’re getting is the real deal. In short, we want good quality content from the best sources. But with this proliferation of information and sources of information, how can we be sure that we’re getting it? Is the stuff we’re seeing, hearing and reading from all over the place often insubstantial hearsay, rumour and nonsense,  just like the Emperor’s new clothes?

Example: As a fan of Tottenham Hotspur FC, I have seen numerous online sources throughout the late spring and early summer, that claim to have leaked pictures of the club’s new football shirts for the 2014/15 season, produced by Under Armour. The official release isn’t until the end of this week. I have no way of knowing if what I have seen is the real product or not, or whether the sources of these leaks are reliable. Consequently, I crave the real thing. Yes, this might be a cunning guerrilla PR tactic by Under Armour, in order to raise fans’ interest (who knows?), but it still leaves us wanting the authoritative release.

So, those soothsayers that have endlessly rung the death-knells of traditional media may be mistaken, providing that traditional media continue to heed the warning to adapt or die and providing they continue to provide the best quality content. Why? Because these media themselves, (such as Time Magazine, The New York Times, the Financial Times, CNN, the BBC to name just a few) are brands in their own right. Alongside “big” newer names, like Mashable, The Huffington Post, TechCrunch and Venture Beat, to name but a few, they have built up a reputation and a level of trust amongst audiences for the content that they provide. Nowadays, reputations can rise and fall faster than ever, for sure, but it remains true that they must be earned, so through the cacophony of noise, these names can continue to have a larger influence than most, providing they remain nimble and providing their content remains good. So, the more things change, the more they stay the same. What’s important is that good content is King.

Brands can learn a thing or two from this lesson. By becoming sources of great, reliable and authoritative content that’s flexible for all devices, and that adds real value to their customers' experience, they can remain front of mind with consumers, and maintain their value with their precious target audiences.