Hasta La Creative!

Content is in danger of becoming perceived as the one-size-fits-all solution to any given marketing problem. When it comes to building relationships with consumers, it has retained its position at the top of the marketing agenda in a period of tumultuous change. Nonetheless, while the focus on this channel should be applauded, there is a sense among some observers that content has reached a tipping point where brands are seeking to jump on the content-marketing bandwagon without having a creative idea, a point of difference or a genuine reason to talk to consumers.
Toby Smeeton , managing director of content-marketing agency Sunday, says that content has fast become one of the most generic terms in the industry. He adds: “Anybody can tick a box and say they are doing content marketing, but without deep edit orial skills and a deep understanding of the brand, you are just adding to the content sludge.” Undoubtedly, agencies across multiple disciplines, from traditional advertising to PR and social media, are quick to claim expertise in content. But their editorial skills, and what this content actually consists of, can vary greatly.
Clare Broadbent , chief executive of content-marketing agency Cedar, says that while content may be the word on many marketers lips, unless that means investing in content powered by a strong idea, there s a risk that they will simply create more branded clutter, damaging the brand in the process.
“We live in a world where over 100 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute; we do not need more content,” she argues. “What we need is smarter content, which is meticulously designed to pull in a defined audience with an idea that really resonates with them. If it doesn t do that, then it s not a marketing solution, it s just white noise.”
Hard Truths
In some circles a backlash to this white noise is in full effect, as the journalist Amy Westervelt so succinctly pointed out on blogging platform Medium, in a ripple-creating piece Content Used to Be King. Now it s the Joker ; the content-marketing gold rush has brought with it significant downsides.
Westervelt wrote: “Maybe if we all jump off the content bandwagon, publications will stop giving away space to companies. Maybe they ll start thinking along the lines of Hey, do we really need 30 or more of those stories a day on our site? Are these SEO results amounting to any real bottom-line benefit? Is anyone even reading all this stuff? And maybe CEOs and their publicists will stop worrying about establishing themselves as thought-leaders in the media and actually be thought-leaders.”
Certainly the term thought leadership is one of the most overused and misunderstood in the growing lexicon of content-marketing jargon.
While the increased use of algorithms means that publishers have a growing number of channels to recycle their archives, and even dispense with writers altogether to create stories from raw data alone, this approach has had a limited success. In fact, there are daily examples of the inherent flaws in entrusting your content strategy to an algorithm.
One recent, high-profile, case was US comedy legend Joan Rivers Facebook post endorsing the new iPhone 6 on 19 September, despite the fact that she had died two weeks previously. The post was quickly deleted, but not before screenshots were shared widely.
There is no doubt that some brands are guilty of playing a heavy-handed volume game when it comes to content. However, many of the most successful brands in the field believe that the focus must be shifted elsewhere.
Nick Dutch, head of digital at Domino s Pizza Group, says that the future of content marketing is not about quantity. “Don t over-value what it means to your business if consumers engage with your content,” he warns. “The consumer value is difficult to quantify. Ultimately, when many consumers share your content, it is because it is funny.”
Of course, the goal for brands is not to display their prowess at content marketing, but to shift their product. “The Holy Grail [for us] is always selling more pizza,” says Dutch. “I would like to find a better way of directly correlating a Facebook interaction with sales, but over the past two years we have placed greater emphasis on social media [and] it has become a bigger influence on sales.”
He believes the launch of buy buttons and the rise of social commerce could help track how content directly drives consumer sales.
Asking too much
While the continued rise of click-to-buy apps and social commerce offers a greater range of opportunities for content marketers to understand their impact on sales, it also demands more attention from consumers.
However, the threat of content overload may have been overhyped. “Every time someone says there s content overload and that s been happening since at least the 17th century people find ways to get their hands on more content more often,” notes Andrew Hirsch, chief executive of content-marketing agency John Brown Media. He believes the number of different sources of content should not be confused with the volume.
“The difference now is [content] is unbundled,” he says. “I can take one thing that interests me from one media brand, one from a journalist I trust, another from a friend, three from colleagues, and devour them in a much more efficient way.”
Arguments about the risk of content overload aside, there is no doubt that brands are demanding more active participation from their consumers, more often. They ask shoppers not just to buy their products but also to read their magazine, whether in print or online; like their advertising or commercial messages on Facebook; even share photos of themselves wearing or using their products.
Rob Newlan, head of Facebook s creative shop for EMEA, says the democratisation of creativity has increased the pressure on brands to create content that is genuinely valuable to consumers.
“Our role as an industry is to challenge this value-exchange of time. We need to ask: am I asking too much? Can I change the way in which I demand their time?” he says.
Certainly the fallout from the recent partnership between Apple and U2 has placed the notion of permission under the microscope. The technology company, in what many viewed as a spectacular display of corporate arrogance, spammed its users by automatically downloading the latest U2 album to their devices robbing them not just of space in their music libraries, but also of the time it took to delete what quickly seemed to become the world s least-wanted album.
That promotion notwithstanding, Claire Hill, managing director of the Content Marketing Association, says that consumers now have far more opportunity to opt in. “When previously they didn t have very much choice, consumers now have a lot more autonomy about what they choose to connect with,” she argues. “Consumers are far more savvy than the industry would have us believe.”
The never ending end of print
Content marketing is not immune to the challenges of media fragmentation and, as a medium with a historical dependence on print, it faces the same difficulties that afflict traditional publishing.
In a recent post on Medium, US writer and consultant Clay Shirky blasted the traditional press for dragging its heels in the face of unprecedented change. He wrote: “Try to imagine a world where the future of print is unclear. Maybe 25-year-olds will start demanding news from yesterday delivered in an unshareable format once a day. Perhaps advertisers will decide click to buy is for wimps. Mobile phones could be a fad. After all, anything could happen with print.”
While the future of customer publishing is perhaps not as dire as that of the newspaper industry to which Shirky s comments allude, the fundamental shifts in consumption habits remain.
A clear opportunity exists for airlines, for example, which, historically, have invested heavily in printed magazines aimed at their uniquely captive audience. However, the advent of in-flight wi-fi offers not only myriad distractions for passengers, but also the opportunity for airlines to cut the expense (and added weight) of its printed baggage.
“In many ways, sitting on a plane, consumers have come to expect a more multimedia experience, and print as a format will be challenged strongly,” says Smeeton. “On the one hand you have the pragmatism of airlines seeking to cut the cost of fuel, and then you have the opportunity for new tablet and wi-fi-powered experiences.”
Although the idea of print being the fast delivery model for content is dead, its role in content marketing is evolving. Smeeton explains: “Instead of print being the default delivery mechanism, it has become something more considered and special; a beautifully engineered, tactile product, which can make the reader feel special.”
Content reset
Despite the maturation of content marketing as a discipline, some experts believe that brands still do not truly understand what it is for.
Ben Hooper, content director at ad agency Karmarama, says: “Content marketing is distributed creative, and traditional advertising is controlled creative. To understand and exploit the real benefits of content marketing, brands need people who really understand content and have the right skill-set to deliver.”
The future of content marketing will not be a narrative that plays out on a single platform. It will be one that demands that marketers reappraise not just how they might communicate better with their consumers, but also their right to impinge on that most valuable of commodities, people s time.

Will.i.am wants all young people to aspire to be ‘makers’. Marketing caught up with the celebrity and businessman in Paris, where he offered a glimpse of the madness and magic behind his life as the world’s ‘dopest’ content creator.
Kanye West said at this year’s Cannes Festival of Creativity that musician-cum-inventor-cum-businessman will.i.am was one of the only people among the current crop of celebrities that could credibly succeed as a creative director.
Certainly, behind the celebrity, will.i.am has built up a far-reaching career that spans not only music-writing, performance and production (his credits for the latter include working with Michael Jackson, Britney Spears and Justin Bieber), but also fashion-design, acting, entrepreneurship and business partnerships. In short, he wants to play a role in changing the world. As he once said:
“Oddballs are always the ones that reshape the sphere.”
To illustrate, how many people have changed their name into a hyperlink? Type will.i.am or add any prefix to .i.am and it will, as if by magic, become a hyperlink, redirecting the user through to his personal website.
The 39-year-old real name William Adams has not been out of the limelight since his band The Black Eyed Peas hit success in 2003. With a portfolio of carefully selected brand partnerships, not to mention an armful of Grammy awards, he has emerged as a shrewd businessman; part of a new breed of artist celebrities that can add genuine value to brand partnerships and he s in demand.
In 2011 he became Intel s director of creative innovation, described as “a hands-on creative and technology collaboration”, with the aim of developing new technologies, music and tech advocacy. He has also dipped into political activism, backing Barack Obama s 2008 Presidential campaign with a specially created song to boost the bid.
Technophile
At the centre of all will.i.am s work lies technology. He was a co-founding equity partner in Beats Electronics, has his own camera-accessories business and even developed a bespoke smartwatch, launched in October at Salesforce.com s Dreamforce conference in San Francisco, which can be used to make and receive phone calls.
It s one of his most highly prized gadgets. “It s the most exciting thing that I ve ever done; I think it s pretty fresh,” he says.
All this makes will.i.am s schedule a hectic one, perhaps offering some excuse for his two-hour-late arrival for our interview in Paris, where reporters from around the world have flocked to speak to him at the launch of the Lexus NX.
In this latest tie-up, will.i.am is fronting the ad campaign for the car and even designed his own version of it for the launch, which he unveiled as he drove it on to the stage. Both Lexus and will.i.am are keen to stress this is more than a badging exercise, it is about “collaboration”.
Doubly keen to ensure his every word is heard, will.i.am hushes the crowd as he talks through the new design. It s clear he takes his collaborations seriously and likes a compliant audience.
Renaissance man
In conversation, he is somewhat random in his thoughts, darting from point to point and subject to subject, with a connection that makes sense only in the context of a will.i.am interview. This makes him a frustrating, albeit entertaining, interview subject. His responses take him off on so many tangents that it s sometimes hard to stay on track.
What is clear, however, is will.i.am s passion for making . If he could take another path, he says he would “make a career out of dreaming things into reality and bringing things into existence”.
His preoccupation is creating the extraordinary and being inspired by the future. But he also finds a spark in the everyday, with the fires of his creative inspiration often stoked by a seemingly insignificant conversation.
Technology, he explains, is a great “creative tool” that has democratised and revolutionised content creation.
“If Leonardo da Vinci were alive today, would he be painting or would he be making virtual reality? Would he paint the Mona Lisa or would he [create] an Oculus Rift experience?
Technology, adds will.i.am, “amplifies and expands creative people s vision. It helps them grow from A to, beyond even, Z to the @ sign”.
“Technology is awesome,” he surmises, showing no hint of that trademark, ice-white smile so often seen on screen. And without so much as a tip of his hat, from which protrudes a single feather, he spins, almost robotically, away from Marketing and on to his next interview.
Will.i.am once said he worked 12 days a week. He might be notorious for such flamboyant statements, but you can t help but believe he is far more than just dope talk. No doubt there are plans to add plenty more feathers to his cap.
creativity
“Conversations spark my creativity, I like to stay open-minded, and by having an open mind, I like to connect the dots, it sparks creativity.
“Technology is a great space to be creative in… creating on new technological tools, like editing on Pro Tools. It wasn t around when I first started creating music, but it s a new technological creative tool, and a great place to be creative in and creative with.
“Technology amplifies and expands creative people s vision, it helps them grow from A to, beyond even, Z, to the @ sign from all the alphabets, to all the numbers, now you arrive at symbols. And symbols are universal. The @ sign is the same in Chinese as it is in Portuguese. Technology is awesome.”
…his alternative career
“Other than what I m doing now, I would make a career out of dreaming things into reality and bringing things into existence. Whether they re gadgets, solutions to problems… I ll make that my career.”
…the importance of design
“Creating something extraordinary it s about collaboration. The [Lexus] NX is a beautiful car, but it also leaves room for people s imagination.
“My taste for striking and beautiful designs inspires other people s interpretation of that design. That s what I like about the NX – the subtlety and simplicity, but then, at the same time, a type of design that distinguishes it from just being default.
“It has all the right angles, all the right simplicity, all the right openness for re-interpretation.”
his ideal roadtrip
“I would start it in Germany, and travel on the autobahn, then I would like to travel through the South of France and go along the coast to Spain, to Barcelona. Then make my way
from Barcelona, five hours to Madrid, and then I would like to travel through Switzerland, to Montreux, a jazz festival. Or I d like to go to Monaco, to Saint Tropez to Cannes. That d be nice.”
his ideal travelling companions
“If I were travelling to the South of France, I d be driving with [architect] Zaha Hadid, picking her brain, learning. I would be hanging out with [entrepreneur] Dean Kamen, asking him about engineering and crazy mathematical equations. Or I d like to hang out with Larry Page from Google, ask him questions. Or [be] with very close, close friends.”
rolling with inspiring people
“I would like to roll around with [co-founder of PayPal] Elon Musk, I would also like to roll around with Prince Andrew, just to pick his brain. I would like to roll with Danny Cohen, from the BBC, because he s smart.”
CV
Founder and front man The Black Eyed Peas
Co-founder and equity partner Beats Electronics, creator of Beats by Dre headphones
Founder i.am+ foto.sosho, a camera accessory developed for iPhone
Director Creative Innovation, Intel Corporation
Co-founder EKOCYCLE, an initiative launched with Coca-Cola that aims to support recycling and encourage brands to create products made using recycled materials
October 2014 Launched a wearable smartwatch called Puls, which allows users to text, make calls, use maps and play music. He also unveiled a smart fashion range, including a jacket that can charge the device.
Accolades Awarded Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2013; seven Grammy Awards; one Latin Grammy Award; one Emmy Award; one CLIO Award; two NAACP
Image Awards; one VH1 Do Something Award; one BMI President s Award; and one 2008 Webby Award. Sales of 31m albums and 58m singles worldwide.

Without quality product, no amount of engagement will solve the problem of how to earn customer loyalty, says Helen Edwards.

If you want to sell, show, don’t tell. Credit: BBR Saatchi & Saatchi Israel

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Hundreds objected to a statement from top newspaper editors that they would refrain from publishing articles critical of the government during a time of fierce fighting with militant extremists.

A monthly political fund-raiser draws Republican members of the House Financial Services Committee and Wall Street lobbyists willing to read a book, and make a contribution, in exchange for access.