Tag / strategic communications

by Kea

It’s the Content, Fool, the Content

We are heading into the last quarter of the semester. While it went by really fast, there is still more work to be done. In fact, it seems that most of the work has been saved to the end.

At least that is what one of my students said. I assured him that we do not plan things this way; It’s just that we are at the more advanced work. I don’t think he believed me.

In any case, we are steamrolling towards one of the final projects of the course: content marketing campaigns. For this assignment, students have to pick a local business here in Gainesville and develop a content marketing strategy for that business. This business should be a local outfit, and it can be a for-profit or non-profit business.

The main things students are going to learn during this project is how to shape content that tells the story of a company and sells the product the company produces.

Content marketing is changing to accommodate the times, and if it feels like we are in some strange public relations time warp all the time, that’s because we are. One thing that social media has made very clear is that narratives are important and not just product narratives. Brand narratives matter and consumers are demanding more and more that these narratives be shaped by some ideology.

The Nike and Colin Kaepernick campaign is a perfect example:

Today, we live in what I like to call a “narrative economy,” one where who a company is or how a company identifies matters just as much as the products they sell. Maybe it is a sign of the times, but companies are increasingly being asked to publicize their values. Companies are no longer allowed to paint themselves as neutral actors. People are demanding that companies have some social relevance, some social good, in order to be accepted.

I am not sure how long this trend will last or whether it is even right to make these demands on companies (that would make an interesting debate). I am sure that content marketing, specifically the kind that involves careful storytelling, is critical to company success right now.

We will talk more about content marketing in the coming days, and I will certainly post more on it. For this week, though, get ready for some trade journal posts from the students.

I have to say: I am very proud of them. These trade journals/press releases are getting better and better every time. Here are some great reads you should check out this weekend:

Vegan Beauty is All the Buzz: A look into the vegan cosmetic industry. Is it a fad, or is it here to stay?
Social Media and Eating Habits: An interesting and slightly terrifying look at the ways social media influences eating habits.
Economic, Racial, and Gender Inequality: A series of press releases that touch on the college admissions scandal involving the wealthy, the corporate diversity rates, and the sexual harassment of female lawyers by their clients.

Good stuff. They have chosen some great content here because, as the title says, it’s all about the content.

-KRW

by Kea

What Exactly Are You Selling?

High all! Everyone is hard at work creating fun and exciting projects. In the next few hours, students are going to start posting their versions of Native Ads.

What are Native Ads? Well, to put it simply, Native Ads are paid advertisements that are designed to look like the surrounding content. You’ve probably seen these ads on someone’s Instagram, framed with the words “sponsored content.” Or this New York Times article asking if college is still worth it, sponsored by Discover Student Loans (of course, they said yes).

And let’s not forget the infamous Scientology ad posted by The Atlantic. That didn’t go well for them, but it did raise important questions: First, how should companies go about the business of advertising in a rapidly changing environment. People are not tuning into television for traditional ads. In fact, I just updated my HULU subscription to get rid of ads.

Second, what are the ethics involved in creating advertisements that blend into regular digital media content? The response to The Atlantic article suggests that people want to, in fact, believe they have a right to, know when they are being pitched to.

Everyone in my class agrees that Native Advertisements walk a fine line of ethics. It’s one thing to have very obvious Toyota product placement in an episode of Bones (which is another interesting conversation), but it is another thing altogether to have major publications like The Atlantic housing a propaganda piece. The academic equivalent of this would be a scientist and professor conducting research, writing an article, and publishing an article on the benefits of Fentynal without disclosing that his or her work is sponsored by a pharmaceutical company.

Well, maybe not that dramatic, but this is serious business.

Another thing we have tried to suss-out in this class is what constitutes a native ad. I have a colleague who believes that anything we encounter that presents a call-to-action, especially a call that involves a product or service, is a Native Ad; this includes book reviews or film reviews.

I’m not sure I agree. It is another aspect of advertising that will have to be debated in our new digital age.

In any case, the students had to compose Native Ads. You will see a variety of content. Some of the ads will be in the form of blog posts, and some will take other forms. There are two main goals for this assignment: Try to sell something, but don’t make it obvious that you are trying to sell something. That was the task before them.

This also gives the students some experience with creating ads in digital spaces like WordPress, which is a platform many news organizations use already. I look forward to seeing what they have come up with.

-Dr. W

by drey3113

How Snickers Stole the Superbowl

While many watch the Super Bowl to find out which team will come out on top, others seek to find out which advertisement really wins the game. The advertising world is a ruthless battlefield on game day with each company aiming to make the biggest splash in the consumer market. There must be some secret, some play companies that come out on top make. How does a company like Snickers create one of the longest lasting Super Bowl commercials and win the advertising equivalent of the football trophy? This week’s trade publications in Adweek shed some light on that.

This week in Adweek the Super Bowl is the hot topic with the newest ads, how advertising is evolving and how those in the past were able to succeed in creating a lasting impression. Some say that the ad with the funniest skit or the most emotional story brings home the win, but I’ve discovered that it may not be as simple as making the audience laugh with a boy band singing about the newest chips. Gianfranco Arena and Peter Kain explain how Snickers won the game ten times over in 2010.

Who knew showing an old woman getting tackled would do the trick? Snickers had two main goals for their Super Bowl spot. One was to score high in USA Today’s Ad Meter. The other arguably more important goal was to rejuvenate the brand. They needed something that would not only garner the most attention from the audience but would also establish an identity in the consumer market. While Betty White may not have been the first thing that came to mind when discussing Snickers in 2009, she was able to embody the role of “You’re not you when you’re hungry.” down to a tee. While completely out of her element on the football field being quite a bit far off from the Golden Girls set, she was able to shock the audience by being brought down in typical Super Bowl fashion creating both laughs and a new twist on what hunger really meant.

It was truly enlightening to see how Arena and Kain broke down the methodology of creating the ad. I was amazed discovering how many parts went into creating the Snickers identity other than Betty White getting sacked. It did have a hand in grabbing the attention of the audience though which related to the first step. Starting with a captivating visual moment draws all eyes to the advertisement. From there execution becomes key. The ad may have created a different emotional response had the timing and casting weren’t fleshed out. Also, Arena and Kain emphasized that making the product the hero is essential. Create a problem, in this case hunger, and use the product to solve it by satisfying the need. When a product can satisfy a need while maintaining a unique identity, it is truly successful. The duo said it best. “Just make the most of every second, and you can still be the talk of the game.”

— Darian Arriaga

For more information, take a look at Arena and Kain’s article How Snickers Transformed A Basic Biological Need Into Super Bowl Success Adweek volume 60.