Insights for Leaders Navigating
Visibility, Credibility, and Growth.
From media strategy to reputation management, we explore the trends shaping public perception and share the approaches that drive measurable results for growing brands.
Content marketing is king among brands in today’s connected world. According to the Content Marketing Institute, 72 percent of all business-to-business marketers focus on creating engaging content for potential customers, citing it as the top priority for internal content creators over the next year. By 2019, the content marketing industry is projected to reach $300 billion globally, and we are witnessing first-hand how content marketing strategies are now a part of most integrated marketing and public relations plans.
The emergence of content marketing is evident when you think about what it can do for a brand. Its reach can extend across various audiences and be more impactful than traditional forms of advertising. Companies and customers can interact and collaborate, allowing a brand to learn from its target audience to create new products or improve current services. And when a brand is able to seed content to the public, it creates an opportunity to educate, attract and create new customers, ultimately helping to ensure business goals are achieved.
But with any piece of content, ensuring that the right audience is able to view it is just as import as the messaging itself. There is no point in meticulously refining a byline designed to show industry thought leadership if nobody is able to see it. This reality is becoming a problem for many brands today: Because of the varying ways audiences get their news online – smartphone, tablets, desktops, laptops – marketing content needs to be developed and adapted to all communication channels and devices.
Crossing the Divide
One company leading the way in mobile content distribution and ensuring brands optimize content marketing is Zumobi. According to its website, “Zumobi enables marketers to more effectively distribute content like blogs, social media and videos across important mobile touch points, including apps, web and media.” Through the award winning Zumobi Brand Integration (Zbi) Platform, which was launched in 2012, marketers can increase the “discovery, engagement, activation and conversion [of potential customers] in their apps, mobile web and mobile media.” The platform also captures a host of consumer data that marketers can use to refine current or future marketing campaigns.
So what does this mean exactly? The company helps brands create “dynamic” experiences for audiences by leveraging their content in mobile-friendly formats. They can do this in a number of different ways, but what caught my attention is the company’s development of something called a “Microzine,” which as the name suggests is almost like a miniature magazine.
In a nutshell, a Zumobi Microzine pulls information and content from various online touchpoints including social media, videos, blogs and other web-based applications. Presented in an easy-to-read, mobile-friendly format, consumers can browse the content at their own pace and timing of their choosing, while marketers can update the content in real-time. But the really compelling thing about a Microzine is that it also features shoppable content. This means when a consumer is viewing a product on a Microzine, they can actually purchase it directly in the experience. Facebook actually announced a similar function recently where users can tap on platform video ads to buy the product.
“Since mobile overtook desktop, advertisers and brands are starting to think mobile first, and for them Microzines make perfect sense,” said Marla Schimke, vice president of marketing at Zumobi. “Microzines are great [for the brands] because they take content already developed and put it in front of a mobile audience. And for retailers, [Microzines] can be shoppable and become an additional revenue stream.”
Bag Borrow or Steal – an luxury online retailer – is one company utilizing Zumobi’s Microzine to increase sales and create enhanced mobile experiences for its customers. According to a March announcement, the Microzine pulls from Bag Borrow or Steal’s “blog, Twitter and Instagram feeds” to aggregate the content and offer “luxury bags and other items recommended to shoppers based on the individual’s interest.” This type of targeted, mobile-friendly programing is not only a way to improve ROI on marketing strategies, but also serves as a way to connect and reach new consumers with quality content.
Are Microzines and other interactive platforms the future of content marketing? Only the future will tell, but it looks like that is where the industry is trending. In the years ahead, marketers will need to create content that is more rich, interactive and analytics-driven to stand out from the crowd. A consumer’s interest in a simple article or blog is bound to wane in comparison to interactive and other creative content marketing strategies, and expect to see many new content marketing tools and technologies to leverage in the not so distant future.
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This year, the NFL announced it will live stream Thursday Night Football games on Twitter, Facebook launched its new video streaming capabilities through Facebook Live, and in 2014 Snapchat experienced a growth of 57 percent. The idea of video streaming via social media is clearly an idea that is sticking with consumers and driving high adoption rates. Marketers and advertising professionals are beginning to leverage these live streaming platforms through things like sponsored geo-tags on Snapchat, but what will this mean for PR pros? Will live video streaming become a new tool used for announcements and brand campaigns?
The Rise of Images and the Fall of Text
In Mary Meeker’s 2016 Internet Trend Report, she notes that the leading social networks are those that focus on visuals, with Snapchat holding the no. 1 spot for monthly minutes-per-visitor, and Instagram not far behind it. The two apps with the lowest average monthly minutes-per-visitor are Twitter and LinkedIn, both apps that are text-heavy.
While I don’t think the press release is in danger of going extinct, it does beg the question: Will companies need to incorporate more videos and images to help spread awareness of their announcements?
For example, SpaceX and Blue Origin are both making impressive strides in the space industry, and while footage of a launch almost always appears shortly after the fact, would the companies be able to garner more attention for the strides they are making if they were live-streaming it via one of these platforms? Companies that have visually compelling news are likely considering how to be more creative by announcing the news through semi-live and live video streaming. (Semi-live is video that viewers can see limited period of time after it is filmed e.g. Snapchat videos must be viewed within 24 hours of being posted).
Users-Generated Content
As we all know, not all editorial coverage results from large company announcements or press releases. Sometimes coverage is the result of a proactive pitch that leads to a features story or commenting on a relevant trend. However, with live video streaming, consumers are joining the conversation like never before and sharing real-time, authentic reactions. One of the most recent examples of this was from Candace Payne, better known as “Chewbacca Mom.”
Payne recently posted a live video of herself laughing hysterically after purchasing a Chewbacca mask that made the famous Wookie noise. The video had over 150 million views on Facebook Live and resulted in her appearing on Good Morning America, The Late Late Show, and throwing the first pitch at a Tampa Bay Rays game for Star Wars night. But the real PR story here is how Kohl’s leveraged the entire event. In the video, Payne noted that she made the purchase of the mask at Kohl’s and within 24 hours of the video going viral, Kohl’s sent Payne a set of masks for the whole family, $2,500 in gift cards, and 10,000 reward points for her birthday. This move resulted in more coverage for Kohl’s and massive sharing of the event across social media platforms.
Video streaming is experiencing significant growth and adoption and brands are seeing the benefits it presents for marketing. Creating innovative and original content is the best way to capture attention and PR professionals can now begin to develop creative ways to leverage authentic user content and video streaming to continue enticing the interest of their desired audience.
For more insight into using video, please check out these links:
Congratulations to our recent client, Apical, a London-based company specializing in embedded imaging and vision technology, for its acquisition by ARM!
ARM Holdings, one of Britain’s few large global tech companies, acquired Apical for $350 million to accelerate ARM’s long-term growth strategy into new markets, such as driverless cars, security systems, robotics and other connected devices. The acquisition closed on May 17, 2016 and the news garnered dozens of articles from top-tier news outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, The Guardian, to name a few. With this acquisition, ARM gains access to Apical’s advanced imaging products, which ARM will leverage to make a splash in the exciting world of the Internet of Things (IoT).
According to the press release, Apical’s existing technology will complement ARM’s Mali graphics, display and video processor roadmap. Apical’s current technology includes:
- Spirit: A power-efficient computer vision technology, Spirit gives ARM and its partners the ability to offer advanced image computing. It comprises dedicated silicon IP blocks that deliver an on-chip computer vision capability by converting raw sensor data or video into a machine-readable representation of an image.
- Assertive Display: Based on more than a decade’s research into human vision, Assertive Display enables screens to adapt to changes in light by overcoming brightness limitations, while reducing power consumption.
- Assertive Camera: Configured as a range of image signal processors (ISPs) and software packages, Assertive Camera delivers advances in performance including high dynamic range, noise reduction and color management.
Simon Segars, CEO of ARM, said it best in the press release announcing the acquisition: “Apical is at the forefront of embedded computer vision technology, building on its leadership in imaging products that already enable intelligent devices to deliver amazing new user experiences. The ARM partnership is solving the technical challenges of next-generation products such as driverless cars and sophisticated security systems. These solutions rely on the creation of dedicated image computing solutions and Apical’s technologies will play a crucial role in their delivery.”
Apical’s acquisition illustrates the important role PR can play in increasing awareness for companies. Through a strategic combination of proactive pitching, press announcements, bylines and speaking engagements, Apical garnered meaningful and influential coverage in business, tech and trade publications. Following are coverage highlights we are pleased to share:
- CNBC: How your home will know what you need before you do
- CE Pro: Apical’s Secure, Smart Home Motion Sensors Work Like Video Analytics without Video
- GigaOm: In a data coup, Apical analyzes visual data without the video
- Informationweek: 14 Ways IoT Will Change Big Data And Business Forever
- Information Age: Video in the smart home: The problem or the solution?
- San Jose Mercury News: New tracking technology raises privacy concerns
- VentureBeat: This home “vision-as-a-service” system now knows when there’s a human in view
It’s an exciting time for Apical and we are proud to have played a small role in the company’s acquisition. Apical is a dynamic and successful company that’s helping unlock the potential of IoT and we look forward to seeing how ARM and Apical work to advance the connected world.
Some companies take blogging to new heights. One of them is Alaska Airlines. It launched its blog (https://blog.alaskaair.com) in June 2014 and in two years the blog has published more than 230 stories that people are actually reading. Halley Knigge, who signed on with Alaska Airlines in January 2014, runs the blog.
Knigge, a former newspaper and digital reporter, leverages many of the key principles she learned reporting in her work for the Alaska Airlines blog. Her essential skills include newsgathering, interviewing, writing and creating stories, and production
1. What was it like to be in Cordova, Alaska, to cover the opening of the Copper River salmon season for Alaska Airlines’ blog?
Cordova was amazing. During the past two years, I supported the Copper River salmon season opening from Seattle. But having the opportunity this year to travel to south-central Alaska and meet the fishermen and the larger community there, to see firsthand how Alaska Airlines helps them get their prized salmon to market, was an outstanding experience. People in Alaska really support one another. The relationship between Alaska Airlines and the communities we serve in the state of Alaska is different than in the Lower 48. Only three cities in Alaska are connected by road, so many times [our planes] are bringing the groceries and the mail. People really rely on Alaska Airlines. One other thing that I love about Cordova – and other places in Alaska – is that people live by the principle “leave no man behind.” As an example, en route to Cordova from a trip to the Copper River delta, our car got a flat tire and one of the locals stopped to help us. He would not leave until he helped us fix it and made sure we were safely on our way.
2. Can you talk about the value of developing and maintaining the Alaska Airlines’ blog? How has it helped the airline?
The blog has helped us in some significant ways. It allows us to tell great stories about our company and our amazing employees who go “above and beyond” to make the travel experience better for our customers. We also fly to some fascinating destinations like Barrow, Alaska, the northernmost city in the U.S., so we love to tell the stories about the unique places we fly to – ones that often no other airlines serve. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we use the blog to share critical information during storms or other times of irregular operations. For instance, in September 2014, when the category 3 Hurricane Odile slammed into Mexico, we were able to use our blog to communicate and share information about the situation in the cities of Los Cabos, Mazatlán, and Loreto, which was a huge help to many people in both Mexico and the U.S. We also wrote about Operation Ayuda (“help” in Spanish), which was Alaska Airlines’ humanitarian campaign to assist our customers and their families during this very difficult time.
3. What does your blog’s editorial calendar look like? How do you plan and secure content for the blog?
We plan our editorial content on a month-by-month basis and make sure the themes for stories align with our marketing priorities and goals. When we plan stories, we work to ensure they will be valuable when we publish them and stand the test of time. Content needs to be evergreen, meaning it is relevant both today and three to five years from now. For instance, we did a story about how to make air travel easier for children with autism. This story was timely for the blog because of an event we held in Boise, Idaho, where we invited parents and children with autism to “practice the airport.” The topic is still relevant today because we included practical travel tips in the article. This ensures it will be valuable for families and caregivers traveling with children with autism for many years to come.
4. What makes a good blog story for Alaska Air?
Day-of travel tips really resonate with our readers. People always want to know how to travel with less hassle and stress. The other popular topics are the in-depth destination stories. People like to know what they should see that is off the beaten path. They often want to discover something new when they travel. Stories where we can offer expertise that is unique or authentic really resonate with our readers.
5. What are two stories that you are most proud of publishing? And what made them special?
I loved the series Robert Reid wrote about his trip to China earlier this year, starting with A Walk Around Suzhou, China’s Historic Heart. Robert’s writing is beautiful and his pieces helped us educate our readers about Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan partners. His stories were part of an ongoing series that pairs some of my favorite writers with our international airline partners. Our international partners are important and allow our customers to fly to more than 800 destinations worldwide. Many people don’t know this. I am also proud of a recent series we launched featuring our new uniform designer Luly Yang. Luly will be providing fashion-related travel tips for our customers, and who better to share them than an internationally known fashion designer? Our first story, “Flying with Luly: How to pack a wedding dress,” featured videos and step-by-step instructions for packing different styles of wedding dresses. I love this because while it is a very specific, niche piece of content it will be vitally interesting to a very specific group of people: brides traveling to a far-away wedding.
6. How do you measure success for the Alaska Airlines blog?
I look at three things when I judge whether a post resonated with our audience: views (were people interested enough to click into it?), time spent on page (did most people actually read it?) and engagement (if people read it, were they engaged enough to share it with their friends or leave a comment?). These three metrics work together to give me key insights that help me plan future stories, and of all three, I place the least weight on views. One post may get 40,000 views, while another gets just 5,000, but depending on the other metrics I may deem them both a success. For example, the post about making travel easier for children on the autism spectrum is at the lower end of that view range, but had an average time spent on page of more than four minutes and an engagement rate of more than 50 percent. That tells me that we created a piece of content that was uniquely valuable to a very specific, highly engaged audience, and at the end of the day were able to help make travel easier for some of our customers. So far in 2016, we’ve averaged more than four minutes per story (weighted for views) each month. To me, that is a success.
7. How do you think the communications landscape will continue to change?
Blogging and content creation will continue to be important for companies. The communications landscape is changing, but there will always be an opportunity to apply the skills from traditional journalism to tell authentic and credible stories that help people. This is one of the things that I love about my job. The skills I learned as a reporter I can apply to telling Alaska Airlines’ story.
Some companies take blogging to new heights. One of them is Alaska Airlines. It launched its blog (https://blog.alaskaair.com) in June 2014 and in two years the blog has published more than 230 stories that people are actually reading. Halley Knigge, who signed on with Alaska Airlines in January 2014, runs the blog.
Knigge, a former newspaper and digital reporter, leverages many of the key principles she learned reporting in her work for the Alaska Airlines blog. Her essential skills include newsgathering, interviewing, writing and creating stories, and production
1. What was it like to be in Cordova, Alaska, to cover the opening of the Copper River salmon season for Alaska Airlines’ blog?
Cordova was amazing. During the past two years, I supported the Copper River salmon season opening from Seattle. But having the opportunity this year to travel to south-central Alaska and meet the fishermen and the larger community there, to see firsthand how Alaska Airlines helps them get their prized salmon to market, was an outstanding experience. People in Alaska really support one another. The relationship between Alaska Airlines and the communities we serve in the state of Alaska is different than in the Lower 48. Only three cities in Alaska are connected by road, so many times [our planes] are bringing the groceries and the mail. People really rely on Alaska Airlines. One other thing that I love about Cordova – and other places in Alaska – is that people live by the principle “leave no man behind.” As an example, en route to Cordova from a trip to the Copper River delta, our car got a flat tire and one of the locals stopped to help us. He would not leave until he helped us fix it and made sure we were safely on our way.
2. Can you talk about the value of developing and maintaining the Alaska Airlines’ blog? How has it helped the airline?
The blog has helped us in some significant ways. It allows us to tell great stories about our company and our amazing employees who go “above and beyond” to make the travel experience better for our customers. We also fly to some fascinating destinations like Barrow, Alaska, the northernmost city in the U.S., so we love to tell the stories about the unique places we fly to – ones that often no other airlines serve. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we use the blog to share critical information during storms or other times of irregular operations. For instance, in September 2014, when the category 3 Hurricane Odile slammed into Mexico, we were able to use our blog to communicate and share information about the situation in the cities of Los Cabos, Mazatlán, and Loreto, which was a huge help to many people in both Mexico and the U.S. We also wrote about Operation Ayuda (“help” in Spanish), which was Alaska Airlines’ humanitarian campaign to assist our customers and their families during this very difficult time.
3. What does your blog’s editorial calendar look like? How do you plan and secure content for the blog?
We plan our editorial content on a month-by-month basis and make sure the themes for stories align with our marketing priorities and goals. When we plan stories, we work to ensure they will be valuable when we publish them and stand the test of time. Content needs to be evergreen, meaning it is relevant both today and three to five years from now. For instance, we did a story about how to make air travel easier for children with autism. This story was timely for the blog because of an event we held in Boise, Idaho, where we invited parents and children with autism to “practice the airport.” The topic is still relevant today because we included practical travel tips in the article. This ensures it will be valuable for families and caregivers traveling with children with autism for many years to come.
4. What makes a good blog story for Alaska Air?
Day-of travel tips really resonate with our readers. People always want to know how to travel with less hassle and stress. The other popular topics are the in-depth destination stories. People like to know what they should see that is off the beaten path. They often want to discover something new when they travel. Stories where we can offer expertise that is unique or authentic really resonate with our readers.
5. What are two stories that you are most proud of publishing? And what made them special?
I loved the series Robert Reid wrote about his trip to China earlier this year, starting with A Walk Around Suzhou, China’s Historic Heart. Robert’s writing is beautiful and his pieces helped us educate our readers about Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan partners. His stories were part of an ongoing series that pairs some of my favorite writers with our international airline partners. Our international partners are important and allow our customers to fly to more than 800 destinations worldwide. Many people don’t know this. I am also proud of a recent series we launched featuring our new uniform designer Luly Yang. Luly will be providing fashion-related travel tips for our customers, and who better to share them than an internationally known fashion designer? Our first story, “Flying with Luly: How to pack a wedding dress,” featured videos and step-by-step instructions for packing different styles of wedding dresses. I love this because while it is a very specific, niche piece of content it will be vitally interesting to a very specific group of people: brides traveling to a far-away wedding.
6. How do you measure success for the Alaska Airlines blog?
I look at three things when I judge whether a post resonated with our audience: views (were people interested enough to click into it?), time spent on page (did most people actually read it?) and engagement (if people read it, were they engaged enough to share it with their friends or leave a comment?). These three metrics work together to give me key insights that help me plan future stories, and of all three, I place the least weight on views. One post may get 40,000 views, while another gets just 5,000, but depending on the other metrics I may deem them both a success. For example, the post about making travel easier for children on the autism spectrum is at the lower end of that view range, but had an average time spent on page of more than four minutes and an engagement rate of more than 50 percent. That tells me that we created a piece of content that was uniquely valuable to a very specific, highly engaged audience, and at the end of the day were able to help make travel easier for some of our customers. So far in 2016, we’ve averaged more than four minutes per story (weighted for views) each month. To me, that is a success.
7. How do you think the communications landscape will continue to change?
Blogging and content creation will continue to be important for companies. The communications landscape is changing, but there will always be an opportunity to apply the skills from traditional journalism to tell authentic and credible stories that help people. This is one of the things that I love about my job. The skills I learned as a reporter I can apply to telling Alaska Airlines’ story.
Video may have killed the radio star, but it has reincarnated as a podcast host. Podcasts are essentially radio that appeals to listeners’ niche interests and enthusiasms and is free from the constraints of a network programming clock. This type of oral storytelling has quickly gained popularity: The percentage of Americans who have listened to a podcast in the past month has more than doubled since 2008, from 9 percent to 21 percent.
The podcast’s rise in popularity is mainly attributed to advances in technology: The rapid growth of smartphone use and the trend toward connected cars with the ability to play smartphone audio make listening incredibly easy. In addition, podcasts are easy to consume while taking the subway, running on the treadmill, cooking, or doing a myriad of other activities that benefit from background entertainment.
Many think podcasting will continue to grow, which presents an enormous opportunity for brands to reach their target audiences through a new platform. Following below are several ways that PR professionals can leverage podcasting to raise awareness for their clients.
Pitch an Interview to Existing Podcasts
Most podcast hosts need experts to interview for their show just like traditional journalists do. But given that every podcast has a unique format and focuses on its own niche subject, be sure to do your homework before pitching – listen to a few episodes and check out their website to ensure the podcast aligns with your client’s area of expertise. Also, make sure the podcasts regularly features guests, because not all podcasts do.
Before pitching, it’s also important to consider whether your spokesperson performs well on radio. Participating in an interview for a podcast or radio show is much different than doing an interview for a written story. Your spokesperson must be able to articulate messages succinctly and speak with a clear, dynamic voice. If your spokesperson has never done a radio or podcast interview before, you may want to provide media training.
Pitch a Story Idea to Existing Podcasts
In addition to pitching spokespeople as subject matter experts, you can also pitch a story idea that a podcast host may be interested in covering. This Week in Tech and Daily Tech News Show both cover trending tech news, so if your tech client has news to share these podcasts may be interested in covering it. When pitching the story, be sure to offer accompanying sound effects that will bring the story to life. For example, Serial includes the automated recording announcing a call from inmate Adnan Syed in most episodes.
Become a Podcaster
If your client is enthusiastic about podcasting, you may want to suggest helping them produce their own show. Podcasts are relatively simple and cheap to produce, and if you garner a loyal audience it could be a very effective way to build awareness about your client and bring personality to their brand. But before jumping into the world of podcasting, make sure your client can commit to dedicating a few hours weekly, bi-weekly or however often you decide to air an episode. Also, be sure to choose a subject that your client is passionate about so they don’t run out of interesting commentary after the first few episodes.
Whether podcasts are here to stay or simply a passing trend is yet to be determined, but in the meantime hopefully these tips help you take advantage of this popular platform.