Few things coax a blank stare from marketers like telling them they need an “editorial calendar” as part of their marketing mix.
The concept is as commonplace to media, journos and other “content producers” as spell-check and WordPress, but is not a popular arrow in the brand manager’s quiver.
Neither are “service pieces,” “editorial hooks” and “display copy.”
Still, as the pressure cooker of consumer connection gets more intense, making a brand appear authentic, honest and useful—and thereby relevant—becomes more top of mind. Some of the industry’s more progressive thinkers like Mitch Joel, have long argued that brands can easily fulfil their content needs by transplanting some basic DNA from the press model. Media outlets, after all, have no choice but to entertain, inform and complement their audience—it’s the “stuff” that serves up eyeballs, brings ad revenue and lets the ink-stained and Carpal-Tunneled feed their families. Joel, president of digital marketing agency Twist Image, even goes as far as recommending hiring a staff journalist to tell a brand’s story.
Before you scoff at the folly of turning over creative content to dinosaurs who still make a living from printing ink on paper then trucking it around the city to sell in convenience stores, check out our cover story, “Custom Takes Off.” Writer Chris Powell dives deep into the nascent and increasingly sophisticated world of newspaper custom content divisions. It is a must-read about a left-for-dead medium clawing its way back to the top of the marketing pyramid, offering some revealing patterns in how the audience persuasion game will play out over the next few years. It’s a fine anchor piece for our 2012 newspaper (and magazine) reports.
Please enjoy the issue and let us know what you think.
