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Friday, February 6, 2009
Video Views
The lines are blurring between branding and journalism
MHT managing editor Rodney Brown on NECN: 22 tech companies give back to community
MHT Editor Doug Banks on NECN: How companies are using social media
MHT Sales Roundtable: Web 2.0, Meet Sales 101
Amid the grim news of layoffs and buyouts facing print and TV journalists, there is potentially good news for those who want to consider a career in marketing: There may be a growing demand for “brand journalists.”
I was introduced to the term recently by marketing consultant and author David Meerman Scott, who spoke at a local conference. When he recommended that all corporations hire journalists, being a former TV news producer myself, he got my attention. Many corporate marketing and public relations professionals have journalism backgrounds. This isn’t new. But having worked in business and marketing for the past eight years, I would agree that a marketer’s experience in journalism is more relevant now than ever.
According to Meerman Scott, “The information that works best online is not about your products and services but about people’s problems. And one of the best ways to develop that information is with the skills of a journalist. ... So people should hire journalists.”
We have Google Inc. to thank for this trend. Consumers use search engines to research their problems and find solutions. Trained journalists know how to conduct this research themselves, organize the information, simplify it and make it clear and useful.
At one point marketers were advised to create less polished content to make their material appear more “authentic.” Today we know that certain content simply needs to be authentic to be effective. Many corporations have tremendous expertise in their subject areas that is genuinely valuable. A reporter’s habits of looking for leads and fresh angles to stories, a TV interviewer’s knowledge of how to elicit strong sound bites, and a copywriter’s ability to work quickly under deadline, can cost-effectively result in a steady stream of authentic content that satisfies Internet users. Journalistic-style marketing content used to be called “value-added” material. Now it is more central to the marketing mix.
Think about this for a moment: If the information that you, as a consumer, find online is accurate and thorough and exactly what you need to solve your problem — do you really care if the source of that information is the media, your social network, or a business that ultimately wants to sell you a product? With the online community ready to critique, expand upon and distribute the marketer’s content, it is easier to judge and use. On the Internet, the source of information matters less than its quality.
Online marketing isn’t journalism, of course, and what is happening to the media is worrisome. But the new rules of marketing do seem to serve the public interest. There’s no reason why many corporations can’t become trusted media outlets, especially if journalists will be available to help them.
Denise de Murcie is director of brand management at Liberty Medical Supply Inc. She can be reached at ddemurcie@gmail.com.
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