Marketing Analyitcs

Client 01
perspective
How Content impacts creativity, process
and revenue
Clients are the primary tectonic force of the marketing industry. The winds
blow the way they breathe, following their customers through the murky
waters of modern culture. Their gravitational force is the strongest, as they
hold the purse.
In structuring and defining this book, we had always known that whatever
the clients we talked to tell us about the role of Content in their marketing
evolution is going to shape the structure of the book and many of its themes.
We were right. Clients, like other players in the industry, are busy thinking
about the ways digital space changes how they approach brand building,
innovation, skill sets and the partners needed for it; even the very notion of
what constitutes cost in marketing, as we indicated in Chapter 5, and even if
change could be slow due to natural forces in large organizations.
In this chapter we have decided to give you a selection of verbatims from
a number of the client interviews we conducted, grouped across several key
themes. What we wanted to do was give you a glimpse of the thinking that
helped shape ours, and so it will become immediately clear that the themes
reflect almost all other discussions, and chapters, in the book. In addition,
we have also included a representative sample of feedback from those we
spoke to about our conclusions as part of benchmarking our thinking to see
if it resonated with their actual experience at the coalface.
The clients represented here vary in size, category and philosophy. Also,
in approaches that stem from their marketing. You will see that they, like
everyone else, have varying views on the challenges they are responding to
and the role of Content within their marketing. However, some themes run
like a thread across the modern business and marketing landscape; those
themes are elaborated in more detail in specific chapters in the book.
© Lazar Dzamic, Justin Kirby, 2018

These resources accompany The Definitive Guide to Strategic Content Marketing (2018), Kogan Page, London.
For more information, visit www.koganpage.com/strategic-content-marketing
2 Client perspective
Clients who generously shared their insights and feedback with us,
included in this chapter, are:
●● Adam Boita, Head of Marketing at Pernod Ricard UK

●● Paolo Bonsignore, Global Marketing Director at Asko Appliances AB,
former Marketing Director and Direct Channel Director for EMEA at
illycaffè and author of Branded Content: La nuova frontiera della comu-
nicazione d’impresa (2014)
●● Mark Bullingham, Group Commercial Director at the UK Football
Association and former CEO, EMEA at OMD Fuse Sport + Entertainment
●● Andy Goldberg, Chief Creative Officer at GE
●● Martin Lay, former Marketing Director GO Vauxhall and Head of Brand
Vauxhall Motors
●● Alex Pickering, Marketing Director, UK and Ireland, for De’Longhi,
Kenwood and Braun household appliances
●● Edward Pilkington, Marketing and Innovation Director, Europe at Diageo
●● Jane Power, Chief Marketing and Customer Officer at Bupa ANZ
●● Jan Sebastian Schmalz, Project Manager Games Partnerships at Porsche AG
●● Simon Thompson, Global Head of Digital Commerce at HSBC
Content is part of the evolution of marketing, less

of a distinctive approach
It’s very easy to say change, change, change. But, it’s harder to change…
There’s a chorus about marketing being broken. It’s easier to say it’s all
broken so let’s start again, than say ‘certain things don’t work so well, now,
how do we make them work better?’ So it’s not so much about wholesale
change across the board, but change where it’s needed to address your
target audience to drive value for the brand. It’s nuanced, but I hear all the
time the model is broken, everything’s changing. Everyone can say faster,
cheaper, better, but sometimes you don’t check all those boxes. Sometimes
you just check a few key ones to move the ball forward.
There are some who say we need to change all marketers because
they don’t know what they are doing any more. Really, if we did that there
wouldn’t be any. So is it really about changing them all, or evolving, and

Client perspective 3
forcing people to think differently about the knowledge they have, because
without that there’s nothing?
Content does seem to be an evolution of where things are going rather
than a distinctive approach. The term Content is often bandied about as if
it is something new, but branded content and branded entertainment are a
form of advertising. In some ways they are going back to how things used
to be, although now it’s not constrained by time on TV or radio, or space
on a billboard. If you look at what advertising actually is, it is supportive of
brands, supportive of our products, and that is what Content is doing. It’s
helping brands support their storyline.
Andy Goldberg
Content as the new, bigger canvas than traditional

advertising
We live in an exciting world with a greater variety of content than ever.

Our challenge and opportunity is to deliver the right message through the
right channel to the right consumer. Whilst the TV ad still has some validity
(people do still watch TV!) we now communicate more tailored messages
to consumers and we drive more consumers to purchase more quickly and
effectively than ever before. The rise of e-commerce has brought about the
rise of shoppable content and that’s changing how we operate.
So, how do we manage this and make it happen? Well, we still work
with traditional agency partners who will make high-quality TV ads
and other content (digital, social, etc), but we we also work with more
specialist agencies – in social, data, video, etc. We also create more
content in-house too – especially for some of our digital commerce work.
There has been radical change in the last three to four years and that’s
a good thing and very positive. The agency world has changed and the
marketing department has changed.
In our marketing team we now have more digital, data and media
specialists and we have people who just look to work with tech companies
as we look to test and experiment with new ways of communicating with
consumers. Our digital commerce resource has got bigger and what was
once PR is now ‘Culture and Entertainment’ – experts in knowing and
working with influencers, working and living in the Experience Economy
and harnessing the power of social.

Knowing how to manage data has become a core skill – all marketers
need to get the criticality of data and then you need some experts who
really harness it – knowing how to mine data and knowing how to get great
insights out of it.
In this world of greater specialism you do still need ‘generalist’ brand
managers who have a broad skill set and who shape brand strategy and
vision – but who lean on the specialists to help them deliver standout
programmes. This is how the marketing team of today works, generalists
and specialists working together internally and then externally connected
to the big and the small agencies, the media experts, the tech start-ups,
the influencers and the culture shapers.
Edward Pilkington
All agencies are saying they have Content as an offering now, but the
reality is they are narrowed by their previous experience or perspective.
Usually they have evolved from their previous specialties without seeing
the bigger picture. There is no question that there is still a role for
traditional advertising, but on its own it will not achieve everything that
brands need to. Agencies need to do more now than just creating a big ad
campaign and sticking a longer version of it on YouTube as their ‘content’
distribution.
We have new ad campaigns coming out but pretty much everything
else is digital, social and influencer campaigns. We build the reach via our
owned media channels.
It’s not the end of the ‘big idea’, ideas are still at the heart of everything.
But for most brands it is the end of the overreliance on one big TV ad
campaign. The new landscape gives you so many more options. If our
audience is perfectly aligned with Vice, then why on earth wouldn’t we do
a collaboration with them and get them to produce it?! They know their
audience better than anyone else, and even if it’s only 80 per cent on brand
rather than 100 per cent, we are engaging the audience better because
it will be far more authentic for them. If you start with distribution it helps
tailor your creative.
Mark Bullingham

TV commercials (TVC) usually cost a lot of money and they have a very
concentrated life-span. Content costs less and it has a longer life. The ROI
of a TVC can be calculated fairly easily, since the impact is immediate (or
so it should be). The ROI of a content strategy can definitely be calculated,
but it takes more time. In the case of movies (a great example is Lego, but
there are more…) I think it’s a tremendous success if the revenues pay
for the production expenses. Plus there’s the impact they can have on the
brand. In the case of other videos (or even books) the fact that they will
still be around after five to ten years, generating traffic and interest, is
simply amazing and worth any investment. It should also be said that the
cost of producing long-format content is usually lower than making a TV
commercial.
Paolo Bonsignore
Content absolutely has to be an opportunity – anyone who thinks otherwise

is stuck in the past. Content reflects more what a consumer wants to
see and, importantly, share than any ad could generally and is much less
constrained by the rules and costs that advertising imposes.
Martin Lay
I think brands can – and should – learn a lot from the media publishers,
particularly regarding two aspects: 1) What is Content? 2) What are the
rules to follow to make a Content-based communication approach work?
So, what is Content? I am under the impression that it’s time to clarify
that Content is different from ‘stunts’ that generate traffic. For example, a
partnership with an Instagram celebrity with 2 million subscribers could
definitely be good for the brand, but it can hardly be defined as a Content-
based strategy by itself. ‘Stunts’ that generate millions of views on YouTube
cannot be considered Content! It doesn’t make any sense to try to replicate
an old TV approach on the web.
A Content-based strategy requires the development of great content
linked to the company so as to generate an audience. The task of a good
marketing plan is then to connect the content to the brand, in a clear

but not invasive way. The condition for this equation to work is that the
content is very good both from a creative and a production standpoint. The
objective is the creation of an audience that shares some ideals linked to
the brand.
Content usually works if it respects the rules of storytelling. Usually
these rules are mastered by screenwriters and moviemakers more than
agency copywriters! In this sense I think that brands need to be aware
of this aspect, advertising agencies need to learn new skills and there is
definitely room for a new kind of agency specialized in Content.
Paolo Bonsignore
Content as an opportunity for a more authentic

tonality, driven by a sense of purpose?
Our purpose is to ‘inspire the game and unite the nation’. Uniting the
nation is about getting more people playing football as there are lifestyle
trends that in the UK people find it harder and harder to play an organized
game of football on a Saturday (particularly adults). So we need to make it
easier for them, and easier for them to run kids’ teams in terms of running
a league and a club. Some people move to playing five-a-side with their
mates on a Wednesday night. We can still make it easier for them to
organize, find others to play against, etc. It’s just about having a better
experience. So it’s about having that tailored approach.
That’s about authenticity because something overengineered can kill the
authenticity for certain age groups. That’s a problem for agencies whose
model is to get £500,000 to make a beautiful ad and the client is saying ‘I
have a content studio or specialist production company coming to me direct
saying they can make something similar for 10–15 per cent of that…’ – and
they can do numerous versions that are tailored for the channel, which is the
right thing to do because it gets tailored for the audience and that is actually
more effective. So the business models of creative agencies are massively
challenged. Brands are waking up and understanding that you have to make
highly relevant content that engages people, but it’s not now about making
one beautiful ad that is the same for everyone.
Mark Bullingham

I wouldn’t say Content starts with purpose. It’s more that Content has to
be woven into anything that you do, otherwise it is not authentic to the
audience. So Content is much more functional than purpose-driven. But
if it is not woven-in then you have probably missed the mark. It has to be
at the core or part of the DNA of the brand. This goes back to what the
connection points are between the brand and the individual, and that
connection point is found through purpose. It doesn’t have to be altruistic
or about saving the world, but it has to mean something to that individual.
Andy Goldberg
Society has changed in that everyone now has a voice largely enabled by
technology. In the past consumers were more inclined to believe what you
had to say, and in many ways they wanted to believe you. Whereas now,
it’s not what you say but what you do and also how you do it that matters
more to them. That makes authentic storytelling a must. The best brands
have always had a good story, such as an internal truth told externally.
What is different now is that not only does the story need to be great, but
how you behave every day is equally as important. Perhaps behaviour is
more important. If you individually or collectively do not behave properly
you will have a major problem on your hands. You could be bold and say
authenticity was always important, but if you are not authentic now, you
will get caught out. Bad behaviour has nowhere to hide. So you need to
have a great story that is true – and behave properly.
Simon Thompson
Purpose is talked about much more than ever before by companies and
by individual brands. At a very basic level we know that brands that have
a purpose perform better (stats show this) and at the same time they are
making more of a contribution to the world around them. Purpose is – at its
simplest – the difference that a brand/business wants to make in the world.
That can be a major difference or just a small difference (both are okay
and will depend on the brand, its positioning, its objectives, etc).
At Diageo our purpose is all about ‘celebrating life, every day,
everywhere’. Why? Because at the heart of our business is sociability and

people coming together to have a good time. If we can help make that
happen with our brands then we may have made a bit of a difference.
A great purpose will work both internally to inspire employees (and,
therefore, help engagement) as well as with consumers. The simple truth
is that purpose should act as the North Star for a brand or business –
something for people to believe in and connect to – and something that
can make a difference in the world and help your business grow.
Edward Pilkington
Content as an opportunity to create better customer

experiences
I warn people to be careful about the term ‘digital’. We have turned it

into a holy grail that is the answer to everything – when it is not. The
real change is in the access people have to things. So it’s the same
as any other change. It’s about consumer behaviour. This is what has
changed – how brands have to reach them. Digital is not the end all or be
all, it’s how consumers engage. So years ago, prior to TV, the only way
to reach consumers was via radio or print, or out of home or one to one.
The introduction of TV allowed brands to do spots or sponsored content
or whatever. Now, with the proliferation of digital channels, there are
many more ways to reach people but, more importantly, it’s about really
understanding how those audiences are engaging. So their desires are not
that it’s digital, but where the access points are. Some are digital and some
are not. The problem with digital is that it’s a funky word. Everything now is
technically digital, so it’s more important to think about the actual access
points, how to engage through them and how to make that worthwhile
because people’s expectations of entertainment, Hollywood, TV, have
changed; as expectations change, brands have to adapt to that.
Like everything, it is about time, and if you are going to try and take
some of a person’s time then what you are offering should be of value
to them. So regardless of whether you interrupt or engage, it should be
valuable to that person. Sometimes things just are not relevant to people
and that’s okay; there has to be a reason – relevant and meaningful –
to interrupt and engage with someone, to take away their time from
something else, because it is demanding something from them.

Fresh eyes are being applied to budgets, but it will depend on brand
objectives. The top of the funnel is not being abandoned, but there is more
opportunity to feed the middle and bottom with content more accurately
now and not just hope it falls into the right hands.
Andy Goldberg
My view is that you need to do something for the consumer that they value
that is better than anyone else, and you tell them about it, and it has to be
true. The channels you decide to do that through, or media or touchpoints
along their journey, are all valid, but I don’t really subscribe to all the
labels like brand and performance marketing, customer experience, etc.
I think it’s now about actually doing something better than everyone in
an authentic way and telling people about it. Customer experience then
becomes about delivering on that promise brilliantly every time, because
we are in the world of transparency. We are also now in a world where if
people see corporate behaviour they don’t like they will tell everyone –they
feel they can, and they have the mechanisms to do so at their fingertips.
The most powerful marketing communications have always been saying
‘we do things well and do it better than anyone else’. I don’t think this
has changed. All that is happening now is that it is easier for brands to
tell everyone. People believe what they experience and trust those who
are true to their word. The question is how to amplify the storytelling so
that you get people to tell your authentic story, because they are more
empowered to do that than ever before.
I have a computer-science background and have always believed that
the future of commerce, not just marketing, was the connection point of
customer experience and technology. The customer experience is where
the truth is delivered and the technology is what helps bring that alive.
The societal shifts that sit around that include how brands behave and
consumers having a global voice.
My parents ran a number of small businesses in north-east England.
My mother’s mantra was to focus on making sure her customers said good
things about her businesses. Her obsession was based on operating in
small communities where the customers lived and so she understood that
one person saying bad things would kill the business. We now seem to
have something similar to that, but it is instant and on a massive scale.
Simon Thompson

Even for us at FA if you put the same video on Instagram and Facebook
you will get massively different performances. You have to tailor it for the
channel and the audience. So it’s all about starting with the audiences and
then creating lots of different versions of the story you want to tell in a way
that is relevant for them. I think this is the big difference and it’s not that
complicated. So you have to get large organizations to really start with the
audiences. One-to-one marketing is not a new idea, the difference is that
digital allows you to do it at scale, so you now have new ways to deliver
a theory that everyone knew about a long time ago. Content and context
have to work together…
Mark Bullingham
Content as part of the new integrated business offering
It’s more of a design mindset, where we are designing experiences and

products. This is only because we are customer-led and we are looking
at what they want and what the gaps are in their experience. It’s all part
of being more customer-centric. I don’t think it’s any more complicated
than working out what your customers want and then giving it to them.
Marketing can get overcomplicated, but it boils down to working out
who your customers are and could be, finding out what they want – then
giving them the product they want, and letting them know that you are
doing so.
Models are changing and that can be seen as opportunity or threat. Our
model is changing from a rights-based one to owning media platforms. We
are building a database of highly engaged individuals and so the model can
quite easily become performance-based media, which is more about click-
throughs and purchases rather than views. Segmentation leads to more
efficiency and allows us to have different commercial relationships based
not just on reach but engagement. Our partnership models can be geared
to sell products and potentially share in the upside.
Mark Bullingham

On clients and creative agencies in this new world…
For a technology brand it is not just about understanding how technology

can be used to communicate, but understanding what makes it relatable
and human, because if it’s not then it’s just functional. I think where we
excel is working with our agency partners to help us connect to that
humanity. The telling of a story is one thing, but interpreting it and crafting
it in a way that makes people connect is another thing entirely. Agencies
bring fresh thinking and ideas about the company and the strategy, with
an outsider’s view. There is a danger of drinking your own ‘cool aid’ if it’s
all from the inside. What is valuable about agencies is that they challenge
us and bring provocativeness. When brands bring that in-house you can
end up guessing your way because no one wants to upset the apple cart
with their boss. Who challenges the boss inside a company? This is the
important role that an agency can play.
There is an intertwined symbiotic relationship between agencies and
brands, and that’s what people sometimes forget. A lot of brands can say
‘I can do this without the agencies’, but they often can’t, because that’s
where the talent is. The agencies don’t have a business without the clients,
so they are mutually beneficial relationships. Any culture change has to
happen on both sides in order to get to this new world. Both are going to
push each other and that’s where the benefit comes, but it’s the inherent
knowledge base rather than just saying it’s all broken that is going to make
that work. That’s when it really works. There has to be a realization that
they both have distinct needs and if those needs are not met they don’t get
anywhere and can end up eating themselves alive.
What agencies bring to the table is the experience of working and
thinking creatively on behalf of multiple brands. If you bring that talent
in-house it can box them up so they don’t get to stretch their legs and learn
about how others are solving marketing problems. Whereas on brand side
you have skill sets that are unique that shouldn’t exist on the agency side.
You have leaders, strategists and analysts who work on the brand side in a
unique way.
I think more people need to understand that there is a difference
between the value in a partner and the value in a vendor. The only way
forward is not just pumping out more, but pumping out the right content
that engages the right audience. It not about how much you can do, but
how much is appropriate.

I think it is impossible to have a one-stop shop to develop the messages

across all of that, but I think what you can have is lead strategic partners
that do the bulk of it along 80/20 rule lines, because they will be embedded
into the brand more than anything else.
Andy Goldberg
People often ask ‘who is your lead agency?’ Is it the creative agency or the
media agency? Well – it isn’t a black or white answer because everyone
has a role to play. We should be ‘media first’ in our thinking – as we need
to understand how our consumers live and how best to connect with them
given the media they consume. So – we start with media – but then (and
rapidly) we need to be thinking about what content for each chosen media
channel will be the most effective.
The bottom line is that when you are developing work you need: 1) a
great brief with a strong insight; and 2) a collaborative way of working
between brand teams (and I include the specialists in that) and your
chosen agencies – and you need to keep it as simple as possible.
Edward Pilkington
We are certainly still using agencies, but the agencies are often different.
An interesting internal dynamic was that PR was often taking the lead on
content marketing as opposed to the marketing department and, as such,
were often employing their agencies instead. Supporting video material
could often be shot at much lower cost than a conventional TV advert
as the required production values needed were often not as great and
gave the material more of a home-made feel. In many ways greater lead
times were required for campaigns because content material was often
needed in support of more conventional above-the-line (ATL) campaigns
to expand engagement. Publishers are generally producing the material
that consumers more often want to see and share. A good product
placement or commercial association with them could be way more
impactful than an ad.
Martin Lay

Again it is about the capabilities of agencies. If you look at the fundamental

business models of most agencies, they are all threatened by the new world
in different ways, and that to a certain extent dictates their responses.
Creative agencies, despite what they say, usually still want to make beautiful
TV ads. Budget levels are different for longer-form branded content and there
are some brands that want to make feature films and they can have that
option. The reality is with the targeting you can do now and the focus being
on the performance of media rather than a one-size-fits-all ad campaign, it is
just a very different world. At the same time, brands are beginning to realize
that something that is overengineered on digital channels can sometimes
affect performance negatively, depending on the context.
Mark Bullingham
To progress you now must collaborate. To collaborate you have to trust

each other. So the basis of progress is trust. I think that is a fundamental
change. Historically, to progress you didn’t have to collaborate as an
organization or trust each other. It was perfectly okay to build your own
fiefdom, your own vertical silo doing its own thing. But now organizations
have to operate more horizontally and more seamlessly to serve the
consumer with what it is they truly need, and because change happens
so quickly you cannot keep up on your own, you have to collaborate. This
takes us back to behaviour – because the fastest way to break trust is not
to behave properly. The thing about trust is that it takes time for it to be
built, but it can be lost in a blink of an eye and when it is gone it never fully
repairs. It’s that brutal.
There is a difference between making a mistake, which people are tolerant
of because lessons can be learnt from those, and behaviour that breaks trust:
lying, cheating, manoeuvring, politicking and all those related behaviours
that people never forget. The reason that this is really important is because
the world is changing at a pace in which the old rules do not apply. This is
changing the internal and external dynamics. The truth and the behaviour
issues I’ve mentioned, or moral compass, or ethical considerations, are not
theories but have become day-to-day realities. This is very different from how
things used to be. You need to be on your best behaviour – all the time.
Simon Thompson

On the role of the media agencies
With media agencies there is a race to the bottom with constant pricing-
led pitches. The reason for that is you now have so much more of the
fundamental job being done with programmatic, so if you are a brand
working with Google you might start wondering why the media agency is in
the middle of that relationship.
Media agencies are often fighting on price, rather than added value.
Look at the number of global brands that have pitched their media in the
last few years. Usually they are led by procurement and awarded on price,
where substantial savings are made and that is viewed as a success – and
in some ways it is.
But the knock-on effect on the media agencies is twofold and a
double-edged sword. On one hand there is a temptation to cut all their
costs because they know they are in a price war, and on the other it’s
about investing in new skill sets, which some understand better than
others. What you can get is tension between those who really get modern
marketing and see it as an added value they have to offer clients – and
those who don’t want to encourage solutions that take away from the
traditional media part because they see it as affecting their media
volume deals that they rely on. This is a short-sighted view because
what happens is they lose the client because the client knows they are
not selling them added-value services, which is what all brands want
nowadays. This comes down to skill set, which is a talent problem. This
is an inherent tension in media agencies, but there is one in creative
agencies too.
The thing that I think media agencies get better than everyone else
is you have to start with the distribution plan either at the same time as
or before the creative. This is more relevant in Content, because you
have to tailor the creative and context, and because you are dealing with
something so much more complex. This makes distribution more key and
the options are broader than ever.
Mark Bullingham

The power and the challenges of data
We’re in a good position with the advent of the European General Data
Protection Regulations (GDPR), preventing organizations having data
on people without their permission, at a time when people are getting
smarter about which organizations they are happy to have data on them
and permission to interact with them. It’s significant, because consumers
can ask brands to remove data on them from those they don’t want to hear
from – and brands are really going to have to understand how they have to
add value to people.
Football is such a fundamental passion point for so many people that
we have a much bigger chance to engage with people and they will want
to engage with us at the intersection of permission and desire. We have
an England supporters club and we are starting to provide more tailored
content and experiences to raise the level of engagement, which will then
lead to commercial opportunities. We have a huge opportunity to engage
better than ever the football community of this country. In the past there
were layers between us and the target audiences, from a media point
of view either through the broadcasters or with the actual participants
through the leagues, coaches, etc. We can now talk to everyone directly
and in a way that is relevant to them, so the opportunity to achieve what
we want to achieve is infinitely greater. We are an engagement platform
and media house and for many people the two will become one.
Content is the way to engage those people. Content without the
tech would be a lot less effective because it would remain a one-way
communication, rather than two-way engagement, and you can’t tailor the
experience. A lot of investment is in building our own data, but it is also about
building a lot of online tools that offer a better football experience. So we are
building tools to engage and add value for player, coach, referee or fan on
what they are doing, which is Content – depending on your definition of it.
Mark Bullingham
Ad blocking and consumer annoyance at being bombarded with messages

is something we have to recognize exists. So, as an advertiser we have
to be clever and judicious about the messages we put out so that we are
not seen as intrusive but are seen as adding value and utility. This comes

down to the basics of having the right content with the right message
with the right regularity and the right timing (time of day can make a big
difference in terms of when you serve content and the type of content you
serve). Knowing the relationship you have with the end consumer is key.
If you are recruiting you will have one message – if you are re-recruiting
someone who is receptive to your brand you may land another message
that recognizes the existing relationship they have with the brand.
Linked to all this is everyone becoming more data driven. We are
moving into a GDPR world where managing data brilliantly will be
essential. Companies will need data specialists to help them. Brands will
need simple data strategies – knowing their data acquisition strategies,
and knowing how to use the data once they have it. Brands will need to
know how to work in a programmatic world. All of this in service of getting
that right content to your consumer at the right time – that hopefully drives
them to purchase – and leaves them feeling good about the brand.
Edward Pilkington
Ethical challenges with Content
It’s a very interesting time to be in marketing. Who you recruit is now much
more than looking for a set of skills and experiences. You also need to recruit
people with a strong moral compass. From a corporate and leadership
reputation perspective, the last thing you want to do is recruit someone who
is not going to behave properly. It’s either going to get you, because of what
your team thinks about you, or it’s going to get you based on what they do,
or it’s going to damage your corporate reputation based on what they have
approved. So who you recruit is really important. Now throw on top the
organizational structural changes and the changing needs of society. That
creates a lot of ambiguity, so you can’t just give out an instruction manual to
your staff and say now go from ‘a’ to ‘b’. They have to invent something new.
If you are asking people to do that, then there is naturally less governance,
so you need to make sure they know how to make good judgements. If their
judgement is not sound, in an increasing world of ambiguity, you are in the
land of massive personal and professional risk.
Simon Thompson

I wouldn’t recommend ever mixing the journalists’ world and the corporate
one. The advantage is limited (there are so many good copywriters out
there!) – and the risks are too high. Separation is good in this case.
Paolo Bonsignore
I think brands can do brand journalism, and in the world of automotive

journalism they do, under their own name. What is important is that they
are genuine in what they say and therefore car brands have to accept
the negative with the positive, and consumers expect that too. This adds
to the credibility of the brand (and journalist!). Of course, it needs to be
established early on if the journalistic perspective is right for the brand!
Martin Lay
Feedback on book conclusions
For me personally culture drives everything. As a brand you can either

go along and ride the current wave or, for the lucky few, have the insight,
the determination and the bravery to start to drive culture – these are
the ‘zeitgeist brands’ always seemingly one step ahead because they put
people and culture first and then ensure that the content they produce
is congruent between this and their brand DNA. Legacy brands have
generally found this process harder. Newer brands on the block have
naturally ‘baked’ this into their brand DNA with purpose and culture at the
very heart. What remains to be seen is if the legacy brands can change
and adapt and the new brands can maintain and become legacy brands –
this is exciting to watch as it evolves. Whilst digital and data have created
more opportunities and threats, one universal truth remains – understand
your audience, understand how your brands can truly help and let your
content deliver this value exchange.
Adam Boita

I manage three different brands: De’Longhi coffee machines, Kenwood

kitchen appliances and Braun household appliances. Reflecting on my
current role and the role of content, if you start with coffee, for example,
then what we find is that consumers are coming up with new online
searches every day.
With coffee, it is often simple things like how to make a good espresso,
what the difference is between a flat white and a macchiato, how to do
latte art – and those types of questions. If you can anticipate what those
questions are going to look like weeks or months from now, then you can
create relevant content and be rewarded by being in that conversation
earlier. This can help you get to more participative marketing where your
customers are part generating the answers to questions, and play a role in
what your brand is communicating.
With food, it is a great subject because you are very close to the
customer’s world as it is something people think about every day. Again,
anticipating trends, and having content that addresses these on your site
or other channels, allows you to have much more two-way engagement
with your consumers.
Analytics are important for this, as well as having conversations with
Google about trends, and also by making regional comparisons to try and
work out what might become relevant in a particular country. For example,
we might see a trend for a particular type of appliance in one territory that
could become relevant in another.
The subjects that get identified can also shape formats and platforms.
If it’s a ‘how-to’ such as latte art, then you will need video. But with food
images or a new appliance that consumers want to showcase then we’ll
use Instagram. So our products and what interests our consumers tend
to influence the platforms we use, eg Facebook, Instagram and across
Google.
With partners, there is usually a bias based on the agency’s
background, but the good ones can think beyond their immediate
discipline. Content isn’t just about informing, it can also be about
entertaining or delighting or surprising, and at other times it is about
providing some practical help in people’s day-to-day. So a mortgage, tax
or pension calculator that helps simplify choices or gives an immediate
answer are good examples of that even if they are not the most sexy. It’s
sometimes just about providing a useful service, rather than dumping
content on them whether it is wanted or not.

Much of what we do is focused at the top, but also in the middle of

the purchase funnel now that we can connect with customers at more
points along it. There is also more happening post-purchase to encourage
advocacy, because a lot of our appliances are high-ticket items, so driving
recommendation is important. This requires planning so that content is
created for the relevant category. It also requires collaboration, so I work
closely with the head of the customer service team. There is overlap
because good content can reduce the amount of traffic that goes into his
call centre. What we can do is anticipate some of those questions and
answer them through our site, so the customers don’t have to make a call,
and the savings from doing so can be calculated.
Purpose is also key because most brands are having to think about
where they fit into people’s lives. Over the last 5–10 years a lot of brands
have been having to humble themselves and become much clearer
about why they exist for their consumers. A useful mantra is ‘a brand is a
promise made, and a product is a promise delivered’. So you need to be
clear about what we are for, but also interrogate the shopper journey so
the two are aligned.
The purpose is the North Star or guiding light that doesn’t change over
time, and out of that comes a content strategy, and out of that comes a
plan that looks at how often are we going to provide content and when, ie
pre- or post-purchase.
With the marketing, you still have to start with stimulating demand by
building awareness at the top of the funnel, but the touchpoints available
are more diverse now. As the customer goes through the funnel from
awareness to consideration to purchase, there is greater opportunity to
build a content journey that is relevant to them along it. So more traditional
customer segmentation and targeting as part of awareness building has to
be balanced with what is now possible, but it’s not about replacing the old
with the new.
Where you appear in that journey also requires choices that link back
to your purpose. Brand values can be exposed if ad placements are not
carefully considered, with brands getting called out for their values not
matching where they appear online and in traditional media.
There is a combination between push and pull. Sometimes paid
amplification is linked to specific times of the year when you need to be
out there. In other cases, it is linked to the campaign cycle like a big push
at the beginning, for example. We are mindful of how much content we

create and its duration across the journey given how much consumers are
exposed to along it.
Data plays a part in this, and specifically looking at what has worked
previously across categories and regions. We’re also looking for clues
about what customers find interesting. For example, we have noticed
that the content about gluten-free recipes we have used to support
the Kenwood range have much longer dwell times and more online
commentary and feedback. It’s a simple one that helps show how we can
plan to create more of what people are looking for.
When it comes to new ideas these can come from anywhere now, and
the lines between different agencies are massively blurred. How we try to
manage that is to have an inter-agency team and think about which is the
best-placed agency to actually execute any idea. That requires a small,
trusted team, so it doesn’t get unwieldy and competition between them is
more grown-up because they care about the overall performance of the
brand not just their personal billings.
With new technology on the horizon it is still early days about how it is
all going to play out, because there seems to be a lot of novelty innovation
out there rather than being of genuine value to the consumer. We keep an
eye on technologies that help give a consumer a better experience, or an
easier or simpler one, because those are the examples of where there is a
purpose. One of our own is the De’Longhi coffee machine that has a higher
level of personalization via a Bluetooth app for different types of coffee
and settings based on their preferences. That’s just the tip of the iceberg,
but if you can offer something that adds value to the consumer’s life it will
endure. My overall reflection is that a lot of the new technology touted as
the next big thing is still trying to find a role or home and that is not often
clear yet, because there is a lot more to follow.
Ultimately, good marketing is just common sense and boils down to
really clear thinking about what is it we are trying to achieve, where in the
shopper journey and what is its purpose. Content marketing fits into this
but as part of a much broader task that a marketer has to do now. This
requires really interrogating what you do from the consumer’s perspective,
and good marketers are those who can switch off being a marketer in their
downtime and interrogate what content and other experience changes
their view of a particular brand and behaviours.
Alex Pickering

As this book decidedly shows, Content has fast become more than just
one instrument of communication among many, but has rather developed
into an overarching strategy, principle or even philosophy, which more
and more brands are adopting. Advertising in the shape of unsolicited
communication is not dead and probably never will be, but in the Digital
Age, the core of success for many brands lies in becoming sources of
useful information and enjoyable entertainment to their prospective and
existing customers.
For some brands, this is certainly easier than for others: ‘passion
brands’ have the huge advantage of being loved and desired way beyond
the functional value of the products offered under their roof. The brand
itself, or rather how it is perceived, is the number one reason to buy its
products. Consumers want these brands more than they need them,
because they offer a way of expressing one’s identity, and hence they are
particularly prone to being interested in what the brand has to tell them. At
the same time, the stakes are high and in this context the brand can also
become the number-one reason to die.
Passion is tied to strong emotions, and love can turn to hate, so
you’d better be careful which stories you tell, how you tell them and,
most importantly – as Dzamic and Kirby emphasize – why you tell them.
This ‘why?’ is easily lost in the day-to-day battle of marketing practice,
particularly in big organizations with several specialized marketing
departments. It is a huge challenge to answer this question consistently
and reflect it in the actual communication output, but it is not only
beneficial, but crucial for a Content philosophy to bring success.
There is another danger: passion brands are good in rallying their
forces to a common cause; they tend to have motivated employees and a
dedicated followership of consumers. All good things to have. However,
this cushy position to work from may also lead to self-infatuation and to
becoming an in-club for a group of die-hard fans that is naturally shrinking
over time. Hence, when following a Content approach, it is not only
important to have a good understanding of what you stand for as a brand
and who your existing customers are. You also need to investigate how
your target groups and their motivations and values change over time, to
make sure you can keep telling your brand’s story to them in a relevant
way. For this, it is helpful to perceive consumers as being made up of
hosts of different, very active audiences that need to be won over time and
time again.

Indeed, how to engage with an audience is crucial knowledge in the

era of Content, and it differs from the traditional model of advertising
communication. You really need to consider the interests of whomever
your content is directed at, and don’t act manipulatively to gain short-
term returns, but rather build relationships that are meant to last.
Success of Content is not primarily measured through sales effects,
but rather through engagement metrics as they are traditionally used
by media companies. Of course, when brands are acting like media
companies, this can also lead into a trap, because they are not media
companies in the sense that having an audience as such is sufficient.
Make no mistake: of course branded content not only needs to be
watched, it also needs to be acted upon by its viewers, readers or
listeners, at least in the long run. It’s a careful balance you have to
strike between understanding your target group as an audience, but still
treating them as customers.
This leads to the conclusion of Dzamic and Kirby and many of the
experts they quote in their book: Content is successful when it earns the
ever-more precious awareness of consumers through its own merits,
instead of forcing itself upon them. It’s about pull, not push. This is true
and outstanding content should always find a way to gain an audience,
but the competition for a limited supply of awareness is getting fiercer
every day. Part of the problem surely is that a lot of content is produced
by organizations just for the sake of being part of the hype, without a clear
understanding of the concept and without an actual added value for the
consumer. But let’s face it: even amazing content usually needs a little
push by working in tandem with all kinds of communication activities, some
of which are still paid for. Just ask Hollywood studios, which are unrivalled
experts in Content and still spend millions of dollars for good old above-
the-line advertising to get people to see their films. The real news here is
the opposite relationship: advertising increasingly needs to be backed up
by a Content way of thinking, or the (usually involuntary) awareness it can
still generate falls flat.
When it comes to the ‘why’ question, this definitely needs to be
answered from inside the company. Consultants can help with that by
asking the right questions, but the deep knowledge and understanding of
a brand usually resides with internal experts. In contrast, when it comes
to actually telling stories and putting a Content philosophy into practice,

most organizations have no choice but to rely on agencies or even partner

up with media companies. One, it is much easier to adopt the position of
the audience if you are operating from an external viewpoint, which is
crucial for success. Two, the traditional way that most communication
departments are structured don’t provide the creative freedom and focus
that is needed for creating content, even if you hire the people with the
necessary skills. As you point out, Content is much more than a single
discipline that can be at home in only one dedicated department. However,
it requires sweeping organizational changes to truly turn companies
from traditional PR and marketing factories into brand media houses. It is
already happening and I bet we will see this happen more often, but not
every organization is ready for this.
My role has specifically shown the huge strength of gaming
partnerships, in particular for a car company in the context of racing
games, which lies in the fact that a third party creates unique and
interactive experiences with your brand and your products. The issues
of ‘permission’ and ‘opt-in’ are irrelevant, because consumers choose
the games willingly and spend a lot of time with them for the sake of
pure enjoyment. Gamers are passionate about ‘their’ games, and the
appearance of real-life automotive brands (usually) adds real value to
the gaming experience. This provides the perfect foundation on which
to build impactful and, most important of all, authentic stories about
your brand. When Porsche expanded its gaming partnerships after a
decade-long period of exclusivity at the beginning of 2017, the feedback
from fans was overwhelmingly positive. It enabled us to start an ongoing
conversation about the fascinating sides of our brand – such as our
heritage and our motorsport competence – with an audience we hardly
had reached before.
In the end, Content is certainly here to stay, and while it may come
in increasingly varying forms and shapes, the underlying principle of its
success remains the same: understand your audience, be useful to them
and make them feel something they remember. If you are lucky enough
to manage a passion brand, this should be relatively easy. If you don’t,
Content can be used to turn your brand into one.
Jan Sebastian Schmalz

At Bupa (Australia), content isn’t a tactic, it’s part of our DNA.

It has enabled us to be disruptive and change the conversation we were
having with all Australians. To put health – and Bupa – front and centre, but
in a way people actually care about.
In a world of disruption and commoditization, winning ‘hearts and minds’
is essential, given that customers are no longer choosing on the ‘what’.
Consumer trust is the currency of today’s socially connected world; and
authentic and utility-driven storytelling has enabled us to create a visceral
connection with Australians.
As Dzamic and Kirby detail, there is no other marketing tactic or channel
that enables you to connect with such depth, or as cost-effectively, as
content marketing.
It also led Bupa’s brand repositioning, helping us build ‘love’ with
customers. Further, it enabled us to articulate our ‘why, how and what’ in a
much more sophisticated, engaging and scalable fashion.
We are well on the way to achieving our ambition for Bupa’s content hub
(www.theblueroom.bupa.com.au) to become the ‘health destination’ – the
first place Australians visit when they have a health query. To achieve this,
we had to break out of traditional corporate thought patterns and behaviours.
Rapidly changing technology, digital and social media have changed
people’s consumption patterns for ever. We had to evolve with our
audience if we wanted to find a better way to connect. Or as Dzamic and
Kirby put it: ‘Content should be an ethos and a way of thinking, a broader
view of the ways to earn consumer attention in the attention-scarce world.’
I also wholeheartedly echo their sentiments that content should not be
a silo. Instead, you derive maximum value when you seamlessly integrate it
into all customer engagement touchpoints through their journey.
Content – and the data it generates – is the linchpin of the customer
experience, and it should fuel your personalization strategy. Done well,
it enables you to communicate with customers in a highly tailored,
personalized and relevant way.
Jane Power

This chapter has been made freely available online to provide a flavour
of the extensive contributions made by those interviewed for this book
because it helped (re)shape the authors’ thinking and conclusions.
The Definitive Guide to

Strategic Content Marketing:
Perspectives, issues,
challenges and solutions
by Lazar Dzamic and Justin Kirby
Publication date: 3 July 2018

Published by Kogan Page
koganpage.com/strategic-content-marketing


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Client 01

© Lazar Dzamic, Justin Kirby, 2018

●● Adam Boita, Head of Marketing at Pernod Ricard UK

Content is part of the evolution of marketing, less

© Lazar Dzamic, Justin Kirby, 2018

Content as the new, bigger canvas than traditional

We live in an exciting world with a greater variety of content than ever.

© Lazar Dzamic, Justin Kirby, 2018

© Lazar Dzamic, Justin Kirby, 2018

Content absolutely has to be an opportunity – anyone who thinks otherwise

© Lazar Dzamic, Justin Kirby, 2018

Content as an opportunity for a more authentic

© Lazar Dzamic, Justin Kirby, 2018

© Lazar Dzamic, Justin Kirby, 2018

Content as an opportunity to create better customer

I warn people to be careful about the term ‘digital’. We have turned it

© Lazar Dzamic, Justin Kirby, 2018

© Lazar Dzamic, Justin Kirby, 2018

Content as part of the new integrated business offering

It’s more of a design mindset, where we are designing experiences and

© Lazar Dzamic, Justin Kirby, 2018

On clients and creative agencies in this new world…

For a technology brand it is not just about understanding how technology

© Lazar Dzamic, Justin Kirby, 2018

I think it is impossible to have a one-stop shop to develop the messages

© Lazar Dzamic, Justin Kirby, 2018

Again it is about the capabilities of agencies. If you look at the fundamental

To progress you now must collaborate. To collaborate you have to trust

© Lazar Dzamic, Justin Kirby, 2018

On the role of the media agencies

© Lazar Dzamic, Justin Kirby, 2018

The power and the challenges of data

Ad blocking and consumer annoyance at being bombarded with messages

© Lazar Dzamic, Justin Kirby, 2018

Ethical challenges with Content

© Lazar Dzamic, Justin Kirby, 2018

I think brands can do brand journalism, and in the world of automotive

Feedback on book conclusions

For me personally culture drives everything. As a brand you can either

© Lazar Dzamic, Justin Kirby, 2018

I manage three different brands: De’Longhi coffee machines, Kenwood

© Lazar Dzamic, Justin Kirby, 2018

Much of what we do is focused at the top, but also in the middle of

© Lazar Dzamic, Justin Kirby, 2018

© Lazar Dzamic, Justin Kirby, 2018

© Lazar Dzamic, Justin Kirby, 2018

Indeed, how to engage with an audience is crucial knowledge in the

© Lazar Dzamic, Justin Kirby, 2018

most organizations have no choice but to rely on agencies or even partner

Jan Sebastian Schmalz

© Lazar Dzamic, Justin Kirby, 2018

At Bupa (Australia), content isn’t a tactic, it’s part of our DNA.

© Lazar Dzamic, Justin Kirby, 2018

The Definitive Guide to

Publication date: 3 July 2018

© Lazar Dzamic, Justin Kirby, 2018

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