The Content Strategist
How do brands grab the attention of jaded consumers? The answer is simple: They make fun of themselves. When brands poke fun at their flaws, consumers view them as down-to-earth and relatable; it's the same phenomenon that makes Jennifer Lawrence so popular.
"The idea of writing a press release—for me—feels like the worst thing imaginable. I'd rather be able to tell an interesting story." Those are the words of Ben Tamblyn, Manager of Storytelling at Microsoft and the man behind Microsoft Stories, one of the most impressive long-form brand storytelling projects we've seen. At last week's Contently Summit, Tamblyn joined Carrie Parker, VP of Content Innovation at American Express, to discuss how to create truly engaging brand stories and measuring their impact.
I was watching Argo this weekend, and sure enough, after all the diplomates were saved from Iran, Tony Mendez—the hero played by Ben Affleck—is notified he received an award from the President. Only he never actually gets the award, because, as his boss tells him in a parking lot, nobody can know about his mission.
Each Showcase Page hosts its own set of LinkedIn followers, website links, industry information, and posts, offering brands the opportunity to target consumers with more specified interests.
At Contently, we've been huge fans of Microsoft Stories, the site launched by the tech giant late last year to tell engrossing, beautiful, long-form narratives about the work going on inside the company. They're all written by one incredibly prolific writer — Jennifer Warnick. We asked Warnick to take us inside the world of Microsoft Stories. She did not disappoint.
I combed through hundreds of pieces of branded content researching this piece, and I must say, at no point was I tempted to quit my job at Contently and relocate to the remote jungles of Central America.
Go inside the most successful brand newsrooms with journalists and executives at Microsoft, IBM, GE, Intel, Adobe, and more.
As Aristotle said, the roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet. Well, what if the fruit is paid for by a large company that wants you to eat from their produce section?
A few days before Christmas, one of the smartest minds in journalism tweeted one of the most intriguing definitions of native advertising we’ve seen. Rosen, a renowned NYU journalism professor and author of the PressThink blog, sparked a lively debate with the tweet. Things got particularly scrappy with Jeff Jarvis. To Rosen, whether native advertising…
