Content Marketing

Ed Cotton of Butler Shine & Stern points to video testimonials from inside Nike's R&D labs. His takeaway is that brands have an opportunity to think like and act like media companies today. As a Content Director working on behalf of brands, I couldn't agree more. …

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I sometimes call myself a content machine. Yet, Ground Zero's Court Crandall deserves a higher distinction. We can call him a content god. According to Adweek, Crandall--whose second film, A Lobster Tale, is released on DVD this week--sees a bright future for content in the agency world. "I have no intention of jumping ship [for Hollywood]," said Crandall. "My hope is that divisions in other agencies starting with …

Continue Reading about Brands As Producers, Brands As Studios, Brands As Labels—That’s What It Takes To Compete In Today’s Mediascape →

Beet.TV is featuring an interview with Christine Beardsell, creative director of The Third Act. Digitas created The Third Act in May to create branded episodic programming for its clients. The Third Act brings together agency, production, media and entertainment resources to offer clients one source for branded content. Holiday Inn Express is the first client to step up to The Third Act's plate, as we've reported …

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Have a story to tell and plenty of money with which to tell it? Natural gas producer, Chesapeake Energy Corp. does. According to The Wall Street Journal, Chesapeake will soon launch Shale.TV, a Web site devoted to creating content about the massive natural-gas field known as the Barnett Shale, located in and around Fort Worth, Texas. Chesapeake has signed up well-known local journalists, including a longtime local …

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According to Ad Age, Holiday Inn Express and its digital agency, Digitas, are embarking on season two of "The Smart Show", a branded entertainment offering. The 40 new episodes of "The Smart Show" will appear twice a week on blip.tv, and will air through October. 76% of the first season's viewers indicated they would be more likely to stay at a Holiday Inn Express based on the show. Digitas is also launching a new …

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The inside back cover of Spin Magazine's July issue profiles "Omaha—Rock City." It's clearly an editorial segment from Spin, but the line between lifestyle content of this sort and a paid advertisement is pretty thin. Whatever the intention, it's a Chamber of Commerce type listing for Omaha's music business. The feature mentions artists Simon Joyner, Tilly and the Wall, The Show is the Rainbow, Outlaw Con Bandana, …

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According to Stuart Elliott of The New York Times, Dos Equis beer will present a reality series on the Mojo HD cable network that will chronicle the search for an assistant to a character who is featured in the brand’s advertising campaign, a person of wealth and taste known as the Most Interesting Man in the World. The Dos Equis series, called “MIA: Most Interesting Assistant,” is to run for five consecutive weeks …

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Michael Eisner, the former Disney chief and current head of Vuguru, speaking in New York yesterday, showed little interest in bringing brands into the development process of his firm's short-form online programming. "I have never produced anything in my career with an audience in mind," he said. [People] are saying the internet is made up of 13-year-olds, so gear toward them. But I just don't think you should. I like …

Continue Reading about Old School Content Developer Not Ready To Collaborate →