How does the third largest company in the world connect with customers? In a recent interview, Linda Boff, GE’s Executive Director of Global Brand Marketing, explained how the brand uses grassroots events and digital owned moments for engineers, technologists, and inventors to create brand content that uncovers the “maker” in all of us. Continue Reading

As a content marketing strategist, I work with companies and organizations to identify their unique brand story and show them how to use content to distinguish themselves, engage customers, and change behavior. That’s content marketing in its most basic form. Continue Reading

[Editor’s note: Happy Holidays! This week, the editorial team at Content Marketing Institute wanted to share some of the best content marketing blog posts we’ve seen from our CMI Consultants. Today’s post originally appeared on Michael Weiss’ figure18 blog, On May 4, 2012.]

Today we lost a great man; a great storyteller; a great content strategist. Adam Yauch, aka MCA, co-founder of the groundbreaking rap trio, the Beastie Boys, lost his battle with cancer.

He was only 47.

It gives me pause because I grew up with the Beastie Boys. Anyone in their 40s remembers the first time they heard “Fight For Your Right.” The Beastie Boys did more for rap and rock-n’-roll than most people realize. Yes, they were three Jewish rappers from New York, and as a fellow MOT (member of the tribe) I idolized them. They broke down barriers and accomplished things that most musicians dream of. And happily, Adam was alive to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame last month.Continue Reading

As a content marketing consultant, I believe in the power of story, but I’m plagued by one simple question:

Who am I to tell your story?

You may be either working for a company that you did not start or as a consultant tasked with telling a story that you have not lived or do not know intimately. It’s a daunting task. The story has been in the making for years, with many characters (some living, some dead) and many plot twists. There may be many interpretations and points of view; how can you possibly tell it better than the owner?Continue Reading

We’ve been talking for months about how the key to a successful content marketing strategy rests on the ability to craft and tell your brand’s story. Robert Rose wrote an excellent post on how content marketing is all about storytelling. In it, he says that to be successful, “[you have] to weave a compelling, emotionally connected story around your brand.” From CMI to famed film producer Peter Guber to agencies like Story Worldwide, storytelling is a hot topic.

When we create the story that drives our content marketing efforts, we should already know who our audience is and what we want to tell them. When it comes to the platforms, we know how we want to say it (text, video, audio) and where we want to tell it (website, blog, social media, etc.). And typically, we stop there because we have so much to monitor, measure, and manage that we become overwhelmed.Continue Reading