Content Marketing Blog

Content Marketing Inspiration – The One Page Website

8th December 2015 by miranda Leave a Comment

Have you thought about displaying your branded content on a fancy one page website? They really are the latest thing in London’s content marketing world. They definitely look great and provide a unique user experience, but are they worth the time and expense?

The Costa Experience is a really cool example. This is an informational page, with a subtle hint to getting the reader to visit Costa and pick up a coffee. This is packed with genuinely interesting facts about how your coffee is made and ends up in store, and looks beautiful of course. It’s shareable, lends itself well to social media and educates their audience about the brand.

So they’re great for consumer brands like Costa, but what about more more luxury brands? Well Swiss Airlines has a brilliant site which let’s you experience a day in the life of their crew. This branded content offering is very comprehensive, with videos and interactive infographics included too. Again, this is a great branding exercise that informs and inspires with stunning visuals.

So should this one page beauties replace multi-page sites? In two words, absolutely not. They are a fantastic branded content solution to special projects or promotions. You may be able to simplify a dense, information-heavy site into a one pager to target a certain demographic. But this should not replace your regular site offering, it should enhance it. Of course it very much depends on your industry, and they are naturally going to fit better with certain brands than others.

So remember to consider your aims carefully before looking into the one page option, and make sure you consult a specialist content marketing agency to get their advice.

P.s. We couldn’t do a one page site without shouting about this beauty

Luxury Branded Content

8th December 2015 by miranda Leave a Comment

A couple of weeks ago, British Airways launched a stunning piece of branded content, a luxury in-flight magazine for their first-class cabin customers. Well, it’s less of a magazine and more of a book-like gift, check out what the publishers say about it here. It got us to thinking about how content marketing agencies in London and beyond help prestige brands capture the attention of their discerning customers. It’s a tough one for luxury brands as they must uphold the perfect combination of aspiration, confidence and exclusivity. Luxury brands have traditionally been a little shy of keeping up with the Jones’ in terms of innovative branded content. Let’s take a look at a couple of noteworthy examples.

Fashion, beauty and fragrance brand Chanel really know what they are doing when it comes to content marketing. On their website, they have a subpage charting their history through beautiful photography. You can almost smell the eau de parfum as your scroll through! Chanel also have their own news site for their customers to keep abreast of their latest movements. We love this interactive timeline especially, they certainly know how to make their customers feel very special. The key here is the celebration of Chanel’s proud history, but still inspiring excitement about the brand’s future.

Land Rover have since launched a downloadable customer magazine called OneLife which also ups the exclusivity factor. Videos, gorgeous imagery and exclusive content make the publication a great added-value tool for current customers, as well as making non-Land Rover owners drool with jealousy.

Branded content in the luxury industry seems like a doddle, but some more historic brands have certainly found it hard to engage with today’s digital market. The need for great content that can perform on multiple platforms, retain loyal customers and attract new ones is a challenge that most content marketing agencies face.

Does your branded content tell a story?

27th October 2015 by miranda Leave a Comment

Storytelling is undoubtedly a massive part of our culture. From a young age we are fed on fairy tales and riddles, they help us learn and understand people, and it’s an essential part of being human. Stories teach us about morality, entertainment and they ultimately educate us. Here at Word Wide, we don’t approach storytelling in the same way as any old content marketing agency. We think that storytelling lies at the very heart of what we do, and not just branded content, but marketing in general.

Think about your favourite ever branded content campaign, and what you love about it. It might be the most recent John Lewis Christmas advert, an infographic you’ve seen on pinterest or simply a clever illustration. What we can guarantee will unite them all, is a story. If you remove the story element, you remove the meaning and the very essence of the campaign.

Most stories can be stripped out the the very bare basics. In fact, we like to make a little London content marketing agency game out of it by naming our favourite stories and attributing them to a template (yes we are content geeks!). Jung-inspired psychologist Christopher Brooker wrote a fantastic book entitled “The Seven Basic Plots” and it really is worth a look. He claims there are 7 all pervasive plots and that all stories adhere to this. Examples of plots are: “rags to riches”, “voyage and return”, and “overcoming the monster”. And they really are ubiquitous.

So, why bother giving your branded content a strong story? To put it simply, it will be more relatable, more memorable, and therefore more shareable. When reviewing your campaigns, if you cannot put your finger on a definable story, try and find one. And remember to do this at the planning stage next time. It’s as true of infographics as it is videos. Consumers crave stories, and as content marketers they are our secret weapon, use it wisely!

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