Can you afford to stay away from brand journalism?

Creating news has been imperative in the role of communications and PR for as long as the latter was defined in history. However, in the current state of digital, mobile, social, multi-platform and sharing economy, creating news has taken on a new meaning. Brands cannot afford to thrive based on just managing and influencing perceptions of our target consumers. In fact, to achieve a sustainable level of results (every brand/ company has its own KPI or ROI of figures and engagement), we have to be content creators too. And this is what brand journalism is about – brands generating our own news and establishing our own media platforms. It is about investing in engaging content and providing news that interests the consumers.

With the increasing popularity and use of Facebook when it opened to the general public in 2006, my (then) team and I ventured into creating and sharing content on social media as early social adopters. The campaign, largely driven by participation (number of likes and fans) on Facebook, was aimed at youths and provided them with an outlet to connect with other youths in topics that they could relate to. Though those were the early days of brand journalism, we knew we had to complement our online efforts with offline activities (campus roadshows, mall activities, pop-up concert, convenience store promotion, etc) so that everything came full circle (or what we call 360 marketing now) – interacting and engaging our target consumers across key touch points that mattered to them. These days, the practice of brand journalism is widespread, and my (current) team and I are always looking for new and interesting ways of consumer interaction and engagement across our own media platforms – creating content using journalistic skills - as the social currency and trends keep evolving in this sharing economy.

While some may argue that brand journalism is an oxymoron, there is much we can learn from this (now not so new) imperative of modern marketing. There is no need to pretend that the content is brand-agnostic, but more importantly, brands must produce content that motivates social participation. In most instances, social content has to consider altruism (feel good), narcissism (feel special), recognition, affirmation, and/or a sense of belonging in its mix. It is more than just about redefining news but also communicating what the brand stands for while engaging consumers with interesting and ongoing content. In this purpose-driven, sharing and multi-way communication era, it’s implausible to attract, engage and connect with consumers based on the traditional way of simplistic and repetitive messaging or pushing.

To ensure relevance and currency, a key consideration is the good-old adage – what’s in it for the consumer? Brands must look at the functional, emotional and social/ societal benefits that are important for consumers and potential consumers. In turn, consider how these benefits can connect them with the brand. Knowing the affinities consumers have with the brand will help brand managers determine and decide how to listen, talk, connect, collaborate, and even energize the conversations and stories with the former. From there, customized, connective and engaging content will flow naturally – and of course aligned with a consistent brand proposition and promise.

“Overshare” and “photobomb” were listed as word of the year 2014 by Chambers Dictionary and Collins English Dictionary respectively. In 2013, it was “selfie”, and nowadays, we even have ‘wefie’, ‘shoefie’, etc. This digital, social, multi-platform, multi-way and sharing economy is here to stay. To survive and excel, a brand must stay connected to the ongoing conversations and stories as well as social trends out there, whilst creating engaging content of its own. Purists may attempt to debunk this journalistic approach by brands, but many of us have shown and proven that it is a plausible and viable way to stay ahead of the game in this communication era.

The writer is Frazer Neo Macken, vice president, communications & digital, Electrolux, Asia Pacific. Hear more from him at PR Asia 2014. 

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