Contextual Content is King

Note: This is the first program to air on TV, where people started to see a meaningful need for one of these big boxes in their home over a radio.

I've been thinking a lot about content lately, and how we've grown to be so dependent on it. But not only that, it has to be the right content on the right channel in the right moment.  Content is no longer king on its own. Rather, it's contextually relevant content that's king.

This concept isn't new in the slightest.

Just look at the TV.  No one could rationalise why they would ever need a TV over a radio for information and entertainment. That was until special TV programming was introduced in 1930s. It all started with a test to prove the medium's ability through its first ever television drama The Man With the Flower in His Mouth. The test was a success, and, well, the rest is history.


To prove the relevancy of this product, the TV, it needed to become the answer to a consumer need, even if that need hadn't been fully realised yet. By giving people content in a way that both satisfied their current needs and made them realise new ones (i.e. 'You mean I can see what people are doing while they speak, just like the cinema, but in my home?!"), you can carve a space in those people's lives for your offering. And the better a brand meets these needs, meaning the more relevant the solution is, the more it will be embedded in their daily routines.  


Clearly, by me using an example from 1930, this is not a new concept.  But what is new is that we're seeing this kind of thinking injected in the world of brand positioning and communications, blurring the lines between product development and marketing.


In the recent Most Contagious 2011 report, it talks about marketing as service design. With brands' ability to access and use consumer data, that's available because of people's digital lives, it enables brands to see gaps and/or unmet needs it can fill.  Additionally, because consumers are aware that brands know more about them, they expect more relevant and ultimately less company-serving marketing being presented to them.  


In fact, for people to stick with a brand these days, they expect to be to engaged in a relevant manner, which encourages their participation (collaboration in product/service/experience design) in both on- and offline arenas seamlessly, while still delivering what they want before they even have to ask. 


At the heart of engagement, which is seen as a branded service more and more, is the delivery of content beyond the product extending its value. This proves the brand's value in people's lives because it's demonstrating that it 'gets' you and why you buy its products/services/etc.

But it's not content alone. There's a lot of content out there - too much in fact! It's about contextual content. Contextual content has been curated by subject matter experts and delivered to you at that moment of need.

This is where the branded service comes into play. The brand can be the subject matter expert for a topic they are known for and deliver on based on their brand purpose and existing products/services/etc. They can then create and/or curate interesting and useful (aka relevant) content and provide people access to it during a moment of need.

Take Simple - the "Worry-free alternative to traditional banking" for example. Simple is not a bank. In fact it uses another un-named bank as its banking provider, but what it does do, which is the reason for all its popularity, is overlay a service on the banking experience. This service is providing content that people feel is missing. Like being able to see real-time transaction data or using natural language to search your  entire transaction history (i.e. "How much did I spend on lunches in July?"). By making this content not only more accessible but contextual, the brand is able to establish more loyalty from users because it creates an extremely useful experience.

Another example, featured in the Most Contagious 2011 report, is Sneakerpedia by Foot Locker. Sneakerpedia is a: 

"Wiki-esque website [that] enables users to create a profile and then upload pictures of all the cool kicks in their collection - complete with a brief history and info on the make, model, material etc. This tagging helps the site to then archive each model correctly, creating a vast and infinitely navigable database of every significant sneaker ever bought and cherished"

Here Foot Locker has created an environment where people can collect and curate their personal shoe data, while learning from a large body of other shoe data they wouldn't normally see, to see what other amazing kicks people have and connect with those who share their passion. So not only are they offering unique content, but they're also inspiring their customers to create their own content and foster their passion! Further embedding the brand into its customer's lives.


I recently read a great quote from Mark Addicks, CMO of General Mills, which I feel sums this up perfectly:

"In 2012, many marketers will start with content as a way to engage their best customers and grow their business versus advertising...They will realise the power of content to enhance the brand experience, deliver the brand's purpose and extend opportunities for the brand to serve"

So how is your brand going to get to know its customers and their behaviour to provide branded content in a way, and at a time, that provides value to their daily lives beyond the product?  
How will you make contextual content king?