Category: Success Stories
5 Marketing Lessons to Learn from Hank the Clydesdale Super Bowl Ad
You don't necessarily need a big budget to tell a great story that your customers will remember.
Once again the Anheuser-Busch Clydesdale ad was the favorite ad in the 2008 Super Bowl. It outscored all the rest of their ads that were trying to strengthen the Bud Light brand against Miller Lite. In fact, only three Anheuser-Busch ads scored in the top 10. It's not clear that they accomplished much with their hodgepodge of Bud Light ads, most of which scored poorly.
What is it about Hank the Clydesdale and all of the preceding Clydesdale commercials that put them at the top of the pack? And, what lessons can you apply to your own marketing, whatever the size of your budget?
Read More
Powerful Brand Built by Great Content Marketing from UK Law Firm, Pinsent Masons
Dramatic and tangible return delivered on relatively small content marketing investment
If you thought all British law firms were stodgy and old-fashioned, you haven't yet encountered Pinsent Masons. Their name might be old-fashioned but their marketing sure isn't. In fact, they have been doing online and print content marketing for eight years. And, it has paid off measurably.
Their content rich website, Out-Law.com, provides a wealth of timely and useful content for its current and prospective clients. In addition, they produce a semi annual print publication also called Out-Law. Neither information product is the kind of very traditional marketing you would expect from a venerable global law firm. But that's because they understood from the beginning that great content was fundamental to building a great brand.
Read MoreHere’s a Content Rich eNewsletter that Connects with Readers
Solopreneur Mitch York reaches out with relevant business content.
Although Mitch spent many years in the corporate world, he's now happily ensconced as an entrepreneur. He has two separate but somewhat interrelated businesses. We have already written about the great blog he does for one of them, Maui Wowi. He has recently launched a newsletter for his other executive coaching business, Better Way Coaching.
Because it's new, Mitch has relatively few tangible results to point to in terms of its success. So we will follow it with interest in the months and years to come. Even as a new product, however, I believe it's an excellent example of what an eNewsletter should be.
Read MoreSuperb Content Marketing from Ball State University
Leading-edge media content from Muncie Indiana attracts big-city marketers.
In the header of its website Ball State University ties the name of the school to "education redefined." You might think that's simply a meaningless slogan. But in the case of Ball State, they really walk the walk, particularly with their Center for Media Design. A recent study in teenage media use illustrates the really cool stuff they're doing. In fact, taken as a whole, Ball State's website rocks when it comes to content marketing
Decades ago, when I went to college in Indiana, one would have associated schools in the state with either football (Notre Dame) or basketball (University of Indiana). You certainly would not have associated Ball State University, which used to be a teacher's College, with leading-edge research into media usage.
Read MoreAmazon.com Secret: Great Content + Great Customer Service = No Need to Advertise
What explains Amazon.com's phenomenal success? Amazingly great content marketing has a lot to do with it.
In a January 5 NY Times article about Amazon.com that was prompted by an extraordinary customer service experience, columnist Joe Nocera opens with the sentence: "My Christmas story — the one I’ve been telling and retelling these last 10 days — began on Friday, Dec. 21."
If ever there were a perfect example of content marketing driving positive word-of-mouth around the world, this is it. What began as a story that he told friends and family expanded into a long article that examined exactly what motivates Amazon.com to be the customer centric powerhouse that it has become.
Read MoreContent Marketing Really Works! Our Brand New 1st Page Google Ranking Proves It!
Ok, there is an element of shameless self-promotion in this headline. But, until you have proved to yourself that your own content marketing delivers tangible results, it still remains partly in the realm of theory rather than reality.
I was certainly a content marketing believer before, but now I'm a card-carrying evangelist. This transformation happened on January 8 when I searched for "content marketing" on Google.
Like most of you, I have checked our Google search rankings periodically to see whether our target audience is likely to find us easily. When ContentMarketingToday.com made its debut in October 2007, we had no track record. Although we had practiced the tenets of content marketing within organizations, we had not written much about it. We had never created a dedicated web presence to explore every aspect of content marketing.
Read MoreCompass Bank Ups Business Client Retention with Content Marketing
Establishing thought leadership among midmarket CEO's in print and online
Compass Bank has a clear understanding of its customers and their information needs. The saga of their increasingly effective content marketing strategy is told in the first issue of Content magazine from the Custom Publishing Council.
Compass Bank has a strong consumer banking focus that is reflected in its primary website which is colorful, fun, and useful. Here it provides the basic content and functionality that there consumer and small business clients would expect. What sets the site apart is a lively personality that's a lot different from the typical bank site.
Their new Compass on Business Magazine and companion website deliver solid content that is equally well-targeted to CEO's.
According to the article, Compass Bank sought to strengthen its connection to a very important market segment: Business owners of companies between 5 million and $30 million in revenues. As Cameron Brown, president of their custom media partner, King Fish puts it, "Compass wanted a position as authorities to CEOs in midsize markets and needed a whole new approach to do it."
Read MoreRockwell Automation: Using Content Marketing to Be Global, Local, and Cost Effective
You just know that a company whose service mark is: “Listen. Think. Solve.” will have a pretty good handle on content marketing.
This global manufacturing player uses both print and online content marketing effectively to connect with its technically savvy buyers around the world.
Even with a limited budget, the Rockwell Automation Asia-Pacific division is able to reach out to customers and prospects in multiple languages and multiple ways. Traditional trade publication advertising has become less effective over the years. In addition, in the Asia-Pacific region, trade shows which are big in North American and Europe are relatively rare. This limits the ways in which this manufacturing giant can communicate effectively and regularly with its audience.
Because of these limitations, they have chosen to create their own high-quality content which reflects the high quality of their products and services.
Read MoreWebkinkz: Making Stuffed Animals Come Alive on the Web
(A terrific guest post from JuntaJoe--that's content marketing guru, Joe Pulizzi in real life)
When Content Marketing Goes Good (and Bad)
For those of you not familiar with Webkinz, they are very similar to what Cabbage Patch dolls were in the 80's except for the integration of the Internet. Webkinz, owned by Toronto-based Ganz, are small stuffed animals that come in dogs, pandas, cats, ducks and more. Once the owner "adopts" their pet, they can go to the Webkinz website to register their pet, create a name, and bring their pet to life online.
The Webkinz concept is so simple, it boggles your mind it wasn't thought of earlier. Simple, and truly powerful. To experience just a bit of this power, just watch a four-year-old navigate their way through the site. You have to see it to believe it.
Here are a couple of points specific to the website and content marketing...
- The Webkinz site may be one of the greatest examples of a successful content marketing website in the world.
- If Webkinz doesn't realize that their website actually IS content marketing, it may destroy their brand.
