Do brands really need to become publishers to ‘survive’ today?
I would say no.
No consumer* wants to read another piece of ad content written by a brand, ad agency or PR company thing disguised as “useful editorial”.
No one benefits** from more words being written; from more content clutter on the “inter webs”.
Not even businesses.
Businesses should focus on what they do best – creating products and services for which there is a demand. If you supply a demand, you will succeed, whether or not you write (or pay someone to write) 350 – 500 words on the subject once a day.
I predict that the current content culture will, in time (although not soon enough) be seen as one of the biggest follies of our age.
Brand generated content should be as embarrassing to businesses as selfies are to human beings.
*The only people who win in a world where every brand and business is trying to become a publishing “thought leader” are the b-grade journalists and writers who found themselves become irrelevant and out of work when the media-advertsing-industrial complex died along with the advent of the internet. Luckily for them, they still had the dying embers of the media to sell us on the idea of content being the next big thing before they faded into obscurity…)
**Yes, I am aware of the irony of writing this opinion piece on a blog and the fact that for most of my adult life I have been paid to write, spin and publish content, but at least I have the humility to be embarrassed about it.
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