THE RISE OFTHE BRANDNEWSROOM

#brandnewsroom

4. Find your tone of voiceThis is especially important when looking for contentthat will work across multiple digital channels, including social networks.

Brands have to work really hard to get

audiences to engage on Facebook

and they don’t do it by pumping out

glossy information about themselves, nice

images of their execs and of their products,”

says Stephen Waddington. “They do it by

tapping into some of the emotional insight

that’s going to generate a response from

their audience.”

He advises a more relaxed style of

communication, something that is “more

informal and direct”. It means telling stories

that work at a human level.

“There is an art to getting it right,” says

Neville Hobson, independent consultant and

co-presenter of the For Immediate

Release podcast.

...at the Super Bowl on 3 February 2013, a metaphoricallight bulb went on above the head of one of the editorialmarketers working for Nabisco, makers of the Oreocookie. And in that moment, real-time content marketing went mainstream.

In perhaps the smartest example of “news

jacking” to date, the cookie company

combined quality creative with a killer line

of copy: “You can still dunk in the dark.”

[1] The process was agile, delivered at

speed and proved highly effective –

it resulted in thousands of Twitter retweets

and Facebook shares while, in a perfect

confluence of owned and earned, the story

was picked up by dozens of media outlets in

the days that followed.

Two things are often forgotten in the retelling

of the Oreo story. First, the company had

also paid for a conventional, multi-million

dollar advertising slot to run during American

sport’s richest event [2], hinting at a future

where guerrilla marketing and conventional

advertising will coexist.

Second, the company’s rapid response was

only made possible by months of planning.

The Super Bowl exemplar was part of a

100-day project [3], a product of production

and meticulous preparation, of governance

already in place, sign-off processes agreed

and editorial practices honed in advance.

This is the untold story of successful content

marketing and brand journalism.

We'll look at best practice examples, hear

from practitioners and examine the

circumstances when it will work for

your brand.

But we’ll start with...

WHEN THE LIGHTSWENT OUT...

3 #brandnewsroom

“If that’s the opportunity,the challenge is to makeit happen.”

A brief history of content marketingThe story of content marketing – or brand storytelling assome prefer – stretches back well over a century, fromJohn Deere’s The Furrow in 1890s, a magazine whichtaught farmers how to use new agricultural tools; to theMichelin Guides of the early 20th century; from the pre-and post-war radio and television soap operas; to thecustomer magazine boom of the 1980s and beyond.

In the digital age, content marketing in its

many guises (see glossary on page 30)

has been shaped by an unforeseen

collision of events. First, digital has provided

a platform which is disintermediated in most

respects while, post Web 2.0, it has become

a social channel through which messages

can be shared, stories amplified and

conversations joined.

At the same time, says Tony Hallett, former

publishing director at CBS Interactive and

now managing director of Collective

Content, we’ve witnessed a challenging

media landscape where conventional

banner and classified advertising rates have

declined sharply. Not only has this led to

publishing houses seeking alternative

advertising models, notably native

advertising, it has also resulted in a

contraction of the journalism market – fewer

publications and fewer journalists on staff in

those publications that have survived.

The result? “You now have a lot of those

professional content people working on

the type of content that proves effective

with an audience. But instead of pure

journalistic work, they are doing it as a

marketing project for a client, or as a

campaign on the pages of Forbes or the

Huffington Post,” says Hallett.

A plentiful supply of skilled communicators,

a digital platform that allows brands to

connect directly to their audience, a means

of social distribution and a challenged

advertising market have combined to move

brand newsrooms and other content

marketing forms up the marketing and

public relations agenda.

But don’t mistake this for a proactive push

by large brands, says Stephen Waddington,

European digital and social media director

of Ketchum. “It’s the market that’s

pushing organisations to do things

much better,” he says. “The whole thing

is being driven by the consumerisation

of media. It’s very much the audience

that’s in the driving seat and it’s the

market that’s responding to the

audience demand.”

HOW TOBUILD ANEWSROOM

Define your audience

Establish an editorial proposition (aka “News you can use”)

Don’t fall for the myth of virality

Find your tone of voice

Build a team

Use the diary

…but be ready to react to news

Define a workable sign-off process

Establish no-go areas

Give them what they want

1

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5

6

7

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9

01

BRANDS AS NEWSROOMS

1. Define your audience If you don’t have a clear idea who you arewriting for, your brand newsroomexperiment will fail.

5

That target audience mightconsist of a single cohort(journalists, for example)

or multiple overlappingaudiences (journalists,investors, customers, potentialcustomers, employees, futureemployees). If it is the latter,establish an understanding ofwhat unites them. In bothscenarios, establish areas ofcommon interests. One

effective way to do this is tocreate a persona of your idealreader: give him or her a name,ascribe attributes and personalpreferences and define needs.Then every time you considerproducing a piece of content,test it against your persona.Would he or she want toread/watch this? What anglebest serves his or her needs?And so on.

#brandnewsroom

6 #brandnewsroom

2. Establish an editorial proposition Ketchum's Stephen Waddington says “Brands typicallywant to talk about themselves. The challenge is to align yourselves with the issues that really matter toyour audience.”

And herein lies the paradox of

successful content marketing – the

more a brand talks about itself the

more likely it is to turn a potential

audience off.

Apply what Will Sturgeon, executive director

of strategy at GolinHarris, calls the

“nobody cares test”. He says: “Once you

get into a world where brands become

their own editors, there’s a sense that

now is the opportunity to fill the space

with all the stuff that those journalists

wouldn’t write because nobody was

interested.” Resist the temptation.

7 #brandnewsroom

In other words, news you can use...

Instead write around your subject, provide

news and information that is useful and

valuable for your target audience

Broadcast media has long talked about

“news you can use”, stories that have a

practical, rather than a shock, value.

Personal finance stories are a good

example of this genre and it is these stories

that underpin the proposition behind

Moneysupermarket’s content marketing

success (see case study on page 26)

“It’s very much a soft sell,” explains

editor-in-chief Clare Francis. “As a

journalist I don’t see myself as

producing content just to sell to people.

I’d much rather be producing the content

that they need, that they find useful.” For

Francis the editorial proposition is clear:

“helping households save money”.

Another example of a brand publisher

providing news you can use is American

Express with its Open Forum [5] site (tag

line: Exchange Advice. Make Smart

Decisions”).

“They have a community of thousands

of small businesses reading thousands

of pieces of useful content, very few, if

any, are about which charge card should

we get for the company,” explains

Collective Content’s Tony Hallett.

Moreover, consider, as American Express

has, curating the best of other people’s

content. This can be professional and non-

professional journalism or a combination of

both. Equally, it can be hosted on your

online newsroom or linked to from social

channels. Either way, the material will not

only provide a valuable resource to your

customers but will allow you to cover much

more ground than if you were producing it

all in-house. Other exponents of curation

include Intel (IQ by Intel) [6] and Pepsi

(Pepsi Pulse) [7].

“Align yourselves withthe issues that reallymatter to your audience.” Stephen Waddington, European Digital & Social Media Director,

Ketchum

8

3. Don’t fall for the myth of viralityIf your content goes viral and gets read or watched byhundreds of thousands of people, that’s great but oftenentirely unnecessary.

As Tony Hallett points out: “If you’re

Buzzfeed you have it baked into

your DNA … but for brands it’s not

always about virality. It’s about reaching

the right people.”

Take Red Bull and Cisco as two examples.

Both, says Will Sturgeon, understand how

to use content marketing channels properly

and for Cisco, providing technology news

and information at The Network [8], that

means appreciating that the audience sizes

will be very different.

Indeed, as Ramya Chandrasekaran, Chief

Communications Officer of QNET - one of

Asia's leading direct selling companies,

states "The key is to live and breathe

quality content. Make it the heart of your

online presence and a reliable

mouthpiece for your brand."

#brandnewsroom

4. Find your tone of voiceThis is especially important when looking for contentthat will work across multiple digital channels, including social networks.

9

"There is an art to gettingit right. Many marketersthat I encounter in bigorganisations speak likethe brochures that theyproduce and that makesits way into the writing.It's easy to laugh at thembut with a bit of helpsome of them can tellgreat stories." Neville Hobson, Consultant and co-presenter of the

For Immediate Release podcast.

Brands have to work really hard to

get audiences to engage on

Facebook and they don’t do it by

pumping out glossy information about

themselves, nice images of their execs

and of their products,” says Stephen

Waddington. “They do it by tapping into

some of the emotional insight that’s

going to generate a response from

their audience.”

He advises a more relaxed style of

communication, something that is “more

informal and direct”. It means telling

stories that work at a human level.

“

#brandnewsroom

10

5. Build a teamOnce you’ve established an editorial proposition for adefined audience, it’s time to build a team.

The size of the team will depend on the

stated output which in turn will be

driven by your goals (see below) but

it’s likely you will need specialist writers,

web producers, designers, video producers,

sub-editors and a pool of freelance

journalists to draw on.

The editor who will oversee the team will

most likely report into the chief marketing

officer or similar and be granted sufficient

autonomy to take content ideas from

inception to publication, knowing when to

refer up or when to refer to a lawyer. A

company lawyer, therefore, should always

be on hand to adjudicate on potentially

contentious matters.

If you work for a small or medium business

it is unlikely you will have a huge marketing

budget to spend on hiring video producers

and freelance journalists but you can still

adopt a newsroom approach. As you build

up your marketing team make sure to hire

people with versatile skill sets who can

adopt various roles.

#brandnewsroom

11 #brandnewsroom

6. Use the diaryThe deployment of an editorial calendar to pinpoint“diaried” stories that connect with an audience will be aconcept relatively familiar to marketing professionalsused to managing campaigns.

It is an essential but, as we’ll see, not an

exclusive part of the newsroom

storytelling process.

So for Clare Francis at Moneysupermarket

it means providing stories about ISAs ahead

of the new tax year or tips on buying a

new car as new registration plates

become available.

Equally, a pet’s charity might produce

diaried stories in the run up to Fireworks

Night (dealing with loud noises) or in the run

up to Christmas (“a pet’s for life not just

for Christmas”).

And for a technology provider, it might be

the introduction of a new operating system

or the launch of a new breed of hardware.

12 #brandnewsroom

7. …but be ready to react to newsSometimes the campaign mindset won’t do.

If you want to take advantage of an

ongoing conversation, manage a crisis in

real time, react or add perspective to an

ongoing news story or, as Oreo did, hijack a

breaking story then a different mentality

is required.

As Rita Suttarno, Social Media Manager of

QNET, stresses "you can't plan too much

ahead. Things will change and you'll

have to respond to it. Especially if

customers are involved, you need to

engage fast.”

The story of how Oslo Airport’s

communications department dealt with a fuel

crisis in September 2012 amply

demonstrates how a newsroom can be

deployed “live” (see case study on page 28).

Asked if he was concerned about the risks

of this approach, the airport’s media advisor

Joachim Westher Andersen replied: “No

risk, only possibilities.”

Moreover, a study by Edelman found that

real-time branded content generated four to

six times the level of engagement of a

typical post. [9]

"Being ready to publishand distribute content onthe fly - whether inreaction to an opportunityor a crisis - requires skill,confidence, authority andeffective technology.Having a digitalnewsroom platform likeMynewsdesk makes iteasier to deliver real-time,multichannel andmultimediacommunications to theaudiences you want toreach and influence."Adam Cranfield, Head of Marketing, Mynewsdesk

13 #brandnewsroom

8. Define a workable sign-off process

And because you will want to publish

in a timely fashion, you need to

ensure you’ve established a sign-off

process that everyone understands,

everyone buys into and that can be

deployed even on the busiest of days.

Culturally this may prove difficult but it is

essential in order to benefit from the real-

time opportunities of digital publishing.

“There’s no such thing as a deadline

anymore,” says Stephen Waddington. “A

topic trends on Twitter or Facebook for a

period of time and if you want to be part

of that conversation you can’t wait 24

hours to get some content signed off.”

Will Sturgeon pinpoints the root of the

problem: “Because this isn’t heart

surgery, every CEO, CFO and CMO

thinks they know what makes

good editorial.

They’ll tell you that it needs to read more

like Harvard Business Review because

they read Harvard Business Review on a

plane once and thought that it was kind

of cool.

Everyone brings their subjective

opinions to bear which is fine so long as

you get that all out of the way in the

planning process. But you can’t have

every piece pulled apart by committee –

it slows things down, gets messy and

gets expensive.”

"You can't have everypiece pulled apart bycommittee - it slowsthings down, gets messyand gets expensive."Will Sturgeon,Executive Director of Strategy, GolinHarris

14

9. Establish no-go areasIn addition to a sign-off process, define upfront thesubject areas you are willing to write about and thoseyou should avoid.

Stephen Waddington says: “You have to have areas of no-go – topics you can

talk about, topics you can never talk about and topics you can only talk about

with legal sign-off.”

#brandnewsroom

15 #brandnewsroom

10. Give them what they want“[Brand journalism] needs to be as interesting asanything else someone might be reading in their lunchhour irrespective of who they are,” says Will Sturgeonof GolinHarris.

Meanwhile, listen to the words

of Ashley Brown, global group

director, digital communications

and social media at The Coca-Cola

Company. “If there is one thing I want to

do, it’s kill off the press release,” Brown

says. “For the first time ever our PR

teams are challenged to think beyond

the press release … They have to think,

‘What is a two minute, really high-quality

video that someone would actually want

to share? How do I package up that

announcement as a story that someone

who doesn’t work at Coke and who

doesn’t care would want to read it and

share it with their friends?’

We developed a 10-point framework

that’s a guide for when you are thinking

about storytelling. Does it spark an

emotion? Is it something new or

noteworthy? Very basic things that a

journalist would go through.” [10]

“A CEO of anorganisation shouldn’taccept that 60 per cent ofthe media he or sheendures is boring. Itdoesn’t work like that –CEOs are just as likely toenjoy 25 cats onBuzzfeed as the rest ofus. So you have to policeyourself to make thisstuff interesting.” Will Sturgeon, Executive Director of GolinHarris

8 STEPS TONEWSROOMSUCCESS

Secure buy-in

Establish success measures first

Define workable timelines

Integrate

Read

Listen

Don’t forget mobile

Invest

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17 #brandnewsroom

1. Secure buy-in Siloed thinking and siloed action is the quickest path tofailure with a project like this, says Neville Hobson.

Instead you need to do everything in your

power to lobby for support within the

organisation, explaining goals and

objectives and gaining approval.

“That requires diplomacy and a lot of

courage,” Hobson says. “This is

marketing 101. You need to understand

your organisation … people, behaviours,

attitude, and support.”

18 #brandnewsroom

2. Establish success measures firstWhat does success look like? If you don’t know beforeyou start you won’t know when you’ve finished.

So embark on a cost benefit analysis,

decide how much you are prepared

to invest and define a suitable return

on investment (ROI).

In reality, measurement is not always

straightforward. For example, your objective

might be to warm up an audience as part of

the sales process but the gap between

content consumption and the sale is likely to

be a long one.

This is the case with Moneysupermarket

which knows that the prospective sale might

be weeks or months away. “From a content

perspective it doesn’t matter if people

are using us to research, what matters is

that they then come back when they are

ready to buy,” says Clare Francis.

Moneysupermarket spends much of its time

improving calls to actions and improving

conversions to sales to ensure this happens.

At a more basic level, your measure of

success might mean increasing the traffic

that passes through your site. As media firm

Trensic demonstrated there is direct

correlation between the volume of high

quality content you produce and publish and

the amount of traffic your site will receive; a

1,000 per cent increase in traffic in one

eight-week experiment which involved the

production of 50 blog posts. [11]

So where possible, define success. As Will

Sturgeon points out: “For Red Bull it was

really simple – did 300 million people

watch Felix Baumgartner [12] jump out of

a balloon at the edge of space? Yes. Was

the name Red Bull plastered around it?

Job done.

They are playing a game that is

analogous to advertising. It’s about

eyeballs and association. With

something more niche, then you need to

look at engagement. How are you getting

the material in front of the right people?”

If you are struggling to apply a metric for

success, consider the counter factual –

what would happen if you didn’t act? To

quote Joe Churnov, VP marketing at

Kinvey: “How many shipwrecks do

lighthouses prevent?” [13]

19

3. Define workable timelinesAgree the timescale for a proof of concept, a pilot or afull blown launch across which you will assess themerits or otherwise of the project.

Bear in mind that these timelines may

be longer than is traditional within

sales and marketing.

“A lot of people’s frame of reference

here is advertising and advertising is

quite a quick win,” says Will Sturgeon.

“You announce a special offer and

people are either queuing up outside the

shop tomorrow or they’re not.”

An editorial effort will take longer, not least

to build up a loyal following. Allow for this in

your plans.

#brandnewsroom

20 #brandnewsroom

4. IntegrateUse each communications channel within theorganisation to amplify the message, increase yoursocial media footprint and search engine authority.

Moneysupermarket’s Clare Francis

says: “We work with the PR team,

the SEO team, the social team,

the brand team and with the CRM team to

ensure that from a content perspective

we’re integrated. And that we have a plan

for campaigns throughout the year.”

The big social networks such as Facebook,

Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ should play a

key part in disseminating content and

amplifying your message.

However, don’t forget smaller – and often

more powerful – consumer forums that

operate around your subject area.

Appreciating the reach of the likes of

Mumsnet (parenting) [14],

Moneysavingexpert (personal finance) [15]

and PistonHeads (automotive) [16] in the

UK and similar forums elsewhere matters

whether you are in storytelling or crisis

management mode.

21 #brandnewsroom

5. Read Consume as much digital journalism as you can to seewhat is working.

Pore over the editorial and execution

of brands such as Coca-Cola (Coca-

Cola Journey) [17], Cisco (The

Network), American Express (Open Forum)

and Intel (iQ by Intel).

Examine the most compelling native

advertising on Forbes.com [18] and the

Atlantic spin-off Quartz.com [19], among

others. And look at the best of the pure

editorial plays online from Daily Mail to

Buzzfeed, via Politico and the Guardian.

Learn, adapt and execute.

22 #brandnewsroom

6. ListenMonitor what others are saying about your brand onsocial networks, blogs, forums and other social media.

Establish how often your brand is

talked about, the sentiment

expressed, the nature of the praise

and the nature of the criticism.

Understand the language of social media so

when you are ready to tell your own stories

through brand newsrooms or other content

marketing vehicles you will have developed

a tone of voice that reflects your brand and

talks to your audience(s).

Kings of content: 6 brands who stand outRed Bull aims to appeal to extreme sports lovers and create extreme PR stunts

and media frenzies, such as the Stratos space jump, to reflect this. They also

have their own TV channel and magazine full of extreme sports articles.

Coca-Cola has been leading the way with their newsroom and Content 2020

plan. Their 'liquid storytelling' strategy aims to link business objectives and the

brand with consumer interests to provoke conversation and secure the brand's

place as part of popular culture.

Colgate - their online Oral and Dental Health Resource Centre is a dedicated

section of their website which is full of videos, interactive guides, hundreds of

articles and value added content.

DollarShaveClub shows just how valuable a sense of humour can be. Their

$4,500 video spoke jokingly of the hassle and expense their service alleviates

gaining the startup not only 23,000 followers on Twitter and 76,000 Facebook

fans but also 12,000 new customers within 2 days.

Lauren Luke - a former taxi cab dispatcher dreamed of having her own make-up

business, so she cashed in her savings and began producing a series of how to

videos on YouTube, she now has more viewers than Estée Lauder and her

products are stocked by Sephora in the US.

Of a Kind - with a former senior editor of a magazine as a co-founder it's little

wonder this startup has mastered the newsroom approach. They select one

designer at a time and share a series of stories about them including what

inspires them, their personal life, taste, training and so on. They have also

managed to gather over 2,000 pins on Pinterest.

23#brandnewsroom

7. Don’t forget mobileThe growing adoption of smart devices – smartphonesand tablet computers – is fundamentally changingdigital consumption habits.

Clare Francis of Moneysupermarket

says, for example, that over 50 per

cent of visits to her site come from

mobile devices, predominantly users starting

their journey from an email newsletter.

This is a trend that is reflected across the

consumer web from online newspaper sites

to takeaway pizza websites via YouTube

where 40 per cent of traffic now comes from

mobile devices. [20]

It’s a trend that should inform any approach

to content marketing.

First, it should change the way marketers

design their websites. Any site that doesn’t

work in multiple form factors – 10 and 7 inch

tablets, Samsung S3, iPhone 5 and so on –

is going to turn off prospective visitors.

Lower clicks per visit will result.

Responsive design is one answer to this

challenge.

Second, smart devices means more traffic

at weekends and evenings than ever

before. If the intended audience of brand

newsroom journalism is in consumption-

mode at these times, the newsroom should

probably be open for business at those

times too.

8. Invest “Stick some money behind it,” says Will Sturgeon.Why? Because the newsroom is representing your brand.

Content marketing can ultimately be a

cost effective way of reaching the

right audience, he says, but some

people get carried away with what should

be achieved yet put almost zero money into

it. You get out of it what you put in.

Make it premium.

24 #brandnewsroom

CASESTUDIES

Moneysupermarket.com

Oslo Airport

S Shazam

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2

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26 #brandnewsroom

Moneysupermarket.com

“We’ve got three editors, four writers,

six publishers and two video

producers. We’re a team of 16 in-

house and then we use freelance

journalists each week.” Clare Francis runs

an editorial team that would be the envy of

most magazine editors and section editors.

The reason for all this effort? Three reasons

in fact – to increase engagement, to

improve search engine rankings and to

build brand trust.

First, engagement. “We’re not a company

you need to purchase from every week.

We’re not a Sainsbury’s or a Tesco. What

we want is that when people are in the

market to buy – whether it’s their car

insurance, a new credit card or whatever

– they think of coming to us. So, if

they’ve got a relationship with us

through content … then when they are in

purchase mode they think of coming to

us rather than to somebody else.”

Internal metrics tell her that customers that

engage with the content are “worth

considerably more” than those that do not.

The second reason for producing so much

content is to ensure high rankings on

search engines, most notably Google.

Recent changes to Google’s algorithms that

dictate those rankings – the Panda and

Penguin updates – mean "You need to do

more than just have keywords on your

websites. Google now requires that

content on your website is relevant to

your audience."

Finally, it is about building trust which in turn

informs the nature of the content.

“I see it very much as journalism,” says

Francis. “Yes we work for a commercial

organisation but the content is not

influenced by the commercial

relationship – it’s independent

and impartial.

The purpose of it is to say, ‘We’re here to

help you and you can trust the

information we are giving you.’ Hopefully

that will build brand trust and loyalty.”

"Google now requires thatcontent on your website isrelevant to your audience."

27 #brandnewsroom

“We have a catch-up every morning to

look at what’s in the news today that we

can produce content on because that’s

not only important for the site being up-

to-date but that’s also important from a

social perspective: content that

reflects what other people are talking

about today.”

Twitter and Facebook are important, if

markedly different, channels, she says.

Facebook is more about “digestible ‘5 top

tips’-type material” while the Twitter

audience tends to consist of more industry

insiders: other journalists, rival companies

and analysts among them. That demands a

different tone of voice.

Notably, however, social media is not the

main means of disseminating content for

Moneysupermarket. Every week, 3.2 million

More Money email newsletters are sent out

and this drives a significant volume of traffic

to content.

The ongoing newsroom strategy is

designed to drive more traffic from social

and, crucially, from organic search results.

Among the advice she offers others thinking

about the newsroom approach is to know

who you are producing content for. “Who

do you want to talk to? It’s all about

relevancy. If you get the content right,

the rest should follow. It’s good stories,

it’s good videos, it’s things people want

to consume.”

"If you get the content right, the rest should follow."

28

Oslo Airport

When Oslo Airport suffered a major

fuel shortage in September 2012

the whole operation went into

crisis management mode.

For Joachim Westher Andersen, the

airport’s media adviser, and the team it was

about getting the latest news and updates

out in the most effective fashion.

For Andersen there was an added

complication: he was on holiday at the time.

But by liaising over the phone with head of

media Vegar Gystad, the two men were

able to construct a communications strategy

that kept the print, online and broadcast

media – and, by definition, would-be

passengers, family and friends – updated

on delays and cancellations.

Armed with an iPad, Gystad made his way

to the departure lounge to conduct a series

of TV interviews. In between times he

posted the latest updates to the airport’s

online newsroom, provided by

Mynewsdesk.

“The effect was enormous,” says

Andersen. “Only minutes after he

published an update, we could see it

coming through all the major online

newspapers … also, [Vegar] could

choose to publish a link to our Facebook

and Twitter pages.”

Was there a risk in communicating in this

real-time way? “No risk, only

possibilities,” Andersen says.

“We managed to create a sense of

understanding because we were honest

about the situation. We did not try and

cover up anything and we kept people

updated as soon as we had news to

tell them.”

"No risk, only possibilities."

#brandnewsroom

29 #brandnewsroom

Shazam

If rule number one of content marketing is

knowing who your audience is then

Shazam, the media engagement

company that most people know for its

music identification service, can happily

move on to rule number two.

For PR and communications manager Rica

Squires, who manages a Mynewsdesk

newsroom integrated into the main Shazam

website, her primary audience is the media.

“If consumers stumble upon it then great

but the media is my foremost concern.

I’m not sure many consumers are going

to want to trawl around a series of

announcements.”

What Squires wanted from her newsroom

was a service that allowed her to publish

more than just the words on a screen.

“Every announcement we do has some

kind of visual with it,” she says. “It’s

about linking visuals with press

releases. If we are talking about adding a

new feature [to the Shazam app] we want

to show what it looks like in situ. We

also produce videos and other assets

that help illustrate the app or provide

information about the company, so

making it easy for journalists to access

and download them is paramount.”

Because of this primary audience – and

Shazam’s profile – search engine

optimisation is low down Rica’s list of

priorities. She knows her audience of

journalists will find her content. She adds:

“We have a Twitter feed just for the

media.” Twitter is, she says, the best

social network for reaching the media.

“It’s a press ‘circle’,” she says.

“Facebook is much softer and

friendlier. It’s much more targeted to

the consumer.”

"Making it easy forjournalists to access anddownload videos andother assets isparamount."

30 #brandnewsroom

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Brand journalism

Where journalism meets brand marketing. Brand journalism tells the story of a company

and / or brand in a timely and transparent way. The storytelling will be ongoing and the

conversation two-way.

Brand newsroom

Akin to a traditional newspaper or broadcast newsroom, a brand newsroom is where a

team (sometimes of ex-journalists) commission, research, create, publish and disseminate

brand journalism. Many of the disciplines of traditional journalism – high quality content

written in a timely manner – apply here. This can be done by any brand regardless of

its size.

Content marketing

The creation and dissemination of useful, valuable and relevant content. The end goal

might be acquiring new customers and/or making sales. The focus is often, but not

exclusively, on owning rather than renting the media.

Native advertising

Contextual material that appears alongside editorial content within a publication or

platform, usually online. The content may be text, video, a slide show, infographic or other

media. In this respect its antecedent is the advertorial. LinkedIn’s sponsored updates,

promoted Tweets and Facebook posts are other examples of native advertising as are

contextual Google Ads that relate to specific search queries and appear alongside organic

search results.

Newsjacking

Capitalising on a high profile news story to the benefit of the brand. The ability to

piggyback on stories in the news requires agile marketing teams and quick sign-off.

Sponsored content

A form of native advertising (see above), labelled as such or similarly, within publications

or platforms.

31 #brandnewsroom

With thanks to our contributors:

Joachim Westher Andersen, Oslo Airport

@JoachimWesther

Clare Francis, Moneysupermarket

@clareefrancis

Tony Hallett, Collective Content

@tphallett

Neville Hobson, Consultant

@jangles

Will Sturgeon, GolinHarris

@willsturgeon

About usMynewsdesk is the world's leading all-in-one brand newsroom and multimedia PR

platform. Over 5,000 brands as diverse as Costa Coffee, Allianz, Volkswagen, Canon,

Nectar, UNICEF, Sitecore, QNET and Virgin Trains use their Mynewsdesk newsrooms to

publish and distribute their content, achieve greater visibility across search and social

media, connect with key influencers, and tell their stories.

If you'd like to see how our newsrooms can enhance yet simplify your comms strategy

then get in touch by tweeting us @mynewsdesk_uk, email us at uk@mynewsdesk.com or

call us on 020 7029 5785. Or pop into our office for a coffee and a chat. We're located at

25 Farringdon Street, London, EC4A 4AB.

Jon Bernstein was deputy editor, then digital director, at the New

Statesman working across a portfolio of titles including Press Gazette and

Blueprint; multimedia editor at Channel 4 News; ran the Channel 4

FactCheck website during the 2005 general election; editor-in-chief of

Directgov, working in the Cabinet Office’s eGovernment Unit; and editor-

in-chief of dot com start up and technology website silicon.com.

Rica Squires, Shazam

@ShazamNews

Stephen Waddington, Ketchum

@wadds

Ramya Chandrasekaran, QNET

@ramyac

Rita Suttarno, QNET

@mochachocolata

Adam Cranfield, Mynewsdesk

@adamcranfield

He was named Consumer Website Editor of the Year 2011 by the British Society of

Magazine Editors for NewStatesman.com and was shortlisted for the same award in 2010.

He was also shortlisted for Web Editor of the Year at the 2012 Online Media Awards.

About the author

32 #brandnewsroom

Sources[1] http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/4/3949882/oreo-super-bowl-blackout-ad-is-a-winner

[2] http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/3/3942234/watch-all-super-bowl-2013-ads-here

[3] http://adage.com/article/digital/oreo-s-daily-twist-campaign-puts-cookie-

conversation/237104/

[4] http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/what-is-content-marketing/

[5] https://www.openforum.com

[6] http://iq.intel.com/

[7] http://www.pepsi.com/en-gb/d/

[8] http://newsroom.cisco.com/

[9] http://www.edelmandigital.com/2013/04/30/creative-newsroom-brand-storytelling-at-

the-speed-of-social

[10] http://tresnicmedia.com/the-blogging-magic-number-increasing-website-traffic-1000-

in-8-weeks-case-study/

[11] http://www.redbullstratos.com/

[12] http://medialab.butlertill.com/post/60956120716/how-many-shipwrecks-have-

lighthouses-prevented

[13] http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk

[14] http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/

[15] http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/

[16] http://www.coca-colacompany.com/

[17] http://www.forbes.com/find-more/brandvoice/

[18] http://qz.com/

[19] http://techcrunch.com/2013/10/17/youtube-goes-mobile/

Interviews

20 September 2013: telephone interview with Tony Hallett

20 September 2013: telephone interview with Stephen Waddington

23 September 2013: telephone interview with Clare Francis

1 October 2013: telephone interview with Will Sturgeon

8 October 2013: telephone interview with Rica Squires

14 October 2013: email interview with Joachim Westher Andersen

22 October 2013: telephone interview with Neville Hobson