We marketers are always experimenting with new content formats and new vehicles. And lately, the trend is moving toward longer pieces and more fleshed-out, substantive ideas. Here are a few examples I’ve seen just these past few weeks. Many of these projects have been developed in partnership with established publishers, too.
- Luxury luggage maker Tumi created a short film starring actor Alexander Skarsgard. In it, the actor travels around the world on a single degree of latitude towing a suitcase from the brand’s new line called (you guessed it…) latitude.
- McDonald’s released a new three-part podcast at WeWantTheSauce.com that gives a Serial-like treatment to the mystery: “How did a shortage of dipping sauce cause customers to riot at McD’s?”
- Akamai worked with Demand Spring to produce The Most Awesome Game, a 14-minute, behind-the-scenes look at how online games are conceived, developed, and delivered.
Writers who write “big” blog posts are twice as likely to report strong results (56% of bloggers with more than 2,000 words reported “strong results” while only 20% of those under 1,000 words said they experienced “strong results”) according to a recent study from Orbit Media. It does show that greater investment correlates with higher ROI.
I view the trend toward long-form and substantive content as another example of the shift toward slow marketing – work slowly conceived, well-executed, substantive work that tells a memorable story. It sustains both marketers and our audiences long-term.
Why Marketers Are Embracing Long-form Storytelling. (2018). Ann Handley.