The following is a guest post by Future Buzz community member Susan Chang.
There’s been a lot of debate over whether or not brand journalism is a good use of company resources. But in a world where every company is a media company, done properly it is one of the most effective uses of modern communication tools.
While many companies participate in brand journalism, few create something memorable by delivering content that readers find useful, insightful and timely.
So to inspire your brand’s efforts following are 3 examples of brand journalism done right:
1. The Network – Cisco
Cisco’s online newsroom, The Network, publishes a ton of content on a daily basis about technology trends. Most of the content isn’t Cisco-centric and is about related industry topics such as mobility, cloud, and connectivity. For example, I’m helping Cisco right now with promoting a series called My Networked Life, an online video series that profiles 12 young entrepreneurs from around the globe and how technology has impacted their personal and professional lives. The series simply highlights human stories, and great storytelling is what we’re aiming to make The Network all about. Also, the team at Cisco is transparent about the writers behind their content. They have a contributed writers page where they tell you who they are along with a short bio.
2. Randy’s Journal – Boeing
Randy Tinseth is the VP of Marketing for Boeing Commercial in Seattle, and his blog takes full advantage of the beauty of aviation photography. Greeted by a cover photo of their new 787 Dreamliner, the blog brings a personal touch to a seemingly sterile corporate brand. The blog is targeted at not only people who care about Boeing, but to anyone who is interested in flying and planes. A traditional corporate blog would feature products and services, but Randy’s Journal provides updates on industry planes that any aviation enthusiast would appreciate, in addition to giving readers a behind the scenes look at the brand.
3. Business Without Borders – HSBC
Out of the three examples in this post, HSBC’s site most resembles a well-designed, professional news website. Like Cisco, HSBC keeps the site alive with constant content. They have a partnership with the Wall Street Journal and often feature WSJ articles alongside their original content, which helps the site by boosting its credibility. Their brand journalism efforts focus on delivering industry news and information that people in the banking and finance industry want to read about, making you forget that this is, in fact, an extension of a corporate website.
So those are the 3 examples that we like. What good examples of brand journalism have you seen? Are there any corporate brand journalism sites that you follow and read regularly?
Susan Chang is a senior social media manager at LEWIS Pulse, a social media and PR agency that specializes in working with B2B technology companies. Susan currently directs social media account strategy for clients Cisco, SAP, and Microsoft. For more updates, follow Susan on Twitter.