Describe your initiative, what you see as the strongest elements of your program, and what makes it unique:

Our owned & operated news websites are iconic and, by nature, trusted as a source for unbiased information. Due to the locality of our business, we’re able to drill down into different audiences, in different locations and get very granular with our content offerings. To preserve the integrity of CMG editorial production, and to adhere to native best practices, we have our own dedicated team, Cox Content Studio, that oversees the native practice ensuring that everything published matches the style and presentation of surrounding editorial content. The content studio presents the client as a thought-leader, not the main character of the story, and works closely with the markets in developing content that meets their KPIs, while always looking to push innovative native tactics that extend beyond articles and listicles to include infographics, quizzes, interactive maps and more.

Branded content is an important revenue opportunity for media groups and for advertisers because ... Branded content has the unique ability to tell a story that connects consumers to a brand while providing them with informative and valuable content, in a non disruptive format. The consumer experience through branded content is seamless, relevant and simple to consume and therefore drives brand affinity. Due to its consumer-first nature, branded content done right can increase brand awareness and consideration in consumer mindset. With so much information available at the consumer’s fingertips, consumers have taken control from brands. They don’t want to be told what to do anymore and a product isn’t enough. Brands need to offer added-value to gain loyalty from consumers and branded content is a prime tactic for that.

Branded content is an important revenue opportunity for media groups and advertisers because …

Branded content has the unique ability to tell a story that connects consumers to a brand while providing them with informative and valuable content, in a non disruptive format. The consumer experience through branded content is seamless, relevant and simple to consume and therefore drives brand affinity. Due to its consumer-first nature, branded content done right can increase brand awareness and consideration in consumer mindset. With so much information available at the consumer’s fingertips, consumers have taken control from brands. They don’t want to be told what to do anymore and a product isn’t enough. Brands need to offer added-value to gain loyalty from consumers and branded content is a prime tactic for that.

The aspect of the Branded Content Project Beta Group that excites us the most is …

Not only do we get to test our new thinking to find the next big thing in branded content, but we get to be a part of a bigger initiative to push branded content forward as an innovative and effective advertising tactic in the media industry along with other thought leaders.

We hope to learn [fill-in-the-blank] through the Branded Content Project:

Through the joint effort of our organization and other organizations participating, we hope to learn new approaches to content marketing as well as what’s working and not working in other organizations. Whether that be about channel, targeting and analytics or content format or, even better, something we haven’t thought of yet. What we learn will influence our content marketing product roadmap so that we can push our current clients’ ROI even further and attract new clients.

If a media organization were just starting to sell branded content, we would tell them …

As easy as it may be to focus on clients who bring revenue to your organization, focus on the consumer first. If content is not resonating with the consumer at hand, it will ultimately not perform for the advertiser and furthermore erode your equity as a trusted content provider. The consumer you are trying to reach and influence (on behalf of the advertiser) should be at the core of everything you do. Start with the consumer and then work your way outward to solve the rest. Furthermore, don’t forget about tagging, pixels and UTM parameters so you can scale, track success and continuously optimize towards your goals!

 

Meet Team Cox Media Group