When I was offered the opportunity to write an article on a weekly basis … the first thing I asked was … Do I have to write one, week on week?? and I got the response … I guess that’s what weekly means 😀 I had the initial jitters, will I be able to churn out an article on weekly basis and then I thought to myself….why not? Why is it such a task to write an article. Considering the profession, I’m from, content writing is just a part and parcel of what we do. And how can I forget the days, when we were drafting at least one press release every week. From media relations specialists to writing releases, articles, media notes….we all become content writers.
Starting from the beginner’s day, when the first thing your manager would ask you was…Can you write? We have slogged and slogged writing press releases, trying our best to make it look intriguing enough to capture the media interest. And the ask always was – the key message should be captured, should not be too lengthy, the CEO’s message should be crisp and to the point…how many of us were actually able to get it right in the first place? I’m sure not many of us.
But that was the norm during our days, when all executives were asked to draft a release, but I feel that trend has now changed. Now most of the consultancies have a separate content team just helping the client servicing team to draft releases. Well that definitely helps the team but does it really help the client, as the team who’s drafting the content is not really working on the account. Do they understand what is it that the client wants delivered? This process is definitely easing out the work-load for the client servicing team but how much is it helping the client…I’m not very sure.
Content today has changed form. Thanks to the emergence of social media channels, content today is no longer just about drafting an article or a release. How we consume content today is completely different from how it was 10 years back. It was easier to drive results with content earlier but now if you are not creative in your approach or timely, you have already lost the battle. The times are such that even before you come up with an idea, someone has already shared it. To give you an example, during the recent World Cup series, the way Pepsi roped in ‘Charulata Patel’ in their already running campaign “Har Ghoont Mein Swag” not only gave them an edge over Coca-Cola (their biggest competitor) but also showed how they seized the timely opportunity to create buzz around the campaign and further reinstate the brands messaging.
What I am now looking forward to is, how this content game going to be in future. With brands like Tik-Tok etc., which have already seen a massive growth in their userbase within months of being launched in India, creating such hullabaloo and eating into existing players market share. I really wonder how brands need to now reinvent themselves to up their game. It would be nice to see brands being more engaging, more transparent & unique and more focused towards AI- and ML-led campaigns. But now that brings me to a very important question…all this innovation is going to cost a lot of money? Will the brands be able to sustain themselves in the long run? Well, I guess we’ll have to just wait and watch.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Reputation Today.
During her tenure she, has had the opportunity to work with some of the largest corporations in the start-up, Information Technology, luxury, broadcast and FMCG sectors. As an experienced communication specialist, she has worked with brands to help build their communications strategies and objective to achieve their business goals.
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