I spoke on a panel about brand journalism with Twitter’s Karen Wickre, Eloqua’s Jesse Noyes and MarketProf’s Ann Handley at SXSW, and oh my lucky stars, it’s been documented via live graphic art. Isn’t that awesome?
This isn’t the first time I’ve been on a panel lucky enough to be noted via live graphic art, though. The first was at WOMMA 2010. Hopefully this is only the beginning of this colorful trend!
See the full-size drawing here.
Erica Swallow's Blog 
I tried to track down a video for the panel, but I couldn’t find anything up. I did find a set of notes from somebody in the audience though – it looks like a fire alarm went off and cut it short?? That sucks! How far through the panel did you get?
One question – In the notes I found, Jesse Noyes seems to discourage companies from assuming that brand journalism should be a part of your content strategy. If I understand it correctly, his assertion is that the mainstay of content strategy is content aligned with your brand and its elements – while brand journalism has the potential to expand beyond the boundaries of the brand.
I can see the potential for off-brand content to create problems grabbing mindshare of an audience by communicating too many types of concepts before the company’s position has been clearly solidified. Do you believe that there is a time where brand journalism (and it’s potential off-brand messaging) is ill-timed?
Thanks!
Hi Andrew!
I haven’t found a great recap of the full session, but you may want to check out this post, which Contently produced: http://contently.com/blog/brand-journalism-and-social-media/.
And we produced a magazine, which does address the question asked during the fire alarm. (http://klout.com/#/perk/Contently/Contently). But we’ll publish it online this week, too. If you email me, I could send you a PDF and point you to the right article. 🙂
I’m not sure which point you’re talking to regarding Jesse’s point of view, but from my point of view, brand journalism is when a person does research, reporting and/or storytelling on behalf of a non-media entity with the goal being thought leadership in that company’s line of business.
Therefore, “off-brand messaging” is not a concern. Because “brand messaging” is a concern in the PR and marketing worlds. However, content marketing, while housed under marketing, is all about indirect marketing, in which the brand’s reputation in a given industry is enhanced by its support of quality content in that space.
Brand journalism is never ill-timed from my point of view, because giving a qualified, authoritative opinion on a topic within your company’s line of business is never ill-timed.
Congrats! Are you going to frame it?
Nah, I think I’ll stick to the digital form. 🙂