MARKETERS WITH A STORYSIX IDEAS TO INSPIRE YOUR CONTENT MARKETING

Each year we celebrate the content marketers who

most inspire us. This year’s finalists are a diverse

group, hailing from a historic New York City non-

profit, to a massive global technology company.

Dig in to see what they are doing so well.

Brad Walters, director of social media and emerging technologies, Lowe’s Home Improvement

VISUAL CONTENT

Brad Walters and his social media team at Lowe’s have earned well-deserved praise over the last year for a series of brilliant ideas.

The company’s

#lowesfixinsix series

on Vine (6-second

videos of easy DIY tips)

received much-deserved

attention this year for

“getting” Vine even while

many of us were still

scratching our heads.

Lowe’s is also massively popular on Pinterest (nearly 3.5 million followers) in large

part because the brand doesn’t use the channel as a digital catalogue. In fact,

Lowe’s has among the most diverse collection of boards to match their audience--

from gardening tips to ultimate man caves.

But it’s clear Lowe’s isn’t finished yet. In a new twist, Lowe’s has recruited top designers

and Mom bloggers to take over its Instagram account for a few days at a time. Popular

design personalities like Grace Bonney from DesignSponge post inspirational images,

and in doing so, introduce their fan base to Lowe’s.

CONTENT STRATEGY

Bryan Rhoads, executive editor, Intel Digital Media Labs

Bryan Rhoads stands out as a deep thinker in a field more often

focused on quick wins.

Rhoads believes that by teasing out storylines--and in particular

archetypal narratives such as the hero’s journey--companies like Intel can

create much more moving and memorable content for their audiences.

Calling himself a “long-time,

early-stage builder of all things

digital,” Bryan Rhoads explores

the outer edge of new media and

content consumption models

for Intel. Rhoads is the founder

and executive editor of Intel’s

digital platform IQ, which allows

employees to curate content

from sites like Mashable, Wired

and Spin. When we interviewed

Rhoads in 2012, he explained,

“IQ represents the zeitgeist of

Intel. Our strategy is not to create

a destination, but to feed the

social graph.”

Rhoads also manages the partnership with VICE Media that produces the award-

winning The Creators Project. A long favorite of ours, Creators Project captures the

most beautiful examples of art and innovation made possible through technology.

CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT

Jesse Desjardins, social media & advocacy manager, Tourism Australia

Desjardins won our vote because of a simple idea, brilliantly executed. He asked, “Can we build a platform that gets bigger over time?” Rather than launch a campaign, giving it

some social juice, and then letting it fade, Desjardins aimed to create a socially-fueled movement that increases in value and scale over time.

Tourism Australia receives 900 fan photos per day on its Facebook

and Instagram accounts.

It outperforms every other tourism board in the world, and does so based on two

primary ingredients: user-generated content, and community co-creation. Says

Desjardins, “We aim to make our audience the hero. Consumers take us places

much faster than we can go on our own.”

To be fair, Tourism Australia

does launch campaigns, such

as the group’s Best Job in the

World contest (which promised

seven lucky winners a six-month

working holiday in roles such as

a wildlife caretaker and lifestyle

photographer) and its Food and

Wine campaign (a partnership

with restaurateurs and local

growers to position Australia

as a food destination). But each

campaign feels like an iteration

on a core mission to let the land

and people speak for themselves.

Renee Richardson, global brand marketing head, Caterpillar

We salute Caterpillar for telling a great story and having fun with it, particularly given that it operates in such a compliance-heavy, traditional industry.

STORYTELLING

Who said B2B has to be boring? Caterpillar surprised many this year with its

bold “Built for It” campaign. The first video featured the company’s massive earth

moving equipment moving 600-pound blocks in a giant game of Jenga--and

earned over two million views.

Renee Richardson describes the

new campaign as an important

step for a historically risk-averse

brand. In an interview with

Fast Company she explained,

“We wanted to be more brand

promoters than brand police.

Instead of focusing primarily on

enforcing compliance on brand

and identity standards, we

wanted to facilitate more

consumer interaction and use

it to contribute to the growth

of the brand.”

Susan Helstab, executive VP of marketing, Four Seasons

We applaud Helstab for her leadership pushing Four Seasons to be among the few omnimedia brands.

OMNICHANNEL

Hoteliers have a leg up on other

industries when it comes to

captivating storytelling, but the

challenge is doing it in an effective

and engaging way that supports

the brand. Four Seasons leads the

luxury hospitality pack with a

beautiful and hardworking

portfolio of content delivered

through various channels focused

on engaging existing and prospec-

tive guests. It includes the brand’s

premier digital property, Four

Seasons Magazine, as well as a host

of special interest micro-sites and

social media platforms.

Four Seasons has a host of other niche digital sites such as Have Family

Will Travel, Taste, and micro-sites targeting Brazilian, Russian, and Spanish-

language travelers.

And Four Seasons’ Pin.Pack.Go program on Pinterest, an industry first, invites

guests to co-curate a custom itinerary via a Pinterest board with the Four

Seasons hotel or resort of their choice.

MARKETING WITH A PURPOSE

Karen Girty, senior director of marketing and media, New York City Ballet

The New York City Ballet is a quiet brand, so we dug deep to uncover Karen Girty as one of our top content marketers of 2014. Her portfolio of work at the storied dance company is a testament to how beautiful purpose-driven marketing can be.

We’ve seen too many brands

decide to publish videos, then

fizzle out after producing a half

dozen. Under the leadership

of Karen Girty, the New York

City Ballet committed to video

six years ago, and publishes

a new video almost weekly--

each with many thousands of

views. The videos offer behind-

the-scenes peeks at upcoming

productions, screen tests with

dancers, and interviews with

choreographers.

But most moving of the ballet company’s videos: the 9/11 tribute

titled New Beginnings, in which two dancers share a moving sunrise

performance atop Four World Trade Center.

Girty also led the launch of the City Ballet’s Art Series,

an ambitious program to introduce new viewers to

the ballet by inviting collaboration with visual artists.

In January the nonprofit invited JR, a French street

artist known for his massive public photo installations

across the globe, to install a photo mural spanning

the entire floor of the Koch Theater’s grand center

hall. Girty says 70 percent of attendees at special

Art Series performances described themselves

as new to City Ballet, and seven percent of those

visited the ballet again.

JR’s floor mural, which featured life-sized photos of

dancers, spawned an always-on stream of social

media coverage as attendees snapped pictures of

themselves on the floor next to the dancers.

The Content Marketer of the Year will be recognized at Content Marketing World in September. Join us in Cleveland, Sept 8-11, 2014. Register today! Use CMWSOCIAL to save $100.

Now in its 11th year, the Content Marketing Awards is the leading awards program

for people who create content for organizations. Categories cover every element

of every medium and strategic purpose. Start creating and saving your work for

Content Marketing Awards 2015. Call for entries take place in February 2015.

See what you can learn from this year’s winners: http://bit.ly/BrandMktrLessons

About Content Marketing Institute (CMI)Content Marketing Institute is the leading global content marketing education and training organization. CMI teaches enterprise brands how to attract and retain customers through compelling, multi-channel storytelling. CMI’s Content Marketing World event, the largest content marketing-focused event, is held every September, and Content Marketing World Sydney, every March. CMI also produces the quarterly magazine Chief Content Officer, and provides strategic consulting and content marketing research for some of the best-known brands in the world. CMI is a 2012, 2013 and 2014 Inc. 500 company.

About McMURRY/TMGMcMURRY/TMG is a leading content marketing agency in the U.S., dedicated to delivering strategic, transformative brand experiences that engage customers and drive measurable results. Its 270 staff members are located in five offices in New York, Arizona and Washington, D.C., and they work together to help clients extend brands, boost engagement, build communities and deliver revenue through powerful, meaningful content. Clients include industry leaders such as WebMD, Amtrak, CBS Television, The Ritz-Carlton, CDW, Reed Exhibitions, 21st Century Insurance, Verizon, HP and Baylor Health Care System.