Brand Publishing

With an economic winter approaching, companies will need to assess their brand publishing ambitions carefully.

Brands and publishers are scrambling to cover the hottest topic du jour. But the bubble may be readying to burst.

Brands that operate in the increasingly complex global economy are well positioned to help explain it.

As pandemic restrictions disappear, brands are experimenting with new events that offer much-needed physical connections but also act as foundational pieces for overall editorial strategies.

Food is a hot topic for brands looking to build owned publications. One of the more notable entrants is Resy, the reservations software that was purchased by American Express in…

Optimizing for trust and incorporating content into the wider marketing organization are top priorities for brand publishers and content marketers.

Hiring creators to staff brand publishing operations an be a shortcut of sorts to building audiences and gaining distribution quickly.

Explainers provide a powerful tool for directly addressing audience needs, and their evergreen nature can mean they pay dividends for months, or even years.

Brand publishing is having a moment because people are at once open to new sources of information, and much more discerning of what they consume.

One of the most effective ways for brand publishing teams to create genuinely engaging and valuable content is to develop internal “sources” that inform their content and output.

Drawing lines between these disciplines can help put in the place the right KPIs and mindsets.

As gambling companies push into media, some are opting to buy properties while others are partnering or building their own.

Google makes a big change that will reward content that is designed with audience needs in mind.

Content focused on a highly specific need or topic often finds an audience much quicker, and provides much clearer opportunities for differentiation.

Two years into advising a plethora of brands, here are our top takeaways from the work we’ve done with brand publishers.

Tighter economic conditions will mean leaner, more productive brand publishing teams.

Before they get into creating processes and distribution frameworks, brands should ensure reporters are part of a content team, not just columnists.

Lowering trust of the media and the accompanied decline in engagement presents a new reality for brands, who for years employed sleight-of-hand tricks to make their content look and feel as close to traditional media offerings as possible.

A downturn will lead to inevitable pullbacks but could present glimmers of opportunity for those with strong editorial propositions.

Brand publishing can help companies collect valuable first-party data to fuel various parts of their marketing operations and practices.

The tactic can enable brands to forge closer relationships with audiences and help drive valuable data collection.

Editor Jessi Craig Shikman of First Round Review says she focuses on a blend of service-oriented and aspirational content.

Mastering a handful of common and established content types and formats — and learning to use them effectively — can quickly help any content creator engage audiences more effectively.

Brand publishers should ensure formats are distributed appropriately so they have the best shot at growing and reaching the right audience.

Brand publishing is growing up, which will benefit the discipline in the long haul.

Content formats are not the same as distribution, and in order to be successful at creating valuable, engaging content and extracting the most value out of it, teams must nail one before the other.

The fintech firm’s editorial director, Julie Ross Godar, outlines its approach to sourced reporting and “editor-controlled beats”

Here are the publications by tech companies we’re keeping an eye on.

McKinsey Global Publishing uses content to externally reflect the company’s priorities.

Brands have a timely opportunity to engage live audiences as events ramp up again.

Brand publishers are well-placed to capitalize on the burgeoning interest in web3 and crypto.

Brands are reconsidering the role that one branch of PR, media relations, plays.

Az16’s Future publication is one example of how brand publishers can chart their own path and tap into their own networks.

Employer content is hard to get right, but research shows that brands have a significant advantage when it comes to believability and trust.

Large audiences for brand publishing initiatives are meaningless if they don’t include the right people.

B2B or trade publishers can be ideal hunting grounds for brand publishers looking to kickstart or bolster their editorial efforts

It often takes months or even years for properly architected brand publishing initiatives to yield discernible results

Journalism-style “church-state” separations between editorial teams and the rest of the business can help brand publishers create more engaging and credible content.

Hiring managers should look for specific skillsets when hiring editorial talent.

It was the year that companies that were previously dabbling in content began to demonstrate serious commitments.

Agencies are in the business of selling expertise and guidance, but are largely failing to demonstrate it successfully via content and publishing initiatives.

Brands have historically shared data and research with media companies, but are increasingly using it to fuel their own content initiatives instead.

Finding editorial talent with expertise in specific verticals is hard, yet it’s critical for B2B and trade publications.

Talented journalists and writers are increasingly considering leaving the grind of media companies to join brand publishers instead.

Everyone’s writing about the future of the workplace. But brand publishers may be in a stronger place to create compelling content on the topic.

Many brand publishers routinely miss opportunities to easily create high-quality content.

Review processes help ensure content doesn’t cause unintended consequences.