This week in brand publishing:
- New data from Edelman’s 2022 Trust Barometer showed that “employer media” is trusted more than every single other source of information, something brands may want to pay close attention to as they develop publishing initiatives.
- Kim Milosevich, who launched the content operation at venture capital firm a16z before moving to Coinbase a couple of years ago, is going back to a16z to run marketing for crypto.
- Speaking of hiring, brands making editorial hires should look for specific skill sets in prospective candidates.
Brand publishing can help earn employee trust
Edelman’s 2022 Trust Barometer is out, and among its chief findings is something brands may want to pay close attention to: Employer media is “more believable” than every other source of information, including the government, media reports, advertising and social media.
Brand publishing has mostly focused on creating content for the outside world to consume, but an increasing number of brands are looking to create their own media designed for their internal stakeholders – their employees. It’s difficult to get it right; employee-focused communications runs the risk of sounding manufactured, fake and often just can be very boring. But this data shows that brands may have a leg up in that people actually believe things their employer tells them, which may make them a credible source unto themselves.
On the move
Kim Milosevich, formerly the vp of comms at Coinbase, is going back to a16z to be the CMO of crypto. Milosevich is a notable name in the world of publishing and content; she previously spent seven years at a16z, where she ran its content and marketing.
In her last round at the firm, Milosevich launched a16z’s content operation, including the a16z podcast, as well as the firm’s first ever crypto fund and a16z bio – its fund dedicated to biotech and life sciences investments.
Coinbase has also been making a vocal attempt to get deeper into content, namely with its blog, a dedicated newsletter it launched recently, and the very loud launch of “FactCheck,” a section of its blog that was created to counteract supposed negativity in the press to do with crypto.
In her new role, Milosevich will be building out “the future of web3,” an investment focus for the company that has also resulted in a content focus – the firm’s publication, Future, has been running a plethora of stories about web3, crypto, DAOs and more recently.
Who’s hiring in brand publishing
We’re now curating new and notable job vacancies and roles from across the brand publishing world in one place with a new jobs resource on the Toolkits site. Our goal is to give Toolkits readers an easy, centralized place to uncover and connect with the best career opportunities out there. Jobs added this week include content roles at the ACLU, Major League Soccer and Acorns.
Nordstrom builds on editorial ambitions
It was a big week for hiring (January usually is), and another high-profile media-to-brand move was made by Rickie De Sole, who has been appointed women’s designer fashion and editorial director at Nordstrom. The newly created role will involve developing editorial plans and creating designer content, as well as building a new customer community. De Sole was previously executive fashion director at Vogue, and earlier in her career worked at W Magazine.
It’s a notable move for Nordstrom. It’s a brand that didn’t fare well in 2020 as fewer people shopped for clothes, but has long attempted editorial content along the lines of fashion publications, including style guides and fashion trend reports – and now, by hiring a name from that industry to supercharge those efforts. .