Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/402796
1 0 4 V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T | N o v - D e c 2 014 w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m n the 1960s, a marketer had only a few simple tools to get the word out about his or her brand. In the land of "Mad Men," he could pay someone to tell his story; it was called advertising. He s i m p l y b o r r o w e d a n a u d i- ence of people who watched a certain TV show or read a magazine or daily newspa- per. By placing messages on the radio or TV, he could raise awareness of his company's brand of soap, soup or sauvi- gnon blanc. Printed brochures were another useful tool. These often included beautiful pho- tographs of the company's building, its staff or the com- pany president, along with dozens of pages about the features and technical effec- tiveness of whatever it was selling. This was a very static world with little interactivity. M a r k e t i n g w e n t o n i n much the same way until the late 1990s, when the Inter- net exploded. Direct com- munication with consumers became easier through web- sites, social media and online forums. The old ways of mar- keting weren't as effective anymore, and couldn't keep up with the instant informa- tion stream of the Internet. BY JEFFREY SLATER + At the center of today's marketing revo- lution is "content," which can take the form of blogs, podcasts, photos or videos. + Content attempts to create an emotional bond between a consumer and a brand, without slapping the consumer in the face. + You can't create content and expect it to find an audience. + Create content your customers want so they will care about your brand and share your message. AT A GLANCE UNRAVELING THE MYSTERY OF CONTENT MARKETING Tell your brand story in an engaging, non-promotional way Interruptive forms of marketing have given way to "permission marketing." Photo: Thinkstock