Not long-ago marketers' influencers proclaimed: we are living in a digital era. There was plenty of evidence to confirm it then. And even more now. All you have to do is look around. In fact, you are reading this on a digital device.
But if everything is digital, is there anything non-digital? Is there a need for us to label a thing as digital anymore? Today we experience the world seamlessly from analog to digital to the point that sometimes we can't tell the difference.
When you read a magazine – those made of paper that still exists –, and you like the cover or a particular article, what is it that you do? You take a picture and text it to a friend or post it on social media. There, that analog piece has just been converted into digital. It's the same thing with that cool exhibit or experience you attended. You like it; you share it.
We live in a world where we exist with analog and digital, all at the same time.
But when you take that picture or simply share it on text with a friend, you are actually producing content too. Instagram has 1 billion monthly active users, many of them generating content more than once a day. It has been like that, increasing exponentially, for decades already.
In 1996 Bill Gates published an essay called Content is King. 1996! Almost 25 years ago, Bill Gates said that one of the exciting things about the Internet is that anyone with a PC and a modem can publish whatever content they can create. And that was before smartphones, high-speed streaming, and the Cloud.
Ok. What's the point?
Let's face it, the concept that Content is King is old news. Once content generation became accessible to anyone with a smartphone, the game changed drastically.
What's next then?
Next is an abstraction. But if we don't know what's next, we can quickly identify what's current.
Beyond being content generators – and curators – the brand needs to be culturally relevant and purposeful. We don't buy products anymore. Products, in most cases, became a commodity, a vehicle to carry out a message. And messages only matter – and attract attention – if they are relevant.
Any brand today can be – and should be – carefully curating and crafting its message. For God's sake, we are not talking about advertising! Advertising might part of the mix, but let's face it, we are too cynical these days to believe in only advertising. We do still believe in purpose and actions, though. We like to be entertained and informed.
The conversation shouldn't be about content anymore.
The conversation is about Culture.
Purpose, information, and entertainment – they are all about Culture.
Let me know how your brand brings purpose to the world, inform me, and entertain me, and maybe I'll pay attention. And maybe after that, I'll buy your product. Then, only then, I might share it with a friend.
* Culture (/ˈkʌltʃər/) is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities and habits of the individuals in these groups.