I think it’s best to read this post as an open letter to old-school marketeers who still think that brand advertising is the way to go but see in content marketing the new hip vector to the holy graal of marketing: conversions. It’s not. And here’s why you’re totally missing the boat.

See, the idea goes along the lines that by this point in human evolution, most people know how to ignore ads, but they can’t ignore relationships. To put it simply, do you prefer an ad for a Maui resort, or a pic of two of your friends enjoying a great time at that Maui resort? So the winning strategy today that the “marketing experts” are bringing to organizations is content marketing. Seems to make a lot of sense: 
marketers and salespeople realize that traditional ad channels are being tuned out, so they want to turn to content/stories/narratives. But -- do they actually understand what 'content' should mean?

Unfortunately, the traditional marketeer first instinct is to write content and use stories that conform to the brand’s messaging strategy, for example underlining positive brand values and attributes, because they see them as a means to an end - the result is dull and totally highlights the primary disconnect between ‘old-school’ and “new-school’ marketing. See, old-school marketeers are always very concerned with “The Brand”, which is okay, brand is an important intangible (look at any public company’s like apple’s balance sheets under the intangibles line), but the problem is …. the power of the brand is declining … and what’s replacing it is the consumer connection back to what you do. 

As an example, see what Facebook does when there is a disaster - they activate safety check so that anyone can easily see who is safe. Connection is important. Snapchat allows you to see things for what, 10 seconds? In those 10 seconds people are truly engaged, though. It's about connection and stories and people and relationships. Bye bye “brand guidelines” and 20th century “processes”. 

So, what’s up with content in marketing?

To start with, let’s shift the semantics away from ‘content’ into ’stories’ and ‘value’:
‘what is the value in your brand and/or idea?’ Also remember that it’s definitely not about the product or service itself. It’s about why the product or service makes someone’s life better.  

Second, this is definitely not about ads, flyers, white papers, catalogs or articles. Not even trade shows.

This is about producing stories. Real, relevant stuff that will resonate with the reader and that eventually will lead them towards buying things from you. The word ‘eventually’ is extremely important and I am emphasizing this: stories should be designed as the bridge between commerce and consumer (it’s the same whether you’re talking b2b or b2c) ‘what is this stuff and why do I need it?’ and the only way for the consumer to figure this out is 1. talking to their friends and 2. doing research. 

• When you talk to your friends or do research, stories matter.
• When you talk to your friends or do research, content just seems like an add-on that someone is pushing at you so you'll buy.

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‘Eventually’ is also important because this process takes time. Decisions take time. The old-school types are hanging on to conventional revenue plays and abandoning content/story marketing because the ROI is not showing up immediately. That’s stupid. Relationships take time. When done right, they lead to revenue and last forever. 

So in the end, modern marketing is all about the art of storytelling and fostering a deep, human connection with your clients. It is the essential difference between boring and soulless content old-school companies continue to create and truly, honestly engaging, nurturing, stimulating your clients with content they want to hear and share - that’s how they will buy from you, and will continue to buy from you forever. 

My name's phil mora and I blog about the things I love: fitness, hacking work, tech and anything holistic. Here's my contact info. 

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Own your own health: as exciting new technologies with major health care implications are emerging, 3D printing, diagnostic apps, new forms of data analysis and artificial intelligence, the tools that are democratizing health care for consumers are already amongst us.

The cutting edge of medicine is really not always high-tech; it's being more focused on prevention and being proactive, understanding your genetics. We're at $1,000 genome today; we'll be at $100 or even a free genome in the next decade. We know that sitting is the new smoking. We now have wearables that we can stick in our clothes and our cars and our phones that are going to help give us insight into our behaviors. We're in the era of integrating exponential technologies together.

For example, with Scanadu Scout today, as a consumer, you can track your vital signs very readily. Tech can help you do a better job of understanding health, wellness, early disease detection, and triage.

Tech like having an AI doctor blended with sensors like scanadu as a consumer will help you be more proactive, realizing that the best drug is walking, doing 30 minutes of exercise a day; being reasonable about your diet. Imagine when we can use some of these tools as levers, understanding that behavior change is hard, say, If you can look in the mirror in the morning and see future you and if your future you is 100 pounds heavier, that might change your lever on behavior change.

We could also use myers-briggs behavioral change methodologies to understand your care and your stick because just like precision and personalized medicine, not everyone needs the same drug or the same app or the same interface: How about we can start to use AI feedback loops integrated into your workday, integrated into your wearables, into your apps to be more proactive?
 
And how about card-based interfaces like Google Now: Not just leave work early because of traffic, but you also need to check in at the gym and get a few extra calories today if you're going to stay on track to a certain goal or to help manage diabetes or emphysema or heart disease.

Today, we're seeing a whole new realm of digital diagnostic and new tools that you can use at home (for example Exovite: scan your fracture; make one that fits you), enabling cheaper, faster, more effective health care, and shifting the power curve to the empowered and engaged consumer.The patient who can be a data donor, can be connected to their own data to gain insights early, can have a visit with their clinician in more seamless less expensive and less time-consuming ways.

So we're in an interesting era now, whether it's a tricorder or knowing your own genomics or having embedded sensors acting as your own personal check engine light can really shift health care diagnostics and therapy in smart ways.

The most important thing that anyone can do is start owning their own health. Using tools and apps to quit smoking, get on a diet, tweet out their weight from your scale, all those things can come together in powerful ways to be more proactive and preventative as opposed to waiting for disease to happen. So be the CEO of your own health; don't wait for your doctor to tell you what you need to do when you're in the ER or worse.

My name's phil mora and I blog about the things I love: fitness, hacking work, tech and anything holistic. Here's my contact info. ​

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As you embark upon your change management journey, here are ten things that will challenge your capabilities as a change agent and potentially become defining moments along your leadership success path. (Read Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 Now)

9.  Thought Leadership
Today’s leaders must be bold, articulate and courageous visionaries that are not afraid to speak-up and change the conversation and/or introduce new ideas and ideals. Being a constructively disruptive leader is important and if you are not pushing your organization, its employees and the industry at large to think differently, you will not only grow complacent – you will forget how to think like a leader and as a consequence your organization will become more vulnerable to its competitors.

Thought leadership is about thinking differently and not being afraid to express those differences to keep people honest – to enable fresh-thinking and thought-provoking dialogue that challenges people to perform better and more creatively.   Unfortunately, most leaders use the thinking and ideas of others, rather than challenging themselves to create an original leadership identity/personal brand that has sustainable impact and influence.   In fact, leaders that lack the expression of original thought will soon find themselves losing their competitive edge, power, and decision-making authority – and the doors their job title once opened for them will begin to close.

10.  Evolution of the Business Model
In this 4-part series, we have described a business environment that is changing rapidly and that requires its leaders to change just as rapidly to keep up. The result of these changes is the natural evolution of a company’s business model that now demands that its leaders serve as change agents to lift and lead the entire company.

As change agents, you must know how to sell change and this requires a set of skills that you may not have been originally asked to have when you first got the job.   As such, you must now learn how to be a change agent and assume the responsibilities that go with it.

My name's phil mora and I blog about the things I love: fitness, hacking work, tech and anything holistic. Here's my contact info. ​

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