Last week it was "content marketing" that I asked you to weigh in on. (And thanks to those who did; a full report to you on that this month, I promise.)
This week, it's "brand journalism" we're on about (as we say in the U.K.).
What's this? It's a notion based on several consecutive ideas:
1. Nobody's listening to corporate marketing anymore, because it's not credible.
2. Nobody trusts mainstream media anymore, because it's not relevant, and increasingly it isn't even well funded.
3. People need a feeling of being well informed, and they'd like to read something on the way to work in the morning.
4. So how about if corporations used their deep pockets to do credible journalism that also reflects well on their brand? Hey!
What is brand journalism? As far as I can tell—and as I suggest in a column over at McMurry.com—it's a concept specifically designed to blow the mind of an adman's son who splits his energies between freelance journalism and corporate communication.
Wait a minute: Blow my mind, or make me rich?
Writing Bootologists, I appeal to you: Can corporations ever produce sustained, compelling, useful journalism that also sheds a warm glow on their brand?
Talk to me.