Content Is Not King

Guess who suggests content is king and who suggests content isn't king? The answer usually depends on the job of whomever is answering the question.

It seems PR people lean towards giving content the crown. Social media professionals give social the monarchy. And so on.

For my entire career, I've focused on content in one way or another. Content's definition has expanded as the roles involved in creating it and publishing it have evolved. In fact, an entire discipline has emerged just to be more strategic about marketing with content.

And while I've been a defender of content's crown in the past, I've come to understand the truth about the so-called marketing monarchy. There is no king. No queen. No monarchy. The relationship between content, technology and consumer is more of an ecosystem, or perhaps it's just more easily explained using organic terms.

Organs, Kingdoms & Content
Saying that content, or social media or search or the latest shiny new object is king, is like arguing over which organ of the body is most important.

It's actually an old joke where the brain, the blood, the stomach, the eyes and the legs all make their case as to why they are most important. And when the anus makes its case, the rest of the organs simply laugh in disagreement. So the anus shuts down and, a few days later, the other organs apologize and the anus wins the argument. But the point is all of the organs are interrelated and therefore important.

Content, Context, Curation
So whether we're considering paid, owned and earned -- remember the ecosystem. It's all the more critical if you consider the noise consumer's are immersed in through our efforts. And to meet consumer needs and expectations we simply add to the noise.

Brands compete online with more than 1.6 billion messages. EVERY. Single. Day. That's Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blog posts and even news releases.

The Business of Content
In Program or be Programmed:10 Commands for a Digital Age, Douglas Rushkoff brings up an even more important point when talking about content's role in capitalism.

Essentially he notes that the internet has helped create a hyper-captialism of sorts wherein the closer you are to value creation the further you are from the money. Just ask anyone writing for Huffington Post (paid or free). There are more examples. But it points us towards the trend of curation.

There are many flavors of curation. And it requires aggregating a good portion of the noise from which to curate the best bits. But it's another part of the ecosystem to keep in mind. We're seeing more examples of media outlets mixing up the ecosystem to provide the best, most relevant product to its readers.

New York Magazine is a great example. It uses original content as a foundation to build upon while curating content and featuring user generated content in the form of web videos.

The King is Dead
Would any media outlet suggest content is king? They'd be ignoring the oxygen paid media brings its brand. And calling it oxygen vs king, queen or court jester is more accurate. So think ecosystem while we dance on the monarchys' respective graves.

__

UPDATE: Facebook's Vadim Lavrusik reinforces my point in a Nieman Journalisim Lab article noting how story structure has changed in five key ways: context, social, participation, mobile and personalization. 

Comments

[Michael Tangeman]

Kevin, I'm a big fan of the ecosystem analysis.

But, while the "oxygen paid media brings" to any media outlet cannot be ignored, it's a business argument and not related to the value of content in terms of capturing eyeballs, interest and loyalty of readership, viewership or listening audience.

It's the nature of the content between the ads at any media outlet -- whether it's the NYTimes, FOX News, Mashable or your local weekly community paper -- that determines the community that reads, listens, views and consumes the content.

The community is not there for the ads ... the ads are there because of the community that is there because of the content! That's what advertising media kits are all about ... who are our readers, our viewers; who do we reach. That determines whether or not the paid media enters any given ecosystem.

In that sense, it's the content -- earned or owned -- between the ads that is still very "royal." If we're going to continue with the analogy, I guess I'd tend to think of paid media as "courtiers" who are ever present, at the king's ear, and -- through the oxygen they pump into the media outlet via $$$ -- possibly running the court from behind the scenes! Very important role, but not that of the royal family!

p.s. are we starting a "Content is King ... or not?" meme here today - see my post today, "Is content still “king”? You bet it is …" (http://bit.ly/qDkjlM) Soul brothers ... LOL!!!

[Gavin Heaton]

Great post! Of course, one of the reasons we go down the "content is king" line is that communicating the complexity of an ecosystem approach is difficult. Clients and bosses want the simple answer - a clear direction. And with digital comms and integrated campaigns, these days, it certainly is complicated. Long live the ecosystem!

[Brendan Cooper]

Of course content is king!

If, as is the current meme doing the rounds, every company is now a media company, well it needs content to drive this. 'Content' is not unique to PR, or social media, or any communications medium. It's the fuel that drives all communications.

If you don't think so, then work at the coalface of social media for a year or two. The easy lifting is the strategy, setting out what must, should and could be done, showing how everything can tick along like a nice piece of clockwork.

The heavy stuff? Content. What are we actually going to day, on a regular, frequent basis, while maintaining focus and quality?

Of course, when you reach a tipping point - whenever that is - your community becomes self-sustaining. And/or you can look at curation. But, that's all content too. It's content. It's all content. Content is king. Problem is, there are never enough kings around when you need them

[Nick Stamoulis]

Of course the channels in which people receive content is just as important as the content itself. However, ultimately it is the content that persuades target audience members to make a decision. That's why it's king.

[EMR]

Could not agree more. Especially in the field of communications, each sector and each method attempts to carve out a niche to prove their ROI and why they (not others) are more important (marketing vs. PR; advertising vs. marketing, etc.). Your metaphor of the ecosystem of communication is especially apt because each sector of communication cannot live without the other sectors -- hence interdependency and thus the ecosystem. Rather than focusing on how each can usurp the other it is perhaps more valuable in the end to see how each can complement rather than detract from the others.

[Ashley]

Facebook wont be able to take over vending. It has been around for way too long

[Timberland Footwear]

Don't know what is wrong what is rite but i know that every one has there own point of view and same goes to this one