LDV UPD8 - What do Pixar, sick kids and Facebook Live have in common?

An UPD8 all about content, with great content (see what we did there :-)

Hi there,

An UPD8 all about content, with great content (see what we did there :-). Because today, as advertisers, we have the choice between being bold or being nothing. There’s no way to grab attention, let alone avoid ad blockers, if we’re not creating content that’s as gripping as the content that the entertainment industry is creating every day, across all platforms. Yes, that’s our competition: the ENTIRE entertainment business, from cable television through to the girl with the beautiful Instagram page. No pressure though.

This is our competition. This short film by two Pixar animators grabs you by the throat. It’s short on words, but full of emotion. Just take a moment (or exactly 5 minutes, to be precise), to see excellence in storytelling, art, animation and music. Talking about setting the bar high.

Our jaws dropped. Our hands tensed up. Our attention focused. This is what we mean by being bold. You can love it. You can hate it. But you can’t say you didn’t notice it.

The interactive bedtime stories from Signal are another perfect example of creating great content. They turn teeth brushing into something fun. And more specifically, they do it in a hyper-personal and interactive way. Here try it. No seriously. This is how Facebook bots should be used. They ask you what your children’s names are and when you want to get the videos. It’s not about pushing your message as a brand. It’s about making parents’ life a little bit easier (if only). That’s consumer-centricity.

The Financial Times shows that there’s light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to ad blocking. ‘What magic tool did they use?’ you ask. They politely asked their readers to allow them to show ads. ‘They just asked?!’ you say. Yes, they did. And yes, it worked. :)

Talking about great content, let’s try something new here. We’d like to give you a content tip. Go to your podcasts and subscribe to ‘How I Built This’ from NPR. It’s a podcast series that tells you the stories behind brands like Instagram, Airbnb, Spanx... Go on.
You will become addicted.
It’s that good.
Promise.

It’s here, the first campaign from Facebook (ever). A campaign that stays true to Facebook’s core: making use of user-generated content to tell us what the Facebook Live feature is all about. But, this is the first time that Facebook has needed to explain a feature. So where’s the hiccup? Are we too slow in picking up the idea or could it be that we just don’t like going live?

What are we afraid of? This interesting question was the starting point for a new series of articles in Het Nieuwsblad. And also the starting point for their latest campaign. We couldn’t be happier. Because putting their own generated content in the spotlight is exactly what newspapers need to do to make a difference. The campaign consists of 4 magnificent print ads, 2 intriguing radio commercials and 4 hilarious television commercials.

This UPD8 wouldn’t be complete without a mention of National Geographic’s Instagram page. Take a look. Spend 5 or 10 minutes (maybe half an hour) looking at the pictures and reading the mini-stories that go with them. With 62 million followers, and the most engaging crowd of followers, they show how a brand that was founded in 1888 can still be relevant in 2016. Just by providing great content, and choosing the right place to show it.

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