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It sounds harsh, I know, but take a moment to consider how much spare time you actually have and what content you typically enjoy interacting with.
Now, ask yourself honestly: Would you dedicate any of your valuable time or attention to your brand’s content if you didn’t have a commercial or professional stake in it? Considering what you usually engage with in your precious free time, would your content make the cut?
The reality is that no one is saying, “Hey, honey, let’s skip Netflix tonight and watch this cool branded content piece I came across today.” The reason is simple: Netflix is solely focused on entertainment—and while that may not be your only goal, it should be.
The fight for attention
The main challenge is that people are drowning in content.
We are bombarded with messages we never asked for—interruptions from ads, notifications, emails, and more. Meanwhile, we also have an overwhelming number of content options that we do want (like Netflix, YouTube, and social media). However, the time people actually have to consume content is scarce.
This creates a massive gap between the content people are exposed to (both willingly and unwillingly) and the time they have to engage with it.
Furthermore, our ability to process and comprehend messages is limited to only a fraction of the exposure we receive daily. As a result, we unconsciously develop a defense mechanism against all this noise.
That’s why your content must be compelling from the very first moment—because if it doesn’t immediately hook people, they’ll move on. No second chances.
This doesn’t mean that ads don’t work—they absolutely do when people have an active need for your product. However, most of the time, people don’t have an immediate need.
That’s where great content comes in. It allows you to engage with your audience and earn their attention before their need arises. But to achieve this, your content must truly entertain, enlighten, or inspire—without any hidden sales tactics. Otherwise, it will be filtered out by our highly developed “bullshit detector” and drown in the very large sea of bad-to-mediocre content.
The content foundation
So how do you create content that truly matters?
First, you need to think completely differently than when you create traditional promotional activities. It’s not about your brand at all. Instead, it’s about your target audience—what they truly care about and engage with.
The process begins with identifying a content foundation—an exciting subject or cause that is inherently engaging. At the same time, the subject must have a meaningful connection to your brand and offer long-term value that remains relevant over time.
A great example of this was the Danish telecommunications brand Call Me, which successfully launched a content platform under the slogan “Tal ordentligt” (which translates to “Speak Properly”).
Their content focused on how people communicate with one another—an essential and relatable human experience with endless opportunities for storytelling and content. Additionally, the concept is tied directly to their brand, as their product literally facilitates communication. It was highly engaging, brand-relevant, and had lasting value—spot on!
Persistence is key
Another critical factor is persistence. You must accept that results probably won’t come overnight. Once you start seeing engagement, you must keep at it. Success in content marketing takes time, resources, and dedication.
This can be challenging if your management only evaluates marketing activities based on short-term sales numbers.
However, consider Red Bull. What started as an energy drink brand has evolved into one of the world’s leading publishers of extreme sports content. And they continue to invest heavily in it.
Spoiler: They only aim to entertain us, but they don’t do it just to entertain us—it delivers real business results.
Keep your activities separated
Before embarking on this journey, you need to convince management that this is the right approach. Otherwise, someone may step in just before launch and insist on adding a product description, a promotional code, or a direct sales message to your content.
And then we’re back to the original problem—if you’re going to half-ass it, why bother at all?
Be cautious! Good content strategies have often been derailed by misplaced tactical objectives at some point in the process. In my 10 years of experience working in story studios, this is the most common challenge. Let ads be ads, and let content be content.
So, how good does content have to be to really matter?
A simple way to answer this question is to revisit the one posed at the beginning—honestly:
Would a critical mass of your target audience, who does not have an immediate need for your product or service, say the following?
"Wow! I’m definitely going to read/watch/listen to this amazing piece of content during my short work break or in my scarce free time tonight, instead of the movie, book, or podcast I had planned to enjoy.”
If the answer is no, then you probably need to think more like Netflix—and less like a pushy car salesperson.
