Responding to the newly-emerging trend of organisations hiring journalists to create content on their behalf, Brand Journalism is the first comprehensive, practical guide to this hybrid form of traditional journalism, marketing and public relations.
This textbook takes a direct and practical approach to the subject, showing journalists and journalism students how they can apply their skills to working for a brand, and showing those who work for non-media organisations how their organisation can acquire the skills necessary to become a multimedia publisher.
Areas covered include:
• Establishing the audience your brand wants to engage with
• Identifying your organisation’s business goals
• Developing a brand journalism strategy to help deliver those business goals
• Measuring the results of your brand journalism strategy
The book also features a wealth of case studies on the subject and offers an invaluable companion website - www.brand-journalism.co.uk.
Introduction Section 1: How to develop a brand journalism strategy Introduction to Section 1 1. How McDonald's invented brand journalism, and how brand journalism saved McDonald's 2. Who do you want to talk to? Identifying the community you wish to serve 3. Establishing business goals, and developing brand journalism strategies to support those goals 4. Making the case for brand journalism within an organisation. Putting the structure in place to achieve your brand journalism goals 5. Your brand is your beat: how to find stories within an organisation – and how to tell them compellingly 6. The ethics of brand journalism Section 2: How to use the full range of platforms that are available for brand journalism Introduction to Section 2 7. How brand journalism gives Red Bull wings 8. Using social media channels for brand journalism 9. Brand journalism for a mobile audience 10. Brand journalism content creation and curation. Examining blogs, live blogging, curation, data, white papers, ebooks, RSS and email newsletters 11. Specialist online communities and webinars 12. Your branded websites as information hubs for customers and potential customers 13. How traditional media, including customer magazines fit into a brand journalism strategy Section 3: Brand journalism storytelling paths Introduction to Section 3 14. Launching a product. How Ford uses social media to launch new cars 15. Promoting and covering an event. How blogging and social media can be used before and during a conference, convention, exhibition or sports game 16. Publicising a travel destination. How a ski resort uses brand journalism on social media to increase visitor numbers 17. Building an information resource. How a government department created a new web and social presence 18. Charity fundraising. How charity:water uses social media and powerful storytelling to raise funds for its cause 19. Building a geo-located information and entertainment resource. How Starbucks uses the full range of geo-location tools to tell its story in each of its stores 20. Launching or re-launching a customer magazine. How Waitrose repositioned its customer magazine and extended its brand journalism strategy 21. Creating a media toolkit. How a charity uses a media toolkit to communicate with a number of audience sectors 22. Developing a company news resource. How Dow Chemical reports on itself and its activities as a problem-solver and educator 23. Managing a crisis. How Dow Chemical failed to tackle the PR crisis over its association with the Bhopal disaster 24. Establishing a personal brand. How Richard Branson has built his personal brand Section 4: Measuring the results of your brand journalism strategy Introduction to Section 4 25. Social media monitoring and analytics tools 26. Monitoring and analysing your branded websites, blogs and ebulletins 27. The last word: Good content = Good SEO
Biography
Andy Bull has held senior positions at The Times, AOL, The Independent, the Mail on Sunday and the Sunday Express. He has produced brand journalism on behalf of organisations including Amnesty International, HSBC, Harrods, 20th Century Fox and Parlophone. He teaches at the London School of Journalism, and is author of Multimedia Journalism: A Practical Guide.
