Last week during a media training session at UWI, I introduced  the concept of brand journalism to the marketing communications team.

 I am passionate about  the ability to strategically craft stories over a long period of time using multiple  media channels. Of course it demands laser like attention to examining your organisation’s interactions and tactics and products and pricing.  Also essential is  an investment up front in an editorial calendar to make sure you capture all your authentic stories in real time. There are many advantages to building your brand this way:

It cost little 

It’s authentic

It resonates  deeply with your audience

So what’s brand journalism?

Former CMO at  Mc Donald’s Global  gave a definition that  I use all the time in training:

“Effective marketing,” he said, “should use many stories rather than employing one message to reach everyone… any single ad, commercial or promotion is not a summary of our strategy. It's not representative of the brand message. We don't need one big execution of a big idea. We need one big idea that can be used in a multidimensional, multilayered and multifaceted way."

Brand Journalism is essentially narrative. A way to record and tell  your stories to your niche or to the world. It is  certainly not a press  release and not one singular ad campaign. 

I think  it goes way beyond that.