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3 Content Examples Serve Up Inspiration, Entertainment, and Revenue Streams

This week’s menu of content marketing examples opens with a serving of inspiration followed by two helpings of branded entertainment. We’ll dig into the lessons to learn from a new audience-focused initiative from Folx Health, a flavor competition show from Ben & Jerry’s, and a content-about-content series from Roku.

Folx Health takes Pride in its mission

New digital healthcare provider Folx Health released Taking Up Space, a content initiative featuring a moving four-minute video, a supporting website, and a social media campaign (#ITakeUpSpace).

Adweek pointed to the Taking Up Space campaign as a fresh response in a year when many of the same corporations that issue messages supporting Pride month also donated to lawmakers who supported anti-trans bills in state legislatures.

Taking Up Space “offers a meditation on what it means for people that have been historically marginalized or denied space to occupy it unapologetically,” Kathryn Lundstrom writes.

Influencers, including transgender activist and writer Raquel Willis, help amplify the initiative on social media.

 

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A post shared by Raquel Willis (@raquel_willis)

WHY IT MATTERS: Folx Health’s Taking Up Space delivers on several points. It’s a natural fit for the brand’s mission, which is to “disrupt the cis-tems that continuously deny us space. By removing barriers to access, we are making healthcare accessible to those who need it.”

More specific to content marketing, Folx demonstrates the value of telling its audience’s story through their eyes and voices. Folx Health was created by and for trans and queer people, so it makes sense that the brand relied on in-house content creators to produce the video.

And the content initiative is designed to entice the participation of its audience. “We invite you to watch the film, join the conversation, and find ways to take up space,” Folx writes on its site.

That audience participation is likely to take their message (and ultimately, their brand) to a much larger audience.

With its moving #ITakeUpSpace initiative, @folxhealth shows why #content for the audience, by the audience is the most authentic of all via @CMIContent. #WeeklyWrap Click To Tweet

Ben & Jerry’s to offer peace, love, ice cream … and a side of The Cold Wars

Product placement isn’t enough for brand marketers anymore. Instead, they’re looking to invest in content that revolves around their brands. Ben & Jerry’s, the venerable frozen treat concocter, is the latest to dive into this trend.

Later this year, Ben & Jerry’s: The Cold Wars (working title) will debut on a Discovery channel or its streaming service Discovery+. Teams of “future flavor gurus” will compete by creating out-of-this-world frozen treats in hopes of winning the attention and prizes bestowed by company executives.

No word yet if the quirky ice-cream giant will produce and sell the winning flavors and treats. But, given their marketing genius, we expect to be gobbling them up next year.

 WHY IT MATTERS: Ben & Jerry’s: The Cold Wars is one of 30 new series and 25-plus returning series expected in the latter half of this year on Discovery networks and streamer Discovery+. That’s a lot of content.

Given the surge in streaming video consumption (and the number of platforms offering it), the appetite for programming will only grow. That’s an opportunity for brand-centered shows – and for content marketers to take part in them. After all, your job is telling stories that engage audiences without promoting and selling your brand at every turn.

On a side note, kudos to Eater for turning the Discovery announcement into a creative quiz – planting faux titles in a list of what it called “ridiculous” new shows and asking readers to spot the real ones. (The answers came in the conclusion of the article.)

What does the rise of brand-related TV programming mean for #ContentMarketing? Read about it (and @benandjerrys planned flavor competition on @Discovery or @Discovery+) via @CMIContent. #WeeklyWrap Click To Tweet
HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT: Branded Content: Getting It Right

Roku uses content about content to start a new revenue stream

Roku launched a new show to make it easier for its subscribers to find something to watch – and for advertisers to reach those audiences. The weekly 15-minute show (called Roku Recommends) highlights the top five trending or topic titles based on its proprietary data, according to Variety.

The show is the first production by the new Roku Brand Studio, created after Roku made a hire-acquisition deal with Funny or Die’s branded entertainment team.

Hosted by entertainment reporting personality Maria Menounos and ex-pro football player Andrew “Hawk” Hawkins, the show creates a new revenue stream for the company. Though advertisers can’t sponsor any of the featured titles, they can purchase time slots within Roku Recommends, Variety explained.

WHY IT MATTERS: Yes, it’s a show about shows and that might or might not work for your brand. Still, think about ways to communicate or highlight your content in a collective format. If you have topic hubs, consider including highlight reels of the five most relevant pieces of content. You could do these in text, audio, or video – whatever makes sense for your existing content formats and your audience’s preferences.

You also can learn from the Roku Recommends model and turn your highlight reels into a revenue stream by incorporating advertising reads or mentions.

.@TheRokuChannel is launching a new show #RokuRecommends, the first effort out of its new brand studio, co-hosted by @mariamenounos and ex-pro football player @Hawk via @CMIContent. #WeeklyWrap Click To Tweet
Intrigued, puzzled, or surprised by an example, news, or something else in content marketing? Share it with us by completing this form. Your submission may be featured in an upcoming Weekly Wrap.

Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute