An outside-the-box proposal for tumblr, regarding the role they intend to play with brands and agencies. (Note: this was written before tumblr removed the highlight and pin functions. Sigh.)

1. or: how to solve the branded content problem

2. agenda
intro
landscape
problem
strategy
conclusion

3. intro
talking about tumblr is talking about branded content, and the
future of advertising.

4. landscape
tumblr is a publishing platform, a creative community and a
social discovery engine.
tumblr has more than 90 million blogs, who’ve made more than
40 billion blog posts, for an audience of about 170 million
monthly visitors.

5. landscape
tumblr is gaining relevance with teens and 20somethings.
tumblr has developed a reputation for attracting a creative
community, and keeping them engaged.
tumblr has shifted from advertising-hostile, to a self-proclaimed
role as the saviour of creative advertising.

6. monetization
tumblr has released a small set of paid products that all follow a
simple rule: do not make users second class citizens.

7. monetization
"the products we're building work well for
storytelling, and we've tried to build them in
such a way that they do scale from a big brand
cutting a check for $100,000 to a person proud
of their post and wants to highlight it for five
dollars."
- David Karp, May 2012, The Verge

8. posting tools
pinned posts - keeps a piece of content at the top of each
followers feed, until they click a button to remove it.

9. posting tools
highlighted posts - allows
you to put an arrow beside a
post, drawing attention to it.

10. promotional tools
radar - the place where popular
content from the community gets
featured. brands can pay to get
placement here, with a clear
indication of what is sponsored.

11. promotional tools
spotlight - tumblr allows brands to pay for space in the
equivalent of a subject-based yellow pages. the spotlight section
also features popular or notable users.

12. how tumblr makes money
all of these methods of generating revenue avoid putting
brands above users.
a brand can BUY what users can EARN, but there’s no product
(other than high-priced analytics from a third party) that is brand
only.

13. how tumblr makes money
the tumblr community doesn’t like the idea of brands ruining the
ambience with promotional messaging.
tumblr’s approach has been to put brands on equal footing.

14. problem
tumblr made approximately $13 million in 2012.
they’ve stated they want to make $100 million in 2013.
they want to do this by convincing brands that tumblr is the
place to build a community around creative content and brand
activations.

15. problem
“We [...] are confident that the world’s greatest
marketers and media companies will use these
products to set a new bar for creative
advertising on the web”
-Tumblr Spokesperson, May 2012, VentureBeat

16. problem

17. problem
to increase access to top brands, tumblr has been partnering
with agencies.
most agencies haven’t mastered branded content yet.

18. strategy
tumblr’s problem isn’t just a matter of relevance or ability.
it’s a matter of understanding: brands and agencies are still
learning how to fill that curatorial role.

19. storyboard
tumblr has hired from the community, to ensure the people
building the service know what the platform actually means.
this is where storyboard comes from.

21. storyboard
storyboard is a project by tumblr’s editorial team.
the focus is to create content to advertise the platform; to report
on the creative community that uses tumblr.

22. strategy
tumblr’s editorial team should be tumblr’s product.
(more accurately, tumblr should continue recruiting expert
content creation teams from specific verticals, and offer them to
brands and agencies as a consulting service.)

23. the product
a tiered consulting service, teaching agencies, and more
importantly brands, how to create great content that will
resonate with the tumblr community.
tumblr should essentially take the cottage industry that develops
around major players in social media, and turn it into an
incubation center.

24. the product
tier one: onboarding
a content creation team works with a brand to help them
develop a strategy that’s true to the brand and platform.

25. the product
tier two: consulting
a content creation team works with a brand to not only
strategize, but also provide support and insight on an ongoing
basis.

26. the product
tier three: content and community creation
a content creation team runs a branded tumblr account, in direct
support of a client.

27. the model
tumblr’s consulting division would have two main objectives:
getting brand entrenched in the platform, and getting them to the
point of self-sufficiency.

28. the model
this approach isn’t a long term business model - it’s an adoption
accelerator that will increase spending on tumblr’s current and
future promotional tools, and improve the platform’s standing as
an advertising destination.

29. the solution
get brands on the platform
help them succeed in building a relevant, engaged audience
build competence, and begin supporting new clients

30. conclusion
tumblr has a fairly unprecedented opportunity.

31. conclusion
people watch tv to see tv. people use facebook to see friends.
people use tumblr to see creativity.

32. conclusion
they don’t seem to care much if it comes from a 12 year old, a
magazine, or a fashion line.

33. thank you

34. image credits
1. tumblr logo, tumblr.com
4. heart collage, inkcarts.com
5. screen capture, tumblr.com
7. dollar sign, latinolinkviews.com
8. post it note, yellower.se
9. screen capture, tumblr.com
10. screen capture, tumblr.com
11. screen capture, tumblr.com
16. tumblr a-list banner, alistpartners.tumblr.com
19. editorial team, editorial.tumblr.com
20. screen capture, storyboard.tumblr.com
21. department of editorial seal, editorial.tumblr.com