Retail and B2B markets are under constant pressure of commoditization. How to cut through the clutter? By now smart marketing professionals have figured out that relevant, proprietary content is the key source of long term competitive advantage for the company. But how to get your colleagues and senior management aligned behind this thought? What is the preferable role of senior management and which troubles does one face in the process? What are the do’s and dont’s?

1. Content Driven Marketing
A strategic source of competitive
advantage
20 March 2012
By: drs Vincent Hooplot RM
Senior Vice President
Group Director Marketing & Business Support

2. Agenda
• Introduction
• Context
• The Case
• Lessons & Key Insights

3. Goal
The goal of my presentation is to answer 3 key questions with regard to
content strategy and content driven marketing:
1. Why is Content Strategy of importance for marketers?
2. How to approach this big, hairy project?
3. What to expect in the process?

4. Why is this important for you?
Client Role marketer?
Conversation
Proactive Reactive
About? Strategic Operational
Content
Key challenges marketer:
People -Commoditization
-Clutter
Process Systems -Differentiation

5. Today’s marketing challenges
Commoditization & clutter: due to an environment of low entry barriers, abundance
of suppliers, products and clutter it has become essential to „mine‟ the differentiating
capacity of your firm.
Role marketers: you have to lead the way, but be aware this means that you will have
to apply all the charm and fight that you have, since many companies are not waiting
for the involvement of marketers. Many organizations see the marketing department as
a promotional department.
Preconditions for successfully selling content management as strategic differentiator:
- a marketing function that has gained thrust through adding strategic value
- a marketing function that gets relevant air time in the boardroom
- clients and prospects value knowledge

6. The Case
An organization that produced a tremendous amount of
proprietary content. However the organization was not fully
equipped nor ready to consistently and coherently deliver
relevant and differentiating content that will help it achieve
its strategic goals of delivering superior customer value.

7. 4-step approach
• Get the topic on the boardroom agenda
• Scan the current situation
• Develop a blueprint
• Start implementing

8. Be prepared for a fuzzy process

9. …and expect
• Resistance
• Power play
• 16 types of “yes”
• Being challenged most of the time
• Over engineering

10. Step1: Landing the Topic
• Link content to company strategy
• Get key players behind the idea of differentiation
• Assess which role content plays in your current organization
We formulated the assignment as follows:
Develop a thorough and efficient
content management organization model (Blueprint)
that will help Robeco to achieve its strategic goals‟.
10 22 March 2012

11. Step2: Assess current situation
People Systems
Processes

12. Interviews and content
assessment
Findings: Content Management is not centrally organized and lacks essential expertise and content
instruments and more content is being produced than can be maintained.
Expertise
- Content policy
- Chief editor
- Traffic Management
- Information management and control
Content instruments
- Workflow tool
- Planning tool
- Content database
- Content architecture (e.g. definition content type en metadata)
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13. Refine your goal
Refined company-specific goal for Content Management Organization
‘Systematically identify and gather relevant news, facts, opinions and pro-
actively convert this into client centric, differentiating and creative content in
the tone of voice of the recipients’.
Critical success factors
– Continuity, consistency and coherence of process and content
– Credibility and accessibility of content
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14. Step3: Develop Blueprint
- Roles Commercial thema’s & strategic themes
- Governance
Education
- Responsibilities
Expert opinion Science
Productnews Commentaries
(Product)campaigns
Productinformation
RFP’s, RFI’s, DDQ’s
Maintenance and improvement loop
Mine Set Order Create Distribute/ Publish
knowledge subject assignment content content

15. New roles
Set new marketing & communication roles with clear mandate, tasks &
responsibilities:
• Chief editor
• Expert
• Information Specialist
• Content Information Officers
• Traffic Managers
• Principal
• Implementation Manager

16. New governance
Content Board
• Creates buy in for the Content Management Organization en its
tasks and responsibilities
• Steers implementation of content policy
• Consists of the key stakeholders
Content Alert Meeting
• Decides which content will be developed for which
channel/content type, based on the news/actuality
• Discusses longer term subjects
• Assigns capacity within own departments
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17. New preconditions and support
Content management: coordination of all content with clear insight and oversight
about who has created which content and when. And how it can be recycled.
Documented!
Quality criteria: Quality criteria and editing formulas have to be defined. And KPI‟s
for content, content development and content management. Effectiveness of content
has to be measured (satisfaction, client demand analysis)
Content architecture: Develop a structure that stipulates how content types look.
Metadata has to be added structurally, to ensure that content can be found. Develop a
policy that stipulates which content types may be applied.
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18. New preconditions and support
Database/registration system: Implement a central database or registration system.
Recycling content will be possible, and current content can be used as inspiration for
new content. Creating content about the same subjects by different people within the
firm will be improves. More consistency.
Content instruments: Content instruments like content planning and workflow are
implemented for the entire organization. These instruments facilitate that tasks within
the entire content chain can be done in a more efficient and manner.
Client interaction: Organize good fit of content with interaction with clients. 1st and
2nd line.
18 22 March 2012

19. Step4: Implement

20. Lessons content implementation
Setting up a content management organization is a strategic change program
• There‟s no quick fix program
• Don‟t expect an open invitation to get on the agenda
• We (marketers) have to get out of our comfort zone
• The road to success is paved with failure
• Align the right people behind your ideas
Get out there, claim the subject and make your company competitive
Above all: be pragmatic in the process
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21. Key messages for marketers
• Earn the right… to take on a strategic role
• Know your clients… better and then the rest of the organization
(that‟s your added value) Sales people are out selling…
• Help the organization to differentiate itself against competition
• Have a tangible impact… on client acquisition and retention
(add value in all stages of the sales cycle)
• Think, act and live with the awareness of the value chain