The Great Debate: Brand Journalism vs. Content Marketing

You may be thinking….not another article on whether brand journalism and content marketing are different. Or similar. Or exactly the same. This debate has been going on for years..

I agree. I get it. We need some clarity.

Luckily for math class in primary school. More on that later…

DO OPPOSITES ATTRACT?

The ‘we’ I refer to above are from two culturally opposed disciplines - journalism and marketing. These worlds have slowly transformed, and continue to do so.

HOW WE GOT HERE

Media convergence, digitalisation, technological ingenuity, citizen publishing, social media, globalisation – even blurred jurisdictional boundaries. It’s an all-out morphing sensation.

So, I’ve decided to weigh in on this great debate. I’m going to throw my hat in the ring, put a stake in the sand with my other hand and say:

Brand Journalism and Content Marketing are Different. And the Same.

Bear with me.

Do you recall those circles that intersected (Venn diagrams) in math class? The ones where each circle represented a different group and where it connected or overlapped to the other circle it was called an intersection?

For the purposes of visual representation I’ve drawn (albeit rudimentary) a Venn diagram. So we have two circles, one journalism and one content marketing. They are different. The intersection (the shaded area) as I see it is brand journalism. Brand journalism is actually the part that is the convergence of both disciplines.

DEFINING THE CULTURAL DIVIDE

Here are brief definitions of each discipline:

i) Content Marketing 

From a strategic perspective, content marketing doesn’t focus on deepening customer rapport with a brand (as brand journalism does). Instead, it focuses on building trust by solving a customer’s problem.

Content marketing is described as both the marketing and business processes for creating and distributing relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire, and engage a clearly defined and understood target audience – with the primary objective of driving profitable customer action. 

A content marketing strategy can leverage all channels (print, online, in-person, mobile, social, etc.), and can be employed at any (or all) stages of the buying process- from lead generation and acquisition to retention and loyalty strategies, and can be tailored for multiple personas.

In short, while content marketing encompasses the creation of the actual content, it also has a focus on the business processes required to deliver it to an audience, such as the customer lifecycle, social media responses, marketing funnels, distribution channels, research surveys and the business performance.

Content is just one part of the entire strategy.

ii) Journalism

Journalism is defined as the collection, preparation, and distribution of news and related commentary and feature materials written for media outlets such as newspapers, magazines, radio, film, television, and online news sites.

The term was originally applied to the reportage of current events in printed form, specifically newspapers, but in the late 20th century it came to include electronic media as well. It is sometimes used to refer to writing characterised by a direct presentation of facts or description of events without an attempt at interpretation.

In light of the above two definitions, we can see there is quite a difference between traditional journalism and content marketing.

iii) Brand Journalism – The Convergence of Content Marketing and Journalism

As we touched on earlier, brand journalism is about building rapport with customers and raising brand awareness. A key difference is the content features a company or brand, rather than the general news or current affairs.

In simple terms, this is about companies telling their own story in journalistic style from within their own walls without necessarily telling that story through the intermediary of the press. Brand journalism involves disseminating accurate and authentic newsworthy stories.

Stories are realistic, full of real people doing real things, and should offer transparency into the personality or culture of the brand.

WHO WON THE GREAT DEBATE?

In terms of the great debate, there is no ‘winner’ as such, as brand journalism and content marketing simply shouldn’t be compared.

Brand journalism is about stories to raise brand awareness, not directly trying to solve customer problems with a clear call to action.

While brand journalism does play an integral part in the development of a content marketing strategy, it is a separate type of content in its own right - the convergence of the two disciplines of content marketing and journalism as we saw in the Venn diagram.