I discovered upon returning from vacation yesterday that this very blog has been ranked as #39 on Junta’s list of the top 42 content marketing blogs. Just a few weeks ago, one of my star Group Account Directors, Jason Ruebel, nominated Marketing with Meaning for the list, and sure enough here we are. It’s a great sign that we’re onto something, and I’m proud to share the honor with everyone at our agency.

I think this blog and the overall concept of Meaningful Marketing fits pretty well under the category of “content marketing.“ Wikipedia confirms a general definition of “content” in new media circles. At the time of this posting, it called content “information and experiences that may provide value for an end-user/audience.”

It is ironic that just today another team of mine at Bridge Worldwide was discussing how we could help a key client build meaningful marketing into its existing process of brand planning. We talked about how this client is a big believer in maximizing the “Context” of communication; in other words, picking media placement where the target consumer is most willing to pay attention to and act on the brand’s message. This is a smart approach, and likely results in higher return on the media investment. But it’s missing something…

I believe Marketing with Meaning is less about “context” - or finding the best time to get in front of a consumer’s eyeballs - and more about “content” - or creating something that people find valuable in itself. By definition, a good “Content Strategy” must be meaningful and is judged by consumers’ engagement level rather than eyeball impressions. We’ll be helping this client create a meaningful content strategy that should take marketing planning to an even higher return on investment.

Thinking about what content a brand can provide for its consumers is the kind of exercise that leads to best-in-class work like Nike+ or Wrigley’s Candystand. It gets brands to move out of the routine of 3-month initiatives and TV copy, and more into long-term relationships, services, and, well, meaning.

When Venture Capitalists start telling marketers to change their business model, it’s worth taking a listen. Last week Advertising Age ran an interview with Mark Kvamme, who is in a unique position as a former ad guy who now works at Sequoia Capital. Sequoia is one of the most successful VC funds in recent history and the bucks behind hits such as Google, YouTube, and Cisco.

I found two really interesting perspectives from Mark Kvamme. First, he suggests that advertisers need to think “beyond the current buying mind-set of reach and frequency and connect with people through engaging experiences.” Ironically, Sequoia has backed companies, such as YouTube, that are attempting to make money today by selling reach and frequency to advertisers. So even a few VCs see that digital marketing - and marketing in general - needs to shift to a new model for what Kvamme calls “the attention-deficit generation.”

The second interesting point is that Kvamme goes on to wonder why marketers are not doing more to generate content on their own. He says:

“The thing I don’t quite understand about agencies and brands is why they don’t go back to the 1950s and create their own content. At the early age of this new technology called television, they created General Hospital, they created the soap-opera phenomenon, game shows. Why aren’t they doing that on the net?

Part of [the reason] is the marketing guy is risk-averse. They’re not venture capitalists… To me, they are the fuel that makes this stuff happen and they should be participating at a bigger level.”

I think Kvamme answers his own question well when he suggests that marketers are risk averse. We see this all the time from the agency side as clients are just not comfortable making significant wagers on content. They want to get their product, price, placement, and promotion right; this is what they’ve been trained and promoted on since the 1950s. Habit change is extremely hard, and moving to a world of marketing a service, a utility, or a cause can feel like a new career.

A meaningful marketing mind-set may help our industry both back away from reach/frequency and embrace engagement/content. Once we think about how our communications can improve consumers’ lives, it’s not much of a stretch to get back into the content game.