I am extremely excited to share the news that our very own Marketing with Meaning blog has been ranked the #1 Content Marketing blog by the Junta42 organization. The Junta42 list continues to grow each quarter (up to 224 total from 187 last quarter) and has a long list of very strong bloggers that I follow each day. I also was excited to see that another Bridge Worldwide blog, Dose of Digital by Jonathan Richman, is now at the list, debuting at #163. My thanks to Joe Pulizzi for running this list and offering a great opportunity for all of us.

If you are new to this space, the Marketing with Meaning concept aims to lead a shift away from the old, interruptive advertising model and toward one in which the marketing we produce actually adds value to people’s lives. It’s an idea we use in our work every day for clients such as Abbott Nutrition, P&G, and ConAgra Foods, and it is the subject of a book that will be published by McGraw-Hill in October 2009.

When I started this blog in May 2008, I never thought of it as a “content blog,” but the fit with Junta42’s list is very strong. Brands that aim to add value with their marketing often end up creating, well, content. For Abbott Nutrition, we have created programs such as Diabetes Control for Life and Similac StrongMoms, both of which are rich content for people with diabetes and newborns, respectively. For Healthy Choice, we created a live improv comedy show during lunchtime (which is the new prime time, if you haven’t heard).

What I really like about the Junta42 list is that its judging criteria is based mainly on the quality of our content, rather than the number of visitors, Technorati links, etc. Because our site is less than a year old, it is difficult to match the visitor numbers of other marketing blogs that have been around for years. This list gives us a more even playing field, pitting idea vs. idea rather than audience vs. audience. Of course, I hope our ranking on this list helps us build up a huge audience, too.

Overall, the entire Bridge Worldwide team and I are very proud to see our concept and blog continue to gain fans and momentum. And it’s really only the start. This week I turn in the draft of our book to McGraw-Hill, and then we will start developing more cool tools and a community of like-minded leaders. Of course, I will be sharing all of our progress and developments here.

I cannot promise that we’ll be able to stay #1 on this very competitive list, but I pledge that we will continue to help lead the charge toward marketing that improves consumers’ lives. Thanks for reading and I invite you join our cause.