It’s a no-brainer that you need to find your brand’s own identity. But if you’re searching for digital inspiration and storytelling spark, these are the Brisbane businesses you should watch closely in 2017 to see how it’s done.
Some of them seemingly have no business being as good as they are at content marketing. They are the ones so quickly and unfairly labelled as having boring or beige products or services, but their creative takes on visual, written and public storytelling prove the narrative behind the brand is where the emotional connections to customers hide.
Here are a few of my picks with some bonus key takeaways.
Brisbane Airport’s Instagram account
What I hate about airports: that kid with the rat’s tail in the baggage line, the queue for customs, customs, expensive cheap food, expensive tins of beer, the last-minute compulsion to buy sunnies.
But what I love about airports is that unknown story. The idea that every person around you has a destination and an untapped chapter to share. Brisbane Airport’s Instagram account is so good at times that it could almost be your unknown travel companion – a wanderer with a compelling plot that even the most seasoned people-watchers can’t ignore.
You see it in the network of user-generated content they curate and share (see a rather stunning example above) and in the video stories they tell about the people working on the tarmac. The account’s reach is all about brand story, no doubt part of a wider marketing mix that wants to make you feel different about how it draws people and investment to the precinct.
How many different ways can you make a plane look beautiful? The answer is countless, and Brisbane Airport does it with incredible imagery and quick snippets of copy designed to inspire you to check them out further, to be a fan of them, to take action with them – to reshape the story of your assumptions about them.
Key takeaway: Sometimes the golden perspectives on whatever your “thing” is are best seen through the eyes of a creative community – tap into and curate user-generated content. Here’s an article on how to do that.
businessDEPOT’s live events
Full disclaimer: I’m a huge fan of the folks at businessDEPOT, a co-working space in Fortitude Valley’s James Street precinct. The brand’s co-working community is the first thing that gets me but also packaging its business advisory services into such a helpful, streamlined and engaging offering is just classy as hell in my opinion.
But my favourite thing about businessDEPOT is its DEPOT Next series of thought leadership events that really gained traction and the attention of Brisbane’s business community throughout the past year.
Hot thought-leadership takes – or value bombs, as they call them – on making your business more successful in an engaging, social setting that connects people. Beautiful. And the content that emerges can be captured and used again and again digitally to add value and make businessDEPOT a Brisbane authority in the space.
Most importantly, the events create connections for businessDEPOT’s clients and potential clients (and it’s not a bad thing that they get to collect data along the way). Making yourself so valuable to a key group of people is super clever and while they’re definitely not the first people to launch a networking event series, I challenge you to find one that is more valuable, open to questions, friendly and just downright fun to be involved in.
Key takeaway: What thought-leading content and topics can you own and share with your customers in a truly transparent way? It could be the key to their hearts for your business.
Venzin Group’s everything
From its website to its social accounts to its physical stores, Venzin Group knows what you want and how you like it to be served to you. The food’s delicious but the marketing deserves a Michelin star.
In my blog post Learn from these 3 Brisbane brands that get digital content marketing I pointed out just how incredible the group’s Instagram account is for its eatery Pawpaw. But, really, someone looking for inspiration about brand touch points – not just digital content – should check out their way of doing things and take notes.
The group has amassed a huge audience online but also understands the physical touch points, not just the food, is critical to attracting and retaining a certain type of fan. Venzin Group recently launched its own magazine, Venzin, a physical manifestation of its brand ethos that jumps to life on a tangible, touchable medium. The content is all audience focused and firmly aimed at adding value to its obviously loyal audience.
The perfect thing to flip through while you’re knocking over a feed at one of its four eateries. Clever stuff.
Key takeaway: Your most valuable customers are the ones you already have so add value for them at every touch point – from the physical to the digital to the tastebuds and back. That’s the delicious power of loyalty.
