Content – mot du jour or unsung hero? 

When I was six years old, my brother became a member of Shemaroo Library, a popular video and book library in Mumbai (although I still prefer the anglicized name). He would rent issue after issue of Marvel comics and I would rent books, no less than five every week. At first it was Enid Blytons, then, as I grew older, Roald Dahl and the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys series, then, by the time I was ten, Judy Blume and PG Wodehouse, and so on. My brother and I were, like so many others, a microcosmic study of content relevance based on target audience. Case in point: I decided to go to boarding school based on stories from Mallory Towers and St Claire’s (only to find that an all-girls’ school in Ajmer, India didn’t have quite the same ethos as the ones Enid Blyton had conjured up in the English countryside). It was powerful stuff; and we’re only talking fiction.

The terms original content and content marketing have suddenly become the buzzwords of the digital world, bringing much-longed-for attention to copy and causing many a writer to roll their eyes, sigh and say ‘it’s about time’.

Here’s what all writers know that make this reaction so ubiquitous amongst them:

1. Good design is only part of the battle won; good functionality will get you closer to the truth; and, if the content is weak, the design and functionality will fail, and fast. 
2. Good, original content can surmount unappealing design and limited functionality (eg: expatwoman.com until very recently. The design’s no better, but they have revamped their site, so I assume the functionality’s improved as against six months ago).

While digital marketing gurus spend hours talking about this exciting new development, touting the benefits of great content and the power it wields in drawing in and then activating a brand’s audience, the truth is that the principle is time-tested. It dates back to a time pre-Netscape even.

Great and original content is the pillar of some of the world’s best newspapers and magazines. It’s what made the ‘scoop’ and the ‘exclusive’ so important to print journalists. It’s what made the term ‘voice of a generation’ a coveted title amongst writers. It’s also what made the best journalists the most expensive for newspapers and magazines and the most profitable for them. Example: Hunter S. Thompson and Gonzo journalism of the 70s. Example: Tom Wolfe and the Vietnam War. Example: Thomas Friedman and globalization. All of them were (or are) writing for an audience.

Joseph Pulitzer said, “[I regard journalism] as a noble profession and one of unequaled importance for its influence upon the minds and morals of the people.”

The concept of good content hasn’t changed much – it is relevant, it is effective, it engages and it prompts a response.

Two things have changed though – the way we deliver it and the people we deliver it to (an over-targeted de-sensitized audience that will defect as quickly as your competitor can say ‘freebie’).

Twenty, even 10 years ago, content was the printed word. Today, it’s posted on facebook, tweeted and re-tweeted, uploaded on a blog, shared via links, forwarded via email and sits on someone else’s blog for eternity (oh for the days of microfiche). In the digital age, everything is content and content is everything. It’s the deal-breaker; it’s the dealmaker. It’s a heavy cross to bear.

If nothing else, it means that your content team should be paid a hell of a lot more than it currently does.