That Content Guy

Top Menu

  • About
  • Contact us
  • Services

Main Menu

  • Home
  • Content Marketing Guides
  • Content Hub
  • Case Studies
  • Trending
  • Content Marketing Rockstars
  • About
  • Contact us
  • Services

logo

That Content Guy

  • Home
  • Content Marketing Guides
    • 8 Guidelines For Effective Content Marketing

      March 10, 2018
      0
    • What is Content Marketing

      What is Content Marketing?

      February 14, 2018
      0
    • trends that will impact content marketing in 2018

      6 Trends that will impact Content Marketing in 2018

      December 27, 2017
      0
    • Marketing For Social Causes: 3 Content Strategies to Consider

      December 13, 2017
      0
    • Content Marketing Strategies that Brands Can Use to Transform from Blah to ...

      December 7, 2017
      0
    • Content Marketing ROI

      Content Marketing ROI Explained

      November 6, 2017
      0
    • Social Media Reporting

      How to Approach Social Media Reporting

      September 25, 2017
      0
    • Shark Tank

      8 Questions from Shark Tank to Validate Your Content Marketing Approach

      September 11, 2017
      0
    • Identify Trends

      Identify Trends and Supercharge your Content Marketing Efforts

      August 15, 2017
      0
  • Content Hub
    • content

      7 Essential Tools for Building and Maintaining Your Content Hub

      March 31, 2017
      0
    • thought leader

      Why a Real Thought Leader Needs a Content Hub

      March 27, 2017
      0
    • Content Hub

      3 Key Principles to Get You Started on Your Content Hub

      March 16, 2017
      0
    • Content Hub

      The Importance of a Content Hub

      March 8, 2017
      0
  • Case Studies
    • BoBo Fish Ball

      Content Marketing Lessons: BoBo Fish Ball

      December 21, 2017
      0
    • Ikea

      Content Marketing Lessons: IKEA

      September 6, 2017
      0
    • kkday

      Content Marketing Lessons: KKday

      July 20, 2017
      0
    • Content Marketing Lessons: Netflix's Content Localisation Efforts in Singapore

      July 10, 2017
      0
    • Thai Commercials

      The Anatomy of Thai Commercials

      July 5, 2017
      0
    • Spider-Man

      Content Examples Featuring Spider-Man

      July 3, 2017
      0
    • Content Marketing Lessons: LiHO

      June 19, 2017
      0
    • Roasting

      Brands that Nailed it with their Roasting Efforts!

      June 5, 2017
      0
    • influencers

      Influencers who speak with their content

      April 17, 2017
      0
  • Trending
    • What can Marketers do during the COVID-19 epdimic

      3 Actionable Tips for Marketers during COVID-19

      March 25, 2020
      0
    • TikTok for brands

      Is your brand ready for TikTok: 4 Key Considerations

      November 11, 2019
      0
    • Data Collection

      Why Data Collection Matters

      April 17, 2018
      0
    • trends that will impact content marketing in 2018

      6 Trends that will impact Content Marketing in 2018

      December 27, 2017
      0
    • Identify Trends

      Identify Trends and Supercharge your Content Marketing Efforts

      August 15, 2017
      0
    • Sing China

      The Singaporeans in Sing China 2017

      August 7, 2017
      0
    • Instagram

      How Instagram caught up with Snapchat

      July 12, 2017
      0
    • Spider-Man

      Content Examples Featuring Spider-Man

      July 3, 2017
      0
    • Content Marketing Lessons: LiHO

      June 19, 2017
      0
  • Content Marketing Rockstars
    • Yeap Ming Feng, Seedly's Head of Growth

      Content Marketing Rockstars: Ming Feng from Seedly

      February 4, 2020
      0
    • Daily Vanity Founders

      Content Marketing Rockstars: Keith From Daily Vanity

      January 22, 2020
      0
    • Content Marketing Rockstars

      Content Marketing Rockstars: Daniel Tay from With Content

      January 8, 2019
      0
    • Content Marketing Rockstars

      Content Marketing Rockstars: The How To Adult Team

      March 13, 2018
      0
    • Content Marketing Rockstars: Hedvig Lyche from Core Agency

      February 27, 2018
      0
    • Content Marketing Rockstars

      Content Marketing Rockstars: Neal Moore

      February 20, 2018
      0
    • Content Marketing Rockstars

      Content Marketing Rockstars: Sean from Dear Straight People

      January 30, 2018
      0
    • Content Marketing Rockstars

      Content Marketing Rockstars: The GetFash Team

      January 15, 2018
      0
    • Content Marketing Rockstars

      Content Marketing Rockstars: Daniel Hochuli from Linkedin

      January 8, 2018
      0
Content Marketing Rockstars
Home›Content Marketing›Content Marketing Rockstars›Content Marketing Rockstars: Miguel Bernas

Content Marketing Rockstars: Miguel Bernas

By Gerald Ho
December 25, 2017
1471
0
Share:
Content Marketing Rockstars

Welcome to another weekly edition of the Content Marketing Rockstars interview series. We have Miguel Bernas, the outgoing VP of Digital Marketing at Mediacorp and a board member of the Asia Content Marketing Association.

Why Content Marketing?

Miguel: Years of opportunistic behavior and unapologetic intrusion in the digital media industry are starting to take their toll on the audience. Those ads that you open by accident on your mobile phone are downright annoying. People are growing wary of behavioral tracking and are starting to notice those banner ads that unrelentingly pursue you across websites.

And anyone who thinks a video ad break in the middle of a two-minute video on Facebook is acceptable must be delusional. Are we really surprised why ad blockers grow by 30% year on year? As an industry, we need to do much better than that.

Through content marketing, brands are challenged to do much better. Marketers must ask themselves what is genuinely valuable and create only content that audiences will seek out rather than avoid.

How did you get started with Content Marketing?

Miguel: My first exposure to content marketing goes all the way back to the early 1990s (though it wasn’t called content marketing in those days).

The ad agency where I worked developed recipes printed on the backs of labels for cans of tomato sauce, which were later compiled into cookbooks and sold at bookstores. That’s the first time I saw a brand (Del Monte in the Philippines) invest in a long-term content-driven platform.

Since then, I have been a huge believer in the power of good content and narrative to build brands, attract audiences and transform company culture. At Nokia, my team was partnering with publishers to develop branded gaming-related content for Nokia Ngage and developing video content designed for YouTube as early as 2006.

At Singtel, I led a major shift of marketing resources towards digital and social media with a series of video shorts featuring staff to explain network upgrades, launching Singtel’s first made-for-YouTube show and running Singapore’s first real-time Twitter & YouTube marketing campaign.

Content Marketing requires lots of inspiration, how do you stay inspired?

Miguel: I watch a lot of movies. No, seriously. I believe that there are many lessons marketers can take from Hollywood’s master storytellers, from classical storytelling frameworks (e.g. character archetypes, the three Act story structure) to employing Transmedia strategies (Marvel, Star Wars).

“Conventional wisdom” in the digital advertising industry tells us content shouldn’t be longer than two minutes because human attention spans are too short. Bullshit. If that is true, why does 2017’s biggest movie Beauty and the Beast, with over USD 1.2 billion at the box office, have a running time of two hours and nine minutes? It’s because the movie industry knows how to tell a compelling story that audiences want. Very few brands have mastered that.

What are some valuable insights you would give to businesses or organizations that are starting up or have been struggling with content marketing?

Miguel: Your content marketing strategy must always start with the consumer and what they want rather than what your brand (or product) has to say. The brand has to decide how they can offer value or provide a point of view on something their audience cares about.

The brand must also understand why they have a right to play in that space. And finally, the litmus test of any piece of content should be whether or not the target would voluntarily consume it (as opposed to being forced upon them on their social media feed because you paid)?

What do you think is the future of Content Marketing?

Miguel: I am a huge proponent of long-form content, especially videos that run for 10 minutes or longer. I’ve seen excellent brand-funded short films running as long as over 40 minutes and yet getting views in the tens of millions.

Great content needs compelling characters that embody the brand’s values and in whom the audience can invest their emotions. Those types of deep emotions can’t — and shouldn’t — be rushed.

I foresee more brands developing their own TV series or creating their own online magazines run by trained journalists. It’s already starting. That’s because excellent content is valuable, sought after and, ultimately, ad blocker-proof.

I foresee more brands developing their own TV series or creating their own online magazines run by trained journalists. It’s already starting. That’s because excellent content is valuable, sought after and, ultimately, ad blocker-proof.

Besides Content Marketing, what are you passionate about?

Miguel: I really love a good story. I’m the type who can lose himself for hours binge-watching a good movie or television series or even a story-driven video game. Comic books, fantasy and science fiction are my preferred genres. When I’m not glued to my TV, I like to plug away at a book I am writing or one of the web series screenplays I hope to produce someday.

Give us an elevator pitch of your business?

Miguel: I’ve worked in the media industry in Asia Pacific for over 20 years, as a journalist and a marketer, either on the brand or the agency or the publisher side. Throughout my career, I have harnessed the power of good content and narrative to build brands, attract audiences and even help transform company culture.

0
Shares
  • 0
  • +
  • 0
Gerald Ho

Gerald Ho

Gerald is a serial binger of Netflix shows, anime and anything from the Marvel Universe. He sacrifices sleep to catch Manchester United play and is always on the lookout for cool printed tees. Lifestyle aside, he’s also a passionate content marketing geek. Gerald heads up That Content Guy, a content marketing focused publication with the grand vision to influence and inspire the progress of value-driven content marketing.

Related articles More from author

  • Content Marketing Rockstars
    Content Marketing Rockstars

    Content Marketing Rockstars: Sean from Dear Straight People

    January 30, 2018
    By Gerald Ho
  • Content Marketing Rockstars

    Content Marketing Rockstars: Hedvig Lyche from Core Agency

    February 27, 2018
    By Gerald Ho
  • Content Marketing Rockstars
    Content Marketing Rockstars

    Content Marketing Rockstars: Simon Kearney from Click2View

    December 4, 2017
    By Gerald Ho
  • Content Marketing Rockstars
    Content Marketing Rockstars

    Content Marketing Rockstars: The GetFash Team

    January 15, 2018
    By Gerald Ho
  • Content Marketing Rockstars
    Content Marketing Rockstars

    Content Marketing Rockstars: The How To Adult Team

    March 13, 2018
    By Gerald Ho

Leave a reply Cancel reply

Recommended Reads

  • E-commerce in China
    China MarketGuest Contributor

    E-commerce in China: An Insight into the World’s Biggest E-Commerce Market

  • Sing China
    Pop CultureTrending

    The Singaporeans in Sing China 2017

  • There is no one-size-fits-all solution for Content Marketing, but this toolkit covers the essential principles of good content marketing — ideal for those getting started.
    Case StudiesPop CultureTrending

    Content Marketing Gone Rogue

Connect with us

Sponsored

About us

That Content Guy is an online content marketing-centred publication that advocates and inspires the progress of value-driven content marketing practices. We share insightful trends and practical guides which marketers and business owners can take reference from, as well as the best content marketing case studies in Singapore and around the world.

Contact us

 

  • +65 97506492
  • hello@thatcontentguy.sg

Connect with us

Copyright © 2018 That Content Guy. All rights reserved.