Growing Demand Blog

During last week's Internet Week in New York, I was struck by one simple theme that rang loud and true—content is still king. Despite the noisy ecosystem of sites, apps and services available to marketers, it all boils down to connecting consumers with information that matters to them. That's always been true, but technology has made it possible on a personalized level that has simply never been possible before.

It was no accident that our team's focus during the week was to show how the content we produce maps directly to the needs of consumers. However, content production and discovery are only part of the equation; the consumer’s experience with the content is the other. That is why we spent most of last week showing off our new consumer experiences on eHow Food and typeF.

We kicked the week off with the launch of the new eHow Food channel with Rachael Ray and her Buddies. Rachael started the day by introducing eHow Food on Good Morning America, and we closed the day celebrating the launch with 200 friends, fans and partners of eHow at Bar Basque. The food and drinks, which were created and served by Rachael and her Buddies, were out of this world. The best part was the Buddies shared their knowledge and insight with the guests just like they do on eHow Food.

The momentum continued on Tuesday as Erika Nardini, SVP Sales and Marketing, shared some great insight around the power of social in video at the ELEVATE Summit. It was a great prelude to the social launch of typeF’s season finale of ‘Fa-Fa-Fa Fashion’ on Thursday. We launched the episode on Facebook and showed off a new social viewing experience for consumers’ right in the video player (hint: click skip to check it out).

We finished the week with an appearance by Marc Speichert, CMO of L’Oreal USA, at IAB Innovation Days, an intimate “Tea with Tyra” and an appearance by Tyra at Digitas New Front.

At IAB Innovation Days, I had the pleasure of introducing Marc and the partnership we have formed. Beauty isn’t one size fits all so the content we produce should not be either. We are creating content for L’Oreal in five categories—hair, eyes, face, lips and skin—to answer questions like, “How to apply blush to a diamond-shaped face”. Marc then sat down for a Q&A with Randall Rothenberg where he introduced the new consumer decision cycle and spoke to the creation of digital content with Demand Media as a new way to pull consumers into the decision cycle.

Following IAB, I gathered with Tyra and 20 other influential women and their guests in the Prince Room at the Crosby Street Hotel. Over tea and treats, the women discussed three topics—how best to listen to your audiences, customers, partners and yourself; how to stay inspired and engaged in your life and at work; and what are your favorite fashion and beauty tips. We had a great time in an intimate setting.

Finally, Tyra closed out the day at the Digitas New Front 2011 with Pattie Sellers. Pattie asked Tyra about her partnership with Demand Media to create typeF.com and her personal mission to change the face of beauty. Tyra summed it up best when she said, “I’ve always wanted to bring fashion to the people! typeF allows me to do that.”

It was truly a great week! Marketers understand more than ever that content is the key to reaching their consumers in a noisy world, and Demand Media is uniquely positioned to not only produce the content but also ensure the consumers can find it. Content is King, and as we showed this past week, Demand Media is ready to serve.