Snouts in the content marketing trough for SnapChat, WPP and the Daily Mail
- Summary:
- Another day, another content marketing push from a tech/media combo. This time SnapChat's palling up with the Daily Mail and WPP.
Then it all became clear. The Mail had other things on its mind in the form of making its own announcement of beefing up its own content marketing interests.
The newspaper has some high profile company in its latest push - WPP and Snapchat. The trio announced at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity today that they are setting up a new digital content agency called Truffle Pig.
The agency will pitch services including content creation projects, positioning and messaging, video and photography, data and analytics, audience development and planning. Truffle Pig will test content and marketing on Snapchat via MailOnline.
Alexander Jutkowitz, managing partner at Group SJR, a digital marketing company acquired by WPP's Hill & Knowlton in 2013, will lead the new entity. He says:
It sits at the intersection between client needs and platforms and it sits upstream from where the content will be deployed. At the time where everything gets done at Truffle Pig, the question is asked 'where will it live? How will it be chopped up? How will it be deployed?
The agency will be based in New York, but make use of Snapchat’s 3V Vertical Video View production facilities in Los Angeles.
Jon Steinberg, CEO of Daily Mail North America, positions the new offering as an “upstream agency”:
Great content isn't just about making it, it's about having platforms for it, about - at least in our world - engaging millennials, and having distribution. All of those things combined is what creates the perfect harmony and synergy.
A truffle pig finds the rare and tasty. With the need for story-driven marketing on our sites and those of other media companies, and new ad formats like Snapchat, brands need a truffle pig.
He adds:
We are going to totally evolve the way media planning and creative is done. I don't think we will be the only ones to do this. I think of it like Google with Android and the Nexus range of products. We are not the only ones going to do this, but we wanted to be the first.
For WPP, CEO Martin Sorrell says:
In a digital world overflowing with content, consumers crave quality. A next-generation company, Truffle Pig combines the best in media, content and user experience to satisfy people's appetite for great storytelling - and inspire brand engagement, loyalty and sales.
He adds that Truffle Pig could well compete with existing WPP agencies:
At some point in time, you do cannibalize what you have. I believe in eating your own children.
My take
Another day, another example of agencies and media groups joining forces to pitch marketers for “native” advertising formats that look like editorial content.
But while the Daily Mail's very excited by the new offering, its readers seem somewhat less than enthused at being a test bed for marketing content:
Other than that, I just somehow feel irrationally disappointed in SnapChat.