Facebook (and its investors) have a problem that those media “dinosaurs” of old do not. Why would anyone want to pay Facebook for advertising when they can publish whatever they want on the site for free?

In his 1982 film classic Blade Runner, director Ridley Scott portrayed an “enormously distracting” future of replicated humans, implanted information and advertising messages broadcast from skyscrapers and an Orwellian “eye-in-the-sky” blimp.   

In part a cautionary tale of technology gone wild in a globalized world (signified by the blending of American and Asian motifs in the film), Blade Runner and its infamous “curse” (misfortune befell several then-leading brands with product placements in the film, notably Atari, the Bell System monopoly and Pan Am) was darkly symbolic and fearful in the way of 1984.  

The conventional wisdom among marketers is that trying to sell your branded content is a bad idea. If even the media is struggling to make people pay for content, why should brands even try? But with more brands selling eBooks online, maybe it’s time to rethink the conventional wisdom.  

With all eyes on Facebook as it readies for its monster IPO next month, the social media giant is reportedly struggling with its mobile strategy.  Despite attracting some 420 million mobile users each month, Facebook’s mobile products are not “at the standard they could be,” writes Digiday’s Jack Marshall.  

He cites other observers who share his view.  “Their progress in mobile must be a thorn in their sides. It’s a huge missed opportunity so far,” states Gene Liebel, chief strategy offer at digital agency Huge. “They’ve done amazing things in terms of the overall service, but in mobile it’s the opposite. The apps are badly designed and badly written, which is really interesting considering the amazing engineers and understanding they have of user design there.”  

There’s a marketing agency I know that proclaims we live in a “post-advertising age.” Some great campaigns by insurance companies Geico and Progressive demonstrate that it’s better described as an “advertising-plus age.”  

If you haven’t guessed already, I’m referring to Geico’s “Gecko” and Progressive’s “Flo,” the maniacally chipper saleslady. As these two bust out over every platform, they demonstrate the importance of a robust content vehicle that can take customers way beyond advertising—even if advertising is how you first discover them.  

It’s a marketing concept as old as the airwaves. A brand backing a particular form of media hopes to gain market share from the implied connection between their product/service and the entertaining or informative content. And, while many marketers have happily clung to this approach through the evolution of film and television, a new concept (and term) is rapidly rising in replacement: branded entertainment.  

In San Francisco recently for a conference, I added a two day visit up the coast to Mendocino to create travel content on the area. Simpler to say “to write a travel story” you say? Sure, but as seasoned freelance journalists know, re-purposing the same content for different outlets is one key to financial survival.  

It’s a mirror of the content marketing model: with Mendocino and its tourism assets serving as the “client” and common content, the more channels I could find for delivering that content the better.  In this case, the channels were two magazines and one major newspaper—and now this blog. That’s quadruple the income opportunity for me and four-for-one ROI for my hosts—working synergistically with marketing goals and outcomes, content journalism must serve a shared purpose.     

Coke’s Content 2020 video: If you haven’t seen it—what’s the matter with you?

More than 100,000 people have watched this elaborate video articulation of Coke’s content marketing vision, and just about every one of those people has written a blog item praising it as the definitive content marketing manifesto for our time and all time.

When a company more or less invents Santa Claus, then you know it’s a legendary marketer. That’s why content mavens got so excited earlier this year when Coke’s VP of Global Advertising Strategy declared in a two-part video manifesto (Part I, Part II) that the company will “move from creative excellence to content excellence.” 

There’s been a flurry of blogging on how other companies can follow Coke’s lead, but it’s worth stepping back and looking at what kind of content Coke is talking about.

While Facebook’s $1 billion acquisition of Instagram appears to be having a polarizing effect on users, another photo-based social networking site, Pinterest, is having a galvanizing audience effect—especially on brands and businesses.