Home > Companies > C-Suite On Deck > Q&A with Robert Rose, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at The Content Advisory

Q&A with Robert Rose, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at The Content Advisory

MEDIA 7 | August 19, 2019

Robert Rose, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of The Content Advisory has worked with more than 500 companies, including 15 of the Fortune 100 and provided marketing advice and counsel for global brands such as Facebook, Capital One, Dell, Ernst & Young, Microsoft, Thomson Reuters, etc.

Robert is also an early-stage investor and advisor to a number of technology startups, apart from being a featured keynote speaker and workshop teacher at technology and marketing events around the world.

MEDIA 7: If we were talking a year from now celebrating what a great 12 months it’s been for you in this role, what would you have achieved?
ROBERT ROSE: We’re on a path to double the size of our business in the next 12 months. We’ve been quite blessed to work with some of the greatest brands on the planet, to help them sort out their content operations and strategy. So, a great year from us is continuing to work with more and more, and different, types of enterprises – while we increase our capacity to deliver the smartest content strategy and education.

M7: In what way is The Content Advisory transforming marketing practices and accelerating the strategic content marketing shift?
RR: Given our experience, and the number of companies we’ve worked with over the last 7 years, we’ve got a unique perspective on what works in content marketing.  We’ve watched as Content Marketing has gone from this “nice-to-have” addition to demand generation and SEO, to a must-have, strategic function for adding overall value to the business. In other words, we’ve watched content marketing go from marketing tactic, to business strategy. The frameworks (which is really the output of our unique perspective) for setting a foundational operation model for content, along with how to create the teams, the governance and the measurement strategies are what set us apart for our clients’ success.


"Content Marketing has gone from this “nice-to-have” addition to demand generation and SEO, to a must-have, strategic function for adding overall value to the business."

M7: With more than 8 years of content marketing experience, what is the paradigm shift you see in content marketing practices today?
RR: The biggest shift we see is how content is becoming a strategic business operation, in much the same way as accounting, legal, or R&D. “Content” used to be the thing that was everybody’s job, and nobody’s strategy. Today, because content is such a core output of any business, it has to be treated with the same strategic rigor as any other function in the business. As I’ve said before, we all perform levels of “accounting” in our business. We fill out expense sheets, turn in profit and loss reports, utilize budgets, etc… But we don’t do these things in just any way we like. We conform to a centralized approach to the function of accounting.  The same is true in content.  The companies that are succeeding with content have shifted their approach to the practice to make it a strategic function in the business.

M7: How does strategic consulting help businesses in building passionate, trustworthy audiences for their brands?
RR: Well it doesn’t to be honest. It’s very easy to get caught into the classic consulting trap of some kind of “magic button”. As we’re the first to say, we’re not here to tell your story – we’re just here to help you tell it a little better.  Our goal is to help marketing leaders understand the steps – the road map – to building these valuable audiences.  It will be up to them and their team to continually apply what we can instill to engage them, and keep them loyal over time.


"Great customer experiences, continually deliver value to consumers. At the heart of each of those experiences is content – it is what drives every experience."

M7: In what way does the strategic use of content create better customer experiences for any enterprise?
RR: The main value I would use is the word “trust”. Great customer experiences, continually deliver value to consumers. The first time I meet a customer I deliver a little bit of value. The second time, I deliver a little more value. The third time, a little more value.  Eventually, I’m delivering enough value through the experience that the customer wants to pay for what comes next and – if designed well – that next experience is the product/service I have in the market place. 
But at the heart of each of those experiences is content – it is what drives every experience. So, we must have a connected, central, and holistic manner of managing our communication within those experiences.  This is why a content strategy is so important.

M7: As a content strategy expert, what is the advice that you would like to give to present marketers for delivering effective content-driven experiences?
RR: Focus on the experience, not the asset.  No matter where you are on your journey, stop producing assets – and start producing a “center of gravity” of content.  You might call it a resource center, or a hub, or a blog, or a magazine, or an event, or whatever.  But stop producing random assets that are used only as bait for random marketing campaigns, and start producing content against an editorial theme that will connect together across a platform that builds an audience.  Now, that doesn’t mean that the assets that you create can’t be used to support random campaigns – but in order to produce multiple lines of value, the content must start working harder – and when you have a platform, the next piece you create will work harder for you because the previous one (that is connected in some way) exists.


"Focus on the experience, not the asset.  No matter where you are on your journey, stop producing assets – and start producing a “center of gravity” of content."

M7: When did you start working and what was it?
RR: I started working in marketing in the mid 1990s in the television industry.  I worked for Showtime Networks in their marketing department.

ABOUT THE CONTENT ADVISORY

Content is everything the business creates in order to communicate. In today’s world, the way we communicate is the only thing that separates us from the next: The next click, the next competitor, the next answer. But mastering content is not simply a creative, business process, or technological challenge. It is both emotional and logical. It is a cultural transformation. It is a fundamental shift in the way we create, collaborate, and collect insight on every communication.

TCA – The Content Advisory is a consulting and training company; blending the art and science of intelligent content to help today’s modern business communication’s strategy.

More C-Suite on deck

Small businesses are now competing in a marketplace dominated by low-cost large enterprises, says Herby Duverne, CEO at Windwalker Group.

Media 7 | June 6, 2022

Herby Duverne, CEO of Windwalker Group, discusses the best practices for developing strategic partnerships, brand awareness strategies, the best way businesses can tackle challenges, and more. Continue reading to find out more about Human Capital Development via Corporate and Government Training.

Read More

Q&A with Andy Brown, CEO at Engage

Media 7 | May 28, 2020

Andy Brown, Chief Executive Officer at ENGAGE has worked in the research and consulting industry for 25 years. He was previously a Partner at Mercer Consulting, a Global Practice Leader at The Empower Group (the strategic consulting division of Manpower), Managing Director of YouGov Consulting and Head of Research at The Gallup Organization. Andy co-founded ENGAGE and has worked for the company since 2008 and, in 2013, co-led an MBO of the firm. He works with CEOs, boards and executive teams in FTSE 100 and Fortune 500 firms, as well as with a range of fast-growing entrepreneurial start-ups. MEDIA 7: What are you most passionate about? ANDY BROWN: I’m passionate about four key things: helping organisations improve their performance; helping leaders to be as effective as possible; helping employees to feel a sense of purpose in their work; and, of course, my family!

Read More

Q&A with Cameron Worth, CEO & Founder, SharpEnd

Media 7 | April 22, 2020

Cameron Worth, CEO & Founder of SharpEnd leads the company’s mission to help brands move closer than ever to consumers by connecting packaging, retail and experiential activity. He is a regular speaker and writer on how to build brands in a connected world. He has spoken at Cannes, the Festival of Marketing, LuxePack Monaco and New York, Ad:Week Europe and New York, DMA, the Connected Consumer Conference, Mobile World Congress and the IoT World Forum. MEDIA 7: How did the idea of “the agency of things” come to your mind? CAMERON WORTH: SharpEnd was created in 2015 as the world’s first Internet of Things focused agency, so there is a slight play on words when we say we’re the Agency of Things. I think the idea of giving things their own agency is an interesting concept, and the strapline fits our capabilities on multiple levels. M7: In what way does technology drive the association of SharpEnd with global brands? What approaches are followed to enable sustainability? CW: Our simple proposition is to help build brands in a connected world, and to do that you must always start with identified consumer needs or pain points and look at technology as just an enabler to deliver an appropriate solution (when appropriate).  Take the issue of sustainability, which is often a pain point for brands that grapple with issues such as how we can reward sustainable behaviour change. One of our approaches to this could be to look at communicating the recycling credentials of the different products. Whilst the consumer can engage with a product as part of a wider consumer experience, the same technology could also house content that could tell you whether the product is recyclable, which type of bin it goes in etc. SharpEnd’s work with Unilever is a case in point. We built a digital product that incentivised recycling through gamification but also served to educate through informing people how and where to recycle in a clear fashion. All users had to do was simply scan their packaging to have all this information at their disposal.

Read More

Small businesses are now competing in a marketplace dominated by low-cost large enterprises, says Herby Duverne, CEO at Windwalker Group.

Media 7 | June 6, 2022

Herby Duverne, CEO of Windwalker Group, discusses the best practices for developing strategic partnerships, brand awareness strategies, the best way businesses can tackle challenges, and more. Continue reading to find out more about Human Capital Development via Corporate and Government Training.

Read More

Q&A with Andy Brown, CEO at Engage

Media 7 | May 28, 2020

Andy Brown, Chief Executive Officer at ENGAGE has worked in the research and consulting industry for 25 years. He was previously a Partner at Mercer Consulting, a Global Practice Leader at The Empower Group (the strategic consulting division of Manpower), Managing Director of YouGov Consulting and Head of Research at The Gallup Organization. Andy co-founded ENGAGE and has worked for the company since 2008 and, in 2013, co-led an MBO of the firm. He works with CEOs, boards and executive teams in FTSE 100 and Fortune 500 firms, as well as with a range of fast-growing entrepreneurial start-ups. MEDIA 7: What are you most passionate about? ANDY BROWN: I’m passionate about four key things: helping organisations improve their performance; helping leaders to be as effective as possible; helping employees to feel a sense of purpose in their work; and, of course, my family!

Read More

Q&A with Cameron Worth, CEO & Founder, SharpEnd

Media 7 | April 22, 2020

Cameron Worth, CEO & Founder of SharpEnd leads the company’s mission to help brands move closer than ever to consumers by connecting packaging, retail and experiential activity. He is a regular speaker and writer on how to build brands in a connected world. He has spoken at Cannes, the Festival of Marketing, LuxePack Monaco and New York, Ad:Week Europe and New York, DMA, the Connected Consumer Conference, Mobile World Congress and the IoT World Forum. MEDIA 7: How did the idea of “the agency of things” come to your mind? CAMERON WORTH: SharpEnd was created in 2015 as the world’s first Internet of Things focused agency, so there is a slight play on words when we say we’re the Agency of Things. I think the idea of giving things their own agency is an interesting concept, and the strapline fits our capabilities on multiple levels. M7: In what way does technology drive the association of SharpEnd with global brands? What approaches are followed to enable sustainability? CW: Our simple proposition is to help build brands in a connected world, and to do that you must always start with identified consumer needs or pain points and look at technology as just an enabler to deliver an appropriate solution (when appropriate).  Take the issue of sustainability, which is often a pain point for brands that grapple with issues such as how we can reward sustainable behaviour change. One of our approaches to this could be to look at communicating the recycling credentials of the different products. Whilst the consumer can engage with a product as part of a wider consumer experience, the same technology could also house content that could tell you whether the product is recyclable, which type of bin it goes in etc. SharpEnd’s work with Unilever is a case in point. We built a digital product that incentivised recycling through gamification but also served to educate through informing people how and where to recycle in a clear fashion. All users had to do was simply scan their packaging to have all this information at their disposal.

Read More

Related News

MANAGEMENT,BUSINESS STRATEGY

Fundbox Announces Partnerships: Adds Former Goldman Sachs Exec as Chief Product Offer with a Vision of Expanding Payment Capabilities

Fundbox | June 27, 2022

Fundbox, a small business embedded working capital platform, announced today that it has partnered with Galileo Financial Technologies, an open API platform that enables unique and differentiated financial solutions, and MetaBank®, N.A., a leading economic empowerment company, to accelerate its product roadmap and bring innovative products to market. In addition, jin Hwang, who most recently served as Head of Product - Platform at Marcus by Goldman Sachs and previously led the product team at Intuit QuickBooks Capital, has been appointed as Fundbox's new Chief Product Officer. Fundbox's collaboration with two leading fintech infrastructure companies, as well as the appointment of a Chief Product Officer, are part of a larger effort to expand its working capital platform. Fundbox has seen significant growth and rapid adoption of the product, with payment volume increasing by more than 80% quarter over quarter, and the median active customer using it more than five times per month for applications such as payroll, inventory, and rent. Fundbox solutions are available to business owners through embedded experiences with business systems and accounting solutions, as well as directly through the Fundbox website and mobile app. Fundbox's platform has enabled access to over $3 billion in working capital and has connected with half a million businesses. “Our new partnership with Galileo and MetaBank enables us to expand and scale payment offerings on our platform, We will introduce a number of new Flex Pay capabilities later this year, including a bill pay functionality where customers can make fast and easy payments to third party merchants on the platform.” -Prashant Fuloria, CEO of Fundbox.

Read More

MARKETING AND NETWORKING,TECHNOLOGY

Helpmonks Launches Dedicated Small Business Email Marketing Platform With Flat-Fee Option

Helpmonks | June 27, 2022

Helpmonks wants to simplify and streamline email marketing for small business owners and solopreneurs. The email team collaboration provider launched a new service that prevents small business owners from getting bogged down in the complexities of a larger, more collaborative email outreach platform. Helpmonks, an email management platform, offers a variety of features, including a shared inbox, advanced contact and company management, reporting, live chat, knowledge-base, and email marketing. To make marketing more affordable, Helpmonks created Sendmonks, a standalone email marketing and automation platform based on the parent service's years of experience with marketing clients. The new Sendmonks service features: Unique flat-fee pricing with a $99 monthly cost offers unlimited email newsletters, email automation, and sending. Tools for creating targeted email campaigns, sequences, drip emails, and newsletters, among other templates. Unlimited landing pages, dynamic forms, unlimited contacts, and unlimited users. Reports based on advanced analytics that let users fine-tune campaigns. The free plan includes landing pages, forms, email automation, and email sending. "With our shared inbox, we always made it easy to use our platform for sales and marketing. We decided to make our email marketing platform available as a standalone product for those who want to use a straightforward email marketing tool without paying the big bucks." -Nitai Aventaggiato, the CEO, Online marketers, e-commerce owners, newsletter creators, and online business creators from nearly any niche can choose Helpmonks' broader online marketing, email creation, and collaborative team platform for complex campaigns. This more comprehensive service is ideal for teams working together through a shared inbox. However, for small business owners who want a more uncomplicated, more manageable service that they can operate single-handedly, the new Sendmonks platform is an ideal solution. Sendmonks, as the first flat-fee service, keeps things as straightforward as possible while delivering a complete set of advanced email marketing tools. These include numerous professional templates for newsletters and drip campaigns that easily can be created within the platform. Sendmonks also offers activity-logging for tracking multiple email campaigns as efficiently as possible without a collaborative team. Not everyone wants or needs a shared inbox. However, everyone should use email marketing," says Nitai Aventaggiato. Sendmonks is our standalone Email Marketing & Email Automation Platform based on years of experience." According to Helpmonks, email marketing shouldn't be complicated to work powerfully. Campaign management tools that provide crucial delivery and campaign formation tools can create exponential results while being tailored for individual business owners. That's why the Sendmonks service offers a robust package of tools and combines it with unlimited sending for one single price. Online sellers interested in making their email marketing perform more effectively and profitably can now create their free marketing account.

Read More

TECHNOLOGY

OneDirectory Enters SMB Market With New Pricing Offer for Small Businesses

OneDirectory | June 29, 2022

OneDirectory, a leading software-as-a-service provider of modern employee directory software, announced the launch of its new employee directory pricing offer for small businesses. Since 2010, OneDirectory has helped over 500 businesses implement employee directory solutions to better connect their people and offices.Traditionally, OneDirectory has served larger businesses but with recent shifts to remote and hybrid work, even the smallest of businesses are needing a tool to bring their employees together. "Over the past year we've had an increase in smaller businesses reaching out and trialing our product,These are businesses with 100 employees or less that have wanted our product but our pricing plans have remained a roadblock." -Lawrence Cawood, CEO at OneDirectory To solve this OneDirectory created a new pricing plan to help smaller businesses gain the benefits of an enterprise employee directory solution. The new small business plan is $79 per month for businesses up to 100 employees, which is a saving of 68% on the previous lowest plan. OneDirectory's other pricing plans range from $249 to $2,000+ per month. "When tackling the SMB market many software providers reduce features and options for their smaller customers, So we've decided not to remove any product features from our new plan for small businesses." -Greg Bennett, Head of Marketing at OneDirectory When it comes to employee directories many small businesses have the same requirements as larger businesses, so OneDirectory made sure that their small business plan included all the following features: employee profiles, people search, office directory, skills directory, and org chart. We're excited to bring our software to smaller businesses and see the impact it will have on employee collaboration and engagement, says Cawood. Businesses of all sizes are struggling to connect their employees, especially as hybrid and remote work is becoming the norm. At OneDirectory, we remain focused on solving this problem with our modern employee directory platform. OneDirectory has six pricing plans tailored for different-sized businesses. The new plans are currently in effect as of 20th June 2022. The new pricing plans can be found here: https://www.onedirectory.com/pricing. About OneDirectory OneDirectory is a leading software-as-a-service provider of modern employee directory software that helps companies improve the efficiency of their digital workplaces. 500+ organizations rely on OneDirectory's employee directory platform to better connect their employees and offices.

Read More

MANAGEMENT,BUSINESS STRATEGY

Fundbox Announces Partnerships: Adds Former Goldman Sachs Exec as Chief Product Offer with a Vision of Expanding Payment Capabilities

Fundbox | June 27, 2022

Fundbox, a small business embedded working capital platform, announced today that it has partnered with Galileo Financial Technologies, an open API platform that enables unique and differentiated financial solutions, and MetaBank®, N.A., a leading economic empowerment company, to accelerate its product roadmap and bring innovative products to market. In addition, jin Hwang, who most recently served as Head of Product - Platform at Marcus by Goldman Sachs and previously led the product team at Intuit QuickBooks Capital, has been appointed as Fundbox's new Chief Product Officer. Fundbox's collaboration with two leading fintech infrastructure companies, as well as the appointment of a Chief Product Officer, are part of a larger effort to expand its working capital platform. Fundbox has seen significant growth and rapid adoption of the product, with payment volume increasing by more than 80% quarter over quarter, and the median active customer using it more than five times per month for applications such as payroll, inventory, and rent. Fundbox solutions are available to business owners through embedded experiences with business systems and accounting solutions, as well as directly through the Fundbox website and mobile app. Fundbox's platform has enabled access to over $3 billion in working capital and has connected with half a million businesses. “Our new partnership with Galileo and MetaBank enables us to expand and scale payment offerings on our platform, We will introduce a number of new Flex Pay capabilities later this year, including a bill pay functionality where customers can make fast and easy payments to third party merchants on the platform.” -Prashant Fuloria, CEO of Fundbox.

Read More

MARKETING AND NETWORKING,TECHNOLOGY

Helpmonks Launches Dedicated Small Business Email Marketing Platform With Flat-Fee Option

Helpmonks | June 27, 2022

Helpmonks wants to simplify and streamline email marketing for small business owners and solopreneurs. The email team collaboration provider launched a new service that prevents small business owners from getting bogged down in the complexities of a larger, more collaborative email outreach platform. Helpmonks, an email management platform, offers a variety of features, including a shared inbox, advanced contact and company management, reporting, live chat, knowledge-base, and email marketing. To make marketing more affordable, Helpmonks created Sendmonks, a standalone email marketing and automation platform based on the parent service's years of experience with marketing clients. The new Sendmonks service features: Unique flat-fee pricing with a $99 monthly cost offers unlimited email newsletters, email automation, and sending. Tools for creating targeted email campaigns, sequences, drip emails, and newsletters, among other templates. Unlimited landing pages, dynamic forms, unlimited contacts, and unlimited users. Reports based on advanced analytics that let users fine-tune campaigns. The free plan includes landing pages, forms, email automation, and email sending. "With our shared inbox, we always made it easy to use our platform for sales and marketing. We decided to make our email marketing platform available as a standalone product for those who want to use a straightforward email marketing tool without paying the big bucks." -Nitai Aventaggiato, the CEO, Online marketers, e-commerce owners, newsletter creators, and online business creators from nearly any niche can choose Helpmonks' broader online marketing, email creation, and collaborative team platform for complex campaigns. This more comprehensive service is ideal for teams working together through a shared inbox. However, for small business owners who want a more uncomplicated, more manageable service that they can operate single-handedly, the new Sendmonks platform is an ideal solution. Sendmonks, as the first flat-fee service, keeps things as straightforward as possible while delivering a complete set of advanced email marketing tools. These include numerous professional templates for newsletters and drip campaigns that easily can be created within the platform. Sendmonks also offers activity-logging for tracking multiple email campaigns as efficiently as possible without a collaborative team. Not everyone wants or needs a shared inbox. However, everyone should use email marketing," says Nitai Aventaggiato. Sendmonks is our standalone Email Marketing & Email Automation Platform based on years of experience." According to Helpmonks, email marketing shouldn't be complicated to work powerfully. Campaign management tools that provide crucial delivery and campaign formation tools can create exponential results while being tailored for individual business owners. That's why the Sendmonks service offers a robust package of tools and combines it with unlimited sending for one single price. Online sellers interested in making their email marketing perform more effectively and profitably can now create their free marketing account.

Read More

TECHNOLOGY

OneDirectory Enters SMB Market With New Pricing Offer for Small Businesses

OneDirectory | June 29, 2022

OneDirectory, a leading software-as-a-service provider of modern employee directory software, announced the launch of its new employee directory pricing offer for small businesses. Since 2010, OneDirectory has helped over 500 businesses implement employee directory solutions to better connect their people and offices.Traditionally, OneDirectory has served larger businesses but with recent shifts to remote and hybrid work, even the smallest of businesses are needing a tool to bring their employees together. "Over the past year we've had an increase in smaller businesses reaching out and trialing our product,These are businesses with 100 employees or less that have wanted our product but our pricing plans have remained a roadblock." -Lawrence Cawood, CEO at OneDirectory To solve this OneDirectory created a new pricing plan to help smaller businesses gain the benefits of an enterprise employee directory solution. The new small business plan is $79 per month for businesses up to 100 employees, which is a saving of 68% on the previous lowest plan. OneDirectory's other pricing plans range from $249 to $2,000+ per month. "When tackling the SMB market many software providers reduce features and options for their smaller customers, So we've decided not to remove any product features from our new plan for small businesses." -Greg Bennett, Head of Marketing at OneDirectory When it comes to employee directories many small businesses have the same requirements as larger businesses, so OneDirectory made sure that their small business plan included all the following features: employee profiles, people search, office directory, skills directory, and org chart. We're excited to bring our software to smaller businesses and see the impact it will have on employee collaboration and engagement, says Cawood. Businesses of all sizes are struggling to connect their employees, especially as hybrid and remote work is becoming the norm. At OneDirectory, we remain focused on solving this problem with our modern employee directory platform. OneDirectory has six pricing plans tailored for different-sized businesses. The new plans are currently in effect as of 20th June 2022. The new pricing plans can be found here: https://www.onedirectory.com/pricing. About OneDirectory OneDirectory is a leading software-as-a-service provider of modern employee directory software that helps companies improve the efficiency of their digital workplaces. 500+ organizations rely on OneDirectory's employee directory platform to better connect their employees and offices.

Read More

Spotlight

The Content Advisory

The Content Advisory

Content is everything the business creates in order to communicate. In today’s world, the way we communicate is the only thing that separates us from the next: The next click, the next competitor, the next answer. TCA – The Content Advisory is a consulting and training company; blending the art and ...

Events

How to Launch your e-Commerce and Start your Online Business

Webinar

Your Marketing Roadmap - Content, Publicity and Personal Branding

Webinar

FUTURE WORKFORCE CONFERENCE

Conference

Resources

resource image

SMALL BUSINESS ADVICE

How to Increase Small Business Sales Online? - 5 Awesome Tips

Article

resource image

SMALL BUSINESS ADVICE

How to Increase Small Business Sales Online? - 5 Awesome Tips

Article

resource image

INDUSTRY OUTLOOK

How to Calculate the Growth of a Company and Improve It?

Article

resource image

SMALL BUSINESS ADVICE

5 Tips to Help Small Businesses Thrive In 2022

Video

Events