Each week, we aggregate the insights, issues and ideas dominating the conversations about brand engagement, customer loyalty and the future of marketing.

Vans’ Taps into Youth Culture for Authentic Storytelling Content

The rebellious brand went on the search for stories that represented their brand. The brand long known for its organic ties to youth culture is leveraging existing stories to tell their story in an authentic way. They are focusing on proprietary content over advertising and it seems to be working.

Read: Why Chinese Punks, Russian Skaters, Vegan Cupcakes and Authentic Storytelling are the Future of Vans

Source: Fast Company

Be Brave. Be Bold. Be a Leader.

The best brand leaders trust in themselves and their vision. To truly stand out you have to take some risks and go outside of your comfort zone. This doesn’t mean jumping out of a plane with no parachute, do your research, just don’t settle for the status quo.

Read: Bold Leadership Series: Fortune Favours the Confidently Fearless

Source: Cult Collective

Customers Crave Content

It’s important to strike a balance between delivering transactional offers and actual content to customers. Gone are the days when people only wanted to receive discount and transaction based notifications. It’s important to foster customer’s need for a closer connection with brands through content, regardless of the sector you operate in.

Read: The 4 Cs of Customer Engagement: People Want Content

Source: Click Z

New Customer Journey Means New Methods of Engagement

Technology has radically changed the way people act with brands. Traditional CRM tools are no longer sufficient because it’s not about managing customer relationships anymore, it’s about creating and optimizing engagement across numerous digital touch points. It’s important to know how the landscape has changed and how to stay ahead of the pack.

Read: The Blossoming Relationship Between Marketing and Engagement in the New Customer Journey

Source: Forbes

Market Smart, Optimize Your Efforts to Deliver Value

To truly maximize your marketing efforts the first step is taking an introspective look and really nailing down, who you are, what you stand for, and what you want to deliver customers. You can’t simply provide a product or service, you have to deliver value. To truly take your brand to the next level departments have to interact and work together in order to achieve synergy.

Read: Is Your Brand Boring Your Customers? 

Source: Cult Collective

Kraft Capitalizes on Emerging Trend for New Contest

The food juggernaut is capitalizing on the quickly growing trend of, “food hacking”, where home cooks give everyday foods unexpected twists. The company is on the search for the next great “food hacker” and intends to use this growing trend to create buzz and content across their numerous platforms.

Read: Kraft Searches for Canada’s Ultimate Food Hacker

Source: Marketing Mag