CREATING COMPELLING CONTENT

Content marketing is one of the most effective ways to engage with your customers – and ICG MEDIA makes it easy for brands to deliver tailored content in creative ways that resonate with readers.

Passionate about producing great content, while using curiosity and innovation to drive efficiencies, ICG Media offers a range of bespoke content creation solutions centred around its print prowess. Combining this with top in-house talent, CEO Marcus HawkinsAdams says the team is well-versed in serving clients “beyond normal range”.

“Whether we’re informing, entertaining, raising awareness or straight-out selling, we aim to deliver above and beyond expectations. It’s what we thrive on, and it’s this drive that’s built ICG Media’s reputation as a content development powerhouse,” says Marcus.

To back this up, the print, marketing and publishing company boasts an impressive list of clients including the likes of Resene, Liquorland and AA for which they produce titles such as Habitat by Resene, and Liquorland Toast as well as digital extensions.

Marcus says that these brands are amongst the leaders in content marketing. “They truly recognise its value in reaching customers in compelling ways that educate and inspire audiences by intertwining their messaging with something people actually want to read, watch, listen to or interact with.”

He adds that whatever their client’s needs, ICG Media can offer all the services of a content production agency that delivers. “Whether you have a fully formed, carefully planned campaign in mind or you need some help with initial ideas, we’ll work with you to understand your brand, your business, and what you’re trying to achieve, and then produce the content to match.

“Simply put, we can paint on any canvas, and have the tools and techniques to create masterpieces. We offer everything from print to video, social content, styling and digital creation. We pride ourselves on working through every available channel where relevant,” he says.

This type of content production also offers clients an economic way to utilise marketing dollars, because if done correctly, content becomes timeless and will continue to deliver across multiple channels. “For example, the Bailey’s Chocolate Ganache has been a top recipe for over five years on the Liquorland Toast website. That’s not an impression or a click, it is someone reading that article with a view time around 2.5 minutes.”

To this, Senior Account Director Sophie Collett says that customers/audiences are increasingly expecting a constant dialogue with brands, and for this, the content must not just be relevant, it must actually resonate with them to be effective. “Interestingly we have found that in the post-pandemic world with eroding trust due to digital misinformation, there is a resurgence in

interest for print media to be included as part of the mix. This has been corroborated by recent data coming out of the Magazine Publishers Association,” she says.

PUBLISHING PARTNERS

Sophie says that her clients also appreciate the fact that ICG Media partners with them throughout the creation journey. “They bring their industry expertise and we bring our strategic, editorial, and creative know-how, and we work together every step of the way.

“Additionally, we don’t just work with the client themselves, but also their advertisers and key suppliers. That makes us relevant and agile: we’re easy to work with and what we deliver is never in danger of being off the mark because we understand the client’s brand and their key goals.”

It’s ICG Media’s potent mix of strategy, editorial and creative within one business – striving for the right balance between clients getting the results they’re after and audiences getting useful, relevant content – that Marcus says sets their offering apart from others in the market.

“There are four pillars we focus on to create effective content. Firstly, there’s the strategy component: understanding who our client’s audience is so we can create content that’s going to genuinely resonate with them. Second, there’s editorial and design: our teams are full of incredibly skilled and passionate people who produce top-quality content our audiences are willing to pay for. Third, for some clients, we manage advertising sales and other commercial opportunities for them. And finally, we have strong logistics and distribution capabilities: we understand how to get the content into the right place at the right time, whether we’re dealing with a physical magazine or digital content.”

These same teams are also used to produce ICG Media’s paid publications

( dish, Good and Nzmarketing magazines), so it’s fair to say that they understand the editorial process and are in tune with audiences at this level.

“We approach any project like any piece of editorial: we think how can we make this interesting to readers?

What does our audience want to know, what do they care about? That makes for excellent content – which drives brand engagement. Our clients know they can trust us to reach the audiences they want to reach, because we’re experts at delivering content that resonates,” says Marcus.

Sophie adds: “We also have everybody under roof. You can be in the photo studio, with the printers and with the video experts all on one site, on the same day. It’s an offering not many people have and it makes creating content frictionless for clients.”

Above all, however, Marcus says that credibility, innovation and creativity are the drivers that inspire his teams and gives confidence to the brilliant brands they represent. “Clients can trust us to do their work with the same care, skill and dedication to quality that they put into their own brand.”

And in the end, Content Director Lauragrace Mcfarland says that what’s produced is storytelling that sells. “We’re all about telling the story of your business in a way that’s so compelling it creates demand.

We treat other people’s business like it’s our own. When a client comes to us to create content, they can trust that we have the expertise and drive to create content that resonates with the people they want to reach,” she concludes.

Content marketing is a proud part of ICG Media’s DNA – and a vital part of any marketing mix. With a full suite of content marketing strategy services, we can take your project from start to finish or offer specific services for wider campaigns. To find out more, get in contact with Marcus via marcus.hawkins@icg.co.nz