Shafqat Islam

About Shafqat Islam

How killer content can move masses

There’s no such thing as a free lunch, right? But in the world of content, there is.

In this world, gone is the thinking from consumers that if something is free, it’s not going to be worth the paper it’s written on.

In the UK, British Airways, M&S and Sports Direct are some of the brands that are surprising and delighting consumers by using good content to tap into their love of TV, fashion and adventure.

How brands can make the most of corporate sponsorship

With Summer now here, brands need to be clear on how they can get more out of event sponsorships.

Typically, brands stick to reaching consumers on the ground. At Glastonbury 2013, mobile network EE targeted throbs of sweaty music-lovers by offering them a free 3G connection, courtesy of their own Wi-Fi tractor.

Also at Glastonbury 2013, another brand, Southern Comfort, created Juke Joint, an on-site music venue that mimicked the ambience of a New Orleans bar.

Both EE and Southern Comfort went above and beyond handing out free samples. Though their tactics landed them a fair amount of coverage, they were still only interacting with festival goers on the ground.

Five ways to ensure your marketing strategy grows with your business

One of the most daunting tasks for any new business is developing a marketing analytics model that can scale and grow with the company.  

With a fast-growing startup, the value of every marketing decision, from website design to content creation to attending conferences, is critical. 

Individual startups will have differing needs dependant on various factors. However, we found that there were five key points that helped us to successfully grow our strategy with the business as we went from 10 people to more than 100.

Five ways to avoid content congestion

While content creation might be the marketing strategy du jour, creating unique and creative stories is just half the battle.

Getting people to actually read and engage with your content is the most important – and difficult – task.

With the popularity content marketing is seeing, brands risk creating a tide of ‘content congestion’, an overload of content that leads many to ignore it altogether. 

Even the most engaging stories can get lost in the flurry of newsletters and social updates that are pumped out daily from brands.

So how can you make sure that your content doesn’t get lost in the shuffle?

Five brands with effective content strategies

Ad campaigns come and go, but stories endure. As the Pulitzer Prize-winning audio historian, Studs Terkel, said: “People are hungry for stories. It’s part of our very being. Storytelling is a form of history, of immortality too. It goes from one generation to another”.

Brands can build audiences with content that contributes to a relevant, human conversation.

Below are five brands that have taken the time to get their content strategies right by keeping their overarching purpose clear.