Brand Journalism: Why So Much Conflict?

According to google, traditional journalism is it to collect, process, and publicize the news to an audience. After all these years, traditional journalism is still a power part of media. You have to remember that there are many new forms of journalism being created everyday. In October of 2012, Lewis DVorkin even introduced the world to this new type of journalism. Let’s get more into “Brand Journalism”.

Brand journalism has become one of the most compelling forms of advertising. Brand journalism is also one of the most conflicted new advertising tools, which some people would find compelling. Is it a threat to traditional journalism? Some people say that this is a new trend for modern marketing. Some also says that it creates a voice for the brand over many platforms. Brand journalism is the amazing connection of public relations, corporate communications, and also marketing all types of content.

The best way to allure and attract consumers would be through engaging content such as advertising, blog posts, articles, and social media sites. These are methods to promote a brand and construct a reliable voice. Good brand journalism tells a story, not just make the consumer want to buy into the brand.

            So where does the conflict come from? People think the term “brand journalism” is new, but it does have a strong history. Some people may not understand the term, but they have noticed the use of this type of journalism in building a voice for the brand. When it comes to traditional journalism, you think of “what, when, where, who, and why”. But when it comes to brand journalism, the main focus is on “why".  The best way to get the “why" out to the consumers.

 What does good journalism do for the audience? It creates the brand voice for the business in a civil way, while at the same time paying attention to the value for the consumer. There is conflict when the brand journalism puts too many suggestive opinions in the media for the companies, where as traditional journalists are only able to put out objective content to the audience. There are also times where people only see brand journalism as “advertising” and not as news. This is where some more conflict comes from journalists and marketers.

Some feel that brand journalists and marketers would make life easier if they would work together to see the demands for all sides to see how all the conflicts start, especially when it comes to spreading the brand information on an automatic social media form. There is more of a sales position when it comes to the marketer; this makes them force the brand journalist to mention more detailed facts of the company that they are working for.  Businesses will feel the need to increase their investment in content marketing in the future.

When it comes to marketers, they are the ones that are more interested in making money, where the brand journalist help pay produce the “news” of the brand to the public. This is where another conflict may come to life. People feel that the means of profit is the reason why journalists feel the need to produce better news stories. High quality news is the support for the marketers to have more sales. 

Brand journalists are grasping the thought of working under marketers in this situation. This is what people call a great example of teamwork, especially if it is under good management even though some conflict may still exist. Brand journalism uses the approach, skills, characteristics of journalism to tell the story of a company, and this brings out the voice of the brand. This helps bridge the gap of the lack of trust that the consumer has with the advertisers. This also creates a platform for the companies and the consumers to build some amount of trust and connect. 

Brand journalism earns and keeps the attention of the audience. This will help the customer see the media, which is the brand journalist and the marketer, as a source that is trustworthy. They will also receive more attention and trust from the consumer if they produce interesting stories of the brand and having a great association of the brand that they are working for.

People feel that opinions are needed but not from the company that is trying to selling their brand to the public. Businesses are looking for new ways to push their brand out to the public through journalism. They just want to make sure that nothing backfires on their behalf. Consumers are gaining more knowledge with brand journalism and this is what the consumer wants to pay attention to when learning about these companies. Yes, there are come conflicts and controversies that come with brand journalism and marketers but at the end of the day; they have to depend on each other. They are a team that works great under an experienced administration that helps balance them both out.