Comments on: Content Strategy, or, Let’s Make a Mixtape

By: jeffcram

jeffcram — Sat, 08 May 2010 00:06:38 +0000

As luck would have it, we recently created a CMS Mix tape (also available on iTunes). You can read about it on our blog. Although I think content strategy as a discipline could use its own special tracks.

http://www.cmsmyth.com/2010/03/the-ultimate-cms...

Jeff Cram

By: Erin Kissane

Erin Kissane — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 04:40:42 +0000

Pwnd. I spent countless hours in high school and college tuning mixtapes, trying one flow after another and testing flows based on chord sequences and BPM and thematic content. This post explains so much about my subsequent career.

By: clintonforry

clintonforry — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 22:25:03 +0000

Thanks for reading!

A co-worker here at Brain Traffic sent me the link to the Avenue Q Mixtape Song after this post was published, in fact.

The iTunes analogy is very fitting. Music examples are some of the most effective ways of illustrating these thoughts.

Looking forward to that next blog post!

By: J. Todd Bennett

J. Todd Bennett — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 17:18:16 +0000

Clinton, this is brilliant! (Have you been listening to Avenue Q?) As someone perpetually stuck in the 80's, I wish I had thought of this.

In the past I have described how iTunes has changed the way we listen to music by freeing songs from their pre-determined package/order as a metaphor for how CMSs have facilitated the separation of content from design, freeing it for reuse.

But I think the idea of the mixtape really emphases the thoughtfulness content strategy brings to this. So many people have used technology to free their content, but still haven't applied the thought (strategy & curation) that really makes the collective content compelling.

Hey, I think you've just inspired my next blog post!

By: clintonforry

clintonforry — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 00:07:40 +0000

As one who figuratively dwells in the world of content strategy as well as upholding its principles, it appears that I confused the two terms. It has been corrected.

Thanks for reading, and thanks for the heads up!

By: Tony Srye

Tony Srye — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 23:23:50 +0000

I'm a big fan of mixtapes but never pictured them like content strategy. Good analogy, good info.

Keep it going

By: maleyneil

maleyneil — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 22:23:03 +0000

“For those unfamiliar, a review of some basic tenants of content strategy:”

I think you mean “tenets.”
Great analogy, and great post.

By: clintonforry

clintonforry — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 22:01:10 +0000

Indeed! I remember getting C-30 tapes with 15 minutes per side. That made for less-is-more selecting, for sure. More content is not always the best answer, as your C-120 example shows. There are tons of real-life examples of that online.

By: clintonforry

clintonforry — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 21:53:10 +0000

Thanks for reading!

Content strategy indeed needs to be inclusive of consumer needs. Those needs are to be met in a sustainable fashion by using existing content or creating/acquiring new content.

For me, mixtapes have been about taking the content you have (or can sustainably acquire) to an audience in hopes of conveying a specific message. That message can be as simple as "I have amazing taste in music" or as complex as "Let's move to Fiji, this tape will explain why."

By: naumannclature

naumannclature — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 22:11:31 +0000

I love this analogy, because making a mixtape (as I recall – it’s been awhile) is all about communicating an important, passionate message to an individual rather than dispassionately relaying information to a nameless, faceless audience.