The new media message

The new
media message

Why innovation stories deserve
innovative formats

If you think about it –
there’s really only one
tech story.

"The old way of doing things made sense.
But then the world changed.

Now there’s a new way of doing things.
And it makes a lot more sense."

Every paradigm shift, every
strategic leap forward, and
every disruption

is a demonstration
of this neat, little story.

Because when we’re selling
innovation, we’re selling a better
way to do things.
We’re selling change.

But here’s the thing – just telling
this story isn’t enough anymore.

We’re living through the most
exciting era in the history of tech.
And we’re drowning in a flood
of innovation stories.

If we want our stories heard,
we’ve got to pierce through the
collective noise of all the other
marketers and publishers and
Kardashians out there.

We’ve got to embrace the
change we’re selling and
become as innovative as the
companies we serve.

We’ve got to start
thinking just a little bit
bigger.

Switch to
these guys.

Keep swiping

Let’s think about
how we got here.

When the Internet first hit marketing
we did what people always do when
they start playing with new media.

We took what we were good
at doing in old media and then
ported it over to the web.

So our
eBooks

look
like
books.

Our slideshares

look like presentations.

And our
whitepapers
look like,
well,
whitepapers.

 What we didn’t do was get good
 at using digital media to do the
 things only digital media can do.

So just when we need new
ways to tell our stories,
it’s important we realize…

Our ‘better way of doing
things’ is staring us right
in the face.

Because a screen is so much
more than just digital paper.

A screen is
a window.

It has height.

It has breadth.

It has

depth.

A screen can suck you in.

It has physical character
when we want it.

And digital freedom
when we need it.

It can send
different readers in
different directions.

Pick a route

So you can say one thing to
one group and another thing
to another group.

It can follow your
story all the way down
into the weeds.

So you can let some of
your readers drill deeper.

That might seem like
a nice-to-have.

But when you tell your reader they
can drill deeper, you’re telling them
your story’s worth a deeper dive.

And rewarding them
for wanting more.

A screen can even make
the marketers behind it a
whole lot smarter.

This is all the
data generated
by you, right now.
Cool, right?

Mouse-X: 000

Mouse-Y: 000

Elapsed time: 0   

Total slides read: 0

Total unique slides read: 0

Slide child position: 0

Slide clicks – random: 0

Slide clicks – targeted: 0

Slide position: 0

Slide url: 0

Time on previous slide: 0

Average time on slides: 0

Put simply, a screen gives us
everything we need to blow our
reader’s socks off.

Make no mistake:
our listicles and whitepapers
and blog posts and eBooks
and slideshares and case
studies all do important jobs.

But in our bid to standardize
and industrialize content
marketing – we’ve fallen into
a dangerous trap.

We’ve made it predictable.

And

predictable

will

never

beat

surprising.

If we want our stories
to be surprising,
our storytelling needs
to be surprising too.

So let’s use screens
to do what only screens
can do.

So our audiences
can appreciate what
only we can do.

"The old way of doing things made sense.
Until the world changed.

Now there’s a new way of doing things.
And it makes a lot more sense."

This is a Velocity String.

It’s a format we’ve been working on
to tell more engaging B2B technology stories.
We’re pretty excited about it.

Tell me more

Beam me back up

It’s based on the open source framework
Reveal.js and it combines deep interactivity
with granular measurability to give B2B
marketers the swagger their stories deserve.

(We can even get a
form in this thing.)

Opt in to our crap?

Some strings we’ve done for clients

Some strings we’ve done for clients

Thanks for stringing.
Go on… share this sucker.
(make our day)

Overview

There was a time when just telling your innovation story was enough. But when the world’s drowning in a flood of innovation stories, we need to start thinking about new ways to tell them.

It’s an example of a new format we’ve developed called a Velocity String. You can read all about it here, when you’re done: A New Content Format.

We’d love to hear what you think – comments welcome. (And extra karma points for sharing.)

Enjoyed this article?
Take part in the discusion

Jump to comments

Opt into our crap

We will send the latest stuff written just for B2B content marketers exactly like you. Sound good?

illustration of a an envolope
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Comments

  1. Renato Kestener

    Wunderman

    April 11th, 2017

    Following Velocity for a while already and I can say that your job is the best out there (specially considering the B2B approach). Keep going!
    Cheers!

    Reply

    1. Harendra Kapur

      April 11th, 2017

      Ah jeez that’s lovely, thanks Renato. 🙂

  2. Laurie Wood

    Manitou Springs School District 14

    April 11th, 2017

    Schools, bastion of traditional delivery systems, talk about using technology and educating next generation on use of technology yet we are woefully behind the curve in both areas.

    Shared this with our leadership and tech department, good timing as we are revamping our web presence and deciding on new marketing tools.

    Always learn something when Kessler is around!!

    Reply

    1. Harendra Kapur

      April 11th, 2017

      Thanks so much for the comment, Laurie! I’m sure you guys will do great things with the new tools.

  3. Lee Kessler

    Analytic Partners.

    April 11th, 2017

    This is great! I’m still dubious about String Theory, but string practice is exciting as hell.

    Reply

    1. Harendra Kapur

      April 12th, 2017

      Cheers, Lee!

  4. Tamas Torok

    April 12th, 2017

    This is the best content I have seen so far this year! Great job.

    Quick question: is this content indexed by search engines or is it worth putting a transcript below the presentation?

    Reply

    1. Harendra Kapur

      April 12th, 2017

      That is high praise! 🙂

      Every page is indexed so the format’s great for SEO too.

    2. Harendra Kapur

      April 13th, 2017

      Tamas, my bad, I described that inaccurately. Google doesn’t index every page – it’s more like one big page with live text (so they do index it just not on separate pages).

  5. Asif

    Ideas Without Borders

    April 12th, 2017

    As always, excellent stuf,f, guys. You never fail to engage and inspire with your content. Keeping a keen eye on my Inbox for the next big thing from Velocity. Cheers.

    Reply

    1. Harendra Kapur

      April 12th, 2017

      That means a lot, thanks so much Asif. 🙂

  6. Paul

    Typeform

    April 12th, 2017

    You guys are always inspiring me. Shared with the team and one of our product owners loved the stats slide. Very clever.

    Looking forward to more next-level content.

    Reply

    1. Harendra Kapur

      April 12th, 2017

      Paul, this has totally made our day – we’re all huge Typeform fans in the office so to get a compliment from you guys means loads. Thanks so much.

  7. Michael Curzon-Berners

    April 12th, 2017

    Velocity, you continue to blow my mind.

    Reply

  8. Harendra Kapur

    April 13th, 2017

    Cheers, Michael.

    Reply

  9. D Smulevich

    May 2nd, 2017

    EPIC! Absolutely love both the format and the content

    Reply

    1. Harendra Kapur

      May 3rd, 2017

      Daniele! Cheers, man.

  10. Nandor

    Polymorph Studios

    May 18th, 2017

    Just curious about the code used for the presentation. Its very flexible – visually engaging and not as cumbersome as a slideshow sometimes can be.

    Was it a custom script, or is it based on an already existing snippet?

    Love your work,

    Reply

    1. Doug Kessler

      May 22nd, 2017

      Hi Nandor

      Thanks!
      The String format is based on a framework called reveal.js.
      Check it out!

  11. Genna

    Lot 86 Media

    May 18th, 2017

    Love your style and innovation!
    One suggestion: second last slide: “Opt in to our crap” – “Opt in” should be hyphenated: Opt-in 🙂 Sorry, it’s a ‘grammar nerd’ thing… I can’t help myself.

    Reply

    1. Doug Kessler

      May 22nd, 2017

      Thanks Genna!
      Much appreciated.
      (We’ll have to agree to disagree about “opt in”, though… ).

  12. Renae Gregoire

    The Write Idea / The Yes Advantage

    May 18th, 2017

    Several years ago, your B2B Marketing Manifesto changed the way I thought about information delivery; I share it as an example of a kick-ass content format with all of my clients! I’m now starting to share your “string” idea, too, despite my worry that you’ll steal my clients 🙂 Your stuff inspires me, and is too good not to share. Keep it coming!

    Reply

    1. Doug Kessler

      May 22nd, 2017

      So… exactly which clients?
      (Kidding: thanks for your kind words. Made our day!)

  13. Pooja Mehra

    ChaaiPani

    May 25th, 2017

    Thanks for this amazing article.

    Reply

    1. Doug Kessler

      June 13th, 2017

      Thank YOU for an amazing comment!

  14. Rebecca

    LPUK

    June 8th, 2017

    Flippin’ marvelous!

    Reply

  15. Nick

    Nick Hill Consultancy

    July 2nd, 2017

    This all sounds great. Do you have suggestions for how non-marketing industries could embrace the new kind of media messaging?

    Reply

    1. Doug Kessler

      July 25th, 2017

      Thanks Nick.
      The concept is exactly the same.
      We’ve used this new format for five or six tech companies (there are some links at the end of the piece) and it’s working really well.
      No reason it shouldn’t work in any market!

  16. Sarah

    August 17th, 2017

    As I was watching, I was thinking “How did they do this? I want to do this!” And they you told me. Great work – exciting project!

    Reply

    1. Sarah

      August 17th, 2017

      then^

    2. Doug Kessler

      August 21st, 2017

      Thanks, Sarah! We talk more about the Strong format in this post: https://velocitypartners.com/blog/new-content-format-velocity-string/

  17. Sheikh

    Connected Pictures

    August 30th, 2017

    I thoroughly enjoyed this Doug! Appreciate the effort that went into making it and absolutely loved the reminders that we need to think of in the B2B space.

    Reply

  18. Gary John McGeown

    Ni SEO Company

    February 26th, 2018

    Like you work Doug, and firmly agree that to hold any attention or position that you to STAND OUT!

    😉

    Gary

    Reply

    1. Doug Kessler

      February 27th, 2018

      Thanks, Gary! Harry Kapur wrote this one (And Dan Buxton designed it).

  19. Jonny allum

    Savage Spanner

    August 21st, 2019

    Guys, my business partner put me onto your site and I have to say I’m blown away. Reading through this site for hours now, have not been bored at any stage. I’ve been doing our brand marketing and learning every day, today I have learnt so much. We will be in touch in the future and would absolutely love to work with you. Hopefully you can help us take over the world!

    Thanks Guys..best website I’ve visited

    Reply

    1. Harendra Kapur

      August 21st, 2019

      That’s just made our week! Thanks so much Jonny

  20. Mayank Gulati

    ContentNinja

    October 5th, 2021

    This is so insanely good that I’m sad.

    “Why didn’t I come across this earlier?”

    “Why didn’t we think of this?”

    “Who do I need to sell my soul to for ideas this great?”

    Phenomenal. Can’t wait to try it out.

    Reply

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