A few intertwining thoughts this week as the spread of the global COVID-19 pandemic consumes every aspect of our lives. First, there is Robert Rose’s rant about Ad Age’s recent content marketing awards, which he laments went to what were really just advertising campaigns extended across multiple platforms and with greater storytelling. Here is his definition of content marketing:

Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience – and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.

The key word in that definition, in my estimation, is “valuable:” The content must have intrinsic value to the audience, and not just to the brand, and the value must be independent of whether the audience makes an immediate decision to buy whatever good or service the brand offers.

I received a great example this week from Premo Consultants, which came in the form of an email with excellent crisis communications tips adapted for the COVID-19 outbreak. You can read the content here. CEO Joanna Doven provides great insight that the reader can use regardless of whether they choose to hire her agency. And she doesn’t use the email to make a direct pitch to hire her. But she does establish credibility and thought leadership that could indeed attract business in the long run.

She also avoids being crass, which many companies trying to hawk products and services in the midst of the outbreak have failed to do, and sometimes failed spectacularly. When life returns to normal — whatever normal looks like — some brands will emerge with their reputations bolstered, and some with theirs in tatters.