Interview with Belinda Barker, Chief Executive of World Media Group who was speaking at the launch of their report What's Next for Content-Led Marketing

We begin by discussing what's meant by content-led marketing - essentially revolving around the story of the brand. The report is in its third year and addresses many trends in content-led marketing including the factors that respondents felt added impact and effectiveness to brand storytelling around ESG issues for international audiences. Asked to predict the most exciting trends in content-led marketing over the next two years respondents provided a fairly balanced mix of forecasts around tech platforms, formats, and creative approach. The most frequently cited trend was the continuing growth of podcasts and audio formats. Clubhouse and the rise of other online communities were mentioned – how can brands make a play in this space? The pandemic has seen events of all kinds shift online and respondents envisage a continued exploration of brand activations in this space. And there was a divergence of opinion with respondents mentioning the need to “humanify” marketing and make it more personal, and others mentioning AI generated content.