Content Marketing Lessons from Actor Kevin Spacey

They are Dying for Stories

One of my favorite actors, Kevin Spacey, gave a speech that has run through the content marketing world with great enthusiasm.  In fact, he will now be a keynote speaker at the Content Marketing Institute's World 2014 conference in Cleveland, Ohio on September 8-11, 2014.  I'm going!

If you have not watched this video, you can find it here. It's really great, especially if you're a House of Cards fan, like I am.

Spacey explains the experience he had with marketing the series to the major networks before Netflix backed the project.  He then argues:

The audience has spoken.  They want stories.  They are dying for them.  They are routing for us to give them the right thing. 

And they will talk about it; binge on it; carry it with them on the bus and to the hairdresser; force it on their friends; Facebook; tweet; blog; make fan pages; make silly GIFs; and God knows what else about it. Engage with it with a passion and intimacy that a blockbuster movie can only dream of.  

And, all we have to do is give it to them.  The prize fruit is right there.  Shinier and juicier than it's ever been.

He also explains:

Give them [the audience] what they want, when they want it, in the form they want it in . . . . The audience wants control.  They want freedom.

Give it to them, even if the story is dark, sophisticated, complicated, developed over a long time, and made available for binge consumption.  What does that "tribe" want?  How do you engage with that tribe?

If you want more information about content marketing and the cultural shift behind it, see my posts here and here.