Collective Curation

Credible brands can become hubs for Collective Curation, bringing a focused theme to life through the voices of others.

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It’s easy for columnists to claim that brands should be acting like media channels, but it’s hard for many marketers to actually pull this off. Many brands simply don’t have the resources to sustain a steady stream of unique content, while others haven’t realized that a flood of uninspiring content can be more detrimental than sharing nothing at all. In either case, these brands are better off providing a forum for shared selection, where the brand’s primary role is not to provide all the answers but to define the parameters of the discussion. On the spectrum of content creators to content aggregators, Collective Curators certainly skew towards the latter end (as opposed to Gurus), but they still have more of a perspective than a truly neutral, automated aggregator. The content might come from amateur consumers or external experts, but companies can define and refine their brands by aggregating, consolidating, and communicating the best content on a given topic.

market manifestations

• Pin the Long Tail: Pinterest has made it easier than ever for creative brands to inspire, and be inspired by, their consumers, and perhaps no one is doing this more effectively than HGTV. The brand deftly organizes its Pinterest content around behaviors like “Start Decorating,” “Start Organizing,” “Start Crafting,” and “Start Repurposing,” with each pinboard delivering a collection of beautiful images captioned with helpful tips. When the occasional pin links back to HGTV’s own website, it feels less like a sales pitch and more like an organic element in the rest of the narrative about aspiring to, and achieving, better-looking homes.
• Discover Together: The web may have a treasure trove of inspiring content dispersed in its farthest reaches, but these nuggets become infinitely more accessible with a tip from a trusted friend. Well, “friend” might be a strong term to describe your relationship with Rick Bayless, Alicia Silverstone, or the numerous other contributors to OpenSky, a site that lets you follow the shopping recommendations of major players in the worlds of food, fashion, health, and design. But the site’s premise—that members and experts discover new things together—makes the readers feel as if they’re uncovering these secrets alongside the experts. If that’s the case, maybe “friend” wasn’t too strong of a term after all.

implications

If there’s room to debate a topic, there’s an opportunity for the right brand to curate the conversation. For instance, B2B brands can talk all they want about how they support and understand small businesses, but American Express’ OPEN Forum walks the walk by aggregating, curating, and publishing a constant stream of columns, tips, and conversations. And just like Guruism, good Curators resonate with their audiences on a human level. Purely automated curatorial processes are bound to ring hollow and will struggle to inspire participants to continue contributing content. Rather than overposting and getting “unliked” by their followers, brands that are comfortable and confident enough to stay in the background can empower their most enthusiastic advocates to be collaborators and can pick and choose from the best content they’ve generated on your behalf.