The Philosophies of Language 2017

The history and future of language, why we need discovery rather than search, and a look at the science behind what we say.

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Never before has the quality of content online been more important. In a world where search algorithms rank increasingly on the context and quality of language, rather than simply key-words in isolation, brands are consequently shifting focus to this area. The extraordinary dominance of Facebook and Google in terms of consumer time, attention, and ultimately revenue over the traditional world of television media further compounds the importance of content. The phenomena of fake news does little to stop the content train hurtling on. The world is online, it’s content driven, and it’s tearing up the rule book.

If we look to the history of marketing, smart use of content came before commercial television advertising. Lever, Procter&Gamble and Colgate-Palmolive soap were used in context within their sponsored television shows (the origin of the term ‘soap opera’) before the arrival of direct advertising to consumers. When commercial television did arrive, marketing suddenly became about interruption — everyone saw adverts on television because there were so few channels and shows to watch. While the proliferation of channels and shows diluted the impact, the advent of the Internet quickly removed that interruption, and the tech firms, in particular, are disrupting the industry and destroying television revenues as a result.

This brings us full circle. In Seth Godin’s words, “content is the only marketing that’s left”.

View the full white paper here (email required).