All You Need Are Bricks & Feathers

Think in terms of bricks and feathers to create stronger brand content.

Now those two images are likely floating around in your head. And you’re already questioning – they fall at the same rate … right? In a vacuum, yes. The force of gravity will make a brick and feather fall at the same rate. But in normal conditions – where air resistance is a thing – the brick will land with a powerful thud while the feather will float side to side, dropping in a slow dance until it gently kisses the ground.

Both achieve impact, just in different ways.

There’s simplicity in this analogy for content development, as originally presented by the well-established Content Marketing Institute – which is why we like it.

So let’s take the idea even further – to marketing content development in foodservice.

Bricks and feathers.

Heavy vs. light. Complex undertaking vs. easy opportunity. Foundation-building vs. nice-to-have.

Brick = More ownable, a rarer find, a higher value piece – and in general, a heavier lift – from strategic depth to production complexity, including time and budget needed to accomplish it.

Inherently, bricks will have longer shelf-life and comprise unique, rich insight and content that intersects aggressively where the brand and product value propositions meet the needs of the foodservice buyer or top-of-funnel audience.

A brick should increase the baseline value proposition for your foodservice brand.
It might take shape as: a utilitarian culinary guide, a white paper on relevant segment trends, brand journalism, video storytelling around your brand’s ingredient story, etc.

Feathers = pieces of content that may not have as high a value to the audience but are necessary in building gentle salience for the brand – reminders that you exist for the benefit of your customers.

A feather might take shape as: trend and insight snippets, industry news curation, brand belief statements, short recipe or product application videos for social media, etc.

The beauty of the bricks and feathers analogy is operationally, it creates a meaningful way to think about creating content that can be reshaped and repurposed for longevity and relevance. Feathers can become pieces of the brick and bricks can become a compilation of feathers. Understanding this concept and creating content plans in accordance is like taking the express lane to content world.

Here’s how. First, create the bricks. Then the feathers.

10-step Bricks & Feathers Blueprint for Foodservice Marketers

1. Break down the decision-making factors your audience (the foodservice buyer) uses during consideration.
2. Document their need-states – emotionally as well as operationally.
3. Create an outline for places of intersection – How and where does your brand or product intersect with these needs? How can it resolve these needs in ways competitors cannot?
4. Through which channels do you need to communicate in order to reach your audience?
5. What media formats will best serve those channels? Decide what form(s) your bricks should take (e.g. video, interactive eBook, microsite, downloadable guide).
6. Get your design system ready – visuals, messaging tenets, voice, and tone.
7. Architect the brick so it can be pulled apart into feathers.
8. Write content based on all the above. Write it in meaningful, straightforward terms – don’t get too market-y or buzzy here … think palatable, bite-sized pieces of content. Speak like you’re talking to your next-door neighbor.
9. Layer together the visuals from your design system and the content generated in the previous step to transform your content in ownable ways.
10. Produce and activate through a brand experience plan.