Join us Oct. 26-28 in Newport Beach for the Digiday Media Buying Summit
SECURE YOUR SEAT
Zero-click Future
Brands turn to content series and Jimi Hendrix to improve AI search performance
Brands can’t tell ChatGPT how to talk about their products. One of the things they can do, however, is invest in more branded content, on their website or elsewhere, in an effort to give the models beneath chatbots used by consumers more to work with.
It’s leading companies like guitar manufacturer Fender and amp-maker Marshall to invest in website experiences and editorial content.
Fender’s interim CMO Kelly Magrath told Digiday the company had undertaken an overhaul of its website, aiming to turn it into a “front door that we can use as a storytelling platform” for the storied brand.
The new destination site includes short videos explaining Fender’s heritage, highlighting the artists who’ve played its guitars, such as Jimi Hendrix, as well as the skilled craftspeople behind its instruments. The company typically funnels paid media spending toward search, YouTube and social platforms; Magrath didn’t disclose its annual budget.
Much of that editorial is also distributed through owned social channels like YouTube, where guitar enthusiasts can find video series marking 75 years of the Telecaster (favored by George Harrison, Chrissie Hynde and James Hetfield) or pedal demos.
The effort is partially intended to improve Fender’s visibility during the product discovery or research phase of the consumer journey. Seven out of 10 U.S. consumers use ChatGPT or AI summaries when researching products or companies, according to a survey published by content marketing agency Skyword.
Hendrix might have played a Fender Stratocaster upside down (he was a lefty), but he plugged it into a Marshall amp. Marshall Group, the firm behind Marshall amps and headphones, has been pushing a YouTube series of its own, staging gigs by new bands in long-extinct venues like the London Fog or New York’s China Chalet. ‘Dead Venues’ is part of a wider brand campaign the company has been running since May; it’s also making use of digital paid inventory like YouTube, as well as partnerships with indie music publishers, out-of-home and experiential activity.
The work promotes a connection between support for today’s live music scene — Marshall maintains its own record label and sponsors tours and venues — and the company’s kit. In particular, it’s focusing on distinguishing itself in the competitive headphones market vp of brand marketing
“We’re a challenger,” Kennedy Grant said. “We are known as an iconic guitar amp brand, and as we differentiate into these new categories, we’ve really needed to reconsider who we want the consumer to know us as.”
Such efforts should also improve its visibility in AI search tools. “It’s such an important place for us to show up,” said Kennedy Grant of AI Overviews and LLM tools.
“AI is making it easier for consumers to find answers, but it’s also making it harder for brands to be remembered,” explained Andrew Wheeler, CEO of Skyword. “That puts a premium on the content brands create themselves based on their unique expertise; strong editorial that is distinctive gives AI and consumers specific ideas, resources, and points of view to trust, cite and recommend.”
In each case, search performance is far from the only consideration. Kennedy Grant is keen to ensure gig-goers and record collectors think of Marshall as “a brand that stands for something,” she said. “These headphones keeps live music alive.”
Magrath, meanwhile, said that Fender’s e-commerce presence required an overhaul that replaced its “transactional” shopfront with a platform that emphasizes consistent brand messaging and Fender’s custom guitar-building service.
It’s a path being taken by marketers worried about their SEO, or GEO, performance. “One of the best places to start is content where you have a right to win,” said Jim Yu, founder and CEO at SEO company BrightEdge.
Such activity doesn’t necessarily have to drive direct web traffic, as long as it improves citation or visibility scores, noted Urvashi Manral, associate director of discoverability at Attention Arc.
She said clients were increasing the budgets available to SEO teams in the hope of improving LLM recommendations. “ChatGPT is the new word of mouth,” said Manral. “If you really want to be the dominant result in those AI engines, the biggest and the quickest way to move the needle is through content.”
Paid search practitioners are keeping a close eye on how content can affect search performance. Stephani Estes, chief media officer at agency The Shipyard, said her agency was experimenting with owned content, creator activity and whether ‘boosting’ videos made by brands on platforms like YouTube might aid their intake by LLMs. Whether a brand can juice its profile with paid media, she said, was an open question.
“I don’t know that there is a silver bullet yet,” she said.
Brand marketers aren’t hanging around to find out the definitive answer, though. Three-fourths (75%) of marketers plan to increase spending on visibility in AI assistants next year, according to a Kantar survey published at the beginning of October.
Longer-form owned content can aid brand visibility, in part, because users have begun entering longer queries into search engines — moving on from the keyword-studded search strings deployed by web users prior to the advent of AI. In some cases, that looks like the glossy documentary-style video content Marshall and Fender are putting out; in others, it’s a blog post.
“A brand with a real point of view, expertise, examples, experiences and useful context gives an AI platform a much richer0-30 keywords,” said Emily Stutzman, CEO at creative agency Happylucky
The agency has been creating style editorials for client Adidas, she said: “We’re also seeing more owned content scopes from brands like Stanley 1913, and Salt & Straw.”
Again, these efforts aren’t solely directed at robot readers. They can, of course, also fulfill a brand-building function with human customers. “The brand that consistently publishes original thinking, useful expertise, distinctive opinions and firsthand experience is building a body of knowledge that can become a brand advantage when consumers are in a moment of search,” said Happylucky chief creative officer Ben Hennes.
A brand’s own content may be only one of several sources LLMs typically draw from when composing answers. But it’s one a marketer can control.
More in Marketing
Ikea’s CMO sees LLMs as the newest place a brand has to hold its line
LLMs have widened the brand. Ikea’s CMO thinks the basics still hold.
How many people does it take to run an agency? According to Bad Mktg, just two if you’re using AI
BaD Mktg is just two employees and a lot of AI to run the business and ideate. The secret to its success? The experience of the people leading the ideation.
‘Mission and capital can coexist’: Golden State Valkyries’ Jess Smith on pitch to sponsors
The WNBA’s newest team must navigate measurement demands and marketers wanting to share in the ‘mission’ if it’s to establish a commercial foothold.
