Brand Journalism Is a Modern Marketing Imperative

In June 2004, McDonald's introduced its "brand journalism" plan at an Advertising Age conference. As part of the McDonald's turnaround plan, brand journalism was McDonald's new approach to marketing. No single ad could tell the whole multi-dimensional story of a mega-brand like McDonald's, which means different things in different regions to different people in different situations with different needs. A brand's story cannot be a simple-minded, over-simplification of a complex brand idea. In our current mobile, digital, multi-platform, sharing economy, brand journalism is an even more relevant communications approach than it was 10 years ago.