Prometheus, Rush and the Power of Consistently Awesome Content

I’m a huge Ridley Scott fan.  “Bladerunner” is my all-time favorite movie.  “Matchstick Men” is one of the most clever films I’ve seen.  And who didn’t love “Gladiator” and “Alien”?

So, I was chomping at the bit to see Scott’s latest cinematic foray, “Prometheus.”  Touted as an “Alien” prequel, it follows a band of scientists who travel to deep space in search of humanity’s “engineers.”  Here are a few review excerpts, courtesy of  Rotten Tomatoes:

Prometheus–like, in its telling, the human race itself–is a creation spliced from the DNA of superior forebears. –Christopher Orr, The Atlantic

Prometheus could be starting something great. While it looks amazing, the jury is out on whether it ends up reminding me of ‘The Matrix Reloaded’ more than anything else. –Jeff Bayer, The Scorecard Review

Scott was so intent on returning his spawn to glory that he mistakenly shot for “Alien” by way of “2001: A Space Odyssey,” making it all the more disappointing when he inevitably settled for “Aliens” by way of “Lost in Space.” –Jordan Hiller, Bangitout.com

What do these reviews have in common?  Well, they all agree with my assessment of the film: it’s derivative.  And, therefore, terribly disappointing. Who wants to shell out $10+ on a mishmash of things they’ve seen before?  I spent my viewing time going from “Wow, that’s beautiful” to “What the heck just happened?” to “Oh, that reminds me of “Close Encounters”/”Bladerunner”/[insert sci-fi classic here].”

Another momentous event happened recently, too—one with quite a different outcome. Rush, the Canadian progressive rock band, released its 20th album, to great critical and fan acclaim.  “Clockwork Angels” leads listeners along “on a young man’s quest across a lavish and colorful world of steampunk and alchemy as he attempts to follow his dreams” (Amazon.com). The Billboard review said “…fans of Rush’s classic, riff-driven approach and ensemble virtuosity will find aural nirvana” in some of the tracks.  It went straight to #2 on the Billboard chart.

Well, here it is, album number 20 for the trio from Canada, and this album sounds just as fresh as anything out there. The album explodes out of the speakers with a rapid crystal-clear urgency— John J. Martinez, Amazon customer review

The title of another review says it all: “Put ‘em in the Hall of Fame, already!”

If you want to sample the “Clockwork Angels” tracks, by the way, you can do so here.

Okay, so now that it’s been firmly established that I’m a girl nerd, it’s time to discuss what all of this has to do with HR B2B marketing:  

Consistently awesome content. 

If you want to be effective in your marketing efforts, you need to consistently put out content, and it needs to be consistently awesome.

Your white papers shouldn’t be thinly veiled sales brochures but contain genuinely useful content for your target audience.  Your Tweets shouldn’t just be ads for your latest product or service but include quality, curated content from other sources.  Your blog posts should offer genuine thought leadership and reference other blogs, current events and even pop culture (ahem).  Here’s guidance from PR Newswire’s report, Mastering Public Relations in Social Media:

A popular rule-of- thumb is the 70-20-10 rule: 70% of a brand’s social media should involve content of general interest to the community or industry, 20% should simply be conversation – responding to others – and then the community will accept 10% direct promotion.

It’s hard to be consistently awesome.  Ask any Olympian. Ask the members of Rush, or Ridley Scott.  It requires tremendous effort, every day.  That’s why most bands/directors/organizations aren’t.  That’s why Rush has such a loyal, decades-long following of hardcore fans, despite almost zero radio play. And that’s why making consistent awesomeness your goal will put you ahead of the majority of your competitors.

I’m off to blast “Clockwork Angels” while waiting for the director’s cut of “Prometheus.”  You—go create some awesome content.

Post written by HRmarketer staff member Heath Havlick.

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