BUSINESS: CONTENT MARKETING KINGS OF LANCASTER How Two A Local Brands Use Content Marketing to Standout bout 10 years ago, I received a phone call from an acquaintance who was a magazine publisher in Ohio. He was looking for sponsorships for his new title. He told me the magazine would be directed to brands that were using education and entertainment more than direct selling to build brand affinity; something he knew was near and dear to my heart. After I agreed to be the first advertiser, I asked him the name of the magazine. "Content Marketing Strategies," he replied. It was the first I'd ever heard of the term. And the guy on the phone? His name was Joe Pulizzi, who went on to found the Content Marketing Institute before selling it last year for more than $17 million. In the past decade, content marketing has gone from its infancy to being much ballyhooed by those of us charged with building awareness and interest in our products and services. The category has spawned jobs and agencies and become a way of life for some marketers, even as it's gone virtually ignored by others. Definitions vary, but at the core, content marketing is no different than my original thought way back when. Rather than reaching out and trying to sell, instead it's about 18 | LANCASTERTHRIVING! | Summer/Fall2017http://www.contentmarketinginstitute.com