It seems that marketers are finally starting to realize that delivering valuable, relevant content to consumers has some merit. In truth, this has been going on for years, and I'm surprised that there continues to be a debate about it.

Beyond welcoming content from your brand, today's consumer expects it—whether it comes in the form of how-to guides and videos, a consumer electronics video blog, or an iPhone app that helps you remove stains.

This shift is something that we've been talking about at Sequel for a long time. There's a saying we have when speaking with new clients, "You're now in the content business."

It's interesting to see almost the reverse happening in the world of publishing. As titles continue to implode, magazine and newspaper brands have realized (some too late) that their brand needs to stand for something more in the digital world than just content. To remain relevant, even to survive, publishing brands now need to create digital products and services that deliver on their service mission. Put another way: they need to deliver more value around their content.

While there's a realization in both camps mentioned here of the landscape of changing expectations and opportunities, we at Sequel understand the challenges that our clients are facing there: culture, infrastructure, and monetization. Product and service companies are not by nature content publishers. And content publishers are not by nature product and service developers.

In just a few short years, defining brand value has radically dimensionalized. Today the journey between value proposition and value must be instantaneous.