There’s trouble in paradise for Marketer and Content, long considered the Brangelina of digital promotion, after an unforgivable betrayal that leaves Content one of the industry’s most eligible bachelors.
After a year of shocking high-profile breakups – think: Ben and Jennifer (Bennifer), Gwen and Gavin (Gwevin?), Blake and Miranda (Blanda?), Kermit and Miss Piggy (Don’t even think about it, you’ve already killed this gag – ed) – this latest split could perhaps be the most unexpected and scandalous of all.
And that’s in no small part because Marketer and Content had the rare kind of symbiotic relationship so many of us aspire to in which they effortlessly formed meaningful connections with consumers on behalf of the brands they worked for while driving awareness and engagement – often with reasonable budgets.
From their first meeting, a “Happy Memorial day, Here’s a link to Buy Our product” tweet, all the way through the “Great 15 Minute Facebook Outage” of 2014 that ruined so many marketing careers, the couple always seemed in perfect harmony with one another, and spoke with one voice, that of their brands.
“Whether they were creating blog posts, white papers, webinars, infographics, videos, interpretive dance routines, or social posts, it was always sheer magic,” said one source close to the couple. “Consumers were compelled to share because they could sense it was real, and it truly WAS authentic.”
That held true even when the two experimented with sponsored posts / native ads, blurring the lines of traditional journalism, which easily could have spelled doom for a less sophisticated duo.
A couple that had weathered the storm of previous rumored dalliances by Marketer between 2004 and 2012, when she’d been seen in the company of several high PR Links, forcing her to issue, and annually reissue, a statement that there was nothing untoward going on, and that she was “actually working with the Links to get more attention for Content”.
But make no mistake – this time it’s for real, this is no conscious uncoupling.
After traffic recently plateaued for one client, our sources say Marketer sought the affections of one Influencer for a temporary boost. The fling, however, quickly turned into much more as Marketer saw a spike on Instagram, a channel her client had previously struggled to penetrate.
“Suddenly Marketer couldn’t get enough,” our source said. “She was a woman possessed. She kept telling Content it was strictly professional and only until the end of the quarter…but then traffic dropped and she ran right back to Influencer’s waiting arms for another fix.”
Sources say Content gave Marketer an ultimatum and remained open to reconciliation until a Black Friday post surfaced on industry leading social network, Owdy, with said Influencer. Content apparently sought legal council on Monday, and divorce papers were served to Marketer earlier today.
“I thought I was king,” Content opined in an email to WTFSEO. “But with so many experts advocating a multi-pronged approach, perhaps an exclusive relationship with Marketer was never sustainable. Otherwise, I simply ask you respect my privacy during this difficult time.”
Marketer did not respond to a request for comment and calls to lawyers for both parties were not returned by deadline.
