WTF Does John Cleese Know About Content Marketing

*This is a repost from Michael Brenner– one of our favorites from this year and who doesn’t love Content Marketing World and John Cleese? Meet Michael Brenner and the ANNUITAS team at #CMWorld in just 27 days.

In last year’s lead up to the Content Marketing World keynote with Kevin Spacey, I asked and answered “WTF does Kevin Spacey know about content marketing?”

It turns out, he knew quite a bit. And he delivered a great speech to the crowd last year.

We continued to feature Kevin and his storytelling lessons from award-winning show House of Cards.

And, I have also started using his call to action from last year’s speech as my own:

Your audience is looking for stories. Will you give them what they want? [Tweet this]

Kevin explained that actors and content marketers are the same, “we are each trying to reach an audience with great stories.”

So yes, I would say Kevin knows a thing or two about content marketing. And he also helped (quite literally) to set the stage for this year’s question:

WTF does John Cleese know about content marketing?

So I am more than a little excited about John Cleese keynoting Content Marketing World 2015.

First, I am a huge fan of John Cleese’s work with Monty Python, A Fish Called Wanda and more. I even used one of the best scenes from Monty Python’s Holy Grail to describe the marketing bridge of death.

This is when you spend months working on an important project, only to have it derailed because someone wants to ask you what your favorite color is (true story.)

John definitely has the talent, creativity and amazing sense of humor to captivate an audience. And if there is one thing that is really hard, especially in B2B Marketing, it is to be funny. [Tweet this!]

Second, John also has a pretty good sense of business. He co-founded a video production company to produce business training videos on topics like “how to conduct a meeting.” When asked by HBR.com what he knew about business when he started, John replied, “Nothing…We always discovered that when we added something creative, it seemed to do much better in the marketplace.” [Tweet This!]

Third, John seems to know a thing or two about Leadership. In his book Life and How to Survive It, John explains that the ideal leader is someone who makes him or herself indispensable. The idea is to focus on helping your team grow, trust them to act, and success will follow.  [Tweet This!]

There are many more reasons to believe that John Cleese knows WTF he is talking about when it comes to creativity, storytelling and content marketing. Like, for example, that he worked for exactly one month as a journalist. Or, that he doesn’t see himself or his job as being funny, but rather to put others first.

But if this isn’t enough for you to come to Content Marketing World 2015 (register by clicking here) then how about:

• Barenaked Ladies aka “BNL.” Their concert in Philly circa 1998 was one of the first dates my (then future) wife endured with me. They sing the hit song “If I Had $1,000,000″ and also the theme song for The Big Bang Theory.
• Creative Storyteller and former WashPo Editor Rajiv Chandrasekaran.
• Nick Offerman, actor and comedian from Parks and Recreation.

So what are you waiting for? Register now! And then tweet me up and let’s meet.

*Author: Michael Brenner is the Head of Strategy for the leading content marketing platform, NewsCred. He is also the author of B2B Marketing Insider, a contributor to Forbes and a frequent speaker at industry event covering topics such as marketing strategy, social business, content marketing, digital marketing, social media and personal branding. Follow Michael on Twitter (@BrennerMichael), LinkedIn, Facebook and Google+ and Subscribe to B2B Marketing Isider by email.