Branded content. Agencies are peddling it like snake oil, while media companies and ad-tech firms shill from the crowd, preying off brands’ fear of missing out on the next marketing miracle. Somewhere on the periphery of this madness, actual audiences are starting to take notice of branded content, even consuming and sharing some of the tastier nuggets, making this a great time to step back and take stock of how to strategically develop, produce, and distribute it. In these pages, we’ll demystify the current state of content marketing by breaking down the jargon and hyperbole into simple insights and human truths that you can act on to create stories that audiences want to spend time with, and in turn, build a little brand love.