Steve Jobs - “Good artists copy, great artists steal.”

In the arena of marketing, the practice of “repurposing” is using content from one format and converting into another format. For example, one can repurpose the audio portion from a YouTube video and repurpose it as a podcast or even a blog post, once it is transcribed. 

In the field of art, this is called Pastiche. A pastiche is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, or music that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche celebrates, rather than mocks, the work it imitates.

In music, there is a similar practice called Sampling. This is the reuse of a portion (or sample) of a sound recording in another recording. Samples may comprise rhythm, melody, speech, or other sounds. Sampling is particularly popular with Rap artists. 

How You Can Leverage Repurposing For Your Brand

There are two main strategies on how you can leverage the power of repurposing to grow your brand’s presence and effectiveness in marketing.

Number One: Find multiple uses for your existing content and ads. In other words, how can you take the content from one format and reuse it across other formats? 

Number Two: How can you “steal” great art from another brand (legally) and use in a new, creative way for your brand? One could copy the advertising strategies from one’s competitors and implement them as your own. Again, doing so within legal means.

I attended an insurance sales convention today in Las Vegas. One of their top sales pros was interviewed as to why he was so successful, rising above most of the others in terms of productivity. His secret? “I’m a great copycat,'' was his reply. “I follow exactly what sales people better than me are doing.” 

Repurposing, when fully and ethically conducted, can represent a major unlock for your brand’s marketing and advertising strategies.