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Are Brands Ready to Be Media Companies? 4 Steps to Yes

By Joe Pulizzi | Published: November 18, 2010

Read an interesting article from MediaPost this morning entitled “Are Media Brands Ready to Be Brands?”

The question about whether or not media brands are like real brands has been asked every since I’ve been in the media business. The answers varied, but the consensus from publishers was usually that media brands were different in some way, and didn’t have to follow the same rules.

There are a number of areas that most media brands are simply inferior at this point to non-media brands: data capture, lead nurturing, social media, campaign tactics, integrated marketing and more.  Ellen Oppenheim from MediaPost offers a number of helpful solutions for media brands including:

  • Leveraging data outside of content creation
  • Not be so tied to legacy revenue streams and experiment more digitally
  • Reach out to more readers and customers (listen)
  • More content promotion across platforms (market the content, not just through the channel the content is in, i.e., an email newsletter)

All good points, but easier said than done for most media companies.

But let’s put the orange shoe on the other foot. There are a number of things that media brands do that non-media companies should learn from and have a significant advantage.

  • Media brands have set up elaborate content factories to create and curate innovative industry content. Large organizations like P&G, American Express and others have been working to replicate the content creation models of companies like Meredith and trade publishers like Penton Media for years.
  • Media brands still have the primary mindset of thinking like journalists or publishers, not like salespeople. That means the content they create is automatically more credible than most non-media brands.  Why? Most non-media brand content processes are filtered through some marketing or sales person that adds the sales speak and destroys the credibility and engagement factor inherent in the content.
  • Even though many media brands have caused their own death by getting rid of some of the best journalists on the planet, non-media companies have not cornered the market on this yet. Media brands still have the edge when it comes to market knowledge from a storytelling standpoint. Someday, this will not be true and non-media brands will have the edge in most niche markets…but that day has not yet come.

So, if you are a media brand, you need to think more like non-media brand. Listen to customers and start to develop products and services (that are not media) that make sense for your readership.

If you are a non-media brand, you need to

  1. Continue to develop your content factories.
  2. Think consistency of content and stop thinking so much about campaign-oriented content. Campaign mentality is usually the death of great content.
  3. Hire more journalists or partner with outside agencies that can help you tell your story.
  4. And finally, don’t settle for also-ran content. If you are going to develop content for your industry, for your customers to drive your business, it has to be the best.  It must have a point of view. It must stand for something.

Everything else is just clutter.

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  • http://www.jeffmolander.com Jeff Molander

    Joe…
    If campaign mentality is direct response campaign (ie. measurement and designing the content to produce a tangible outcome — like a lead) is it still bad? Would you still encourage people to NOT think this way?
    Because I think what you’re saying here in this analysis is really smart. But I often see you suggesting that a less analytical approach works best/better.
    This is very David Meerman-Scott, of course. And David’s “get the content out there and don’t wall it off in any way” as a means to sell approach is popular. I admit. But I question if the Web is just another place to broadcast — versus collect leads in a reliable, measured way.
    Thanks for considering.

  • http://blog.junta42.com Joe Pulizzi

    Hi Jeff…you are right, there is always a place for campaign-oriented content, but we also need consistent compelling content (free and gated).
    I see so many brands create compelling content as part of a campaign and then stop when the campaign is over. It’s like saying “hey, we care about you but heck, our campaign is over so we’ll try something else, sorry.” That’s where campaign content goes wrong. Old Spice comes to mind recently. Awesome content for just one week, then poof, it stops.
    We need both, but non-media brands have lots of the campaign content ready to go and not as much of the consistent, build relationships type content.
    And, while I do agree with David that content should be freely given, there is a time and a place to gate content (premium content) where there is enough shared value (my information for your content) that is makes sense and the relationship can be further built.
    As always, great thinking Jeff.

  • http://www.jeffmolander.com Jeff Molander

    Fully agree (and I practice this too!) with free+gated. Re: Old Spice… absolutely. There’s a long list of brands using Facebook this way. Building up an asset and walking away. Chase http://bit.ly/9wI0xx comes to mind.
    Hmm. Ok. I understand your perspective much better now.
    Which brings me to this: I’m begging you to please consider allowing me to get alerted to replies to comment threads on your blog! :)
    Many thanks for your good thinking too!

  • http://parthenonpub.com/blog Matt

    That Old Spice example is perfect.
    Fast Company ran a great piece comparing Old Spice to Dos Equis’ “Most Interesting Man in the World.”
    One thing the piece doesn’t talk much about, however, is Dos Equis’ commitment, whereas Old Spice’s campaign was one and done.

  • http://blog.junta42.com Joe Pulizzi

    Good point Matt
    Jeff, I’m switching over the WordPress in a month, so all will be well very soon.

  • http://bcox.me/s Brandon Cox

    Jeff, you make an excellent point about the credibility of media companies, and an equally great point about the lack thereof when it comes to non-media companies’ motives being questioned.
    I’ve tended to see it just the opposite way – that non-media companies, as newcomers, have a bit of credibility because they’re willing to think outside the parameters of traditional journalism, but you’ve helped me nail another side of the story!

  • http://www.tickyes.com Peter Applebaum

    Excellent post, Joe. It’s a fascinating moment in marketing time to see previously linear product / service providers being forced to re-purpose themselves as publishers.
    It’s not easy to turn the aircraft carrier around after decades of just selling burgers, fuel or breakfast cereal. But it’s great fun to see – and help – companies do this successfully.
    Equally, it’s slightly frustrating to see that many marketers still don’t get that the world has changed and that the unchallenged reign of the 30 second TVC and double page spread has passed.