Your company too is a media company

Non-media entities owning and offering media content has not been an entirely alien thing. Star hotel groups and many airlines have their own in-house magazines. There are enough signs suggesting that this trend is going to see an upswing. What we will see in the near future is that of big umbrella brands owning their own media companies. Companies such as Red Bull and GE are all in the serious content business and this trend is going to gain more popularity in the coming days.

As of now some part of the change is disguised as “content marketing” and is being seen as just a part of overall marketing plan – but it is expected to become more “mainstream”.

Red Bull, frequently seen as a patron of adventure sports, runs its own media content platform called The Red Bulletin. GE runs its own media content platform called World in Motion. GE was also the launch partner for Quartz India.

Why you should own content It has never been this easy to start a media platform

Technology and distribution used to be the biggest competitive advantage for media companies for a very long time. None of these remain as potent an advantage as they used to be just a decade ago. On the web, technology’s cost for content distribution is significantly low as compared to the physical world where media companies used to operate. Geographical barriers do not exist anymore. Distribution as a competitive advantage is being held only by a few companies such as Facebook and Google. For the rest, it’s increasingly becoming a level playing field. And that field is significantly affordable now. In this scenario, barring the cost of content creation, the cost of showcasing content becomes similar for any entity. Running a media company isn’t beyond the admissible budget for brands and businesses.

Credibility, a non-issue One of the major barriers for non-media companies to enter this sacred space of media has been the purported credibility which traditional media companies enjoyed over the new entrants. While legacy media companies love to talk about the rich history, good quality and authoritative credibility that they bring in, these issues today are increasingly becoming similar for legacy media companies as they are for any other new entity.

With exposure to content consumption on web, the discerning abilities of the audience have improved. Though some of the following and credibility of the content comes from the environment it appears in, most of it gets evaluated because of its inherent quality and strength. Also, on the Web, consumers are far more accommodating in their content consumption habits. The power of content in an online world is judged on its own merit.

As much of the content is being consumed online, the issues of credibility and legacy have started to matter less. In an environment where content takes centre-stage, it is the content itself and not the medium which determines credibility.

Core competency While it’s fair to say that content creation in media companies is a specialist’s task and media companies have evolved into acquiring such competencies, a lot of content creation and sourcing is done externally.

Access to independent content creators, freelancers and bloggers is on the rise even in mainstream media companies. In terms of access to content resources, non-media companies can look at the specialised offerings they sell or promise. The focus on specialisation quashes any doubts about credibility. For example, Zomato can be a fine media provider of content related to food, cuisine and restaurants and can be as competent as a legacy media company. Myntra or Jabong can be as potent a force in offering content about fashion as any other fashion magazine. Similarly, an established fitness chain can be even more credible than any other magazine when it comes to media content on health and fitness. On the same lines, a travel portal such as makemytrip.com can be as good a credible source of information on travel and tourism.

Despite having a stake in the business, these companies can be credible sources of information. This is because the information is crucial to their business.

Communicating knowledge about health by a fitness centre will not be a conflict of interest in any way. In fact it will reinforce its expertise in the business it specialises in. Also, for a Yatra.com or Makemytrip.com access to information about things related to their business – restaurants, places to visits, travel experiences, and such – can be as good as an established media company. There is so much more content which can go beyond the reviews and ratings.

Beyond traditional advertising Media has carried brands’ messages to their consumers through advertisements. Advertising considers itself as a form of storytelling. And if this is true, then this storytelling has been seriously constrained by media cost.

Media expenses in the form of advertisements have always been an unavoidable cost. It is only now that marketers are realising that real story-telling is beyond traditional advertising. (That’s why we are seeing commercials more than a minute long made exclusively for YouTube).

The challenge for brands, today, is to create interesting stories and not just advertisements. New forms of communication demand more content and go beyond the boundaries which traditional media defines. These kinds of communication demand curated platforms from where it gets propagated organically without the push traditional advertising warrants.

This need of marketers is addressed if some form of media ownership rests with brands and businesses themselves.

Traditional media companies are finding it tough to grapple with the realities of the changing media landscape. The content marketing work in the areas of fashion, automobile, lifestyle, travel and tourism will be a challenge to them.

The scenario of big media companies serving multiple categories of content will change. We will see the emergence of many different media entities serving specialised categories of content.

Brands and businesses, even with specialised content offering can still hope to get a good audience. All these through a medium which they can own now.

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