Brands are learning now that to connect with consumers, they must publish content. Some are really pushing that concept and have become media powerhouses.
The goal is to create a revenue-generating media business parallel to Red Bull’s beverage business. Red Bull’s media projects yield material for DVD, online, and TV, befitting the company’s new mold of creating content wherever followers of the Red Bull lifestyle may be.
— Fast Company
Red Bull Media House was awarded the #2 spot on Fast Company’s Top 10 Media List for its action sports and lifestyle programs over the past 20 years. Not every brand can be like Red Bull, but most recognize that they better start trying.
The difference between a brand and a publisher
Brands think they sell products and publishers think they sell ad space. The reality is that both need to look beyond where revenue is generated and more toward who generates the revenue: their loyal audience. When brands start recognizing that they already have an audience, they see less need for looking to media outlets as a vehicle for distribution. All of a sudden, brands realize they can be their own best megaphone.
A brand can publish editorially sound content
Nowness.com is owned by LVMH, the luxury group that includes Moët Hennessy and Louis Vuitton. Nowness promotes daily exclusives, mostly very high-end video that has nothing to do with any of the LVMH brands but has everything to do with their luxury aesthetic and high-quality standards.
Ask yourself: Why would LVMH support a content platform that does not tie back to their brand or to their products or to eCommerce?
Swide Magazine, a luxury magazine from Dolce & Gabbana, does connect the content with product and sales by including links to the D&G online store and other properties. However, the connection to eCommerce does not make the content any less relevant or editorially sound.
These luxury powerhouses are approaching online content in a very different manner and it’ll be interesting to see it play out.
Ask Yourself
What are your brand’s most valuable assets? It is not the inventory waiting to ship from the warehouse. It is the relationship your brand has built with consumers and audience over time. Brands have a voice. They have a position. It’s OK to use your voice and position to create not only great products but great stories that encompass your core values.