Will brands become media?

Dictionary.com defines media as: the means of communication, as radio and television, newspapers, and magazines, that reach or influence people widely" and brands as "kind, grade, or make, as indicated by a stamp, trademark, or the like: "

Until recently these were distinct concepts; specialised companies published our media and brands invested sizeable chunks of their advertising budgets to convey their messages to consumers who formed the media's audience.

But new digital technologies have muddied the distinction. Firstly by reducing costs and other barriers to entry, it has enabled the number of media to explode. Consumers now spend their time between traditional media and newer more specialised offerings that where unavailable a few years ago. To complicate the picture still further, the line between author and audience is blurring with the emergence of user-generated content.

The result of this is that the audiences are more fragmented. For a brand this creates a huge problem in deciding where to invest one's media spend. The old marketer’s joke that says that 50% of a marketing budget is wasted but that marketers never know which 50% is even more true today.

Some brands are beginning to adopt a "if you can't beat them join them" approach and by moving to become media themselves. This sounds like a crazy idea at first but it has merit for a couple of reasons:

1) Consumers still, and perhaps more than ever, need media whose values they share and whose editorial viewpoint they can trust. Brands have a clearly defined set of values that can form the basis of an editorial line. If you trust Nike as a stylish performance enhancing sportswear, surely you would be interested in hearing what they have to say about your favourite sports, athletes and keeping in shape?

2) By creating a media, brands reinforce the relationship with their consumers. Modern technologies mean that consumers can access media anytime and anywhere. By creating their own media, brands can increase the interaction with their consumers hence influencing attitudes towards the brand.

3) Its getting to the point where for many brands with clear position and target audience, it is cheaper to build media of their own rather than to pay to place messages in existing ones.

There are numerous examples of brands building media such as Audi, Salomon or Nike and many others. This trend has been accelerating as the consumer usage of online media grows and the tools that facilitate the creation brand channels become more readily available.