12
April
2012
|
08:08 AM
America/Los_Angeles

Every Media Company Is A Media Company - And That's The Problem

Every company is a media company because every company, no matter if it makes ball bearings or diapers, as to publish in many different channels and formats to be visible. If you aren't seen amidst all the media noise, you don't exist.

It's not easy being a media company because you need to develop the skills to do it well. But lots of businesses know that they need these capabilities and they are beefing up by adding former journalists, and other media specialists, to their staff.

The media those companies produce is a loss leader, it is a cost of doing business and it helps drive sales of their products or services.

And this is why many media companies report losses. The media they produce is a loss leader. But they have nothing else to sell.

Every company is a media company — but every media company needs to also be something else. They now live in a world where every company is a media company, they have more competitors than God -- it's no wonder they can't make money.

Media companies will be able to weather the storm of disruption if they adopt what I call a "Heinz 57" business model — developing many different revenue streams -- beyond how they currently make (lose) money.