Brands, The New Media Companies/MCNs? Red Bull and Now Marriott

Disruptive times.  Transformational times.  That’s the media and entertainment world we are living in.  The rise of premium short-form video.  Related to the ascension of mobile as the most important single screen.  With you 24/7.  Especially for millennials born and bred with smarthphones in their hands.

It’s about engagement.  A new form of engagement.  Ongoing engagement.  Creating a real relationship with the user.  With different types of video content.  Authentic video content.

It’s no longer just about “traditional” media companies.  And, it’s not just about “new world” media companies (like MCNs, about which I consistently write).

Now, it’s also about brands.  Major brands.  Brands looking to transform themselves into full-fledged media companies.  No longer content simply making consumer packaged goods that touch consumers only intermittently.

Red Bull is THE prime example of this.  The poster child.  Red Bull is no longer simply an energy drink.  It is now first and foremost a lifestyle/media company (a lifestyle of adrenaline/action) that amplifies and promotes that lifestyle via brilliantly-executed media (primarily video -- Felix Baumgartner anyone?).  Cans of caffeine are only one manifestation of that lifestyle and the primary way that lifestyle/media company monetizes.  To put an exclamation mark on this point, Red Bull has established a full separate and major media operation known as Red Bull Media House.  And, if there is any doubt about Red Bull's lifestyle/media company-first strategy, have you seen its main website lately?  There is not a can of Red Bull anywhere to be found!  Now there is ongoing consumer engagement with compelling video content.  That’s the magic!

Other major brands see this -- or at least should see this -- and the potentially massive opportunity to transform themselves into something potentially much more meaningful than a company that simply sells products.  To emulate Red Bull and morph into major lifestyle/media companies.

Marriott -- yes, that Marriott (the hotel chain) -- sees this and has now entered the fray.  Marriott announced just yesterday that it is establishing its own major production studios to develop premium video content across the full spectrum of short and long-form.  Marriott hopes to become THE media company and destination for the lifestyle of global travel -- and, in particular, travel for “the next-generation traveler.”  In other words, mostly millennials.

I see this all around me.  I see this opportunity.  Major brands that already “own” -- or at least partially “own” -- a lifestyle.  NOW is the time to make that bold move.  Expand the definition of who they are.

2014 is a transformative moment-in-time in the media and entertainment world.  If brands don’t move fast, that mega-opportunity may be lost forever ...