We Are All Media Companies Now

The media meltdown — where traditional media business models based on scarcity and control are fundamentally challenged by the new realities of digital media consumption — is creating huge problems for media companies that create and distribute content to users. Users want more and more content for free, and advertisers are struggling to engage fragmented audiences. But as we move from a distribution paradigm to a consumption paradigm, the meltdown is also creating opportunities for non-media companies — including telcos, hardware manufacturers, and FMCG brands — to increasingly use content directly to engage users. In other words, they can become media companies — and, as such, they have to embrace new ways of thinking.