It’s always a pleasant surprise when two of your favorite knowledge providers / bloggers / thought leaders talk about the same idea from two different angles.
Seth Godin’s Akimbo podcast (Fooled by Spectrum) recently looked at the concept of ideas spreading through media, and the difference between centralized media (TV, radio, etc), and the internet today.
I don’t know if he’s aware of Ben Thompson’s Stratechery, but Thompson has discussed the same topic from a business strategy perspective in his article about TV advertising here.
Both are exploring the distinction between traditional broad-appeal brands and niche companies, and how broad-appeal brands use broad-appeal brand marketing (like TV). In comparison, niche companies tend to focus their advertising on online advertising, with more of a direct response approach.
If you haven’t explored the connection between smaller brands and online platforms, and how the online platforms are much better suited for these smaller brands compared to traditional big brand advertising, I’d encourage you to take a look at both this podcast episode and Thompson’s article; together, they make a very convincing argument.
Mike Henry's blog 