The evolution of niche content and brand fragmentation
One of the great things about Web 2.0 is its ability to allow consumers to control how they consume content and interact with your brand. Fred posted a link that brings together two of my favorite things: baseball and disruptive technologies. Clearly, Ballbug is like memeorandum for baseball; it is also so much more than that. It represents consumers taking control of their access to yet another type of product. Consumers of news, political commentary, and technology started the trend. You can look at what offerings like SideStep, Kayak, and Mobissimo are doing in the travel space. Expect other industries to feel that same push over time. As a consumer, I think that’s cool. As a marketer, it tells me I’ve got to work a little harder to infuse my brand into everything I do, whether it’s content, product, or service. It’s also an opportunity to beat my competition to it. Isn’t it fun when the rules change?
[…] I’ve been quiet for a bit. Lots of travel again, but mostly because I haven’t had a lot to say. I’m actually working on a longer piece about how companies should think about a little silence from time to time in order to really appeal to their audience. More on that later. In the meantime, Josh Kopelman put together a piece over at Redeye VC that serves as a great introduction to the problems new companies face in finding an audience, even in today’s hyper-literate, hyper-connected world. Similar to my piece about how many companies are finding smaller niches, with a healthy dose of my comments about Web 2.0 lacking a killer app thrown in for good measure. Excellent thoughts. Josh just might make my regular reading list. […]