Can a journalist build strong content brands on the Internet, pretty much all by himself? GigaOmniMedia founder Om Malik thinks he can. Malik’s 18-month-old, low-to-the-ground blog network still isn’t profitable, but it’s close. And that’s because he’s doing a lot of things right.
The former Business 2.0 reporter staffs it sparsely and hires freelancers to work for peanuts.
Malik keeps overhead low by outsourcing his ad sales to Federated Media, which takes between 30 and 40 percent commission on ad sales.
Om invests nothing in his umbrella brand, GigaOmniMedia, focusing instead on his sub-brands and the individuals who staff them. GigaOm, a leading voice on mobile and wireless technology, is Malik’s strongest. His NewTeeVee brand, is also a hit: next week more than 300 paying attendees will attend NewTeeVee Live, a face-to-face event in San Francisco. NewTeeVee’s web traffic is skyrocketing thanks to smart reporting and analysis from Liz Gannes, the daughter of a former Fortune reporter and widely respected in her own right.
I got a kick out of Malik sparring with CNET CEO Neil Ashe last week at Rafat Ali’s Future of Business Media conference in New York. Ashe referred to Malik’s offerings as “fast food,” low on editorial nutrition. Malik responded by saying “fast food is not necessarily junk food,” retorting that the world doesn’t need big, faceless meta-brands anymore. Instead, readers want highly targeted content environments led by personalities who post often and inspire audience contributions, driving page views and word of mouth.
Malik cited the example of Rafe Needleman, chief blogger on CNET’s Webware site. Claims Malik: Needleman has more clout in the marketplace than CNET itself. Om overstates his case. But he’s right that, in this age of blogs, community and social people, “bottom-up” branding works a lot better than top down. The takeaway: every brand is a content brand, and content brands need a human face. It can be a collective face, or an individual’s. Consumers want to be spoken with, not spoken to, by voices they trust.
[Disclaimer: CNET Networks is a paid subscriber to Sam Whitmore’s Media Survey, as is King Fish Media.]
