And the next media mogul
is…Ashton Kutcher??!
Yes, according to a Fast
Company article by Ellen McGirt, Ashton Kutcher is one of the few people who
have figured out where the media are all heading.
“…what Kutcher's production
company wants to become: not just a home for his television and movie projects
but also a go-to source for brands looking to deploy what's called
"influencer marketing," a squishy hybrid of entertainment content,
advertising, and online conversation that finds its audience via video,
animation, Twitter, blogs, texts, and mobile. "Entertainment, really, is a
dying industry," says Kutcher. "We're a balanced social-media studio,
with revenue streams from multiple sources" -- film, TV, and now digital.
"For the brand stuff, we're not replacing ad agencies but working with
everyone to provide content and the monetization strategies to succeed on the
Web."
Yep, sounds like a mogul all
right. An embodiment of this strategy is his show, Katalyst HQ, an internet-based video serial based on his real
company. Kind of an adolescent
version of “The Office” meets “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” The current season is
sponsored by Hot Pockets, turnovers that you put in the microwave and eat with
your hands.
Of course it doesn’t hurt
that Kutcher has the biggest Twitter following in the world. Yes, bigger than
Oprah’s (gasp)!
(For information on how to write for the new--and old--media, see my book, "Your Writing Coach," published by Nicholas Brealey.)
