I was listening to a recent episode of No Excuses with Jon Taffer…
He was discussing the streaming of modern movie and tv content. Disney+ had just come out and he was marveling at the success of it. He was talking about the history of Netflix. He was talking about all the streaming outlets and how they all work to offer something different.
Jon Taffer, as you might imagine, is very knowledgeable about a lot of things business. He has spent a lot of time thinking about streaming. After all, he’s probably most well known by the general public for his show, Bar Rescue, which is a successful show on traditional cable.
One of the things that stood out to me during the discussion was the realization that with Disney+, Disney was selling the same content to consumers another time. In Jon’s case, these movies have been released in various formats many times since their original release decades ago.
One film from the ’30s, ’40s or ’50s, for example, was likely released:
- In theaters
- In theaters another time
- On VHS
- On DVD
- On the Disney Channel
- Now on Disney+
And that’s probably shortchanging it a bit. I guess they’ve even been printing money in recent years by recreating their classic stories with new filming techniques and actors. But it’s all the same story.
This reminded me of a great blog post about Garth Brooks and how he has basically sold the same song 10+ times in various forms.
These things are impressive. The idea of reselling content has been around for a long time now. It’s been around in each of the three main areas of content:
- Video
- Audio
- Text
But let’s think about it in terms of content marketing…
Can a brand that creates content repurpose and repackage their content to “sell” it again and again to audiences?
I think so, but there are a few things to consider…
1. Creating Timeless Content
When Disney was creating content they focused a lot on classic stories. They used a lot of fairy tales that were in the public domain. This allowed them to source the stories for free, which is obviously a benefit. But this strategy also gave them an edge when it came to creating timeless content.
When something has already been around for a long time, odds are pretty good that it will endure into the future. It’s not a guarantee, but the odds are pretty good. Retelling the fairy tale of Snow White, for example, has pretty good odds versus creating a brand new story from scratch.
Even when they do create something from scratch, such as The Lion King, it’s based on classic literature. The Lion King is the story of Hamlet.
When you’re creating content for marketing, think first about whether it would be interesting to someone well into the future. News content probably won’t be that interesting. We barely remembers yesterday’s news. Even things like how-to information can go out of date.
Stories endure. Timeless wisdom endures. These are areas where you can possibly get timeless content.
2. New Platforms
There are almost always two main players when it comes to content in the entertainment world: 1) Creators and 2) Platforms.
Obviously there is more involved, but you can look at it on that basic level.
There is someone that creates a movie or TV show or song. Then there is another party that hosts the content on a platform where many of the consumers are consuming content.
With music it’s been: LPs, Cassettes, Radio, CDs and now Streaming
With movies it’s been: Theaters, TV, VHS, DVDs, BluRay and now Streaming
One thing that’s been constant throughout the last Century is that platforms change. There is always a push to make the experience better for the consumer. The platforms may pushback against change. Even the content creators often pushback against change. But change happens.
The creators that adapt are usually the ones that benefit the most.
You’re a creator of marketing content. Your ability to adapt to changing platforms is important.
Today, you might be creating video for YouTube. Tomorrow it might be Instagram. The next day it might be…whatever.
The basics are the same: Video, Audio and Text. But the platform changes.
There are nuances to each platform. You have to learn those. Posting a video on YouTube is slightly different than posting video on LinkedIn. But you’re a video expert. You can adapt. Just as movie makers have adapted to creating movies for theaters and then for TV and then for Netflix.
3. Repurposing
When Disney+ came out Disney had to adjust their content a little. They had to make sure it would stream. They had to create a few new graphic images for the various interfaces. It was the same content, but slightly changed for new consumption.
That’s the main goal with reusing your content marketing material on new platforms.
Let’s say you started with a blog post five years ago. It’s had a good life with your email newsletter and then with SEO. Now go back to it and see if you can republish it on LinkedIn as a full article. See if you can pull parts of the post out and share them individually on Facebook.
When the platforms change, content creators like Disney look at how the new platform operates. They learn the nuances. They may even test the waters a little bit to get some first-hand data. Then they adapt their content as necessary and begin rereleasing the content to the new platform.
Final Thought
With content marketing, you’re not selling content. You’re using content to gain the attention of an audience. You can reuse content you’ve created in the past on new platforms today. You can also create timeless content today that can be used in the future on new platforms that we don’t even know about today. And you can do that while you’re also continuing to create new content.
Disney is a great content creator. They continuously create new content. They create content for today’s platforms. They also focus on timeless content, though. Content they figure will have a good chance of being in demand in the future. This way they can resell the content for generations.
It’s a great strategy for them. And it can also be a great strategy for you.