Build Brands People Grow Into

Sam Parr shares insights about media company sustainability based on Vice's rise and fall. He emphasizes that successful media companies should create content that audiences aspire to consume as they mature, rather than content they'll eventually outgrow.

Key Points:

• Media Company Sustainability:

  • Build something people "grow into" not "grow out of"
  • Examples of growing into: Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Economist, Financial Times
  • People aspire to read and understand these publications as they get older
  • Can brag about consuming these media brands

• Location Strategy:

  • Avoid New York City for media companies
  • Creative services business requires talent arbitrage
  • High cost of living cities make profitability difficult

• Revenue Stream Philosophy:

  • Must nail one revenue stream before diversifying
  • Vice's mistake: Having 5 different revenue streams without perfecting any single one
  • Multiple mediocre revenue streams don't equal one strong one

• Brand Consistency:

  • Stick to your original identity
  • Vice's pivot to "woke" content wasn't authentic to their brand
  • Changing core identity can alienate original audience without securing new one

• Building Lasting Value:

  • Need something people genuinely love to build next "Disney"
  • Vice claimed they'd be worth "40 or 50 billion" but lacked lovable characters/content
  • Pure shock value or edgy content doesn't create sustainable audience connection

• Audience Evolution:

  • Consider how your audience will age with your content
  • Example: Vice's content became less appealing as their original audience matured
  • Similar challenge faced by Barstool Sports as their personalities age