New twists on the “Content is King” mantra.
“Content is king” is the mantra of the ostrich-like publishers. Yes, great content differentiates itself from poor content, but the value equation falls apart when you try to differentiate “good enough” from great to a mass audience who you somehow want to monetize. It gets worse if you refuse to deliver your content where and how your future audience wants to consume it. The old audience for paper is litterly dying one customer at a time…everyday.
Richard Hull, President of Blowtorch Studios, in his keynote at Buying and Selling EContent (#BSeC10) made the astute observation that “distribution is king” until a market has been firmly established…then content is king. I believe that to be true…except that once the market is flooded…then the content becomes a commodity and difficult to monetize. Which means for publishers…if you come to the party late…it will be your last.
Bottom line, Publishers would be better served if they had as their mantra: “The reader is king.”.
