Episode 236
Everyone makes content now. But having content doesn’t automatically mean anyone will actually consume it. There are brands with long-running programs and audiences that carve out time for their content, while other brands’ programs fade because it became a thankless chore. What’s different between content that’s adored and content that dies in obscurity?
The brands that win make content that audiences don’t see as branded content. Where the work they made was so genuinely useful, or surprising, or true — that instead of feeling exploited, the recipients felt like they were being favored.
A gift doesn’t need your logo on it. Your fingerprints are already there.
Our guest knows how to do this. His early career was working in production at AOL and several TV and radio networks. Then in 2014 he launched Pacific Content, an agency he built into the one brands trusted when they wanted to stop making noise and start building audiences. It was acquired by one of the country’s largest media companies in 2023. What he learned doing that became the book Earn It, which came out in 2026.
Let’s go to this talk with Steve Pratt.
Chapter Timestamps:
00:00 Why Content Gets Ignored
01:00 Meet Steve Pratt
02:12 Attention Is Finite
04:38 Be The Party Host
06:52 Marketing As A Gift
08:23 From You Not About You
09:55 Bravery And Commitment
12:46 Promote The Gift
15:03 Podcast Case Studies
21:07 Measuring Time And Trust
24:04 Fewer Things Better
25:35 Expertise Over Platform
27:04 Pacific Content And Wrap Up
Shownotes: People/Products/Concepts Mentioned in Show