🛸Overstock Becomes Bed Bath And Beyond
Double-reversey intellectual property: Context Collapse #219
In this issue: Overstock no more, Tucker Carlson’s media plans, RIP Stitcher + more.
Hi. Welcome to Context Collapse, the world’s best comms newsletter. I’m Neal Ungerleider. I run Ungerleider Works and used to work as a reporter for Fast Company, write op-eds for the LA Times, and work as a senior copywriter for R/GA. This newsletter helps readers navigate the weird new world of media and gleefully ignores all the conventional wisdom about marketing, public relations, advertising, and marketing.
July 4th on a Tuesday = Long holiday weekend for all my fellow USAians. So let’s roll and venture on to what’s on the comms radar this weekend:
THE OLD OVERSTOCK-BECOMING-BED-BATH-AND-BEYOND-SWITCHIE-OUTIE:
Goodbye Overstock.com. Hello Bed Bath and Beyond V2. Overstock is buying Bed Bath and Beyond’s name and intellectual property, discontinuing usage of the Overstock brand online, and migrating over to Bed Bath and Beyond’s website.
Verdict: Bed Bath and Beyond shuts down, Overstock buys their IP and *becomes* Bed Bath and Beyond. Creative!
TUCKER CARLSON’S MEDIA EMPIRE PLANS
Dylan Byers at Puck has a sneak preview of Tucker Carlson’s plans to launch his own media company:
In fact, I am told he is raising capital to launch a new company that may yet prove more influential. He’ll certainly benefit from an incongruous number of ultra wealthy conservative media investors and a scant (though growing) number of opportunities, as Glenn Beck and the tandem of Ben Shapiro and Jeremy Boreing have demonstrated. A decade ago, the Mercers seemed like lone wolves in their patronage of Breitbart. These days, conservative mediacos are popping up more rampantly, as capital finds opportunities and the conversation moves further and further to the fringes.
This is interesting. Carlson, by all accounts, is less of a far-right true believer and more of a, well… cynical TV host (Pro tip: If you ever get bored, read Tucker Carlson’s emails from Fox-Dominion discovery.). In an alternate universe, his show would have gone all-in on UFOs and sports in feverish quest of audience capture. But Carlson was also at Fox News forever and ever, as well as co-founding the Daily Caller. So who knows what will happen from here.
Verdict: It’s easier to make money from right-wing media than left-wing media, but how much of Carlson’s audience was there for him and how much was there for Fox News?
RIP STITCHER
SiriusXM, the owners of podcast service Stitcher, are retiring the Stitcher brand and shutting down the app and website on August 29.
Here’s the word from corporate:
SiriusXM, the owner of Stitcher, is focused on incorporating podcasts into its flagship SiriusXM subscription business. Subscribers can listen to podcasts within the SiriusXM app and will see an all-new listening experience later this year.
Pretty crappy for podcast listeners. Stitcher launched in 2008 in another version of the internet during a different economic downturn. Stitcher was later acquired by SiriusXM, who are a massive entertainment/communications concern, but who have a vested concern in NOT letting podcasts become too big a part of their business (competes with satellite radio subscriptions, y’know). RIP.
Verdict: The podcast dilemma is that while listeners love podcasts, podcasts are fiendishly hard to monetize. SiriusXM in the end decided that Stitcher just wasn’t worth it.
CHECK THIS OUT:
Fintech company Monzo put together a great style guide for their comms and marketing team that’s a master class in saving money + time in the longterm by creating clear guidelines for employees and vendors.
Smart move by YouTube, who are making it easier for creators to A/B test their thumbnails.
Following up on our look at Apple Vision Pro, here’s Marques Brownlee on Apple’s forbidden words for corporate communications.
SEE YOU NEXT WEEK YOU LOVELY WEIRDOES!