The team, formerly known as the Oakland Athletics, thought they had it all figured out: a flashy move to Las Vegas to chase bigger crowds and the brighter lights of Las Vegas. But with the Vegas stadium still under construction and somewhat in limbo along with a messy interim stop in West Sacramento planned thru the 2027 season in a minor league stadium, the franchise finds itself without a real “home” for years.
Brands that build audiences on rented platforms risk facing the same fate: stranded, scrambling, and starting over.
Building your brand on someone else’s platform is like building a mansion on rented land. Sure, it looks impressive — until the landlord changes the rules, raises the rent, or kicks you out altogether.
Today’s brands need to think beyond campaigns and ads. They must own the experience from beginning to end — blending podcasts, video, live events, newsletters, and communities into fully integrated media ecosystems. It’s about creating worlds where audiences choose to live, not just visit.
In this post, you’ll learn:
- Why renting audiences is riskier than ever,
- How media hybrids are the future of brand loyalty,
- Why brands need to become their own media companies,
- How to start owning your audience instead of chasing someone else’s,
- And why combining audio, video, and live content is the smartest play for 2025.
Let’s dive in.
🛑 The Dangers of Platform Dependency
The digital landscape is littered with cautionary tales.
Brands that built empires on platforms they didn’t control learned hard lessons when those platforms shifted beneath their feet. Twitter’s algorithm changes in 2024 crippled countless media companies’ traffic overnight. TikTok’s looming regulatory battles make its future uncertain in several key markets. Even Instagram began throttling links to external websites, demanding more “on-platform” engagement.
When you rent your relationship with your audience, you live at the mercy of someone else’s business model.
Building your entire audience on borrowed platforms is like investing your life savings into a house you don’t own — you’re only ever one eviction away from disaster.
Pro Tip: Audit where your audience “lives” today. If over 70% of your traffic or engagement is coming from third-party platforms, you need a rebalancing plan — fast.
🧱 The Risk of Audience Erosion Over Time
Even if a platform doesn’t kick you out overnight, audience quality can erode slowly without warning.
Think about Facebook Pages. They thrived in the early 2010s. But over five years, organic reach shrank to near zero — not because users stopped caring, but because Facebook kept tightening the algorithm to prioritize paid content.
The slow bleed is sometimes even deadlier than sudden collapse because you don’t notice it until it’s too late.
As the saying goes, it’s often “death by a thousand tweaks” when brands lose audiences slowly over time.
If you only rent your reach, you’re always vulnerable to invisible forces that gradually chip away at engagement and loyalty.
Pro Tip: Track quality metrics (like comments, shares, direct interactions) not just vanity numbers (like followers or views). Engagement decay is an early warning signal. For more on metrics, read Surface-Level Metrics Are Killing Your Marketing Strategy—Here’s What to Track Instead
🏗️ The Platform Trap: Renting Eyeballs is a Losing Game
One tweak to the algorithm and — poof — your entire marketing strategy vanishes overnight. I have personally seen it happen to clients. One day your reaching tens of thousands organically with each post, the next day you’re lucky if you’re reaching an audience of half that size.
Facebook throttles your reach. Spotify favors newcomers. TikTok changes discoverability rules overnight, which happens more regular than you might think. Brands that build audiences solely on third-party platforms are building sandcastles at low tide.
According to industry surveys, including HubSpot’s marketing research, a majority of marketers report that platform algorithm changes have significantly reduced their organic reach over the past year.
As Joe Pulizzi, founder of the Content Marketing Institute, often emphasizes, brands that don’t build audiences they own are at the mercy of rising costs and shifting algorithms.
Pro Tip: Begin shifting traffic to owned channels: email newsletters, branded podcasts, private communities. Protect your direct line of communication. ➡️ See also: Monetizing Podcasts: Innovative Revenue Streams Beyond Advertising
🎥 The Rise of Media Hybrids: Owning the Whole Experience
Why settle for one channel when you can orchestrate an entire symphony?
The smartest brands aren’t producing isolated content anymore. They’re designing media hybrids:
- A podcast builds emotional connection,
- Behind-the-scenes videos humanize the brand,
- Live events turn fans into evangelists,
- Exclusive merchandise deepens identity.
Spotify Originals, Patagonia’s The Dirtbag Diaries, and HubSpot’s Marketing Against the Grain show that diversified content creates audience depth, not just breadth.
Brands that leverage multimedia strategies — combining podcasts, videos, events, and newsletters — consistently see higher engagement rates than those relying on a single format, according to multiple industry studies, including Wistia and HubSpot.
Pro Tip: Think ecosystem-first: podcasts + video + community + real-world touchpoints. ➡️ Related: The Resurgence of Audio Content
🎧 Beyond Ads: How Brands Are Becoming Full-Blown Media Companies
The best podcasts aren’t “ads with a mic” like a lot of folks think — the best podcasts are self-contained brand ecosystems.
The best brands understand: Owning the content âž” owning the relationship âž” owning the loyalty.
Podcast listeners are 54% more likely to consider buying from brands they hear about on podcasts compared to brands they encounter through other advertising formats, according to Edison Research Podcast Statistics.
As Tom Webster of Sounds Profitable often notes, podcasts aren’t just ad placements — they’re full stages where brands can own the entire narrative experience.
Pro Tip: Don’t just sponsor media. BECOME THE MEDIA. ➡️ Learn more: Monetizing Podcasts: Innovative Revenue Streams Beyond Advertising
🌿 Short Attention, Long Plays: Why Audio and Video Are Winning the Endurance Game
Consumers won’t sit through a 30-second ad… but they’ll binge 8 hours of a podcast.
One in four podcast listener in 2025 consumes over 10 hours of audio content per week (Riverside). YouTube’s long-form content also shows 50% higher average watch times compared to TikTok for educational and entertainment-focused brands.
Pro Tip: Invest in both short and long-form content — but prioritize depth over virality. ➡️ Dive into: Why Branded Podcasts Are Booming
đź›’ Why Audience Ownership is the New Brand Power
Audience isn’t a “nice to have” — it’s the ultimate asset.
In the future, brands won’t just be judged by sales or reach. They’ll be measured by owned audience loyalty.
Companies with owned communities grow customer loyalty and revenue faster than those relying solely on external platforms, according to McKinsey research.
Pro Tip: Start building first-party data ecosystems today.
đź”® How to Future-Proof Your Brand Media Strategy
Building an owned media ecosystem is critical — but it’s not enough to simply “set it and forget it.”
To stay resilient, brands must focus on three pillars:
1. Format Adaptability
- Podcasts might be king today, but what about immersive audio, VR/AR experiences, or AI-driven media environments tomorrow? Stay flexible and ready to pivot formats as consumer preferences evolve.
2. Direct Audience Relationships
- Keep deepening your direct communication channels: email, SMS, community platforms, and in-person events. Algorithms can’t touch a personal connection.
3. Storytelling Mastery
- No matter the medium, the brands that endure are those that can tell emotionally resonant stories again and again.
As marketing futurist Rohit Bhargava often points out, while technology evolves rapidly, the need for human connection remains timeless.
Pro Tip: Build “optionality” into your content plans — experiment with emerging formats before you “need” them.
đź“ś New Playbook: The Owned Media Strategy Blueprint
- Anchor with Audio: Launch a podcast that creates emotional connection.
- Expand with Video: Film episodes, behind-the-scenes content, or short interviews.
- Nurture via Email: Weekly newsletter with exclusive content and direct communication.
- Activate with Events: Virtual AMAs, live podcast recordings, real-world meetups.
- Monetize with Merch: Limited runs tied to milestones or podcast themes.
- Create a Private Community: Offer deeper access (paid or free) for superfans.
Pro Tip: Think “unbundle and rebundle” — atomize core content into multiple formats.
đź“° Case Study Spotlight: How Morning Brew Became a Media Powerhouse
Morning Brew started as a simple email newsletter for young business professionals.
Today, it’s a full-fledged media company offering:
- Multiple daily and niche newsletters,
- Original podcasts,
- YouTube content,
- Paid educational courses through Morning Brew Learning,
- Branded merchandise,
- And live events and webinars.
Morning Brew didn’t just grow an email list; it monetized through sponsored newsletters, paid training programs, and direct advertising partnerships.
Their ability to drive revenue directly from owned audiences made them an attractive acquisition for Business Insider in 2020 — and they’ve continued expanding even after they were sold to a German media conglomerate, Axel Springer.
Pro Tip: Focus small, grow loyal first. Then scale once you have proof that your audience trusts you.
🏆 Conclusion: Build Your Own Stage — or Watch Someone Else Own Your Audience
Platforms constantly shift. Algorithms mutate all the time. Attention spans will continue to shrink.
What won’t go away or ever go out of style is real human connection.
The brands that thrive will own their stages — not rent someone else’s.
Stop renting. Start building. Own the microphone. Own the audience. Own your future.
đź“Ł Ready to Build Your Own Media Empire?
If you enjoyed this article, dive deeper into the future of media and marketing with more insights from The Bernardoni Brief.
Or better yet — subscribe to the soon to be launched Bernardoni Brief Newsletter to stay one step ahead in building your brand’s future.
Mini Action Plan to Start Today:
- Audit: Identify where 80% of your audience currently lives (platforms vs owned).
- Launch: Start one owned channel (podcast, email newsletter, private community).
- Set a Goal: Reduce your reliance on third-party platforms by 20% within 6 months.
- Engage Weekly: Commit to regular publishing, community engagement, or events to deepen trust over time.
Let’s own it together.
The Bernardoni Brief 
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