How Can Brand-Owned Media Be Managed? Exploring the Managerial Success Factors of the New Interrelation Between Brands and Media

Although owned media formats that pursue brand-policy objectives have been receiving considerable attention in industries since the beginning of the millennium, virtually no research results are available about their conceptual background and strategic management. Using total interpretive structural modeling, this study examines two research questions: (1) Which success factors for the evolving brand-owned media concept can be identified? (2) How can these factors be systematized in terms of interrelations and hierarchies? Results indicate that the success of brand-owned media depends on a complex interrelation of eight factors. Content-centric factors such as content quality and the non-advertising character of brand-owned media are most important for creating relevant content and for achieving media success in terms of reach and frequency. In contrast, brand strength is not regarded as a precondition of brand-owned media success but rather as a result.