It seems like everyone is building in public. Things have been changing for a while now, but with the power of social media and founder-led content being entirely incontestable these days, the fastest-growing companies aren't competing on product capabilities anymore. They're competing on the experience of being their customer.

Shopify doesn't just process payments. They created Shopify Plus Academy, teaching enterprise commerce strategy while positioning themselves as the obvious solution.

HubSpot doesn't just sell CRM software. They built Marketing Hub Software and became the default education source for marketers worldwide.

Stripe doesn't just handle transactions. They publish in-depth technical guides that make developers see them as infrastructure experts, not just another payment processor.

This shift explains why the global entertainment and media market is projected to reach $3.4 trillion by 2028, with an additional $597 billion in revenues becoming available compared to 2023.

The lines between product companies and media companies are disappearing.

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Will’s Picks

A few things I’ve loved reading this week—

• Global entertainment media market hits $3.4 trillion by 2028

• 69% of brands prioritize entertaining content on social media

• Disney's cross-channel engagement model

• Business model reinvention drives M&E growth

The Content Infrastructure Arms Race

Every industry is building media capabilities:

Financial Services: Banks create educational content, investment platforms produce market analysis shows, insurance companies develop safety podcasts.

B2B Software: SaaS companies launch customer success webinar series, publish industry research reports, host virtual conferences that rival traditional media events.

Manufacturing: Industrial companies create technical education content, equipment manufacturers develop training programs, logistics companies produce supply chain analysis.

According to research, 69% of brands are increasing their investment in personalization, but the winners focus on creating "micro-moments" of highly personalized content that resonates deeply with specific audiences.

Why Experience Beats Features

Product differentiation became impossible when:

• Development cycles shortened, allowing rapid feature replication

• Open-source software commoditized core functionality

• API ecosystems enabled easy integration of third-party capabilities

• AI tools democratized complex product development

The new competitive moat is the customer's emotional relationship with your brand. This relationship is built through content, not code.

Companies like The Walt Disney Company serve as models for cross-channel engagement, communicating and engaging their customers across every channel, creating seamless experiences that extend far beyond their core products.

What Actually Works in 2025

1. Problem-First Content:

   Instead of "10 Ways to Use Our Product," create "The Hidden Costs of Manual Invoice Processing" (if you're selling automation)

2. Behind-the-Scenes Process Content: Show how you solve problems internally. Mercury Bank shares their internal financial processes, making other companies want to bank with them.

3. Customer Success Amplification: Turn customer wins into case study content that other prospects can envision themselves in.

The focus on passionate micro-communities enables brands to tap into highly engaged audiences often overlooked by traditional media. These communities become distribution channels that scale organically.

Examples That Work:

• Airtable: Created template galleries and how-to guides that became the go-to resource for database beginners

• Notion: Built a community around productivity systems, making the tool feel essential rather than optional

• Linear: Shares product development philosophy that makes other companies want to build like them

Economic Drivers

The shift to experience infrastructure is driven by measurable economic factors:

Customer Acquisition Costs: Organic content reduces paid acquisition expenses by building audiences that marketing can retarget.

Lifetime Value: Customers with emotional brand connections generate 52% more value than purely transactional relationships.

Viral Coefficients: Shareable experiences create word-of-mouth marketing that scales without proportional cost increases.

Retention Rates: Content-driven engagement reduces churn by maintaining brand presence between purchases.

The Infrastructure Requirements

All that being said, building media capabilities requires significant investment.

You need a team of content strategists, video producers, podcast hosts, and community managers; all roles that didn't exist in product companies five years ago. There have to be full multi-platform distribution networks in place and the technical infrastructure to manage content across social media, email, websites, and emerging channels. You also need the ability to measure content effectiveness using analytics systems and to manage your audience with dedicated resources for responding, moderating, and fostering discussions.

Some companies now have content teams larger than their product teams, reflecting where they see competitive advantage emerging.

Business Model Evolution

Experience infrastructure also changes how companies generate revenue.

B2B companies monetize content through sponsor partnerships and native advertising within their educational content. Subscription tiers and premium content become revenue streams independent of core product sales. Virtual and in-person experiences and events create new income sources while building customer relationships. And content consumption data becomes valuable for understanding customer needs and market trends.

Traditional media companies and product companies are also converging.

Media companies are adding commerce functionality to monetize audiences directly rather than through advertising alone. Product companies are building media capabilities to reduce dependence on external marketing channels. And technology platforms are providing infrastructure for other companies to build their media operations.

The winners will be companies that seamlessly blend product utility with media engagement.

The 90-Day Content Infrastructure Build

Companies succeeding in experience infrastructure follow clear principles:

Start with Value: Create content that solves customer problems rather than promoting products.

Consistent Voice: Develop a distinctive perspective that differentiates content from competitors.

Community Focus: Build audiences around shared interests rather than product features.

Cross-Platform Integration: Ensure content works cohesively across all customer touchpoints.

Long-Term Investment: Treat content as infrastructure that compounds over time rather than tactical marketing campaigns.

Execution Strategy

Month 1: Foundation

• Audit your top 10 customer questions

• Create one piece of educational content per question

• Choose 2-3 platforms where your audience already consumes content

Month 2: System Creation

• Develop content templates for common topics

• Build email capture system around high-value content

• Create content calendar linking to product releases

Month 3: Community Activation

• Launch weekly industry discussion posts

• Start featuring customer success stories as content

• Build feedback loops from content consumption to product development

The experience infrastructure war is just beginning. As products become more similar, the companies that win will be those that create the most engaging, valuable, and memorable customer experiences.