Quick. Name two movies you’ve seen recently AND the studio that released them. OK. How’d you do?

In my non-scientific experience, I believe you were able to answer the first question (you may, in fact, have remembered a LOT about the film - who was in it or made it, what it was about, where you saw it) but knowing the studio that produced it? Most likely you didn’t know it. The same applies for both bands and authors - pick your favorite three and then tell me what label (or publisher) they’re signed to?

Now, pretend you’re not someone  visiting the site of a marketing consultancy and, instead, are a somewhat normal person... Ask yourself this question – do you even care? I mean, seriously, does it actually matter to you which company released Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol, or published Kathryn Stockett’s The Help? For a consumer, the answer is no. What matters to them is that they know how to find it when they want to watch (or read, or listen to) it. That's it. All this stuff about the brand behind the product - to a consumer - is irrelevant.

And, in this age of emerging digital distribution paradigms, where Apple is now the world's largest music retailer and Amazon is about to become a major book publisher, it begs the question of what role these established players in the content world will play going forward...