B2B Publisher Bobit Builds Streaming Platform, Releases Reality TV Show

Bobit Business Media is set to announce a new division, B2X, that will focus on video-related content designed for mobile. Today, it is released a reality TV show about influencers being challenged to solve B2B problems.

The streaming content and platform are the brainchild of Colin Sutherland, who bought the B2B publisher in September, shortly after buying a film studio in Van Nuys, Calif. He wanted the scale that BBM offered to produce video to entice a younger generation of B2B consumers who aren’t reading articles and aren’t joining business associations anymore.

“The B2B industry is struggling to speak to any generation younger than 50, and most of it is hanging on to the past and continuing to do things the way we used to do it, not making agile investments in new technology or new delivery mechanisms to get to the Gen Zs and Millennials who are in business and who need a voice,” Sutherland told AMO. “We’re not tapping into the Gen Zs and the Millennials, who are the decision makers that are not only just up and coming decision makers, they’re actively influencing decisions being made in business today.”

Gen Z uses social media as their “go-to channel for information,” including to discover new products and keep up with the news, according to Sprout Social, a social media management platform. Today’s B2B buyers are digitally savvy and need to be reached early on in their purchasing journey on mobile and social platforms, according to EssenceMediacom, a marketing agency.

Influence This!

Bobit Business Media’s industries range from fleet management to policing to beauty, health and wellness.

“We’re committing to the idea of storytelling through the video space, not corporate videos,” Sutherland said. Talking heads delivering sales pitches are not going to cut it, he said.

“People are trying to experiment on social media in different places, but they don’t really know how to do it because a lot of the marketing people, quite frankly, are baby boomers themselves, and they don’t really understand that generation,” Sutherland, who is in his 60s, said.

He figured by buying BBM last September he’d get the scale he needed to do what he wanted on the streaming storytelling side. He started casting for the first show while negotiating to buy Bobit.

Sutherland also invested in the platform where the shows will be streamed, called B2X.

The reality show, Influence This!, includes six episodes in which social media influencers with modest followings in the tens of thousands are given B2B challenges. The first five episodes show the challenges and the finale shows them talking about what it’s like to be a B2B influencer.

The show is meant to be an exploration of social media influence on platforms like Instagram Reels as a marketing option for small businesses. Bobit is already casting for a second show and a second season of Influence This!

It’s not just about reality TV, either. Bobit journalists will experiment going on camera and creating their own four-minute shows, with the hope that by the end of March, they will produce 10 to 15 journalist briefs each week, talking about what they’re writing about and why it’s important, and then linking back to their article. Spots below the videos will be available to advertisers.

With the new streaming capabilities, Sutherland hopes to double Bobit’s collective audience to 4 million.

“I fully expect that to be a generational expansion,” Sutherland said. “The key metric of success for us is, am I reaching a younger audience? Have I been able to engage and expand my audience overall?”

Sutherland also isn’t interested in keeping the goods for himself. He’s already talking to other publishers to have them leverage the platform.

“I would encourage any person in the B2B community that’s in the publishing industry to connect with me,” Sutherland said. “I built my companies on the back of understanding value and understanding that rising tide floats all boats. And I think the B2B industry is not a healthy industry today.”

“What we need to do is help the people that are in print and digital and events, get them to use our digital platform,” Sutherland said.