Leveraging internet distribution and individual connection to grow a business

The growth of the internet and new media has profoundly transformed corporate communication. While traditional communications approaches are losing relevance and impact over time, there are new and powerful opportunities for corporations to communicate in the modern world.

In the old media environment, communication was slow, expensive, infrequent, and broadly targeted, occurring through mediums like radio, print, and cable television. Because opportunities to reach audiences were scarce and costly, each message had to prioritize polish, precision, and brand awareness with limited room for error. As a result, corporations crafted tightly controlled narratives, speaking in a singular, unified brand voice.

In the new media environment, the internet, and the communication channels it enables (e.g., podcasts, email, video, social media, and blogs) have expanded the ability to communicate at scale to more people than ever before. Corporate communication can now be frequent, targeted, precise, and substantive. These messages are delivered through digital channels that prioritize speed and authenticity, allowing companies to continuously inform, engage, and build an audience while creating a lasting body of accessible content. At the same time, third-party information and commentary about companies is being produced constantly. To remain relevant, corporations must actively participate in these ongoing conversations and find ways to stand out. Increasingly, a traditional corporate communications approach is insufficient.

Using the internet and social media to own and distribute a narrative can be highly impactful for corporations. The ability to clearly communicate goals, vision, and process, and to directly ask for support, can drive meaningful outcomes. The inherent advantage that accrues to someone with a large platform is massive. In politics, for example, Barack Obama effectively used Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to build a grassroots movement that helped him win the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections, while Donald Trump followed a similarly successful playbook in 2016 particularly amplifying his message to and through his large Twitter audience. For corporations specifically, effective use of digital platforms can positively affect a wide range of desired outcomes including fundraising, stock performance, attracting and retaining talent, and growing a customer base.

Additionally, the breadth and variety of information that can be communicated, and the utility gained from doing so online, is vast. Text enables the articulation of novel ideas, the development of thinking over time, and the creation of a durable trail of insight that others can follow and revisit. Video and audio introduce tone, personality, and presence, allowing audiences to form stronger, more personal connections. Long-form content supports depth, rigor, and sustained argument, while short-form content facilitates discovery, iteration, and rapid engagement. Together, these formats create a layered communication system in which ideas can be introduced, expanded, tested, and reinforced across mediums, compounding in value over time.

However, the volume of content in the digital environment makes it difficult for a faceless corporation to stand out. Potential customers are overwhelmed with content and have become increasingly desensitized to traditional advertising and brand messaging. Thus, a new approach is needed.

When looking for examples of those who successfully stand out in the new media environment, it seems that individuals have an advantage over corporations. Individuals can harness the power of human connection to build relationships over the internet. This ability to build and establish relationships often leaves individuals better positioned to earn trust and engage audiences than corporations.

Numerous examples exist of individuals effectively building an online following and leveraging that audience for financial gain. Here are just a few examples:

• Emily Sundberg – Feed Me
  • Emily Sundberg launched her Substack newsletter Feed Me while working in marketing at Meta and has since grown it to more than 150K subscribers with revenue potentially as high as seven figures.
• Ryan Reynolds – Aviation Gin and Mint Mobile
  • Ryan Reynolds invested in Mint Mobile and Aviation Gin, successfully leveraging his fame and large online reach to boost their profiles resulting in a sale of Mint Mobile to T-Mobile for $1.3B and Aviation Gin to Diageo for up to $610M.
• Chip and Joanna Gaines – Magnolia
  • Stars of the hit show Fixer Upper on HGTV, Chip and Joanna Gaines have simultaneously built a thriving lifestyle brand, Magnolia, which now encompasses a television network, a magazine, and an immersive brand experience in Waco, Magnolia Market at the Silos which includes a market, a bakery, a coffee shop, six boutique shops and more.
• Alex Cooper – Unwell Hydration
  • Alex Cooper is the host of the popular Call Her Daddy podcast who Time Magazine called “arguably the most successful woman in podcasting.” In 2024, she signed a $125M 3-year podcast distribution partnership deal with Sirius XM and launched Unwell Hydration, a beverage brand, in partnership with Nestle.
• Emily Weiss – Glossier
  • Emily Weiss famously founded the beauty brand Glossier after the runaway success of her blog Into the Gloss which showed the real beauty routines and products of celebrities and stylists. Glossier was at one point valued at $1.8B.
• Logan Paul – PRIME Hydration
  • Logan Paul first rose to fame on Vine later transitioning to YouTube where he has over 20M subscribers. He founded the beverage brand PRIME Hydration with fellow youtuber KSI which did $250M in first year sales.

Seeing the success that individuals have been able to achieve on the basis of their internet enabled platforms reveals an opportunity for companies. One way that corporations can better connect with their potential customers is by leveraging independent influencers who have a strong relationship with their audience. This approach has fueled the rapid expansion of the influencer economy: Goldman Sachs estimates the “creator economy” at approximately $250 billion today, projected to reach $480 billion by 2027. Corporations have realized that influencer marketing is an effective way to spread brand awareness and build trust. Prospective customers see the influencer not as a corporation trying to separate them and their money, but as a friend advocating for what they believe to be a good product.

But who better to serve as influencers for a corporation than its own executives?  After all, as Lulu Meservey writes in “GO DIRECT: THE MANIFESTO,” “The best spokesperson for any endeavor is not the one who has the most polish, the longest tenure, or the ‘right’ credentials. It’s the person who holds the secret knowledge upon which the enterprise is built, the person who can not only describe the idea but, in the face of inevitable opposition, fight for it and win.” No one is better positioned to do this than the executives who shape the company’s strategy and direction. Elevating executives as communicators helps cut through the noise by attaching a human face and voice to the business, fostering trust and credibility. And unlike independent creators, executives don’t have to rely on their own efforts, knowledge, or expertise as they attempt to become influencers. Companies can staff a dedicated team to help their executives generate ideas, understand the digital landscape, and execute a consistent content strategy. But by making individual executives the vector through which the company’s story is communicated, corporations gain a powerful advantage in standing out online and building meaningful connections with their potential customers.

While the CEO as an influencer is not a new phenomenon, as the internet and social media take up an ever-increasing share of attention, the executives that can show up well become valuable company assets contributing to driving growth and defining the company’s market narrative. While the importance of networking at the individual level has long been understood (most people will recognize the phrases: “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know,” and “your network is your net worth”), that same networking power can now be leveraged by executives for the benefit of their employers. 

The following CEOs are all active communicators whose large followings allow them to strongly influence the market narrative surrounding their company through sharing product updates, explaining bad news, and publicizing the company’s goals:

• Warren Buffett, formerly the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, became known as the Oracle of Omaha for his business savvy and investing success. His methods of communicating included annual shareholder letters and Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting where he would share his thoughts on his company and investing. Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting is referred to as “Woodstock for capitalists” and attracts as many as 40K attendees.
• Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, frequently gives interviews and shares his thoughts on X (formerly Twitter). He provides constant product updates and emphasizes the company’s goal to develop Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). Sam Altman has over 4.5M followers on X as of 2026.
• Howard Marks, the Co-Chairman at Oaktree Capital Management, has been writing regular memos explaining his thinking and investing philosophy since 1990. To date he has written around 160 memos illustrating his thinking throughout the decades and creating a valuable reference for investors interested in investing with Oaktree.
• Mark Zuckerberg, the Founder and CEO of Meta (formerly Facebook), developed a much more visible and relatable public persona in the early 2020s coinciding with a more direct communication style. He has been active in promoting Meta’s priorities in virtual reality and artificial intelligence. Mark Zuckerberg has over 120M Facebook followers.
• Elon Musk, currently the richest man in the world and founder of 7 companies, is highly active on X famously acquiring the platform in 2022. He leads SpaceX, Tesla, and xAI as well as X where he regularly engages with other accounts and has over 230M followers himself. (Note: SpaceX has now acquired xAI which formerly acquired X)

In a media environment defined by individual voices, those who can consistently communicate with clarity, authenticity, and reach have an outsized ability to shape perception and outcomes. Individual humans excel at creating connection allowing them to build large audiences who are highly invested in what they have to say. For corporations, this represents a clear opportunity: by empowering executives to serve as visible, trusted communicators, they can reclaim narrative control, cut through the noise, and fully leverage the internet to drive growth.