Steven Bartlett’s Steven.com and Authentic have launched OBSN, a new strategic venture designed to build, invest in and scale creator-led media companies and consumer brands globally.
The partners are aiming to deploy up to $400 million into creator businesses over the coming years as they seek to turn large creator audiences into broader companies spanning media, products, licensing, intellectual property and live experiences.
OBSN, short for Obsession, brings together Steven.com’s experience developing creator-led media businesses and audiences with Authentic’s global brand-building, licensing, distribution and intellectual property infrastructure.
At the center of the venture is also a media platform offering news, analysis and live experiences focused on the creator economy.
Steven.com is the creator holding company founded by entrepreneur and The Diary Of A CEO host Steven Bartlett.
Its portfolio combines creator-led media, communities, consumer products, technology and investing.
The company operates businesses including FlightStory, FlightCast and FlightFund and provides creators with content production, audience growth, commercial capabilities, technology and access to capital.
Authentic operates a significantly larger brand and intellectual property platform.
The company owns and invests in more than 50 brands and operates across more than 150 countries.
Its network includes more than 1,700 licensees and strategic partners, while brands across the Authentic portfolio generate more than $38 billion in annual systemwide retail sales.
The company’s properties collectively reach nearly one billion social media followers.
Authentic’s portfolio includes brands and personalities such as Reebok, Champion, Sports Illustrated, David Beckham, Shaquille O’Neal, Kevin Hart, Elvis Presley, Muhammad Ali, Marilyn Monroe, GUESS, Nautica, Brooks Brothers, Dockers, Ted Baker, Billabong, Quiksilver and Prince.
Combining those capabilities with Steven.com’s creator expertise creates a platform designed to address a common challenge facing large online personalities.
Creators can build audiences of millions of people relatively quickly, but turning those audiences into enduring businesses often requires capabilities far beyond content production.
Those capabilities can include manufacturing, distribution, licensing, retail relationships, technology, investment capital, intellectual property management and international expansion.
OBSN is intended to bring those pieces together within one platform.
Partnerships will be structured around the individual creator and could include expanding an existing media business, developing consumer products, establishing licensing programs, creating strategic partnerships or pursuing new investment and global expansion opportunities.
Steven.com will lead OBSN’s media, technology, data and audience-growth operations.
Authentic will contribute its expertise in brand development, product creation, licensing, strategic partnerships and international distribution.
The partners see an opportunity to deploy hundreds of millions of dollars into creator businesses meeting their investment and operating criteria.
That capital component distinguishes OBSN from a traditional creator management or advertising platform.
Rather than simply helping creators monetize sponsorships or advertising, OBSN intends to help selected creators build companies and intellectual property with the potential to operate independently of any single social media platform.
The strategy reflects the growing economic importance of individual creators.
Online personalities increasingly function as media organizations, product brands and distribution channels simultaneously.
A creator with a sufficiently large and engaged audience can potentially launch consumer products, subscription services, events, media franchises and licensed intellectual property without relying on the traditional path used by established entertainment companies.
However, creators often have to assemble separate partners for each part of that process.
OBSN’s proposition is that Steven.com and Authentic can provide a more integrated path from audience development to company building.
The venture also includes its own creator-economy media and experiences business.
That operation is already live and has more than one million followers on Instagram.
OBSN plans to expand into additional content formats, channels and live experiences, including festivals and official awards.
The venture debuted at a creator-focused event in New York on September 14.
Investor and Hot Smart Rich founder Maggie Sellers Reum moderated a fireside discussion with Bartlett and Authentic Founder and Executive Chairman Jamie Salter.
For Authentic, the venture provides another route for adding intellectual property and emerging consumer brands to its global platform.
Instead of acquiring only established brands, the company can potentially participate much earlier in the development of businesses formed around creators with large audiences.
For Steven.com, Authentic provides the global licensing, consumer product and distribution infrastructure needed to turn creator audiences into businesses operating across multiple markets.
Bartlett believes the next generation of major media companies and consumer brands will increasingly be built around individual creators.
OBSN is designed to capture that shift by identifying creators whose audiences and intellectual property can become larger standalone enterprises.
KEY QUOTES:
“The next generation of global media companies and consumer brands will be built around creators. But a global audience of millions is not yet a company, and it certainly should not be the ceiling of a creator’s potential. Steven.com understands how to build media and audiences around creators, and Authentic understands how to build and extend brands around the world. OBSN brings those capabilities together so ambitious creators can reach the full scale of their ambition. We are aiming to deploy up to $400m in creator businesses over the coming years, OBSN is at the heart of that strategy.”
Steven Bartlett, Founder of Steven.com
“Creators are redefining media and shaping the future of entertainment, with many poised to become multigenerational brands in their own right. We are excited to partner with Steven Bartlett and his exceptional team to launch OBSN and create a powerful new model for creators and their businesses. By combining our complementary capabilities, we will identify, invest in and scale creator-led IP – capitalizing on a once-in-a-generation opportunity to strategically deploy hundreds of millions of dollars across the creator economy and build the brands of tomorrow.”
Matt Maddox, President and CEO of Authentic
