This brainchild of millennials is redefining digital publishing. While most digital media companies are off-shoots of print, at least one up-and-coming outfit eschews convention by promoting its stories straight into cyberspace. Alike Digital Media, recently ranked 10th based on digital analytics across nationwide social media platforms.
“The Core of Alike is really creating content that aims to inspire people, always,” shares Chari Trinidad-Mendoza, Alike’s Chief Operating Officer. She says that while the company is young, having switched management just last year, the fledgling firm has something to prove. Chari also adds that “Alike seeks to embody this generation’s zeitgeist by redefining the familiar, that is, an online lifestyle platform for zoomers and millennials, created by zoomers and millennials.”
Indeed, Alike’s content is currently a mix of thought pieces, advertorial essays, and sprinkled with the occasional inspirational post – ordered chaos that connotes the brand’s current identity-building, and speaks of its capability to rapidly shift direction. “If there is any one thread that we want to embody, it is the currency of our time – hope,” says Rosemary Tolentino, Alike’s CEO, “it used to be fashion or style or luxury. Now, it is looking to the future with a glint of courage in one’s eyes.”
Alike Media has also just concluded the first season of its podcast – Alike Audio – where personalities from business, fashion, and the arts gave intimate peeks into their oft-guarded lifestyles. The company has also released its inaugural coffee table book – Alike Reset 2020 – where over fifty politics, sports, business, and showbiz personalities shared their stories on how they not only survived but thrived through 2020.
The print-heavy hardcover publication is a strategic investment that generates a tenfold return, Mags Fetalino, the company’s CFO says. “The pandemic created a lot of rich stories about people, and we want to immortalize these stories through our publication”, he says. “Our philosophy remains that Alike is here to celebrate people. Elevating the digital media landscape with content that isn’t just interesting but is also informational, is our key leverage to attract readers and patrons towards the brand.”
In light of this the company has grown its revenue 1200% since the company was restructured late last year, and its digital footprint increased by roughly 200% in less than 6 months. Making it arguably the fastest growing premium digital magazine on social media in the Philippines.