Monday, April 10, 2006
Disney to give away shows online
Yes, on the one hand, MovieBeam. On the other hand, Disney has just done something of seismic consequence for the way we get our entertainment. Media man Jeff Jarvis says:
Not very long ago at all, the networks would not have dared to do this for fear of pissing off their distribution channels: station affiliates, cable MSOs, and even retailers for the DVD market. But now the force of change on the internet is so great that the networks are facing a choice of pissing them off or dying. They are choosing the former. I’d sell your cable stock, by the way.
But what does this mean for advertising?
TV is grabbing a share of online advertising by redefining TV as both broadcast and broadband. Advertisers have always been more comfortable spending big money on TV. Now they can continue to spend their money with those familiar players and get broadband, too. And TV is doing this so as not to lose money to other media even as broadcast — and next, cable — shrink; this is how they rescue upfront. And if TV succeeds at holding advertisers’ attention and money, other players — online companies, magazines, newspapers — may not be able to break in. This an effort for both networks and ad agencies to keep ahead.
Sunday, April 09, 2006
Brand hatred = brand love
Nishad at oneangrycustomer writes:
[M]any FMCG brands are in a constant battle, even against supermarket brands, because they have gone out to appeal to the widest demographic possible and rarely to a tightly knit core group who could be true evangelists for the brand and the company.
Thanks in large part to my blogging, I have developed a personal brand. There are people who hate that brand (that is to say, they hate me). They disagree with what I say, how I say it, and why I say it. I can say without hesitation that I wear the hatred of such people as a badge of honour. When I look at the ones who love me, I know I’ve cultivated the right crowds.
How about you and your company?
Brand hatred = brand love
Nishad at oneangrycustomer writes:
[M]any FMCG brands are in a constant battle, even against supermarket brands, because they have gone out to appeal to the widest demographic possible and rarely to a tightly knit core group who could be true evangelists for the brand and the company.
Thanks in large part to my blogging, I have developed a personal brand. There are people who hate that brand (that is to say, they hate me). They disagree with what I say, how I say it, and why I say it. I can say without hesitation that I wear the hatred of such people as a badge of honour. When I look at the ones who love me, I know I’ve cultivated the right crowds.
How about you and your company?
Thursday, April 06, 2006
"Narrowcasting"
Chris Yeh blogs on Adventures in Capitalism about a crazy-brilliant niche marketing scheme dreampt up by a women’s soccer team in New Jersey:
The New Jersey Wildcats (a women’s soccer team) has realized that they can use today’s new technologies to launch their own broadcast network, essentially for free. They’re uploading broadcasts of their games, including embedded commercials, to Google Video. Their fans get a notice whenever a new broadcast is available, and can watch on their PCs or iPods at their convenience.
This is brilliant. They already have a brand and a strong audience, and this scheme allows them leverage both those assets at no cost to generate a new and potentially exciting revenue stream.
The team has lots of name stars, and lots of girls aged 6-20 have iPods. And little girls who love soccer also have soccer moms. And soccer moms have disposable income. Get all the fascinating details at Adventures in Capitalism.
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Pithy Quote of the Day
Jeff Jarvis, on why the New York Times continues to get it wrong whenever they try to talk about either business or politics in relation to the internet:
The problem is that they still think the internet is something the powerful use to affect the rest of us. Wrong. It’s what the rest of us use to affect the powerful.