by Next Wave Team | Jun 9, 2006 | Advertising, Future of advertising, Future of TV, Marketing & the Web
Review: Video goggles turn iPod into TV - Yahoo! News
We’ve said that the big thing with the video iPod wasn’t the fact that you could watch TV on the iPod- but that you could buy a show for $1.99 that you could have got for free the night before.
The critics were quick to say, “who wants to watch video on that tiny screen”- and blew off the video iPod. Well- these glasses answer their complaints- making the video iPod turn into a 27″ TV- and you will look like Geordi LaForge on Star Trek, The Next Generation. Watch your TV- while you work- or drive (and you thought cell phones were bad)- or drop some iPod porn for that virtual enhanced evening. See more about the myvu personal media viewer here.
While on the subject of TV anywhere: This weeks Advertising Age had a huge article on the Slingbox- which takes your TV feed and sends it over the Internet to remote locations- and how the NFL in particular was unhappy about the prospect of Browns fans being able to “blacked out” game. This is what we call the Henry Ford syndrome- or the head in the mud view- because the Slingbox will be totally useless once we start getting all of our programming direct over IP.
Advertisers- who pay the freight for TV, aren’t interested in broadcasting when they can pick and choose directly who sees their commercials- which is what IPTV or the iTunes store, Google video, etc- deliver.
by Next Wave Team | Apr 27, 2006 | Advertising, Change the world, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Future of TV, Marketing & the Web, Web strategy
Advertising Age - Apple Chomps Into Forbidden Fruit: Ads
As we’ve said- the biggest news with the video iPod wasn’t watching movies- it was that Apple began selling TV shows on the iTunes store (sans commercials) for $1.99 ea. These were shows you could have seen for free the previous night.
Now- Apple has started to show ads on the store interface. Is this setting the stage for ad supported content? Will the ads be targeted to the customer- one can only assume so.
This is the end of the Network, the end of Cable- and the birth of IPTV. Are you paying attention?
I’ve said I’ll watch a whole bunch of spots to see the Sopranos for free- or pay $5 a show to see it in HD without having to get HBO-
What do you think?
by Next Wave Team | Mar 14, 2006 | Advertising, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Future of advertising, Future of TV, Marketing & the Web, Media, Web strategy
So, this is a rant. It’s also a comment on the future of advertisings golden child- television ads. It’s also a message to Rupert Murdoch- who obviously either doesn’t get it- or is putting up a good front. It’s also a message to local NPR affiliates who are up in arms about NPR making programs available as PodCasts. Oh, yeah- Clear Channel- you too- wake up.
To those powerful people that still believe that they can “bundle” programming- that they don’t create- and resell it as a package, your days are numbered.
A la carte TV will work- it will just be delivered by someone other than:
- Television networks
- Broadcasters
- Cable systems
- Satellite TV systems.
These are all soon to be obsolete leftovers from the day when it took expensive technology and hardware to distribute programming. Much the same way that if you build newspaper printing presses- you best be looking for a new profession. “Bits not atoms” as Nicholas Negroponte said in “Being digital” way back in the nineties. In other words- what is digital, should stay digital. The articles on the computer at the newspaper should stay on computers instead of being converted to ink on dead trees. Same goes for digital media like TV shows and movies- and radio broadcasts- no need to “package them” anymore- just put them on a server like the iTunes store and deliver them direct to the consumer- unbundled.
So, I’d be willing to pay $5 per episode of the Soprano’s- in HD quality, or $2 in podcast version. And if Cadillac wanted me to learn all about Tony’s new Escalade- they could subsidize my download (I’ll watch and interact with their 2 minute infomercial for $5 off my $5 download- where they will quickly learn that I’d never drive that monstrosity unless it ran on water). Note- I don’t really need anything else from HBO- at this point Netflix does a better job of delivering movies to me- and as soon as HD DVD’s appear- HBO’s last advantage will be gone.
While NPR affiliates are worried about losing access to their subscribers due to podcasts- what they haven’t worried about is creating valuable local community oriented content- which would have helped them build a relationship with their audience- allowing them to have their listeners come to their sites instead of the national site. It’s a learning curve that will sort out the visionaries from the hacks in media really quick.
So- while I can’t download the Soprano’s right now- I’m more than ready too- and HBO better find a new model for distributing the only products that they have had a hand in creating.
The idea of A la carte cable packages only is a discussion if you still believe anyone needs the distribution systems of yesterday. As soon as there is a digital rights management system as solid as iTunes available to everyone- content producers- like David Chase, producer of “The Soprano’s” will be able to sell their programming direct, with an intermediary aggregator like iTunes store or Google video offering the nexus that provides the targeted message insertion handling for those who want to subsidize their viewing.
For me- all I want is my Soprano’s now- so, HBO if you are listening- put it up on iTunes- before you force me to either go to a friends house- or to Bit Torrent. One show isn’t worth a $70 cable bill a month. Capish?
What do you think?
by Next Wave Team | Mar 1, 2006 | Advertising, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Future of TV, Guerrilla Campaigns, Marketing & the Web, Viral Marketing, VW advertising, Web strategy
just a blip » Blog Archive » Un-pimp your advertising
By way of Ernie Schenck I find my way to Baba Shetty’s blog where he talks about the “Vee Dub” un-pimp your ride campaign from Crispin Porter + Bogusky.
Shetty points out that the new spots are number 2, 3 and 4 on YouTube right behind the story of the autistic basketball star.
While this is all good and fine- the real question is why is all this traffic going to YouTube instead of to VW? Why hasn’t CP+P made sure that these spots are available in the obvious place- VW’s site- where they can capture and analyze traffic? Being able to look at your stats and see where your product and commercials are being discussed is one of the most valuable resources a marketer has today.
And- don’t assume that everyone has broadband access- have multiple resolutions, multiple formats, all launched from a quick loading HTML page- giving the viewer the option before waiting 10 minutes for your pretentious Flash intro to load.
I was mistaken when I predicted that these spots would only air to limited audiences- I caught one in 24 on Monday night. Of course I watched it- they are funny- and it may generate some curiosity on the sales floor- only until consumers see the price tag. CB+P may be the masters of advertainment- but VW still has a long way to go to “German Engineering.”
So kids, remember- don’t leave it to third parties to distribute your ads- do it yourself- that’s the beauty of the web. And- even though you love Flash- don’t build your whole site out of it- unless you absolutely have to.
by Next Wave Team | Feb 6, 2006 | Advertising, BMW Advertising, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Future of TV, Guerrilla Campaigns, Viral Marketing, Web strategy
The 2006 Superbowl wasn’t a very exciting game- and from an advertising standpoint- well, the game did make a bunch of mediocre spots more interesting.
I’m not going to review the spots- you can read someone like Ad Age’s Bob Garfield for his commentary (may require subscription) http://adage.com/news.cms?newsId=47764
I’ll stick to maximizing your ad budget effectiveness- if you’re going to spend 2.5 million dollars to run a spot- shouldn’t you do your best to turn it into a viral marketing effort?
Viral marketing is what gave us www.subservientchicken.com for Burger King. A low budget effort to launch BK’s tendercrisp chicken sandwich- that you can have your way. So, to have your way with the chicken on the site- you tell it what to do- ala web porn (the chicken is wearing stockings and a garter belt). For less than $30 thousand dollars, BK was reeling in millions of viewers, all telling the chicken to do the macerena.
Back to the Superbowl spots- we’ve said over and over- post all your ads on your site, be they print, radio, outdoor or especially TV. If you give the ads to your customers, they may distribute them for you. Nike and Apple get this- as apparently does Budweiser this year- with a complete page of ads for you to view- and even download into your iPod. (more…)
by Next Wave Team | Feb 5, 2006 | Advertising, Design, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Future of TV
When you take two old school media companies, throw them into a partnership to pilot a sinking ship, and then throw a self-indulgent brand name on top- with an uninspired logo- you can start counting the days. Never mind that television as we know it will die off to IPTV faster than Henry Ford made buggy whips obsolete.
CBS and Warner Brothers decided to pull the plug on UPN and the WB networks and combine the cream into the lamely named CW television network. To demonstrate how lame the ideation on this name project was:
The CBS chief explained that the name of the new net is an amalgamation of the first initials of CBS and Warner Bros. “We couldn’t call it the WC for obvious reasons,” Moonves joked. (Brandweek)
The true joke is that most of their target audience wouldn’t even know what a “Water Closet” is.
Naming a brand isn’t something to joke about- much less use as little creative thought as what must have went into this project- even the mark is so off target as to be embarrassing. Can you see kids wearing this logo?
Let’s look at the success of MTV as a brand reaching the youth market for starters, or Virgin. The days of call signs and station numbers meaning anything are long over, the key is brand voice and image. If this new network has any hopes of building an audience/community, they should hurry back to the drawing board.
I wonder if CBS chief Moonves has any idea that CW stands for “Country Western” or for even better yet “continuous wave” radio- using morse code- yet another buggy whip.
There are tons of branding agencies out there, including The Next Wave- my advice is hire one quickly and kill this brand, before it kills itself.
What do you think?
other links: MSNBC: CBS, Warner Brothers forming a new TV network
