The idea of the 500 channel world should be long purged from anyone’s vocabulary at this point- there will be content to watch until the world goes into self-cleaning oven mode- or freezes over like a hockey rink- but, there may not be many humans in the actual show. Take a look at Animusic videos of music making machines- or go rent the movie “Final fantasy” or start looking into virtual worlds like “Second life” and you realize- we can do much cooler things in a virtual world. By taking scenes from video games to illustrate stories, Machinima, anyone with a creative bone in their body will be able to create stories with a look equivalent to a Hollywood movie.
The big question will remain- what to watch? This is where the power of crowds and agents of influence will come into play. The best advertising agencies will be the ones who can guide the masses into unwittingly being their agents of mass propaganda. Strike the right nerve- and the reaction is exponential compared to the force of the first strike.
The key to the future will be how will these provocateurs be paid- in the free wheeling virtual world? Agencies have relied on the idiotic media commission system for too long. Will it come down to some kind of pay-per-click (or the 2.0 version- commission on sale)- or some other formula?
Crispin Porter + Bogusky in Miami has started to take equity positions in companies they work with- which should make people in corporate marketing positions start wondering how long they will be able to hang on to their cushy “C” level jobs where they just play General to the mercenary agencies that are hired to do the job or be the scapegoats.
Big changes are coming- all thanks to the shift in power from the ones with the most money- to those with the best ideas- and tools that put the power in everyone’s hands.
I admit it- I’m a sucker for Rockstar Supernova (and Rockstar INXS before that). Now that we’ve gotten that embarrassing part out of the way- let’s look at why it’s absolutely necessary to have your show available for download at the same time it’s being broadcast- that is if you want to keep your audience.
Last night was only the second week of the elimination program- had it been the final there might have been mayhem, because, viewers in Dayton OH and Southwest OH, had the show at first interrupted- then preempted by a tornado. WHIO-TV, Channel 7, the CBS affiliate in Dayton, in their haste to be “The Leader” had their “Newscenter 7 team” showing off their latest Doppler radar- for over 50 minutes of the show. This guaranteed that the viewers wouldn’t be able to see the performances – or vote- or be a part of the “Rockstar” community- which is what makes these shows so popular and successful.
Tonight’s elimination show will mean nothing to the viewers here- and some may not come back next week, because once disenfranchised- it’s easy to find something else that holds your interest.
If the show was available over IP- viewers who weren’t in the danger zone- wouldn’t have been lost- and or driven to something like Bit Torrent to get the content. Unfortunately, Mark Burnett productions is tied in with MSN- and the site Rockstar.msn.com is biased to Windows- and Windows media player- leaving us Mac users having to suffer through poor streaming video downloads- and no access to the forums (where they claim to support the latest version of Firefox- but not on the Mac). I have also just found that when using flip4mac to view WMV – that I only have access to Magni’s performance off the site- once again, a developer who ignores all 508 standards (tagging and navigation for the blind).
When this show began last year- they had a 3-episode week on Network, which quickly shifted to 2 network, 1 cable, and this year- it’s 2 network and one download. The question to ask Mr. Burnett- with running the risks of local preemption- and having to fit into the networks time slots- why not try a complete online, on demand program? Your ability to build community, individually target ad messages to your viewers- and offer interactive sales opportunities for the music, clothing, and products that are showcased on the program could be huge.
I’m sure I’m not the only viewer in Dayton that’s ticked, or the only Mac user that’s left out- but, more importantly- I’m an advertising target who just got totally missed.
Google isn’t just the best search tool out there, it’s becoming the best of everything online. (It’s amazing what you can do with googles of cash). With a ton of money, and a different vision of the online world than Microsoft- Google is advancing into building relationships of convenience with their users- in other words, they keep trying to make your life easier- which is a GREAT marketing strategy.
We, at The Next Wave, like to say marketing is a simple concept- create lust, evoke trust. Google is working their way into the hearts of consumers everywhere by offering a complete selection of services- for free, that are useful, honest and open, that make your life online easier.
The big question will come when they face their first security failure- that is bound to happen. Will they do it more gracefully than PayPal, the VA, Ohio University or others- that have “lost” customer records.
Eventually, Google is going to be the king of digital content distribution (even though Apple has designed a better interface with the iTunes store and solved digital rights management issues) because they have the capital- the brains and the vision to do it right.
Google checkout is the first step to the complete customer relationship management solution- that will involve everything from Micro payments to credits for interacting with ads. Keep an eye on Google- they will inherit the earth- sooner than you think.
The Blogospher seminar was profiled today in the Dayton Daily News. The seminar teaches businesses how to use blog software (or content management system software) to manage content on their site and optimize it for search. One of the reasons this site has seen it’s average monthly unique visitor-ship rise over 800% is the use of WordPress to manage this part of the site.
It’s coming- and if you are a middleman in the content delivery system, watch out. To define middlemen: record labels, movie studios, television networks (cable, broadcast, pay-per-view)- the people who come between the content producers - and their audience. The only people who will still be able to profit from this are the quality aggregator distributors like the Apple iTunes store, Amazon and probably Google (who may or may not - own the online world in the near distant future).
Read the link above- to find out how an unknown, small time singer, gave a concert to 70,000 people from her basement. Even if this was a set-up by a label, there are enough nerdy music geeks out there that can figure out how to do this on their own.
Sandi Thom now has a number one UK single- just recently the hip-hop band Gnarls Brakley have a UK number 1 hit purely from downloads.
Music is driven by word-of-mouth and the preferences of the “early adopters/ innovators”- more so than other product or service categories. If you are trying to build a brand quickly- using good webstrategy can get you to the top quicker than conventional media. If you don’t believe it, go ask Sandi Thom.
Advertising you don’t have to pay for is like warm cookies and cold milk before bed, getting a puppy on your birthday, or winning the lottery on the only ticket you ever bought. Well, maybe you bought a bunch of tickets and won the lottery.
It’s been said that the most powerful word in advertising is “Free”- and if you look at the stats for Jud Laipply’s “Evolution of Dance” video on You Tube- you’ll see how powerful even a low quality video can be.
In advertising, marketing, public relations (PR) the idea is to get your message out in front of your audience in the most cost effective way possible- and the Internet is certainly making that possible. Here is a six-minute, single camera production with over 22,623,270 views. It’s got 5191 comments and has been favorited 41210 times (as of 11 June 2006) – all at a minimal cost.
For an unknown motivational speaker, this bit of brilliant marketing has changed his world- opening doors to appearances on national TV morning shows and speaking engagements as well as his own line of merchandise.
Compare the costs of this video to the Burger King Manthem spot- and you quickly see who gets more bang for their buck. However, for all his genius, Jud is getting away with something no ad agency or major corporation can do- he’s using some of the best-known music in the world as his background track- without securing rights or paying royalties.
From reading his site, it is clear that Mr. Laipply is acutely aware of the rights issues- and he is not selling his video or providing the mix for people to download and do their own dance.
Our only hope is that this mix starts getting played at every sporting event in America- so sports fans only have to suffer through a small section of the Village People’s YMCA, Cotton Eye Joe by Rednex, the Macarena by Los Del Rio instead of the whole thing at every game.
What do you think?
