Here are the most interesting articles that came across this week…
Celebrities Chat With Athletes, in Reebok Gear
In creating “Framed,” Reebok, a unit of Adidas, joins a lengthening list of marketers that are branching into what is known as branded entertainment — programming that sells in ways meant to be more subtle than the typical interruptive TV commercial.
The tactic, evocative of the sponsored shows that ran during the so-called golden ages of radio and television, is being embraced by brands like Axe, Jack Daniel’s, Fireman’s Fund, Grey Goose, Krups, Match.com, Meow Mix, Stolichnaya, Sunsilk and
Branded entertainment is intended to make the presence of marketers “zap proof” — that is, less likely to be fast-forwarded through — by embedding their products and brands in the plots of shows.
“With the whole landscape of media changing, campaigns are not the only way to reach people,” said Todd Krinsky, vice president for sports and entertainment marketing at Reebok in
The preference is increasingly for “original content that entertains the consumer,” Mr. Krinsky added, “and is also a vehicle to communicate our brand values.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/13/business/media/13adco.html
Google Has Even Bigger Plans for Mobile Phones
The company is gearing up to make a serious run at buying wireless spectrum, a chunk of the airwaves that can be used to provide mobile phone and Internet services, in a Federal Communications Commission auction in January. Google is prepared to bid on its own without any partners, say people familiar with the matter. It is working out a plan to finance its bid, which could run $4.6 billion or higher, that would rely on its own cash and possibly some borrowed money.
Google, meanwhile, already is running a test version of an advanced wireless network at its
The behind-the-scenes moves illustrate just how serious the Internet giant is about trying to reshape the wireless world. Its push could potentially expand the availability and decrease the cost of high-speed mobile Internet access to consumers and broaden the wireless applications they can use.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119517445580795065-email.html
J Allard: Microsoft’s Plan to Be King of All Media
Video will be a key part of this service.
What I want to do at E&D [the entertainment and devices division] is build an entertainment service that can connect, that has a screen and buttons and a speaker, so you can watch what you want, where you want, how you want.
Maybe the business model for you is rental. God bless you. Maybe you want to download and own it. Maybe you are a physical goods guy. You want to prove you have physical goods, and watch on the seatback while you fly to
Content providers like ESPN, in this vision, will need Microsoft to handle the technical details and marketing of selling their products.
We go in as a platform company and say to ESPN that we can offer preference information so you can curate programs in a way that has never been done before. And you don’t have to worry about multiple formats; we do it all for you on the back end. And you can reach all these eyeballs without lifting a finger.
Google turns to X Factor's Fuller for push into TV
Internet giant Google is in secret talks with Simon Fuller, the British entrepreneur behind the Spice Girls, about a joint venture that could change the way TV is watched over the internet.
News of the collaboration will prompt speculation that Google's plans for the TV market include generating original content and competing with major broadcasters.
Executives from the £229bn internet giant have been in discussions with Fuller, who invented Pop Idol, the world's most successful TV franchise, for about a year. Although details of the deal are a closely guarded secret, sources close to Fuller say it could revolutionise the way entertainment and music are distributed.
'It's a big idea on a global scale,' he said. 'It will change television in much the way iTunes changed the way music is disseminated.'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/nov/11/mediabusiness.google
Write to strike
So then, why aren't the companies willing to consider this eminently fair, even modest, proposal? Well, aside from the not entirely preposterous notion that fairness and modesty have absolutely no meaning to them, I've heard two theories that sound plausible. I can't say I know either is right.
The first is that the companies are being so insanely intransigent only in order to assure that the strike will last six weeks, after which they can legally declare the strike to be a force majeure that would free them from any contracts they have signed (particularly those with production companies) that they'd like to get out of. Since this timeframe would coincide with the holidays, it would, presumably, put more pressure on the by-then penniless writers to fold. So, this analysis suggests, once the holidays are over, the companies will be ready to come back to the bargaining table and negotiate seriously.
The other theory is that the companies see the internet as a whole new form of production, one that enables them to start fresh without unions to contend with. In other words, they see this as an opportunity to break the union. And I don't just mean the writer's union. As of now, not only do they not have to pay one cent to writers, actors, or directors for anything shown on the internet, they don't have to hire union writers, actors, or directors for anything made for the internet. This, for them, is virgin territory, and it's reasonable to think that they view it the way, say, a sneaker manufacturer views
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/jeremy_pikser/2007/11/write_to_strike.html
Glam: The success of the network
Glam, represented by the larger circle on the left, is a network. You’ll see clusters made up of smaller circles, representing their content areas: fashion, beauty, fashion, lifestyle, celebrity, teen. Inside each of those clusters, if you squint, you’ll see a small yellow circle. Those are Glam’s O&O (owned and operated) sites. All the many purple circles around those in each cluster represent outside, independent blogs and sites in Glam’s network. That is the secret to Glam’s quick growth without the cost and risk of doing everything itself.
Glam finds the good blogs and creates a relationship. It features good content from them on Glam and also sells ads on the blogs, sharing revenue with and supporting those bloggers. It now has about 400 publishers creating about 600 sites and Arora said that some make multiple six figures a year. They’ve fired only one.
Glam exploded by being a network. It asked the question, WWGD? What would Google do? Google, by the way, earns about 30 percent of its revenue through its O&O properties, Arora said. [LATER: See Capn Ken in the comments for more complete figures.] Glam earns 20-25 percent through its O&Os. Arora claims an advertising CPM of $15-35 for the O&Os and $8-15 for the network ($50-120 for the dreaded advertorial). Arora brags that they are “100 percent transparent” in their ad network, unlike someone else we know.
http://www.buzzmachine.com/2007/11/12/glam-the-success-of-the-network/
Meet the Virtual Generation
The latest group, dubbed Generation Virtual, or V, is made up of people from multiple demographic age groups who make social connections online - through virtual worlds, in video games, as bloggers, in social networks or through posting and reading user-generated content at e-commerce sites like Amazon.com, said Adam Sarner, senior analyst at Gartner.
The V generation is made up of people who are drawn to the Internet's "flat meritocracy" where people can gain status and acknowledgement through ways - like providing advice or recommendations or excelling at a video game - not generally available in the physical world. Basically, Generation V is made up of people who replace physical experience with an online experience, Sarner added.
The online distinction is important, he noted, because companies looking to sell products and services to this generation of consumers can no longer rely on traditional demographic data like name, age and address to tailor marketing messages. Generation V is more likely to interact with marketers anonymously - through an online persona made up of all their online behaviors, Sarner said.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,139748-c,researchreports/article.html
Facebook Is Marketing Your Brand Preferences (With Your Permission)
“Increasingly,” he continued, “as the studios want you to come to them with a script, with stars, with attachments, with financing, the question becomes, what’s the value added? That question will be asked, more and more frequently, and more and more loudly. Big Media’s refusal to bargain and end this strike only assures that this question will continue to be asked — until some brave and imaginative soul answers it. Loudly.”
His advice to daring writers and Internet financiers who would rise to the challenge? “DIY!” he wrote. He pointed to a witty pro-WGA YouTube video that turns the corporate owners’ words against them. “Take a look at this: created with no more resources than you or I already have on our desktops.” (For myself, I’d point to someone like Buffy the Vampire Slayer actress Felicia Day, who did that very thing months before the strike, creating a series that’s so popular online, the show’s fans willingly finance it with donations.)
For more resources, Howard pointed to Variety’s compilation of screenwriter blogs, and another at Huffington Post, where Howard is a contributor. For that matter, read more from Howard in a group interview I’m currently hosting on The Well, the legendary online community now owned (to tie this post up nicely) by Salon.com.
http://newteevee.com/2007/11/15/screenwriters-diy/#more-2507
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8a37uqd5vTw
IBM: ‘End of Advertising as We Know It’
The report observes four change drivers tipping the advertising industry balance of power: control of attention, creativity, measurement, and advertising inventories:
- Consumers have tired of interruption advertising and are increasingly in control of how they interact, filter, distribute, and consume their content, and associated advertising messages.
- Half of DVR owners watch 50% or more of programming on replay; moreover, traditional video advertising doesn’t translate online: 40% of respondents found ads during an online video segment more annoying than any other format.
- Amateurs and semi-professionals are increasingly creating low-cost advertising content that threatens to bypass creative agencies, while publishers and broadcasters are broadening their own creative roles.
- Advertisers are demanding accountability and more specific individual consumer measurements across advertising platforms.
- Self-service advertising exchanges are attracting revenues that were once exclusively sold through proprietary channels or transactions.
Web Videos Stealing TV Viewers, and Marketers
As broadband service becomes more available at home, the growing prevalence of video programming on the Internet is catching the attention of consumers — not to mention marketers and media companies.
“Video has been liberated” from the TV set, Beth Comstock, president for integrated media at NBC Universal, said last week at a panel at the Ad:Tech conference in
“If you’re in the video business,” she added, referring to companies like her employer, the NBC Universal division of General Electric, “it’s exciting to see where it’s going.”
One direction online video is going is toward the creation of scripted episodic shows that are made expressly for Web sites. Many online video programs, sometimes called Webisodes, emulate television in one respect in that they are released at the same time each day or week.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/16/business/media/16adco.html?_r=1&ref=media&oref=slogin
Davies, Fluorescent build game show 'Empire'
"It was like revealed truth," Davies said. "I've been waiting for someone to crack the multiplatform game show for a decade, and this is far beyond what I could have imagined. It is young, visual, dynamic and frankly, revolutionary."
"Empire" is a live quiz show that would allow hundreds of thousands of viewers to play simultaneously via cell phone, land line or the Internet. Unlike other reality series, where viewer participation is mostly limited to voting, "Empire" will have players "projected" into the studio of the show. Participants will be presented through their Internet profile or live video through Fluorescent's proprietary participation technology
"We are creating a gigantic social gaming contest across the nation, set within the venue of a live TV studio," Fluorescent managing director Carolyn Maze said. "Technologically and creatively, this show is pushing boundaries; it's a new category of game show."
INTERVIEW: Google's Vice President of Content Partnerships David Eun
"We don't know exactly how the online video space is going to evolve," admits Eun. "It's still very, very early. The entire marketplace is about a $200 million market, so it's still very small. Because we don't have a lot of data or comparables, there's justifiably a lot of questions and anxiety out there."
He continues: "When you get into a space like content and you come at it from a technical perspective, what we haven't focused on as much and something that I'm trying to do is really explain, in English, what it is we aspire to do with partners and what, frankly, our objectives are. I guess the headline here would be we really are a tech company. We're a search company, we make money primarily through providing advertising and search services on Google.com. We have a business called AdSense which essentially is an outsource advertising provider for thousands and thousands of Web sites around the world.
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