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Media Perspectives - Wednesday, October 6, 2010
No Scale For You!
By Mike Einstein
Allow me to share two revelations that lead me to conclude
that our lousy economy is nothing more than the unintended
effect caused by on-demand media in general, and by the
Internet in particular.
The first of these two revelations stuck me when my
brother, Jeff, rented a Chevy Aveo on a recent visit.
Neither of us had ever heard of a Chevy Aveo, despite the
hullabaloo surrounding GM. Too big to fail? Not if the
Aveo has anything to say about it!
The second revelation occurred when I was visiting my in-
laws and my wife's 90 year-old stepfather kept muting the
TV during the commercial breaks. "Why do you mute the
commercials," I asked? "Because I can't stand them," he
countered. "How else are you going to know what to buy?"
I responded, just in time to be drowned out by resumption
of the audio.
That's when it hit me. There's one reason ? actually two
related reasons ? why our consumer economy is in the
tank. Now that we have the means, motive and opportunity
to avoid advertising at any cost, and with millions of
channels to hide among, we no longer know what we're
supposed to buy.
Ever since the proliferation of cable and the explosion of
broadband, brands have been unable to achieve the kind of
scalable audience reach our economy needs to sustain it-
self. A fitting analogy is to equate advertising with the
fuel that runs our economic engine. By all indications,
we're out of gas (the great mileage we got in that Aveo
notwithstanding).
Years ago, there were only a handful of viable options on
TV. Everyone, including those with remote controls, knew
what was on every channel, so there was no point in grazing
during the breaks. Advertisers could reach 70% of the
market with a simple roadblock.
Today, with single-digit ratings in prime time, 40% DVR
penetration, and dozens of channels to graze among during
the breaks, the last place to reach a prospect is on TV.
And the Internet is even worse with millions of places to
visit and billions of ads to avoid.
Strangely, the only medium that remains intrusive and that
is still consumed in real time is commercial radio. And we
all know how well that's working.
Even the mega brands that play the tonnage game are suffer-
ing. But it's game over for any new brand that seeks to
break through.
The truth is, media have always been on-demand. The "OFF"
button is nothing new. But never before have we been so
conditioned ? and equipped ? to purposely avoid the
onslaught of ads. Ever wonder why P&G buys two billion
impressions a day? Because the first 1,999,999,999
don't/can't do the job, that's why. And the algorithmic
string being produced and chased by the intermediaries in
the food chain only serves to further shrink the universe
and further erode any opportunity for branding success.
I wrote in this space last month a two-part article about
media supply and demand. Our industry continues in vain
to scale the supply via specious behavioral targeting
methodologies when what we really want to do is tap the
behavior that we know for certain already exists. Perhaps
the secret lies in what we're using for bait.
The fact is, we know what consumers want. They want the
same thing they've always wanted, compelling content, the
modern version of which manifests online in bite-sized
portions known as video snacks. In fact, video snacking
is now the Web's Number One discretionary activity (more
than 30 billion video clips are viewed online each month).
Advertisers would be well advised to align themselves with
a content-driven media model that taps this ubiquitous
behavior; a model that attracts consumers with something
they actually want rather than repelling them with some-
thing they don't (and never did) want.
Satisfying today's consumer demand requires us ? indeed
compels us - to accept the demise of advertising as
intermediary and encourage the resurrection of advertising
as destination.
In so doing, brands will be taking their cue from the
halcyon days of radio and television, when content was
king and advertisers knew the audience was there for the
show and not the ads. Case in point: Texaco reached folks
more effectively with its brand image by having its name
on the curtain behind Bob Hope than it could ever achieve
by bludgeoning the audience with ads.
It's really quite simple... Rather than brands trying in
vain to reach recalcitrant consumers through traditional
means, they can and should entice consumers to reach them
instead by leveraging the video snacking behavior we all
share; proven behavior that stands ready, willing and
able to express itself billions of times each and every
day.
Note to GM: Want to sell a Chevy Aveo? Stop using targeted
ads that no one wants and start hosting content that every-
one wants on your own site.
The good news is there actually is a media model that has
the ability to tap this proven consumer demand and the
capacity to deliver millions of visitors per day to
designated brand destinations, guaranteed. Anyone interest-
ed in something that works for a change should feel free
to call me at (219) 878-1006 for more information on this
idea whose time has come...again!
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YOUR VIDEO SNACK BAR
Top Viewed Videos...
1. All the Single Babies
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2. Celebrities: Before and After Make-Up
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3. Amos N´ Andy - In the IRS Office
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4. The D-Day Invasion
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5. The Spanish Civil War
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6. The Human Slinky
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