The hyper-changing media landscape
Introduction
Word of mouth vs. conversation marketing
The hyper-changing media landscape
Is there an exodus from Carat Fusion?
Sarah Fay's predictions for 2007 and beyond
Berens: Since we last talked, a lot has changed in the media landscape. There are more blogs and podcasts every day. Social media and what some folks call "Web 2.0" (I don't much like the term myself) have arisen; there's an ad network born every time a car horn honks; at the same time, there's a lot of media consolidation: Fox bought MySpace; Google bought YouTube; Facebook may fetch a billion dollars. Advertisers are worried about how to get their messages in front of a mass audience when the audience is running in a million different directions across dozens of new and old channels. So, in this changing media world, what's keeping you up at night? What's making you smile? Is it true that the game is changing, or is it just a new round of the old game? Or are these false dichotomies?
Fay: Well, Brad, you've been in the space long enough to know the only constant in the digital marketing arena is change. And we are now moving into an era of "hyper-change." Just think about what has happened recently with YouTube. They came out of nowhere just over a year ago. Come on! It's just mind blowing. In just one year, YouTube went from zero to more than 100 million video views per day-- and has captured $1.6 billion from Google!
Is this dramatic rise all about YouTube and its well-established position in the media market? Not just. I believe it's about the quickly shifting behaviors of consumers. Social networking and user content creation needs to be understood beyond website business and marketing models. It needs to be understood as a social phenomenon. Isobar has been doing a deep dive in this space, and we see the implications of social networking going well beyond the success of YouTube, MySpace and Facebook. Social networks around the globe are on the rise, and that is because people are compelled to participate in media experiences. There is a migration of time being spent toward connecting with people or communities with like interests.
At Isobar, we believe the brands that will win are those whose consumers tell each other the best stories (versus those who tell the best stories to their consumers). We are looking for ways to insert brands into their conversations, by creating platforms for participation. We are moving our focus from "buying time" and looking for ways to "create time" time between brands and consumers.
Is this a new game? The end game is the same as ever: build brand equity and revenue. The concept of inserting brands into consumer conversations is also age old. But today's platform for doing so is ripening and presenting new challenges and opportunities for innovation and creativity.
The continuous morphing of the digital landscape and the overall effect this is having on the entire media landscape makes me smile because I have always loved discovering opportunities provided by unexpected changes. It keeps me up at night as well… We can never rest on our laurels, or say we have "the way" to produce program results. We have to constantly respond and change with the market.