Brand Integration

Ever since we began working on the Wilde Media Network programs, we’ ve encountered a lot of questions from traditional marketers when it comes to fully understanding what is “Brand Integration“.   For many, it traditionally meant Product Placement… but just like many other marketing applications, this has evolved, too.

Wilde Media programs enables a multi-platform viewing presence including TV, web, and new media applications.  Meaning, us, the viewing audience, does not have to be confined to one location to watch a new show.  We have developed our viewing preferences to be available when we are… not when the networks air the program.  ie:  here comes DVR, online video… like Hulu, etc., plus the fact that many TV shows are now sharing their placement.

I mean, I can watch “Family Guy” on Fox, TBS, myPHL, etc. and that’s only in the Greater Philadelphia market area.  How many other stations that I’m not even paying attention to?

SO… I found a few testimonials as to how major industry leaders are tackling branded integrated media head on…

“Vertical networks are emerging as one of the most important advertising innovations in online publishing. Pairing established media brands with high-quality long-tail content is the first thing I recommend to publishers as part of an overall ad revenue strategy.”

Greg Stuart
Author and former CEO
Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB)

“We recognize that vertical networks, networks that combine content from or across a complimentary group of web properties – are the next logical evolution for publishers seeking to expand their advertising solutions for customers. They are quickly becoming an important way to develop scale for our marketing clients.”

Beth Comstock
President, Integrated Media
NBC Universal

Even though these quotes focus on the producers/ publishers, it gives clear guidance as to how brands and marketers should evolve and review their strategies to avoid the viewers ability to skip their brand all together.

As we continue to develop and produce our programs, we look forward to the ability to work with your brand and develop some great synergy between the program’s format and your brand message.

Til next time,  you can reach me at emilia@beholderproductions.com or call me at 267-516-6649 to review your marketing goals and the various programs that will work well for you.

Emilia Andrews

 

PhIMA panel on online video

I had the pleasure to attend my first PhIMA – Philadelphia Interactive Media Association event last night.  It was jam packed with interactive designers, programmers, advertisers/ agencies and content providers.  And as for it being my first time, it made quite the impression.

The panelists included execs from PointRoll, Hulu, Digitas Health, WebMD and Tremor Media.  All of whom gave great background on their company’s situation as it stands right now in regards to online video.

Now, I’m not going to recap what happened, as it was a long evening… and you really should plan on attending one of their next meetings.

But the conversation truly surrounded the complexities of planning around a medium that was created for immediate gratification (web); however, the learning curve required by advertisers/ sponsors & agencies is missing.

Here are a few key points:

1)  Content – advertisers are looking and demanding for professional standards; not UGC – User Generated Content.  I can’t blame them… I mean, what advertiser wants to put their brand up next to “kid skateboarding and breaking his leg.”  But it’s no longer a one hit wonder either… that’s the You Tube’s of the world.  The web media networks enable the viewer to now become engaged to the point of wanting to come back to the same portal/ website and continue that experience.

2)  Storytelling – to piggyback off of #1 – the content needs to be in the lines of how the industry “used” to produce.  Tell the audience a story.  Take the time to prepare your content and think about it’s relevance to the market.  Build the brand of your programming content and even though it won’t be a 20MM hit off the bat… it will bring a following.  A following that the web can rely on, expect and in the long run, the web can be patient enough to have a “If you build it, they will come model.”  Now that doesn’t mean online media networks won’t have to do their due diligence when it comes to marketing and advertising their content – they sure do.  But with a story, comes an audience.  To have a goal in mind, which is to build that audience base… is what advertisers crave.  Longevity and recognition.

3) Traditional vs. New Advertising – the traditional web ad model – the Pay Per Click model…  is done.  Everyone on the panel agreed that it is an archaic method of building your brand.  And that’s why most advertise… to build their brand.  There are at least 50 different means to market your product or service on the web… and many more to come.  The differentiating factor is what metrics based system does your firm/ agency follow – and is it the right way to go about it.

For example,  you may have an ad right next to the online video playing.  The average length of time we find folks staying on sites with online video to be at about 22 minutes.  That’s the length of a traditional half hour program – minus the commercials.  That entire time that the viewing audience was engaged with the online video program, they had your ad sitting next to them the entire time.

Let’s break this down further… in a standard TV show – your spot may air once for 30-seconds.  No one clicked on it… they just saw it.   However, online, they saw the same program, and saw your ad on the page for the entire 22-minutes.  At the same time they watched the program.  Now… they may have NEVER clicked the ad… but they were engaged with the program… your ad was part of their EXPERIENCE… which in turns leads to the ultimate behavioral model – which is INTEGRATION.

OK… I can go on and on… and if so… give me a call and we’ll set up a time to chat.  But for now, I’m excited that our model for Beholder’s professional standard productions and the distribution and online media network we created through Wilde Media Network is on the right path… if not ahead of the curve as compared to those who were on the panel.

You see… because we create and control the content… we have the luxury of working with the brands to help create an integrated brand experience that the big boys… NBC, Fox, etc.  just can’t do.

Advertisers – be open – do what you say and truly think outside of the box.  You might find the results to go beyond your expectations.

Til next time…

Emilia Andrews

Beholder Productions is a full service integrated media production company. www.beholderproductions.com

 

Congress Pushes Transition Date Back to June 12th

With the DTV transition date fast approaching, there was much speculation that the February 17th deadline for all networks to switch from analog to digital would be delayed. After much debate, Congress finally changed the hard date from February 17th to June 12th of 2009.

With the new date solidified, television networks are still trying to make the switch to digital prior to the new June 12th transition date, however, the FCC is looking to implement a law that requires networks to give viewers at least 30 days notice prior to the switch.

Personally, I feel that the delay was necessary for a few reasons:

1) Nearly 6.5 million people would be left with no connection should the switch take place on February 17th. Although that may be less than 5% of viewers, that is a lot of people who will be without a primary form of media.
2) The lack of education on the transition is a big issue as well. Yes, there have been commercials, ads, etc. airing for the past year about the transition, but I feel there was little to know effort in how people install their converters and, more importantly, how to use them. I recently saw a message from Michelle Buckman of Fox-29 about the transition and I found what she was saying to be a bit humorous. She mentions the cut-off date and that you need to get a converter box, but then she goes on to say how you need to rescan your channels because fox 29 will be airing on channel 42 instead of the regularly broadcasted channel until a certain date… etc, etc, etc. Do you know how many people have no clue what she was talking about? And, why is this being aired what would be less than two weeks prior to the transition? Why not months before? I actually appreciate what Fox-29 did because it’s the first time I saw someone actually trying to educate viewers about it, but let’s get real nobody is paying attention to it.
3) Those that were against the delay said that it would prevent emergency responders to be on the same level to communicate between each other. For how great that will be once the transition occurs, we’ve done pretty well without it so I don’t think 4 more months will be that much of an issue.
4) ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, Verizon and AT&T all supported the delay, including a number of public safety organizations.

Even though I support the delay, I must say that there were quite a few excellent points to mention on why the delay would be a terrible idea:

1) Networks that are broadcasting in both digital and analog signals are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional electricity costs to air their networks on both signals. In other words, money wasted and electricity wasted.
2) With the February date solidified, the analog spectrum space was sold to willing buyers and the government already cashed nearly $20 billion dollars in checks that were written to buy the spectrum space. Now that there is a delay, it’s like telling someone who bought your home that they can move in on February 17th, cash their check, then tell them two weeks before they are supposed to move in that you decided to wait a few more months.
3) Finally, and this is what I found to be the most interesting point, when the February 17th, 2009 date was set for the transition, it was said that once 85% of the American viewers were ready for the transition that it had to be executed. As of January 22nd, 2009… 95% of the American viewers were ready for the transition.

Yes, both sides have strong cases as to why the transition should happen immediately or why it should be delayed, but the fact of the matter is that television in most cases, and especially for the elderly, can be the most important connection to the outside world. Many people who don’t pay for cable still watch free television religiously. Taking that away from them can be a disaster.

What are your thoughts on the DTV delay? I would love to hear your feedback and hear why you agree or disagree with my choice. You can comment on our blog whenever you want and I will be sure to answer as soon as possible.

Until next time,

Matt

 

Re-evaluating. Re-structuring. Re-fining.

Many of you have heard the story of the young family in CA that ended tragically.   More and more stories of job loss hit the airwaves, print and web stories.

In a recent local paper, I read stories that included layoffs (CN8, NJ Daily, Yellow Book), mergers to save publications (Main Line Newspapers), bankruptcy (LM Main Line Magazine), to save operations funds, TV News Coverage has been pooled together by TV-10 and TV-29, and Radio Advertisement (Clear Channel) reported a 3rd quarter loss of over $90 million.

Times are indeed tough.  However, now more than ever, it is important for businesses, corporations, and even at the family level to:

Re-evaluate our priorities/ goals/ needs.

Re-structure how we go about achieving them. And…

Re-fining our path and message to get there.

At Beholder, we have condensed many of our operations practices to enable a more refined workflow experience.  And recently evaluated & are currently adjusting our external marketing applications to accomodate for the needs our prospects and clients have been requesting.

We continue to review our “Playbook“, our internal operations/ business manual, to ensure that we are adjusting based on past experiences, current needs, and looking towards the future.

By having a “Playbook,”  we are able to clearly articulate our goals… thereby communicating our ideals, practices, etc. to our staff.   We are able to monitor progress, determine successes and failures and better able to judge what needs adjustment or should remain as is.

And it’s not enough to speak in an overall tone.  Clear, distinct information and direction is required to ensure you are moving forward.

What do you have in place for your business?  Does everyone follow the same plan and direction?  Do you find yourself having a difficult time communicating your message internally?  Externally?

Sometimes having an outside perspective will help you to determine what messages are being conveyed and if they are the messages that you intended to be delivered.

Above all… we must all keep moving forward and know that better times will come.  All we have to do is realize that we DO have a say in how we progress.  It requires a little bit of “out of the box” thinking, a hard look at whether what we’re doing is working or not, and acknowledge that in order to make a situation better, we’ll have to do something about it… not just sit back and hope it happens.

Til next time, let’s all keep our heads up and keep moving forward!

Emilia

(If you’d like to set up a phone conference or meeting, please call me at 215-674-1612 or email me at emilia@beholderproductions.com)

 

KYW – Mendte – NATAS – Oh my!

To quote the famous Snoop Doggy Dogg…”With so much drama in the LBC…” but if only I could make LBC rhyme with Philly…

These last few weeks have been a whirlwind of activity. And what I find even more interesting is that folks are surprised to see the low ratings for KYW. What people forget is that the average citizen does not have to be uber-educated. A little bit of common sense goes a long way. So, when viewers realize they can’t trust the team that once delivered their news, they change channels. It’s really that simple.

And for industry folks to be in an uproar because they don’t know what to do with Mendte’s Emmy nominations, I mean, come on. Any one else, regardless of the caliber of work performed, would be immediately dismissed. And why not? What he did, and according to the fact that he’s supposedly going to plead guilty, should eliminate him from the competition completely. This is journalism, in one of the top DMA’s of our nation, not the high school newspaper. And even high school kids have more ethics that what we’ve all witnessed.

Want to learn more about what others think are going on with KYW-3, visit: http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/celebrities/

And to end off with some celebratory news, congratulations to CBS-3’s Robin Makintosh. Thank you for all of the years you dedicated to Philly! Enjoy your retirement!

Til next time…enjoy these last few weeks of summer!