Spotify is to TV as Engagement is to Interruption

June 12, 2012 Leave a comment

The battle between interruption and engagement is being waged on the front line with Spotify on the leading edge.  Forbes quotes  Spotify’s Chief Revenue Officer, Jeff Levick, in a recent interview with Digiday:

Each TV hour has about 15 minutes of ads

“We don’t really want to offer just straight advertising. If our CEO had his way you wouldn’t see ads at all. The way we think about advertising on Spotify is communicating through content, whether that’s an audio experience, or a great app. That’s where we see the future of ads on Spotify – understanding the content itself in order to successfully message to consumers.”

Contrast that approach with the TV – the current king of ad revenue and time spent with American consumers.  According to Kantor media “… an average hour of monitored prime time network programming contained ten minutes, fifty five seconds (10:55) of in-show Brand Appearances and 14:20 of network commercial messages. The combined total of 25:15 of marketing content represents 42 percent of a prime-time hour.” (Kantar Media, 2010)

15 minutes an hour of advertising assault on their own fans.  No engagement there.  Contrast that to the approach taken by Spotify – the Reebok workout mix, the Coke partnership.  Spotify gets it and gives it back to their connected and engaged consumers. My bet is in the long run Spotify will be leading  ad  engagement  victory way into the future.

 

Room for discussion: How can TV content becoming infused with engagement by advertisers?  Select a show /channel and develop two strategies that combine potential advertisers with the content in a fashion that engages their fans.

Filed under Advertising, Content Development, TV Tagged with , , ,

Making Losers Winners

December 13, 2011 Leave a comment

Capturing fan emotion is critical for sports entertainment advertising campaignsAt the core of entertainment marketing is passion.  Passion that connects pride and communities and supersedes the machine of business at the core of all entertainment.  It’s this passionate emotion that marketers connect to make losers winners.   The Effie award winning campaigns by the  Minnesota Wild and Atlanta Falcons are textbook examples of successful results in marketing fandom.

Minnesota Wild’s multiyear campaign is a celebration of the fan – a true homage to the 18 thousand ticket buyers at each game.  The Effies Minnesota Wilds showcase includes a video and case study that underscores the numbers that prove effectiveness;  90% season ticket renewal, record attendance and merchandise sales. A visit to the current Wild’s website Fan Zone shows continued use of their integrated “State of Hockey” campaign.

The Falcons were awarded a bronze Effie in 2011 for their “Rise Up” campaign.  The three-minute Effie video includes radio and TV spots that rock with the inspiration that combined with a good season record to record a 200% increase in ticket sales. The Falcon’s Facebook page continues to reinforce the “Rise Up” tagline.

It’s always assumed by sports entertainment marketing newcomers that the best place to be is on the winning sports teams.  That’s a tough assumption when you consider that 99% of all teams are losers!   And there is no better rush than riding a losing team to success. The Effie awards celebrate and feature proven successful marketing campaigns that capture this ride up; the Minnesota Wilds NHL campaign and the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons.  Great inspiration!

Filed under Advertising, Branding, Marketing, Sports Tagged with , ,

Marketing/Advertising Self Respect. Get Some.

November 1, 2011 Leave a comment

Self respect is built from confidence.  Confidence is knowledge.  Knowledge requires training.  And therein lies the vicious circle for the marketing/advertising profession.  In the last week or so I have seen more than several articles bemoaning the lack of training in advertising/marketing, encouraging expansion of digital skills.   They all point to a critical need for skill building, particularly in digital.Elevate the industry with emphasis on training and development

From the New York Times:  “Colleges and universities are not teaching the skills they need to survive in this environment,” said Doug Weaver, the founder and chief executive of the Upstream Group… While some universities have advertising and marketing concentrations, “the traditional media sales or ad skill set was not built for this,” Mr. Weaver said. “You need a hybrid.”

In Fast Company interview of  the ad professionals behind of Ask Jancy :  “We can all agree, then–throwing people in the deep end and saying “good luck with that” sucks as a model. “

Andrew McMains Adweek article (“Why the average barista gets more training than most agency staffers”) reinforced the lack of training to the ridiculous by comparing extensive Starbucks training tp the complete lack of development for highly paid ad agency professionals.

Even students see the disconnect.  US News reported  “For current students or graduates, 55 percent felt the social media options and subsequent classes were either “not up to par with the growing industry” (17.7 percent) or simply weren’t provided (37.7 percent).

Hey AMA, AAAA,  AAF – and all the media trade organizations.  How about getting together and putting action to the verbal commitments? Connect with higher ed.  Start with a commitment to a qualified professional skill set?    And then recognize and boast about it.   It beats the heck out of complaining about the nephews put in charge of social media, the secretaries elevated to marketing roles and the fragmentation of agency business into mini social/web boutiques.

 

Filed under Advertising, Marketing Tagged with , , , , ,

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