Brands creating own broadband TV, going around you

Posted by Steve Safran on November 10, 2006

We have pointed to this trend before, but it’s worth repeating: advertisers are going around TV networks and stations by creating their own video content and putting it online. Bud.TV (and its seven channels) is just the first example. Broadband TV will take off, and advertisers will realize it is a much more cost effective way to get their message out. Snickers has created Instant Def, an online series that already has had one million views of its five episodes. Watch, and then ask yourself: if you were the advertiser, would you spend your ad bucks on millions of views on your own broadband channel, or on a TV ad people are going to skip?

http://www.mediangler.com haydn

I don’t think it’s the first example by a long stretch. Land Rover has had TV cahnnel for about a year.
http://www.lostremote.com Steve Safran

No, you’re absolutely right, it’s not the first example at all. Really, since the web took off, advertisers have been toying with branded entertainment.

What I’m hoping to point out is how all of this is poised to take off now. The disruption of entertainment is in full force. Production costs are way down, equipment is cheap, and broadband penetration is high.

The other key disrupting factor is the audience. The teens & tweens (at whom the Snickers site is obviously aimed) don’t care if it’s “TV video” or “Web video.” They just want something that interests them.
http://thedetroitchannel.com thedetroitchannel

when p&g announces their plans it’s over.
http://brianhayes.com Brian Hayes

I’m going to get teased writing this comment, but it was Al Gore who said… well… maybe it was Ray Kurzweil.

The next great era of the internet will be the video camera and image editing tools, introducing a long wave of transition “back to a visual language” (I think this was the Al Gore part).

Communicating pictures is our first language and they say it is the language that makes us the most comfortable.

Kurzweil musta sed sumthin’ about a new knowledge revolution following our upcoming adaptation to our original language.

The use of words is a new thing. And it might disappear.
http://www.shotguncity.co.uk/ tx

Wow, thanks for the excellent information!