Comments on: Disturbing revenue outlook for local TV sites

By: Wessel van Rensburg

Wessel van Rensburg — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 00:28:03 +0000

Long-form advertorial video, in other words sponsored video? Can you point us to any examples of what your talking about?

By: Carl

Carl — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 22:05:24 +0000

Morons and there banner ad sales…you have to be kidding me…any company that goes down that path is just forestalling their inevitable demise..duhhh

By: oakling

oakling — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 20:41:52 +0000

Right?! It’s all about service, service, service, as far as I’m concerned. I’ve been avoiding reading or clicking anywhere near banner adds since 1998!

By: Dave

Dave — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 17:39:35 +0000

Of course banner ads are dead…try and renew banner ad campaigns with any consistency….it’s a joke…if you’re using convergence to generate ntr and the client is getting results what’s wrong with that?

By: Tom

Tom — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 18:58:09 +0000

Wondering what is “advertorial” long-form video? Is that the only segment of video that’s expected to flourish?

By: Safran

Safran — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 05:13:31 +0000

Rob: All very good points. And there are, in fact, a lot of steps the locals can do to get in on the money Gordon talks about. (As he details in his report, and no - I don’t get a cut of sales.)

The key stumbling block I find is that, when presented with opportunities, newsrooms tend to say “We’re not staffed for that,” or “That’s not news.” Immediately, the news tendency is to look for reasons not to do something.

You’re right - there’s no way to win in this game without having some skin in it. But I can give you examples of Mom and Pop stores that do well in my home town where we have Wal Mart, Target *and* a new mall with a zillion chain shops. Their secret? Better service, better products, locations that are in the town center, and a strong town citizenry identification with their stories.

There’s a lesson there, no?

By: Rob

Rob — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 19:19:37 +0000

Banners have minimal value since all they do is point away from the news site, and pre- and post- rolls only serve as quick advertising bullets which if they’re too long annoy the site visitor and if they’re too short have minimal value in getting the advertiser’s message across to the site visitor.

OK, I get that, but what I don’t get is how local media organizations are supposed to compete with the Googles, Yahoos, CitySearches and Zillows of the world in developing local search and directories. Is the suggestion that we re-invent the wheel and develop our own local search platforms with what limited resources we have on hand to compete with the major players in search and directories?

That’s like a mom and pop store trying to stay competitive after a big box store like WalMart moves in next door … for many media organizations operating locally on a shoestring budget where the web is a secondary focus it just isn’t a realistic option to go head-to-head with them.

As for the third option - long form video - it might be a workable solution if local media have the resources in their promotions, sales or production departments and interest from media buyers.

These kinds of reviews are frustrating because they point out where the ‘big box stores’ are going but local advertisers and agencies in the smaller markets are still not up-to-speed on industry trends and are focusing on yesterday’s ad elements like tiles and banners and pre-rolls.

Without significant local interest in out-of-the-box advertising from media buyers, local media won’t have the interest in investing in out-of-the-box advertising opportunities and will get beaten to the punch by the big box stores of the Internet.

By: rbh

rbh — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 14:50:24 +0000

You are correct as usual except all sales of all marketing options are under attack not just the banner. The sooner clients and sales people agree to look for the solution to a marketing problem by using the tools available (and some not yet invented) with the individual product strength in mind the sooner all boats will float.

Ideas are now and always will be the capital that propels success - execution might help too.

PS you will not build “brand preference” using search.