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content strategy

TV on the Internet

[ image courtesy of maury m. / Flickr ]

The BBC reports that UK television viewing on televisions has decreased due to folks watching television on their computers and mobile devices. This flies in the face of what is, by all accounts, a global stampede on the large, widescreen LCD televisions.

Once again we are witness to the importance people place upon getting the content they desire at their command.

When the mp3 audio format rose to popularity, audiophiles decried it as a regression in the heirarchy of high-fidelity. They were correct. However, the consumers of mp3s saw the sacrifice in quality a fair trade for portability and by extension, convenience. This occurred in an environment where not one but two separate formats were developed to supercede the ubiquitous CDs’ audio quality.

The same situation exists right now in the video realm. As companies are jockeying to put their high-fidelity successors to DVD [Blu-Ray and HD DVD] in consumers’ hands, the younger generation is more and more satisfied to view things on a two-inch screen of a mobile phone or iPod.

The market has revealed that there is room for both. The chasm between the viewing experiences widens. On one hand, there is better-than-cinema promises of widescreen HDTV, Blu-Ray, & HD DVD, and on the other, 2″ and smaller mobile phones and iPods & the low-fidelity of video sharing sites like YouTube.

Know your audience.

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content strategy

Exclusive content is even more king.

[ image courtesy of vinnieFM / Flickr ]

While everyone is g0ing on about the Clear Channel buyout, I shall give you a respite — today you can read about 3-D animation.

In the past year, Disney has gone to lengths to get the next generation into the 3-D movie mindset. About one year ago the BBC posted a story about Disney’s new push. A key line in that story points to the fact that these movies are playable only in theaters equipped with the new $80-100k systems. I would imagine that the cinemas that dropped thousands upgrading projectors to the ear-splitting Dolby Digital sound systems are not pleased that new equipment will be required to play the bigger-grossing versions of films.

This has relevance today, or yesterday, as I drove about 30 minutes to see the 3-D version of Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas. It was a delight. The effect was quite remarkable, as viewed through the crazy glasses they hand out, as pictured above. It was playing in Coon Rapids and Oakdale only. These are likely the only two theaters in the Twin Cities that have completed the upgrade. [Calling Coon Rapids a part of the Twin Cities is a bit of a stretch…]

What does this have to do with anything? I drove 30 minutes to a theater at 9:20pm on a Thursday to see a movie. I could have watched the DVD at home. We actually did, around Halloween. This 3-D version of a film I have seen several times offered an experience compelling enough to go out of my way to take it in.

The content was king here, but even more important was its exclusivity.

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Categories
content strategy

Product placement, V 2.0

[pop star Fergie shills for Samsung]

Mediaweek reports that XM Radio will be trying a new form of product placement within some prime-time television shows. The messages will tell viewers to go to a certain XM Radio channel to dig more of the music heard in the show. This is an outgrowth of the phenomenon in the past few years of featuring real musical acts in the background as well as in performance as part of dramas and sitcoms. While not an unheard of concept, the commodification of it via program-themed compilation CDs and now satellite radio channels is new And novel. Miami Vice did it many years ago, but the examples were few and far between after that.

It points to the ever-pervasive method of selling a concept rather than a product.

A fine example of this is in the new video by pop-star Stacey Fergeson, a.k.a. Fergie. While the star dances and sings like any other music video perfomance, things change when the product placement comes in about 2:50, as seen in the clip below. A shot of her holding the new Samsung mp3 player, seen above, shows off the biggest feature of this new player — built-in speakers. She dances with it, has fun, and so do the people around her. This portion of the video could be a commecial for Samsung; just add a logo. Repurposing!

Now that you have seen how much fun life can be, go here with your $188. You’ll be more cool than you already are. Totally.