The Gospel Of Self-Publication.
It’s no secret that new technology and alternative platforms are empowering today’s audiences with the tools and techniques to more easily avoid blunt force marketing methods like the traditional TV spot break. As the number of viewers, listeners and users embracing this kind of control over their media life grows, those content creators relying on an advertising based business model must find new ways to connect brands with consumers.
One of the apparent ironies emerging from this shifting landscape is the rediscovery of a strategy that’s been around since the beginning of electronic mass media – Branded Programming.
In the pioneering days of radio and television, advertisers played a prominent role in the creation of content. This arrangement worked relatively well as it helped get the then emerging OTA broadcast platform off the ground with a critical mass of content in a short amount of time. This approach also gave us some not so subtle merging of sponsor and show like the Texaco Star Theater, Kraft Television Theater, etc…
By no means was it a perfect system, but hindsight would suggest that despite any warts it turned out to be a pretty reasonable trade off.
Product Placement 1.0:
A funny thing happened along the way though. Over the years for some reason the advertiser seemingly surrendered a bit of their power. Whether this occurred willingly or not may depend on who you talk to, but there is a pretty good argument to be made that the advertiser’s weakened hand allowed the networks and other distribution channels to do what the corporate wealth maximizer is trained to do – leverage to the fullest your ability to control your content and limit access to your audience to the highest bidders.
But now as we witness the democracy of distribution continue to evolve, are those scales of leverage beginning to tip back in the other direction? Could it be that what’s old really is new again?
Will the advertiser once again lead the way in creating a critical mass of content for this new era of emerging distribution platforms?
For an interesting take on where the future of Branded Entertainment is heading and how the advertiser is poised to seize back control of the content creation process tune in to this podtech.net podcast interview with Kevin Townsend from Science + Fiction.
The Gospel of Self Publication is a phrase Kevin uses to frame the issue and his prediction on where the industry will be five years from now will give you an idea of the spirit of the interview:
Advertisers become the new 800 pound Gorilla in the programming world. They’ve always asserted their power indirectly through what — where they put ad money in as far as media buys, now they assert it as content creators. So you will see McDonalds, you’ll see Ford, you’ll see Red Bull, you’ll see any number and all of the large advertisers in the world creating their own content and distributing them, either themselves or via your distribution cartels that will allow them to reach and hold large groups of consumers via programming as a means of marketing.
Highly recommended listening for Content Developers searching for new ideas, information and inspiration on how to distribute and monetize your content, how to build a brand using content, or ultimately …
How can you turn your brand into its own distribution platform?
If you’re unable to listen to the mp3 you can check out the transcript.
Note: If your focus is heavily on marketing, be sure and also check out PodTech’s Marketing Voices series of podcast interviews hosted by Jennifer Jones.
Note 2: If you’re interested in more examples of early product placement, you might find this NPR story worth a look as it includes links to archived video of The Men from Texaco and an animated short of the Disney characters working hard to sell some Standard Oil.
Image from the Eyewire Photodisc Motion Library, now a part of Getty Images.
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