Last week I wrote briefly about Chris Hardwick and his Nerdist Company. In the week since I got the chance to speak briefly with the man about his YouTube Channel and how he’s preparing for the time when YouTube and Hulu become rivals to Comcast Cable and Dish Network, “Three to Four years is a good estimate,” Hardwick said when asked about a time table for that. If his YouTube Channel is any indication he’s pretty ready. Along with a few others he’s building a huge following that could pay off big in the next few years. Hardwick, along with…
Read MoreArchive for the ‘Marketing’ Category
Vertical Integration In Digital Content and How It Affects Digital Marketing
In the golden age of Hollywood the studios made tons of money and created massive amounts of content because they owned both the means of production (the studio) and distribution (the movie theaters). At the height of this system some studios were creating more than 52 full length features a year, compared to around 15 currently. This all changed when courts ruled that owning both the means of film distribution and the means of production constituted a monopoly. According to Jeff Katz, former New Line Cinema exec and founder of www.Geekweek.com, “It won’t be long until the studios own the theaters again.” Some think this is a good thing for a floundering film industry and if digital media streaming is any indication, Katz and other like-minded individuals might just be right.
Read MoreOur Take on Two Emerging Marketing Trends
I was sitting under a fig tree the other day and it occurred to me that while convergence and relevance are often discussed, there is still plenty of work to be done to clarify what each term means and how we as marketing professionals can harness the opportunities each presents. So here’s our take on convergence and relevance.
Read MoreHow The Tablet Wars Benefit Small Business
When Myspace hit it big toward the beginning of the new millennium they immediately opened themselves up to business with the biggest consumer corporations in the world. Pepsi and Warner Brothers in particular flooded things with ads and used it as a way to push their new music and movie labels. While Myspace made a lot of money in that time they didn’t have any kind of structure to support advertising and that let a lot of spam bots and not-so-legitimate advertising squeak through and take over. Facebook and Twitter learned a huge lesson from this and made sure to have an infrastructure that serviced advertising but didn’t turn off small businesses. Apple and the other tablet makers took that model and ran with it but with a difference. Facebook had no competition when it really tried to rack up the advertising (Myspace was on its way down and Twitter hadn’t really started yet) The competition amongst the tablets to be the last one standing will ultimately benefit the small business wanting to advertise.
Read MoreKickstarter Kicks Into The Next Level With Some Huge Money Projects
Some time ago I wrote about Kickstarter at length and how it’s definitely something you should keep your eye on. Maybe you listened to me (there’s got to be at least one who has) but if you didn’t you wouldn’t know that just recently a Kickstarter page hit $1 million in less than 24 hours. This just highlights the reality of Kickstarter and actually puts it miles ahead of Twitter and Facebook as a small business tool. Kickstarter has already demonstrated the amount of money going through it. Even now people are still questioning just how to monetize their Facebook and Twitter pages, but Kickstarter has genuine proof that there is big money coming through. It’s clearly waiting for the taking.
Read MoreThe State of Streaming Video in 2012
The internet is an ever evolving constantly growing creature that is just beginning to take over every aspect of communications and entertainment. Streaming video will soon replace traditional cable as the number one source for home entertainment. It’s already starting with things like X-Box and PlayStation carrying NFL and ESPN networks on streaming devices. In the next few years major networks and stations like HBO will follow (they’ve already gotten the ball rolling with partnerships on Hulu and services like HBO Go which allows subscribers to use HBO similar to a paid I-pad app.) This represents a fundamental shift in the way you spend your advertising dollars and can open the door for many small business to advertise in ways they never thought possible. At least it should if some of the old guards allow for change that could cost them in the short term but pay off huge just a few years down the road.
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