Brett Macfarlane

Crime fighting marine biologist

Canada's international contribution to camp has to include, and celebrate, Danger Bay.  To this day part of me wishes I followed my dreams to become a crime fighting marine biologist who cruised around in a Jeep Islander without doors or a windscreen while sporting understated yet stylish Members Only jackets.

Upfronts, death and evolution

“A business-as-usual approach no longer applies in today’s multi-platform media environment,”

 

- NBC president and CEO Jeff Zucker, February 19, 2008

 

It started cracking long ago. The writer strike breached the crack enough for the first drips of water to leach out.  Now, running water is pouring out a basketball sized hole, threatening to gush out tearing down the whole structure.  That structure being the Upfronts.

I am pleased to see NBC move to a 52 week schedule and eliminate the fall heavy upfront ritual.  And as already blogged, it’s not a surprise.

 
What I like most about this is the convergence of media formats which is what seems to really be happening not some death of television end of the world story.  “Online” shows have long embraced the season agnostic episodic approach, much like the folks at HBO. And the buzz in the game developing world is that the next big shift will be moving from a blockbuster release schedule to an episodic model with chapters or added story lines released over time after the original product launch.  Games are looking more like movies, TV drama's are more like movies, movies are becoming more real, online sitcomes are improving in quality to broadcast standards.  And all the content is adding layers of intelligence and self reference (I'll touch on that more another day.)

Hollywood itself has long been episodic with movie releases. Naturally there is some seasonality, we are human after all and most kids still are free in summer.  With NBC joining the fray the world of network TV looks to officially make media planning and buying a 365 affair as it too becomes season agnostic episodic.

Throw in SEO, newspapers, OOH and most other forms of media which already are launch season free and the traditions and habits of prior media models don’t hold like they once did.

 This evolution results in is a world of opportunity to plan campaigns and creative ideas around the true habits of people and the best mediums to tell the story of a particular creative idea.  Which more and more in an opt out media environment better be a good one. But, to some all this may look like a world of chaos.  And without some damn fine planning, organization and roll up the sleeves research it’s going to be chaos.  They are correct.

And, as the upfront passes and advertisers are brought in earlier it also allows for the opportunity to develop content outside :30 windows.  However, for the same reasons in the late 50's advertisers moved aways from owning and underwriting entire shows the Old Spice Experience Hour isn't likely to appear, but something new we have yet to may.  Possibly it will look something like what I saw at the Multi Platform Incubator and is happening in other countries.  Which as NBC and other networks mature their online properties undoubtedly new forms of storytelling will emerge along with new business/revenue models for the content creators.

I'd like to say it's all coming along right on schedule.  But like most things, a coordinated set of coincidences, many unrelated, are building our new advertising landscape.  And, quite possibly we might be entering the real golden age of advertising creativity as we learn to apply ideas and brands to these evolved forms of mediums, aka the four crafts of advertising.  Or at least I hope so.  We really could do without another Chili's, Head On or Ford Truck Clearance ad, all of which are so horrible I can't bear to link to them.  And horrible in a bad irony void way.

TV dead or alive

Interesting presentation from some DDB colleagues I've never met nor have any idea who you are.  But, thanks to the blogosphere it presented itself to me (thanks to brand DNA.)  It is a counterpoint to the TV is dead argument.

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I've mentioned before that learnings from stock market behaviors are probably the truest window into human behavior.  When the market is on the up trend and the pundits, bulls and side line experts are euphorically saying its great and everyone can make money without risk as the old rules no longer apply, it's never really that good.  When the trend is down and the pundits, bears and side line experts are suicidally saying it's bad, the old rules no longer apply and it's only going to get worse our economy is about to implode and we're going back to trading wampum, it usually ain't that bad.

The truth is in the middle and the smart money can make money in any market.  The smart money also never makes predictions as to whether the market is going up or down in the short term.  That said, here are some fair assumptions about the is TV dead debate:

Is it diminishing in quality.  Yes, about three percent less audience per year, with a 3% increase in cost per year in Canada.  If it's dying that's a slow death.

If that's dying, is it a slow death?  Yes.

Is there a guarantee that some shock won't expedite that?  No.  The writers strike could have been that shock if it continues.

Is there a likelihood that just as newspapers were pronounced dead four times last century, dating back to the beginning of the century, that the form of TV will evolve to something different over the next decade.  Yes.

Is it still profitable.  Absolutely. 

Is it still a growth market industry to be in as a corporation.  No.

Are corporations that own networks looking for new channels to broadcast their content.  yes.

Are two minutes videos going to replace our societal need to escape in a beautifully produced long form story told well with good actors that convey and draw out emotion.  No.

Are people going to stop watching sporting events live because they dislike commercials.  No (except for a small percentage of hyper go getters.)

Are the same studios that have the connection, decades of institutional knowledge, teams of financiers that put deals together to make long form content (be it 30, 60 or 120 minutes) likely to still produce the lions share of great content and attract the lions share of audiences in the coming decade.  yes.

Hmmmm....

To be frank, the idea that TV is dead generally comes across as empty rhetoric.  Or coming from someone trying to peddle an unproven product or one that enjoys a 0.03 conversion rate.  Even the most dismal surveys of what percentage of TV viewers stay tuned in during commercials are 5% plus. And those prouncing TV is alive and strong as ever has their head in the sands.  As mentioned the correct answer is in the middle.

TV is evolving.  Probably not for the better of the owning corporations.  But probably better for the viewer.  We really could do without another Viva Viagra ad.

Debating whether one should or shouldn't be on TV as a starting point to developing a piece of marketing is a fools debate.  A distraction really.  Whether it should or shouldn't be part of the plan should depend on who you are trying to reach and what is the creative idea - is it suited to be film content, that may then be broadcast on TV along with other platforms.  From those two things you can figure our what are the best media tools to use.

Sorry for the ramble, just working out some things in my head.  Hope that didn't confuse.

cultural artifacts

With the proliferation of media, culture doesn't have much time to catch on.  While many are regularly focused on the under 24 set, there are some often and easily overlooked elements that compose the cultural tickle trunk that shape how we see the world around us.

This came to mind when thinking about just how powerful TV used to be.  A power that started to be eroded in the 80's.  Before that, the propaganda machine of TV was at it's peak.  But what amazes me is the phenomenal force that design and creative arts had in shaping the power of the machine. 

While programing itself came and went, the station IDs and intros of prime properties burned their way into our minds.  Today stations, movies and shows have all these swirling soups of flashy metalized graphics.  But they really are the filler they are with minimal creative or cultural merit.  But when you look to where they came from their history is deep.

Taking Canada as an example, here are some of the station ID's from the 70's and 80's.

Or even the triumphant into to Canada's national newscast in 1978: And, getting really out there, how about the height of the cold war when national sovereignty was naturally battled with the USSR on the hockey rink.  This was in 1976: And of course again in 1986: Maybe its just nostalgia, and the muffled HiFi quality sound, but there is something so anthemic and triumphant about these little pieces of content that I find really neat.

iStrain

David Lynch on watching a Hollywood film on an iPhone.  Though I have never watched an entire film on an iPhone (but have be saved by documentaries and music videos when flying on non-VOD equiped planes) I would have to agree with Mr. Lynch.  That's why we need to find newer and more interesting forms of film content...

Vroom

I now know what I'm doing this weekend:

Viva la South Park

The boys at South Park have set an interesting precedent for content distribution and non broadcast revenue through South Park Studios.

Clark and Michael

This is fantastic.  It is my new favorite show and a fascinating mashup.  Basically, it's the non-sitcom model of a show about nothing trail blazed by Seinfeld, mashed with blog style video capture of a day in the life of Joe Public.  Basically, jutin.tv and tastybloagsnack mashed into How I Met Your Mother with hints of The Real World.

It's funny, well written and simply entertaining.    Not certain but this seems to be a project by CBS, if so nicely done ladies and gentlemen.  Embracing your content creation talents and being open to new distribution methods other than "TV Channels."

Ad Christmas

It's here, it's here.  Finally a show that highlights the very drama and brilliant one lines my each and every day is full of.

Clear your schedule, set your PVR, DVD, VHS and/or Beta recording devices and watch yourself some Mad Men tonight.

Mad Men

The history of advertising is fascinating.  Mostly because we are always so quick to forget the principles and lessons learned decades ago.  So, Mad Man from the Executive Producer of the Sopranos debuting next month on AMC show looks to be quite promising.  It might not make my mother proud of what I do but may give some insight into why we do what we do.

niche video

My buddy Greg of Broadband Sports just released this week a niche video site for motorheads called braodbandmotorsports.com.  There is some pretty awesome stuff there.  This double flip by wonder kid Travis Pastrana at the X-Games blew my mind.

It's interesting watching the video landscape shake out.  You've got the big players like YouTube who have a ton of material but unless you're looking for something specific it's a bit hard to find something interesting.  I wonder if niche sites like broadbandsports will become the equivalent of the specialty networks on conventional cable.  They will never pull is a mass audience like a CBS but will pull very strongly against a specific demographic.  Actually, I take back the word demographic as that term is getting ever more meaningless and wrong.  I really should say that they will pull very strongly against a specific interest group - gearheads for example.  There will be some hard core gearheads in there who spend their week nights tinkering with some sort of gas powered machine and then the weekend riding it.  Then there are the guys like me who get their hands greasy once a year with a chainsaw up at the cabin but still enjoy motorsports and love the smell of gasoline in the morning.

It would be easy to say that YouTube missed a huge opportunity to better edit and manage "channels" within the soup of YouTube to help people find things that interest them.  But I guess that YouTube relies on external factors driving their mass traffic.  For instance videos that get posted/marketed on blogs or things like the Dove Evolution video that relied on traditional media to drive awareness.  It's hard to see something succeed solely in the walled in world of YouTube.  And I think that's something a lot of marketers forget when they say "hey, why don't we put this commercial up on that YouTube thing I read about in the Sunday Times."

Joost 2

Thanks to the power of the webosphere I've got Joost.  Thanks Thomas.  And thanks Dan for the offer.  I've downloaded and will give it a try tonight.  I'll let you know how it goes.

To fuel my excitement more Joost has released advert.  Don't know if this is running on broadcast networks, presumambly not, but it is on YouTube.  The very thing it's likely to trump.  What a great bit of irony there.  I wonder if they advertised TV's on the radio back in the 50's.

Joost

Don't know how to become one but I really want to become a Joost beta tester.  I can't wait for this to be released.  Of all the various upcoming "TV on your computer" products this sounds to be the best and a true evolution of TV.  It's more than "videos" on YouTube.  It's actual film quality content. 

In many ways it will be interesting to see if people are ready for it.  Undoubtedly there will be the technocrati elite who will latch onto immediately.  But will widespread adoption take place.  It reminds me of "Internet TV" which I read about in the book New New Thing, where before the world wide web was liberated for the public by Netscape and Al Gore (just kidding on the last one) a number a electronics consortium created a TV top box that access content through the net.  It was years, if not decades, ahead of its time.  Consequently there was never widespread adoption.  People couldn't great their head around what it was and how to use it.  They were so stuck in their 30 (at the time) channel universe coming into their house on an analog coaxial cable.

Presumably Joost will be different.  We've been pre-tuned to watch video on computers.  For many it will be hard to put the computer into the space reserved for the TV in the living room.  But Kids in university and those graduated in the past couple years are accustomed to using their computer as TV in their dorm room or first apartments.  Once you can plug your 98 inch plasma right into the net you're  a step away from Joost becoming your "cable provider."

Who knows what will really happen, but I'm super keen on giving Joost a shot.  I've always wanted to watch the nightly news from Moscow on STS.

last kick at the can

Haven't heard much from this guy lately. Just when you thought he was done, he's back...

grinch

And now, here's somthing for the pruddish - a re-edit of the classic Grinch Who Stole Christmas:

Psychographic profiles:

Who would have thunk it that Alex Baldwin on NBC's new show 30 Rock could deliver a target group description so well: