One of the most fundamental, powerful shifts that the internet is causing has to do with how programming, or content, is distributed. If you have access to a server, you can essentially create your own distribution channel that, theoretically anyway, can compete for eyeballs with any other channel, including the big TV networks. The recent writers strike only accelerated the shift. There was a huge spike in online video viewing during the strike, and my hunch is a lot of people will never go back to their old TV viewing habits.
This is why all hell is breaking loose in every industry that’s connected in any way to the old models of creating and distributing content. Our clients are right in the middle of the chaos, desperately looking for a partner to help sort it all out. Of course, there is no shortage of potential partners lined up.
At Digitas, like most other large interactive agencies, we have a group of people that specializes in helping marketers create and distribute branded content. So do many traditional ad agencies. And media planning and buying companies. And PR agencies. And just about everyone else. It is the Wild West, and not everyone is going to survive if we’re all trying to do the same thing for a limited amount of our client’s money.
I’ll be discussing this issue more in future posts, but here is a good example of a CPG company investing in branded content. It is for the Tassimo Hot Beverage system. Tassimo is a Kraft brand, and they worked with Ogilvy to create a series of webisodes featuring an annoying guy named Bob who is obsessed with Tassimo, among other things. Here’s what Adweek said about the campaign.
We can debate whether the production/entertainment value compares favorably with the content that is its competition, and whether the distribution strategy—creating a website, http://www.whohiredbob.com/, instead of partnering with a site that already has significant traffic—is a good one. What is not open to debate, however, is that this is an example of how the advertising business—and the TV, media buying, broadcast production and PR businesses—are forever changing before our eyes.
