When Content Marketing Becomes Your Brand – Google Play

If you are a platform, the content you serve is your brand strength. A long time ago Apple had an app for everything, but now everyone has the right apps, on multiple operating systems.  What is the new point of differentiation?  After all, app stores and phones are really about the apps – nothing else matters.  Content is king – again.

Google’s new “Play Your Heart Out Ad” is amazing.  The brand transference from each artist and app to Google’s logo was very smart, and the music helps seal this campaign away from early adaptors to their new mainstream audience.  Its Hip. It’s a big move away from their past ads showing power and processing speed, which really never resonated with me.  This campaign shows variety, and also instantly establishes credibility – you’ll note that barely any of the app logos need to have titles.  They are very recognizable. And now I associate them with the Android Ecosystem. Even as a apple user, I am very aware now that everything I could want is on Android.  And I might be willing to consider a Galaxy when my contract runs out.  I can see myself using these apps and thus using Android.  Goal achieved.

Its interesting that Google has moved further into Content, where Apple has moved into user stories and hardware lately.  What makes your brand stand out? How do you tell you story?

ps. I am impressed that this song was released in 2007 !  Way to be progressive Ed Banger Records & Busy P. 

There is one other thing that really stands out here.  When people typically talk about branding, we are taught to think in specific colors, fonts, and identity guidelines.   In a media rich ecosystem that we live in today, consumers are open to seeing a brand evolve.  Note in this add that their are barely any taglines, or key colors. The brand changes with each piece of content. A brand identity that is flexible and open. A brand that can become anything the user wants.  Quite literally, a brand becomes the very content it helps host.

Advertisement

Why Orange is the New Black Matters to Online Content

Doing something once is often innovative, doing it twice is disruptive. 

House of Cards was a smash hit, but Orange is the New Black shows that the model works, rather then just a show.  After all, not too many people remember the 2nd major Netflix program Hemlock Grove. Even better, its a sequel.

Whether you like the show or not, one has to watch how programming will change in the next 2-5 years.   On one side we have companies like Aereo who are taking existing content and putting it online ( paid services recaptured as digital ) and then on the other side you have online SAAS models who are making original content (Neftlix, Amazon Prime, hulu+, and even Youtube ).   Netflix is ten bucks a month, where Comcast might be 100 easily – that’s a huge delta.

Pending strategic business development deals ( eg. Apple + Comcast ) and changes in copyright laws / policy (Aereo getting sued ) this space will be very heated and interesting to watch for the short and long term.  Content is expensive to create, and opportunity costs for who loses out on the syndication make this an very strange space.  Content distribution is a big part of why people are concerned over the Net Neutrality legislation as well.  If the best content is not allowed to be accessed and shared, it doesn’t really matter who good the content is.  Who is at the strategic advantage here.

Models are changing, and expectations are evolving. It may be just a sequel, but its part of a much bigger conversation.

#goNetflix!

And with that, I will see if I can join the thousands of others who attempt to binge watch an online show because they can – another way this online medium has changed the user experience.

 

 

Obama Outperforms Agencies with Online Content

Most people think Obama’s appearance on Between two Ferns was out of place.  However, it shows a pattern of him going to where the conversation is, rather then asking people to come to him.

Plus from a media syndication perspective, it shows that the white house really understands influencer identification, star-power, and the effectiveness of their campaign strategy.  They also understand that influence happens at both the individual level and that certain outlets / programming channels are very effective to hit target demographics. Both of these campaigns were very successful and entertaining PSAs.

Whether going after geeks, doing an AMA, or his late night appearances, it has shown his ability to adapt, appeal to be likable, and get noticed.  And if that brings attention to the media agenda they are pushing, thats quite smart.  A second wave of an amplification effect kicks in about media talking about other media as well, allowing his message to have an even broader reach.

Whether you like him or not, I think it says something when the white house starts out performing other major ad agencies on healthcare reform.  

Think smarter about content planning and media distribution through earned media channels.  And lets learn from those who are doing it right.

18 minutes.

Pd

Masterchef as an optimized TV show

Here is an amazing formula for content:

3 celebrity judges

20 skilled artists

+ A season of creative content generation with storytelling engagement.

multiple episodes featuring product placement, great entertainment, and a parallel webisode to engage people in transmedia.  The final product of 12-20 episodes of quality television, a cookbook that I can buy and a call to action for next seasons show.  This is overlooking the obvious ad spends, and endorsement deals.

I love this show.  I think its great content. I get exposed to great recipes, I am entertained, and the filmmaking of the show itself is both entertaining and informative. I dont even mind the fact that I am watching a giant ad.

Reality TV has become a great investment for brands and channels.  Skilled labor becomes subsidized for the shot at a dream of the story of “Everyman.” A hero emerges, and the curators of amazing content and brands all rise in engagement levels and customer satisfaction.  I am curious to see how this format continues to grow.

-pd

Real Time Media & TV: Suits on USA network

When a Show says “sync now” you better have the mobile content and real time marketing to back it up.  Exclusive content is no longer just a few pictures or behind the scene content.  Give me a prize for taking the extra step to download your app. The stakes are higher, and we expect more. 

When you link your TV bumpers to a basic microsite with profiles about actors, I am left disappointed. Real time marketing/media can we amazing, but make sure you have the content to back it up if you advertise it. 

 

Everyone loved House of Cards. It was nominated for an Emmy, which is historical.  New programming series on Netflix and webisodes across the interwebs are challenging the viewing formats we take for granted. However, our obsession with binge consumption of media only works if a few media properties do this.  In order for these new series to be successful, there must be enough original programming that is time released.  If every show and movie was released on Jan 1st, people would go nuts by March. Or would they?

My hypothesis is that people need some temporal benchmarks to enjoy certain programming in a communal way. If every show was released in full on one day, the system would implode. 

The larger question is how have those communities splintered off into smaller subgroups vs. popular mass groups needed for advertising?  Would advertising that fuels TV be happy if all on demand content replaced mass cable?  Where does the psychological impact of scarcity of media overlap with the politics & business of ad buys?  Many households already only do streaming content. Other households have streaming services in addition to core cable programming. But, the system has to change – technology and the pull of consumers is moving faster then cable companies want to go.  It will be interesting to see how this ecosystem changes in the next 5 years.

-Patrick

 

 

netflix programming