November 8, 2005

golden micro-geese

zzzzsteak30.jpg

Jeff Jarvis has a nice post here on the Apple iPod now being the latest form of advertising media.

Jeff has a phrase he likes to use called "Exploding Media". This means media whose audience is fragmenting very quickly.

And with media exploding, old-style media companies are imploding. As Jeff explains in his comment section:

I think certain old-media companies are indeed imploding. Newspaper companies are having a bad time... NBC ain�t happy.

Time Warner stock isn�t moving for a reason (he said unhappily since he still owns the shit-on-a-certificate): cable will shrink v. the internet; magazines are stagnant; AOL is hot again only compared to how deathly cold it was�

Some will be smart. Some will be stupid. Media as a whole will expand and explode and that doesn�t mean that the old players will or won�t be playing in the future.

Everything is up for grabs. And that�s why it�s so damned much fun to watch.

Jeff, it's more than just fun to watch. It can be extremely profitable to watch. With the internet, you can advertise your product on a global level without needing to feed the coffers of Time Warner or NBC. For pennies on the dollar. As Clay Shirky said last year:
So forget about blogs and bloggers and blogging and focus on this -- the cost and difficulty of publishing absolutely anything, by anyone, into a global medium, just got a whole lot lower. And the effects of that increased pool of potential producers is going to be vast.
Of course, Big-Mediaville not too happy about it. Their golden goose is turning rusty before their eyes.

But what's far more interesting to me is how small businesses, in their millions, can now move in and fill the gap, finding their own "Global Microbrand". Their own golden micro-geese.

Posted by hugh macleod at November 8, 2005 4:39 AM | TrackBack
Comments

Seems like with all the electronics and channels and devices out there, Hollywood and NYC is begging us to create SOMETHING to play on them.

Via Terry Heaton in Hollywood Reporter, "Content Must Catch Up With New-Media World", Diane Mermigas writes (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/columns/mermigas_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001435486):

"What's required is a call for a genuine creative awakening not only in Hollywood and New York but everywhere in between where artists, writers, producers, animators and performers reside."

Coming to your micro-theater soon: A genuine creative awakening MEETS the golden micro-fleece. Stay tuned.

Posted by: Evelyn Rodriguez at November 8, 2005 11:15 PM

Its true - it is all for grabs. But only if we take it. I don't see media as having exploded, more that it is cracked slightly under the strain of its self importance. Can you fit between the gaps. I've given it a go with my Quartz Shorts blog which delivers a new short film to your iTunes every few days. Its on a subject that most companies would fear to touch - love! And we'll shoot new material as we get feedback from the comments. Imagine that for a radical approach, sharing the agenda with the audience. Shocking. Go to Quartz Shorts

Posted by: Tim Clague at November 8, 2005 11:36 PM

While the cost of advertising your product on a global level has gone down to next to nothing, it's still hard for that to be effective.

There's so many people jumping on the social media bandwagon now that for consumers (target market) it's getting difficult to weed out the crap and find the good stuff.

The cream will always rise to the top, over time - true. So I agree, if you're good, committed and patient, this can be a great medium. I just think, like anything, it'll be a minority that it works for.

Posted by: Ed Byrne at November 9, 2005 10:58 AM

Hugh

I'm stealing this cartoon and will put it up on my blog for my own nefarious ends,

Thanks for the inspiration,

Niti

ps. yes, there will be a link to the micro geese :)

Posted by: Niti Bhan at November 9, 2005 11:35 PM

Yes Javis is right.and hugh is right microbrands equals "brandyou" thing which tom peters tom tommed a long time ago. What's happening is that a different spin to the same concept.

Posted by: /pd at November 10, 2005 12:14 AM

The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire...

Posted by: Olivier Blanchard at November 10, 2005 1:56 AM