I was working on a lengthy wrap up of a show I attended but based on what went down there, I give you a short manifesto instead.
I am not for sale.
Is not everything for sale? Does not everyone have their price?
I have a job yet no company owns my soul. I am paid for my insight yet not even I control my muse. I am paid to speak, yet my voice can remain free.
This online space is a privilege and a refuge for me. It is a place of others and more than me and my words. It is a conversation and as such it is not mine to sell.
There are those who wish influence and desire a candy coated portrayal of reality. This is not the place for these people. This is where I share how I see the world and that, like me, is not for sale.
[Anyone willing to design a banner ad and/or a blog badge with a message along the lines of "This space not for sale"???]
UPDATE 04-26:
Thanks to Mario Vellandi for these banner ads! Click to enlarge.
UPDATE 04-27:
Hee Haw Marketing joins the ranks of those contributing to "I am not for sale". Many thanks to Paul for the blog badge below. I'm afraid to ask who in his family or circle of friends is featured in this photo. ;)
(click for larger version)
UPDATE 04-28:
Katie Chatfield is not for sale. Or as she put it "I’m not [a] died in the wool opponent to people making money out of their content […] But it needs to be the decision of the content creator: never NEVER without my permission". I think this is a CRITICAL point. My manifesto was not to argue against people making money. I'm simply fighting for the integrity of what I create and the spaces in which I create. If someone can get paid AND maintain that integrity, great.
"A new opportunity opens every day. It opens with the page. The pen. Another rant. In control? Hell no! We are in slavery to the chaos of our lives. This is the manifesto of one."
UPDATE 05-07:
David from AdPulp joins in and I believe is the FIRST to re-run one of our donated banner ads! Thanks David!
UPDATE 05-09:
Redmarketer is not for sale. I totally concur that a badge is not necessary and certainly appreciate the nod and the story!
----
Post a banner or badge on your site. Link to your own personalized version of the manifesto or this one here. Up to you. Send me the URL and I will publicize that you are also not for sale.
TV is going digital and as Get Shouty has been quick to point out in session after session here at AdTech San Francisco,
"programming is dead." She is not alone as many of the panelist are
talking about how advertising and media must work to stay relevant.
A lot of the convention has revolved around the changes afoot in the
television industry. Everyone appears to be struggling with how to
monetize and extend their programming into and across digital channels.
Here is a wonderful example of how ABC is allowing for property
experiences that blur the line between channels.
A funny video, no doubt, and one that perfectly illustrates the
potential for overlap between channels. Jimmy Kimmel plays a YouTube
video live on the air that his girlfriend created. Jimmy then launches
a counter video on YouTube. All of this is then recorded and uploaded back to YouTube. But what is
the value of this? Is it scalable? Does that matter?
Based on the Jimmy Kimmel example, I could go so far as to say
ABC/Disney gets it, but do they? ABC allows for short snippets to
appear on YouTube. For full length episodes, users have to go to
ABC.com. This is the case with all the networks, isn't it?
The current media star of cross channel TV appears to be NBC by all
the press it's getting. In early March, the NY Times reported NBC's
launch of Hulu was finally ready for primetime.
NBC has entered the fray with advertising supported full length
episodes of their TV entertainment properties. Originally a venture of
NBC and Fox, hulu has grown with
content commitments from Warner Brothers, Lionsgate, highlights from
NBA and NHL along with full NCAA basketball games.
Cut to yesterday where it was standing room only for the AdTech San Francisco keynote by George Kliavkoff, Chief Digital Officer of NBC Universal.
Unlike ABC, NBC is using hulu for displaying content from
partners in addition to NBC properties. Pretty cool, but what what really
impressed me is that NBC is using hulu to manage their digital
distribution deals. George stated very clearly that they built hulu
with the mandate that people should not and likely would not come to
hulu. Rather, it's about getting hulu media onto other sites that
people are already visiting. To that point, hulu currently distributes
their work via MSN, Yahoo, Fancast, AOL and Myspace.
It is awesome to see that hulu is not just talk in this regard.
They are enabling their members to be part of the distribution channel
as well. They are allowing viewers to easily embed clips or
even entire episodes on their blogs, personal pages or elsewhere. The
embedded show will play the pre-roll or in-roll ads.
What? Ads on my blog or MySpace page if I embed a hulu tv show?
Yes. hulu is clearly ad supported and potentially quite successful in that regard.
George is on record at AdTech saying NBC has made
a billion dollars in digital sales in 2007 with strong profit margins
that are continuing to climb.
"Crown Jewels", George? George tries to imply that NBC is not on
iTunes because they desire to control the wholesale pricing. But the Adam is quick to point out that NBC is happy to sell feature
length movies via iTunes. Why not a TV show???
The George K comments debate
Everyone is talking about George K and his comments. And everyone wants to know what he is talking about. Why
aren't they on iTunes? Well, here it is in plain text. NBC is scared
SHITLESS about piracy because advertisers don't want to pay money to
attach themselves to something that is available without ads for free.
Okay. So NBC has to take a harsh line and prove to advertisers that
online is a safe environment worth paying to play. So why single out
iTunes? Simple. George K gives us the answer on a platter.
iTunes does not attempt to sniff the items you play to verify they are legitimated copies. iTunes
is not going around behind your back and reporting on your "illicit"
behavior. Rather, Apple just focuses on protecting what you buy via
iTunes. Evil. I know.
So what about viewership growth, George? A few minutes later,
George was quick to tout the results of a study where NBC showed that
when people watch content on hulu it drives significant growth in
traditional TV viewers on next weeks time slot.
So what's the big deal if there's a bit of piracy?
All in all, hulu is pretty amazing. Most critiques of hulu pretty
quick to zero in on quality or lack of content. Quality is a given. If the quality is lower people are less likely to pirate the show and the costs to stream it are lower. But why limit content on hulu? The NY Times article at
the top of this post inferred that content producers are currently
protecting themselves from perceived risk
by limiting the amount of content availability online. Logging into
Hulu today, little has changed on this front. There is a very limited
library of past shows available.
So NBC has their hands full. They have to prove themselves to
advertisers and even content producers (internal and otherwise.) As we
speak, they are working on launching NBC Direct which will be a
locked down DRM (Digital Rights Management) solution that allows for
high resolution show viewing (with ads or purchased was not clear).
The platform will limit how many shows you can have at any one time and
will only allow you to view said shows on the machine you download it
to.
Consumers forcing the shift to digital
Digg Nation has
250,000 subscribers a week, are selective about who can advertise and go out of their way to embrace
new devices and formats. Kevin Rose was very clear in stating that they want viewers to be able to watch the show
(and the embedded ads) "where they want, when they want and how they
want." Ask a Ninja has over 500,000 subscribers (viewers) a week. Both of these properties are among a growing list of non-traditional shows ONLY available online/digitally.
While traditional properties and distributors are struggling with renegotiating international rights for digital distribution, new players are moving in fast and hard. Someone
please explain to me how Microsoft was able to allow for movie rentals and
downloads on the XBOX 360 platform and apparently offer this service across international barriers. I wish Apple TV was paying attention on that front as my device is basically a coffee mug warmer in Canada.
In cases where properties believe they are deploying traditionally, consumers now have the option of forcing digital on the channel/show. Todd Juenger from TiVo points out that 75% to 80% of prime time shows like Grace Anatomy are being time
shifted. In the case of Grace Anatomy, 70% to 75% of viewers time shifting
the show are skipping the ads.
What makes the difference between a commercial that people skip or
fast forward and one they dont? TiVo guy kept mentioning statistics
but sadly gave none. This fact is likely either unknown or worth a lot of money.
Summary
Time and again I am forced to witness the media channels defining
audience needs based on the needs of advertisers. So much in the
advertising space is about what is less offensive or what is "hot"
right now as determined by what the agencies and brands want to buy. I heard this in the TV 3.0 panel every time the woman from Turner Entertainment Ad Sales spoke.
It was neat, therefore, to see her viewpoint countered by people like Kenneth Estenson
from ABC who spoke about what they are learning by watching how, when
and where younger generations are interacting with TV properties.
NBC shows they understand that it is about expanding content reach,
not driving people to a portal. They are also struggling with getting a
lot of diverse players comfortable and willing to play. In the meantime, Hulu has become a
powerful distribution channel for NBC and a way for viewers to interact with shows on their terms.
But is it as rosy a
picture as NBC is painting? For example, are media sales still being
thrown in as value add to a traditional buy? Is avoiding iTunes really worth the cost of the loss of reach to iPod devices?
We were able to spend some time yesterday with the true star of AdTech San Francisco 2008. We got a quick snapshot of this wonderful gentleman before he was ushered off to spend some time with a jostling mob of the press.
Shows know they have to provide wireless access. I find it hard to believe that they don't then realize that anything using wireless requires a power source, sooner or later.
But no. No power drops in the room. Instead there are 10 to 20 people gathered around a side wall sharing our tiny smuggled in powerstrip friend. Oy.
Refresh the page every once in a while and get the latest dirt from all the bloggers on site.
The most amazing thing so far was the Director of Nestle Consumer Services talking about Gerber's idea submission site for customers and how each submission goes straight to a patent lawyer. Wow. Mom's likely think they are sending in helpful advice and Nestle is just mining for patentable ideas. No one else sees them.
I am meeting with some authors on how to utilize social networking tools for an interesting venture they are launching. I was pulling together a bit of a primer for them and thought I would share it here for anyone else that might find it of value. It is meant for those just beginning to take their first steps.
Background
It didn't take very long to realize that authors are generally frustrated by the marketing efforts of their publishers. Except for a few big names, authors do not appear to get a significant amount of attention, effort or spend when it comes to marketing them or their books. Even when there is significant effort, it does not always result in book sales.
Opportunity
There is a significant opportunity for authors to build their personal brands, market their works and even generate deeper insight and collaboration on existing and new works. This can be done in tandem with a publisher's efforts and need not be an either/or scenario. There is just one catch. It takes significant effort and time on behalf of the author.
So it all comes down to one thing. How do we position it as something of value for the artist/author? The rewards have to be tangible and more immediate than some 1 year plan.
The social networking space has a lot to offer. In this article, I am going to focus on blogging.
Some Authors Using blogs
I was so happy to have Patry Francis brought to my attention. Her site has all the signs of healthy community engagement. Her posts have dozens of comments (often in the 40's or 50's) and the comments are more than just readers saying "great post". They are conversations in which Patry directly participates. She is also active on many of the blogs of her visitors. In essence, Patry has a community to support her and she supports them as well.
Susan Hendersen is another author with strong online community participation. The previous author, Patry Francis, was in hospital during the release of her first book and was unable to bring any marketing or publicity effort to bear, so Susan brought the community together and organized a "PR bumrush" for Patry's book.
On a slightly less fictional front, The Freakonomics guys are continuing the conversation from their book with their NY Times blog. They post with a crazy regularity (multiple posts a day) and seem to generate significant (but varying) levels of response from their readers. I was a bit dismayed to see that while they allow comments, they don't appear to respond to these comments, keeping the line between them and their readers distinctly drawn.
On March 2nd, Dwight Garner of the The New York Times Sunday Book Review wrote "These days, thanks to the magic of blogging, it’s possible to watch a
novelist respond to his or her reviews in something like real time.
Take Lauren Groff, the author of the winsomely dark first novel “The
Monsters of Templeton,” which enters the fiction list this week at No.
14." Sadly, Laruen Groff's blog offers no community engagement. It's nothing but an online diary where she can post her thoughts (or response to bad reviews) with no response from readers or engagement of the community.
The Platform
Blogs are a tool, nothing more. They display the most current entry at the top of the page and generally support RSS feeds. Blogs should allow visitors to comment on the content and what blog wouldn't be complete without a dizzing array of widgets on the page.
Blog platforms have come a long way in a short period of time. They allow the blog owner to create pages, manage multiple contributors and even tag and categorize the site's content. They are a simple but effective way to create a website presence that actively supports community engagement features.
From the author examples in the previous section, I hope it is clear
that what matters is how we use the tool, not just the features it offers. That said, you are going to have to select a blogging tool to use. How to choose?
It is useful for this article to break blogs into two camps: hosted and installed. Hosted blogs are those where a third party takes care of the configuration, hosting, etc. Installed blogs require someone to install the blog, configure it and then manage all aspects of the blog directly.
Hosted blogs are far less work and perfect for anyone just starting out. Many expert bloggers use them as well.
Hosted Blogging Platforms:
Typepad: Averages around $15 a month and one of the easiest to use blogging platforms I have been exposed to. It is a hosted solution. I run my blog (craphammer.ca) on typepad.
Blogger: Probably the leading free blog platform. Relatively straight forward and easy to use. Not as full featured as Typepad.
Great. Time to create an account, right? Nope. Anything but.
Getting Started
I recommend that a person takes an active interest in the tools and conversations happening online before just launching blindly forward. Find other authors already blogging and begin to follow their sites, becoming more familiar over time with this whole online publishing phenomenon.
As Bill Murray would say, "Baby steps."
Most people quickly hit the wall of "commitment." What to say, how much time it is going to eat up and confusion over what step to take next.
Take a few deep breaths and clear these things from your mind. Purge them. Keep breathing. The Internet has a secret and I am about to share it with you. Yup. Right here. Right now.
After porn, the Internet is about research.
It's that simple and I would hope that most authors already do this (No, not porn. Research.) And if that's the case, you are well on your way to engaging with a community of potential contributors and readers.
Sure, the secret is a bit of a gargantuan oversimplification. The truth is always more complex than desired, however for the purposes of getting started, research is the perfect place to start.
The world is changing and anyone can publish. Our audience suddenly has a voice. I remember when I first stumbled across people inside Iraq blogging about the conflict. Suddenly the stories and news footage I saw every night took on a new tone. I had been touched by those struggling to hold their lives together amidst the turmoil.
But how to find these bloggers in the first place?
I generally start with google blog search when searching for blogs related to a specific topic. Once I start to close in on what I am looking for, I switch to looking on the blogs I'm finding for more links. I am looking for links that these bloggers feel are worth placing on their blogs.
Here are some other sources:
technorati.com (tracks 3 months of posts from millions and millions of blogs)
blogdigger.com (I find it's not as ubiquitous as Google)
How to Keep Up
Finding a blog that you enjoy or is of value quickly leads to a number of other people writing blogs. Most bloggers offer links to other blogs/people they feel are of interest or value. This is called a "blogroll". It can get pretty crazy pretty fast. Bookmarks in your browser can quickly become ungainly and ineffective. Not to mention it is impossible to tell when someone has updated their site with new content.
I just stumbled across MTV Asia's "Being Young" presentation on slideshare. It is an informed and insightful presentation on the social and media shifts afoot with asian youth.
TV is no longer relevant. Spending time online, listening to music and communicating are. I wish I could just repeat that over and over as a mantra.
Every week I have a client wanting to launch a micro-site to "engage" people with some new aspect of their brand or offering. To what purpose?
MTV shows that youth spend more time online but on "Fewer sites". If a person only visits 7-11 sites in a day, what are the odds that some new micro-site is going to push its way into the mix? And what kind of investment is required to bump something like Facebook off their radar?
"we have to learn how to earn prime time now that we can't buy it." - James Chadwick, Head of Strategy at Mindshare Asia
The full MTV Asia "Being Young" presentation is embedded for your viewing below.
This is it, everyone. The real deal. If we want to be "360", we
have to think "360" which means we have to develop cohesive views of
our audiences that incorporate media, social behaviors, digital
channels, devices and what matters to them.
Our view and use of media has to change. David Armano (or was it Dennis?) just posted a call for engagement and used real world examples on how Southwest Airlines and Zappos are effectively using
twitter to earn time with customers.
"Social Networks are all about
facilitating human connections, and
instead of talking about how we can do this—I hear marketers asking
"how do we monetize" and "how do we advertise" on them." - David Armano
David gets it. MTV gets it. Even Mindshare, one of the largest media buyers on the planet, is getting it.
So why are brands still trying to advertise on social networks?
I had a really wonderful conversation with Beth from AdAge yesterday. She was researching a piece on corporate bloggers that got my brain to churning.
The first question I ask when a corporation starts a "corporate blog" or hires a chief blogger is "Why?" What do they hope to gain from this initiative?
Blogging is very misleading as a term. A blog is simply a publishing engine that has an RSS feed and displays the latest post at the top of the page. So a company saying that they are launching a blog is bordering on meaningless without more information. It is akin to them doing a press release announcing the launch of a new page on their website. We would generally want to know what is so special about this page. Why are they launching it? Is it just a page or is it part of a larger campaign?
Blogging is not about publishing. It is about connecting to others and we accomplish this not by writing a lot of articles but by lowering the veil between us and them. We are sharing how we see the world and who we are. We are letting them into our world.
Let's be frank. What can Starbucks say to me as a company? Likely a lot, but nothing I really want to here.
The real potential for blogging is to allow for a more human voice or set of voices to emerge and I'm constantly having to ask if a "corporate blog" is the best way to accomplish this. Most of the bloggers I know maintain an arms length distance from their employers in order to establish credibility and also ensure they don't have to run every post through legal or communications.
I don't think companies want to blog. What we are really seeing is a desire to engage with customers and prospects or in some cases an attempt to capitalize or experiment with a "hot trend." I am all for experimentation but it is only when these initiatives are framed within the context of an engagement strategy that the tools, media and desired outcomes can be aligned for better results.
Focusing on engagement allows us to determine from where the voice comes.
Richard Huntington is quick to point out that brands are not people and as such, brands should not participate in social media.
"Brand's do have personalities and I spend a lot of time thinking
about powerful personalities for organisational brands that capture the
specialness of the place while legislating for it to be delivered in
every expression of that brand.
But just because a brand has a personality doesn't make it a person.
And I want my relationships to be with people not businesses. Sure
that can be the people in those businesses but not the business as a
whole."
I believe that corporations often overlook the real potential of "blogging" - to allow for people to connect to people. And if Richard is correct, relationships are built between people.
It is the voice of the people that a company must learn to free from the cage of compliance.
EDIT: Sadly, the plugin doesn't FIT on my blog. lol. Christ. Maybe
a temporary early gotcha? Not sure how long this has been running. I
doubt this thing would fit on anyone's blog. You may want to view it here.
What I love most about this campaign is that, for the first time, someone is actually going out of their way to promote sharing.
As the image above shows, they actively support you posting this to the following sites/tools: Typepad, myspace, facebook, myyearbook, dashboard, google, live, netvibes, hi5, freewebs, xanga, friendster, tagged, blackplanet, blogger, livejournal, wordpress, multiply, eons, pageflakes, webwag, orkut, vox, and piczo. And they also support email and a general embed in the crazy case your platform online is not supported.
What is amazing is the depth of support for these platforms. They actually do the work for you. I clicked on Typepad and it asked me for my username and password. Then it asked me to select the blog account, create a subject and even fill out the body text. And then it built the post for me. Wow.
I went looking for the commercial, seeing if they allowed the pieces to be broken apart. Yup. Found it on YouTube.
But does the campaign work? Love to know what you think.
Cut to yesterday where it was standing room only for the AdTech San Francisco keynote by 
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