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Alright, so it’s going head to head with Wikipedia – people are upset, it’s an attack etc. Firstly that’s what happens in a market and secondly it might make others raise their game in terms of usability. Or it might die. Interesting either way.
Archive for July, 2008
29
Jul
08
links for 2008-07-29
You have to love how HBO reaches out to market their shows. It’s never about trying to force proprietary systems and platforms to replicate the functions of pre-existing functions as it seems to be in the Uk. They recognise that their audience is on YouTube and out in the blogosphere and that trying to deliver content to them in what are, in effect, “walled gardens” is only going to hinder the spread of their message. Plus they do it with such elegance and such great design.
The latest offering surrounds a show called TruBlood from the creator of Six Feet Under, Alan Ball. It’s embedding itself into your life with blogs, YouTube channel, online cartoons, newsletters…and if you really want to you can sign up for a vampire dating site, unfortunately for me I am married…
In a market that is time poor – or more accurately perceives itself to be time poor – the more connection mechanisms the better. Just because you will have the chance to actually reacch the people you are worried about instead of missing them when they leave the tele in the ad break to get a soda. Basically, they get it. the entertainment model has changed and your content becomes your marketing, its simple and effective.
By contrast the music industry seems to be having severe problems getting their heads around the changes that the net has brought to music purchase and enjoyment. This is partly because they have a financial model that doens’t slot quite as easily into the new world of free content and content sharing.
I went to a conference held by musictank on Thursday called Meet the Millenials, the result of work by Terry McBride on how that generation consume media and music. His ideas tie directly into the principle that things which can be copied in the digital environment have no value whereas things that cannot be are highly valuable.
Music files = easily copiable hence of low financial value
People = currently uncopiable hence of high financial value
The music industry model is built not around the artist as a brand/commodity, but around the music they produce but for millenials, although they are willing to pay to enable an artist to continue making music there is a tipping point of value beyond which they won’t pay.
Several users got really annoyed and started asking the millenials how they expected artists to survive and continue making music – ignoring the gigging, merchandising, person touching model that was being discussed. The guys being interviewed were a bit stumped, they just don’t perceive it as value to pay for tracks, unless they really want to possess and own them on cd or have loyalty to the artist.
This is a more asian model of creativity – copying of all kinds is not a big deal.
I was stunned to hear this anger from the music professionals, they obviously just do not get it. There is no point being angry, this is just how things are and it springs from passion. I made mix tapes and then got deeply into Limewire because I love music. That’s a powerful thing. And love creates loyalty. Industry professionals just have to get to grips with the new environment, see this passion for what it is and learn to appreciate the fanaticism that we wish we could create around the brands we all work with to monetise the asset they do have access to, the brand of the artist themselves.
18
Jul
08
links for 2008-07-18
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Just of interest – and because these are the customers of the future.
15
Jul
08
links for 2008-07-15
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This will be great if they open it up to creating your own “furniture” and to importing mates from other networks – otherwise it will die on its feet.
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What with all the excitement about Lively why not check out where it sits in the virtual world demographic at Kzero
08
Jul
08
links for 2008-07-08
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Encouraging words from Ira Glass on how basically when you start work you suck – but your taste is great – and your work can only get better. Inspirational stuff.
03
Jul
08
Conference-tastic 2gether08
I have just finished a pleasant day a 2gether08. It was a primarily socially focused conference on the difference that digital media can make and if offered opportunities for both getting brain downloads from people who work primarily in the social space such as the Channel 4 education types like Adam Gee and Matt Locke, but also those who crossover like Russell Davies and Mark Earls. More importantly it was the chance for social entrepreneurs to meet other social entrepreneurs and digital types to get some input on ideas with the emphasis on positive action and possible matching with funding or partnerships.
As usual I will try and distill some of the interesting stuff which caught my attention and basically point you on to the horses’s mouth as it were.
Let’s talk to coca-cola about saving the world’s children – an idea 20 years in the gestation with little movement outside Berry’s head, but once it got onto Facebook took just 6 weeks to be talking to senior people in Coke about how this campaign could use the ground-level distribution channels that Coke employs to get it’s product throughout Africa, to distribute rehydration salts. 1 child in 5 in developing countries will die before the age of 5 each year because they get diaorrhea and become dehydrated. Yet you can get a coke literally anywhere in the world…
Since the Facebook group launched everything has kicked off – social media driving good. Join the Facebook group.
Ben Page – Ipsos-Mori – When the Danes (the happiest people in Europe apparently) applied their 5 a day campaign to get people eating more fruit and veg instead of saying “eat 5 a day” they said “eat 6 a day” – when you show people numbers and ask them to estimate quantity the higher the number the higher the quantity for the same thing. I am hoping he will put up his slides on SlideShare.
Tim Wright – Hooray hooray for Tim Wright! He is enthusiastic, not pretentious and always interesting. He was talking about how radio may develop. Not (as is currently the vogue) via teaming images with audio but more concentrating on new audio possibilities such as narrowcasting from his own bluetooth (although I couldn’t actually locate his mobile during the talk so that didn’t inspire confidence), location-based content that can be experienced out of, or in, context and receiving audio on new devices. Since I bought my mp3 player specifically because it had a radio in it (so no I am not part of the ipod/itunes mafia) I found this talk very interesting. Here are just a few of the links I picked up from it:-
www.sportsdo.net – a bit like Nike plus but a lot cheaper and plugged into your phone. YOu have to pay for it though…
pocketplanetradio.com – All kinds of random podcasts including one in which the author discusses the life and times of John Stewart Mill with Jonathan Derbyshire and another where they experience a strange world in 2nd life that might somehow replicate the experience of paranoid schizophrenia.
Brilliant.
