DIGITAL MEDIA PLANNING
“The more things change, the more they stay the same. There of course has been tremendous change with Twitter becoming more and more used, etc. but at the same time, there has not been an enormous change I’d say over the last 12 to 18 months.” networks to support our shows, the video campaign and decide what those are going to be.
SPECIAL REPORTS
So when we look at digital media, it’s more of an extension of our content, and it’s just content based. We use it to expand our brand, whether that goes into gaming, digital or producing extra content for the website for the show. What we’re finding more and more is there’s a digital plan in place in the creative stages. How do we plan for the content we’re going to want on the website, and how do we integrate that within the seamlessness of the show and the launch of on-air? Is there an online launch as well, and what does that look like, and how far in advance do we want to start preparing for that? We work with other companies that are specifically digital studios, and what we’re finding with that is it’s another opportunity to bring in brands and sponsorships and do a lot of fun, different things with the content as a way to launch specific digital content. Like the “Valemont” property of MTV and Verizon, which was a really successful launch recently. How do you launch a brand, how do you extend your brand? How do you keep engagement, and how do you monetize it? That’s the position that we’re in. How has the digital media space changed in the last 12 to 18 months?
BRIEF 46
Farish: The more things change, the more they stay the same. There of course has been tremendous change with Twitter becoming more and more used, etc., but at the same time, there has not been an enormous change I’d say over the last 12 to 18 months. You had social networking, and the importance of those social networks was around three even four years ago. Facebook wasn’t that big, but you had MySpace. So, they’re not completely new things, even though there’s a new application of them from a marketing strategy standpoint. I think that the way that we’re using them, those core tenements are still applicable. In other words, I’m still looking at digital from a 10,000 foot level in two primary ways. First, is the ability to reach mass amounts of
people and remind them to watch the show. It works well with other media, and it’s just a good reach reminder medium. The other piece that’s been changing quite a bit in terms of the tactics that we use is the ability to target very specific groups of people and help give them the tools to create brand ambassadors out of them. It’s all the buzz, chatter, word of mouth. All of those tools. That toolbox is getting more complex and more interesting, but still, the strategy is staying the same. How do you deal with all of those new technologies and/or how do you choose the ones that are appropriate? Farish: I think it does create some staffing questions. We are bringing people in. As digital continues to grow and grow, we need specialists in that area. Again, it’s like any media, everything’s becoming fractionized. You have to have some great specialists either with agencies externally or experts internally who can keep you abreast of what those changes are. It does call into question staffing. I need digital guys who aren’t just based in the tactics anymore, but someone who can talk strategies and how to implement those strategies. The overall strategies still remain similar to what we were doing years ago. Maybe a decade ago, we weren’t as interested in word of mouth and how that played, but in the last four to five years, we sure have been, and it continues to be the case, more so every year. Banachowski: The goal is about the content and making people aware of it. I agree that there have been huge shifts in what’s out there to use for digital media, but I think it’s more of what can we do with it. You can get deeper with it now. Facebook’s been there, but now you can do more in terms of what you can develop for Facebook, how you can engage people on Facebook and how you can bring them back and get them to be sticky with your site or your content. I think in terms of that, what’s changed is what you can do with it and what you’re expected to do with it. You can’t just do banners and things like that anymore if you really want to do something big for one of your shows.