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TV to go

Crammed tightly in my seat, surrounded by about 40 other people, I escape into a private world all my own; headphones filling my ears with song as I ride the bus. Hard to believe such an act would get any notice–were it not for the fact it happened in 1975 on my school bus.

How things change. How little we see it all around us. Someone standing around talking to themselves might land in a padded cell. Today, he’s probably on the cell phone linked wirelessly to his earbud via bluetooth.

Feel the wave; ride the wave. Here comes another…
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EchoStar Communications* is seeking to make its Dish Network service more portable with PocketDish: a hand-held, portable player allowing you to watch programming on the run—after downloading it from your receiver.

Yes, I’d prefer them to play live streaming video… Just like I’d have preferred to have 15,000 songs in my pocket instead of a bulky cassette player in my book bag.

It all has to start somewhere.

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Zigging when they’re zagging

Three stories of imposing red brick, McIntyre Elementary School was a small town classic. Towering windows, chalkboards that seemed a mile-long, green walls and black tile floors, it remains the picture that pops in when I hear the word school. Is your school still in you? Are you still in school?

Marketing is the continuing education of observation; labs are campaigns. When the student in you is ready, the lesson always arrives. Today it comes courtesy of Bavarian Motor Works–better known as BMW.

After pioneering the era of "branded entertainment," BMW has popped the clutch and left it behind. Advantages are always fleeting and seldom is there a better example than this: BMW practically creates a category. Others rush in to copy. Demand explodes. Prices escalate. Value diminishes. BMW exits.

AdAge reports, "The primary reason for BMW’s new backseat approach: Branded entertainment is just getting too expensive. According to executives close to the client and experts in Hollywood, BMW doesn’t have the marketing dollars to ink entertainment deals at a time when integration fees and marketing requests from film or TV partners are escalating."

Like poker and used cars, knowing when to get out is almost more important than getting in.

Here’s the lesson: Don’t love marketing campaigns that can’t love you back. BMW saw the party was over and moved on. You should too. When advantages diminish, depart. Better yet, when it seems they are about to–be the first one out the door.

Like BMW, you can create just as much buzz ending something as in beginning it–provided you do both boldly and smartly.

There’s another lesson in this story. Go read it now and then click to continue…

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If you can’t beat ‘em, buy ‘em

In what they may consider a bold initiative, major media companies are increasingly fighting audience erosion by trying to out-do what their on line competitors are doing. Proof positive comes in today’s Wall Street Journal (subscription required):

Driven by fear of losing advertisers and audience to the Internet, large media conglomerates are spending billions in a spate of acquisitions and aggressive Internet initiatives, and are likely to keep on spending.

Companies like Viacom Inc., News Corp. and Time Warner Inc. worry that they will miss the rapid expansion of Internet advertising while their own, more-traditional sources of revenue growth are slowing. Some hope to directly challenge the giant portals like Yahoo Inc. and Google Inc. — Web sites that serve as gateways to the Internet. Others are transferring some of their most valuable content to online sites, even though that risks alienating their traditional distribution partners.

"Traditional distribution partners." Like a cross-country runner in cement sneakers, legacy players can see the finish line but can’t seem to get their feet moving that way. Going through the motions and trying to "buy" the channel screams out of old-line thinking isn’t going to get it done. When rules change, your game has to change.

Are you doing the same thing? Remember push vs. pull. (see: They Just Don’t Get It) Denying this shift is akin to lamenting the halcyon days of 50¢ gasoline; it’s a new world. Dig deep, pay up and keep driving.

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Sea changes for media

The ocean went away. That’s chilling description of what happened moments before last Christmas’ Tsunami. Well, Happy New Year because the ocean’s going away again and the astute are headed for higher ground. I’m talking about the Tsunami-like changes sweeping through and redefining what we once knew as "the media."

An early observer of this sea change, former FCC Chairman Michael Powell described the shift as "Application Separation." In the old days you needed a tower, a license, equipment, people, money, etc. Today all you need is Internet access.

Terry Heaton’s report summarizes Powell’s view: "one no longer needs to own the infrastructure in order to publish, distribute or broadcast content. This is turning the media world upside-down, and most of the traditional media response, I’m sorry, falls under the category of "they just don’t get it."

Terry’s insights and advice are food for thought for broadcasters and marketers alike. Do you think the choice of channels is the only place where an increasingly sophisticated consumer is exerting their will?

Here’s how I see Terry’s action plan for broadcasters adapted for marketers…

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