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IMARKETING REPORT 04.09.02:
NBC screwed Diageo, TV vs Online
>> you just can't rush quality.
Good Morning Execs,
I know, my report is late, but delivered
nonetheless. There was just an over-
whelming amount of information for
me to sift through and I apologize for
not being able to get it all out to you in
time. I'd like to comment about Enron/
Anderson again, about how good
employees are castigated for being good
and how upsetting a client can get you
fired. This week, we found out that
another Anderson accountant was fired
for complaining about the Enron partner-
ships. It's an extremely difficult position
for any business: pleasing a client by any
means necessary to keep fee income flo-
wing & maintain the ability to pay that
employee, or risk loosing a client because
your good employee has done their job
and it makes the client seem incompetent.
If the client fires you, do you fire that
good employee or do you re-assign that
employee b/c they did a good job? Do
you fire another that hasn't performed
like this good employee? Does this cul-
ture endanger all your other client rela-
tionships? Just look at what HP has
done to Walter Hewlett. After raising
hell about the viability of the merger to
Compaq and whether or not it works
for shareholders, the HP board didn't re-
nominate him to its board of directors.
Interesting note is that during mergers,
execs make lots of cash, making it worth
their while to see a merger through, no
matter what happens to shareholders.
So, do we continue to pimp our employees
and ourselves or support our employees
b/c their loyalty is more valuable than
a quick buck?
Every week, there's something in Hispanic
media and this week's no different. One
of our partners, Urban
Latino Media, has
just launched a television presence airing
every Sunday @ 8:30pm called Urban
Latino TV on Metro TV (channel 16,
Cablevision, channel 70 Time Warner).
Congrats on a very successful debut, UL.
Keep up the great work.
CONTENTS: (Check it out, new departments)
1. BRANDS&INSIGHTS: NBC screwed Diageo
2. CONSUMERFOCUS: TV vs. Online
3. MEDIA&CONTENT: Consolidation works?!
4. MGMT&OPS: Quoting
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1. BRANDS&INSIGHTS: NBC screwed Diageo
Just to wrap up my coverage of
NBCs decision to stop accepting liquor
ads, last week we discovered that they
apparently were negotiating a $200 MM
5-year deal with Diageo, and based on
the success of this deal, Diageo may
have done another multiplatform deal
with another network. But since NBC
punked out, Diageo changed it's mind.
BOTTOM LINE: Don't be afraid to
cause a little disruption in your industry.
Especially for $200 MM. As I mentioned
in the 03.25.02 REPORT, NBC clearly
didn't have a clue about what their audience
wanted and how to approach this liquor
thing.
READ MORE:
http://www.emonline.com
top
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2. CONSUMERFOCUS: TV vs. Online
The OPA says
workers spend more
time online than w/TV. The BPS says
relationships can thrive if formed online.
It appears that media consumption is
continuing it's dramatic change to one
that's more interactive, the internet.
Why watch the crap on TV when you
can do whatever you want with who-
ever you want online. But TV hasn't
given up. In fact, the hottest consumer
market right now is pre-school, as
VIACOM & DISNEY race to produce
educationally based content that appeals
to parents & their toddlers. Their goal:
hook 'em onto TV while they're young.
But is this really the best way to keep
your consumers happy? Harvard
and I
say to let your customers be your product
innovators. It creates "tremendous"
value, but only if you know how to
capture it. The tactics employed here
at my agency harness the very consumer
we're trying to reach by having them
tell us what sort of messaging works
in getting them to do what we want
them to do. And what they want
is niche content they can interact with.
Case in point has been the recent
reduction in the average size of
published articles. Have you noticed
that for years, 4000-word articles
have been replaced with 400-word
"packages" that tell you all you need
to know, accompanied with pics.
Lots and lots of pics. It's not that
people aren't reading anymore, but
instead people are finding new and
more efficient ways of extracting
only the information they want, rather
than from the all-purpose, general
interest content that has traditionally
offered it to them.
BOTTOM LINE: There really isn't
one here. We're all online. We all
believe in niche. And now, we all
know to leverage our customer re-
lationships to develop new products
and content the length preferred
by our readers..
READ MORE:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020315/hl_nm/chat_romance_1
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/0,,SB1017611458737452560,00.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/01/business/media/01MAGS.html
top
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3. MEDIA&CONTENT: Consolidation works?!
In the 03.18.02 REPORT, I mentioned
how consolidation is bad for creativity,
particularly in the ad agency business.
Last week, I read an argument that
says that consolidation in the radio
industry is good because it creates
more niche and diverse programming
since consolidators want to avoid
cannibalization. There's even evi-
dence of this in consolidated markets,
as formats have increased from pre-
consolidation days. In contrast, with
many independent stations, they're
all trying to make those ad dollars,
and make formats with mass appeal.
Consequently, diversity decreases.
Could the same be true for other
media? I've noticed the opposite,
how niche publishers develop as
a result of mass media not being
appealing to them. So the question
is, how big does a media company
have to get in order to become
niche?
BOTTOM LINE: First, the fact that
this is even an issue in the radio indus-
try validates what we've known all
along, that niche content is truly the
way to go. Second, could consolida-
tion be an unforeseen problem for the
future of the independent niche publisher?
If big media is making it hard for us
now, and they only deal in mass media,
then just imagine if they get bigger,
when they have to invade our turf?
Does this mean we all have to sell
out eventually, or should we continue
to be independent? Well, look at AOL.
They're a perfect example of the
limits of size. They have lost almost
they're entire pre-merger value as
a result of not enough advertisers,
readers, viewers, or subscribers to
operate at max capacity. They
use up hundreds of millions of their
own advertising inventory. For all
their platforms, they've yet to offer
integration to advertisers. And yet,
they're so big, no one can really com-
pare. To the indie, stay indie, but
conquer your niche. Once you're
the only source of content in your
space, then you re-purpose your
content on other media, don't try
and deviate into other content areas.
Does this work? Look at Oprah
and Martha. It works. Period.
READ MORE:
http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2002/0415/106.html?_requestid=5919
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4. MGMT&OPS: Quoting
"Why pay millions for Mr. Wassertein
when you can pick up his book on how
to do deals on Amazon.com for $13.95?"
Other than explaining why m&a fees
have been declining recently, this quote
highlights a very interesting trend in online
publishing - quotes of the day. It seems
everyone, from nytimes, fast company,
to tvspy.com have all been using it to
give their readers a sense that they hear
everything and know everything about
their coverage area.
BOTTOM LINE: Are you quoting?
Why not? It's cheap and the content
is sought after by your readers. Ima-
gine quote of the day sponsored by...?
READ MORE:
http://www.crainsny.com
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