Disney's Bob Iger is definitely getting the hang of it. Not only was Disney the first of the majors to cut a deal with Apple making TV series episodes available for download on iTunes, it now is first to cross the line making full-length TV shows available on the Internet, free of any restriction.
And that's not all of it: the media giant is breaking ground on a new business model for advertising breaks as well. According to the Wall Street Journal (paid access) a choice of ads will be offered during commercial breaks, all from the same advertiser. The viewer can choose between several types of commercial, with varying degrees of interactivity.
This is a novel approach, obviously aimed at capturing the interest of "Generation C": consumers who increasingly want control over creative content, whether it be entertainment or commercials. Possibly something for mainstream TV advertising by the time DVRs become ubiquitous?
Looking at this from a different amgle, this is another shot at something General Motors tried to do recently as well, with, ehmm, mixed results. GM offered consumers a menu of choices with which they could build their own Chevy Tahoe commercials. From a viral distribution point of view the exercise was a hit, except for the fact that the Tahoe quickly became the whipping boy of car commercials.
Ah well, you go out and experiment, you win some and you lose some, as they say...
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment