I have grown up in a tech savvy world. My parents bought our first microwave the week I was born, my father bought our first VCR for 1200 dollars (ahh Betamax for life) and I had my first pc before I could ride a bike (the IBM PC JR).
The microwave and the PC were pretty good decisions by my parents, but alas they missed the boat on the Betamax. Sure, the picture was better, the tapes were more compact, but it lacked two things that the VHS format had. One, VHS cassettes were cheaper and two, porn.
For all its woes the adult film industry has always been a trend setter when it comes to technology. When they choose the VHS format, VHS beat Sony hands down. When the internet was in its early stages of being popular, the only ones making money (besides AOL) were those in the adult movie industry.
Now we have the FyreTV set top box. Basically, it is the same as the Roku set top box but for porn. The box allows you to stream movies to your TV over the internet with out the assistance of a computer. Why is this important? Probably because Blu-ray will be the last hard copy format of movies that consumers buy.
Already I am beginning to watch more and more movies online. Not because I don’t have the DVD, I own over 900, but because streaming a movie to my computer or TV is the fastest and easiest way to watch a movie.
I don’t know if the Fyre box will be a success, but I can tell you this. We are witnessing the beginning of the end for hard copied media. Anyone else think this way? Let me know.
Cynopsis.com delivered a news story today about the announcement of an integrated partnership between TiVo and YouTube which speaks greatly to the on-going development of digital media, or Interactive media, as the interface of choice for delivering content direct to consumers in an interactive and exciting format. I for one am thrilled at the prospect of perusing the vast library of YouTube video via TiVo while my online-news addict husband browses the web (thereby eliminating my ability to view YouTube videos online using our computer).
It is no secret that YouTube has proven to be an incredible platform for companies, organizations, and others to reach consumers, particularly when a video goes viral. Of course, going viral is strategic and doesn’t always just happen - though it has (most everyone has seen the Mentos/Diet Coke experiment video filmed then delivered to the masses online via YouTube, which has been replicated dozens of times and drawn more brand attention to Mentos than could have possibly been imagined). I dub that accidental advertising gone wild!
Either way, this joint venture will allow companies to consider adding brand content to YouTube video as a much less costly alternative to traditional television and radio spots, while still having the benefit of having the content delivered on a broadcast TV (i.e., TiVo) platform. If I can see the dollar signs, I know others can too.
Other cool ramifications include extending marketing reach to smaller companies who don’t have budgets for more costly television and radio spots. YouTube/TiVo will definitely allow these companies to reach a broad range of consumers, delivering valuable brand information and content, that they might otherwise have not had the ability to reach. By choosing to utilize the social video network YouTube provides, companies can save money and gain a greater public presence.
Given that recently many media news sites have speculated that traditional media platforms for marketing and advertising are not recession proof, it is expected that expenditures for those platforms will decline. So far, the only channel that has proven to be recession-proof is digital media. In fact, the use of digital media as a way to reach consumers is one of the only marketing and advertising formats that will continue to see vast growth in a declining economy. When such a campaign is designed by creative experts who specialize in digital media, and when that campaign is implemented strategically, companies will see more bang for their buck - $$$$$. Who doesn’t want that during a recession???
