New link added 7 31 10 The WSJ published a blurb-like article discussing how top web sites in the US feed your history to tracking businesses that are known to steal your browsing behavior using invasive software without your permission. My opinion of this issue may seem apparent but the social mood surrounding this practice will reject it strongly in time...and maybe less time than many imagine.
Few readers have taken to my description of an era of Choice. Could a description so simple be helpful in any way? I think so. I also think that just by recognizing how important the dynamic (market) force that Choice represents, we can then see one step further toward what really matters in the business of selling content these days. (It is really worth just thinking about when the fish are not biting.)
In the age of broadcast (one way media) the notions of reach and frequency worked just fine. They were assembled using different statistical formulas depending upon the particular media. Everyone was using the same measurements but then it all began to change.
In an age of interactivity and endless digital channels of distribution the two dimensional metrics that we know as reach and frequency have become much less meaningful. Even more less meaningful: rating points.
In my last post I commented how the quotes and sound bites coming from Sun Valley Idaho felt disappointing in how few leaders seemed to express any insight to the core problem in the business of media these days.
In a three dimensional world of interactivity, the old media companies think sprucing up their product with cool interactive graphs will grab the content consumers attention. They also expressed the need to be paid well enough for those products. That is a key concern of course but it does not suggest any insight about the big challenges of media companies today. I thought that was what the conference was all about. Oh, that's right, sharing those ideas on the internet means they'll just be taken.
Media is a primary social tool that benefits every American and every company...even those in the business. Adjusting to a new era of Choice does not have to be the end of an industry but it will require courage and conviction on the part of leaders. The reward for this will be considerable but not easily achieved.
The advertising business model has been turned inside out in the age of interactivity. Fractionalization of demand will forever change the market forces that impact the business model for any advertising based enterprise. The metrics must compensate for these changes and allow value to be captured even as demand is fractionalized. Perceptions of "what is Value?" to both consumers and sponsors has changed a lot. It is time to update measurement and that is the job of media enterprises. Do you really want to wait around for a splintered advertising industry (or search companies) to do it for you and dictate terms?!
I am reiterating the point I made in the last post because I may not have been clear enough. The flow of this blog is cumulative and if you drop in and read only one post it is like picking up War and Peace half way through the book.
I do not think the quality of the average media product is a problem today. I find excellent content everyday. I believe the packaging is not representing the products well enough. By "packaging" I mean the measurement that gives us ratings or reflects the consumer's perceived value. Cookies that increasingly steal more detailed information are not a suitable answer.Innovation is desperately needed in the realm of ratings and interactivity without sacrificing the relationship with the consumer.
In the past two years I have watched the radio industry fight internally about a new electronic ratings platform as Nielsen brought another old recall method back to the market. The single most important aspect of monetizing content use is knowing how and how much it is being used. Recall is just not effective in the era of Choice and will not stand up to competition from electronic measurement for helping sponsors predict where their investments in advertising are best placed. This will be reflected soon in a renewed spirit of risk aversion. Count on it.
I believe census quality data is both essential and possible but many concessions along that path will be needed to get to the destination.
There is no way to truly know how valuable any one chunk of content is without knowing how and how much it was used after production and digital shipping. The content manufacturer and sponsors must know more detail. Old fashioned reach and frequency is just not meaningful anymore.
The realization of Choice as an ideal is possible with census quality metrics. Just because that is the big goal does not mean that there are not stopovers on the way. This is the job of the media business. Thinking it is not is just putting critical decision making into the hands of those who would be competitors. More should be expected from industry leadership.
