On Tuesday I attended AdTech, the self-described #1 event for digital marketing. Even in New York, the supposed center of advertising, it’s easy to forget how many billions of dollars are spent to make me buy things. This conference certainly reminded me.
The conference also showed how little advertisers and marketers understand the youth demographic. As a 23-year-old, I’ve made some commitments, but I haven’t promised myself to a computer brand, type of beer or model of car. Advertisers take note—my spending money is up for the highest bidder, e.g. the one with the best ad campaign.
That’s why I was surprised to hear Peter Naylor, the Senior VP Digital Media Sales for NBC describe YouTube as a “frienemy.” That one word pretty much sums up NBC’s relationship with the site. The company posted this satirical video of “Bill the Promo Guy” on YouTube that encourages people to watch NBC shows while mocking the self-importance of its ad team (friend). But after the Google buy-out, NBC took down all of its copyrighted material that had found its way to the site (enemy). To me, this seems like a big mistake. Until YouTube, I rarely watched the Daily Show but after seeing illegal clips on the site, I became a real fan. Likewise, the clips I saw of My Name is Earl were certainly better pitches for the show than a picture of Jason Lee on the side of a bus.
NBC is being short-sighted to see copyrighted videos on YouTube as theft instead of as free advertising. What’s a better testament to your product than a free sample?
It really makes me wonder when I see so many examples of even big companies that just don't get it. They talk so much about thinking outside the box and then when something new comes along that they don't understand, they climb in the box and shut the lid. Not only is NBC missing out on free, good exposure, they are creating angst in their potential audience. It's like shooting yourself in the foot with a double-barreled shotgun.
Posted by: Ron Hayes | November 10, 2006 at 01:04 PM