Marketing in Madness in 60 Seconds: 7/3/09

Advertising/Marketing

Display ads will come to Dish Networks in early 2010 thanks to a partnership between that company and WPP’s GroupM. That system will likely then be rolled out to DirecTV and possibly even beyond that as addressable ads continue to be all the rage for cable television.

Advertising executives have an idea of what the impact of DVR ad-skipping is having on their business but don’t know how to counteract it.

Digital College Network is a new start-up out-of-home advertising network that is installing screens that will display entertainment, advertising and other content on those screens, which will be placed in college bookstores across the country.

YouTube has introduced new overlay ads that can link to an outside website directly. Overlays were all the rage about a year and a half ago and it’s odd they waited this long to jump on this bandwagon.

A study done by a television industry trade group says that television is a more effective environment for advertising than the web, especially in terms of “emotional engagement.” I’m awash in shock.

Advertisers have agreed in principle to new self-regulatory guidelines that would give web users more control over behaviorally targeted online ads. The proposed guidelines from the AAAA would require ISPs, ad servers (including Google, Yahoo and others) and companies that make browser toolbars to get opt-in agreements from users before serving up such ads, though how that assent is given and to what extent it would be applied remains unclear.

Media

The New York Times is dropping a restriction it had placed on member papers that content must appear in print first. Members can now post original NYT pieces on their sites before that content appears in print, a move designed allow those member papers to evolve to meet consumer needs.

Social Media

Flickr has made it easier to post the photos you upload there to Twitter.

Twitter has started the process of trying to copyright “tweet” in response to the wide-range of applications that use that word in their names. It says it won’t go after those currently using the word but just want to make sure that, since it’s so connected in people’s minds with Twitter, it’s not being abused.

Finding an Audience: Distribution Notes for 7/3/09

Theatrical

The few remaining indie arms of the big studios are buying minimally, some of the true independents are picking up a handful and the others are just kind of sitting there doing nothing. Yes, the market for independent movies truly does bite right now.

Home Video

Rumors are circulating that Paramount, 20th Century Fox and Sony are in talks to merge the production, distribution and other backend operations relating to the DVD business in an effort to cut costs.

Online/On-Demand

The Supreme Court has declined to hear arguments relating to the opposition by a consortium of Hollywood studios to plans by some cable providers to introduce networked DVR functionality. That functionality would un-hinge DVR services from a set-top box with its hard-drive and, for all intents and purposes, put it in the cloud that is the operator’s services. The system will be slow – and expensive – to roll out but will ultimately be a cost-savings since it means they don’t have to pay all those manufacturing costs. PaidContent has more of the winners/losers in this.

Warner Bros. has signed a deal to handle digital release of films managed by Oscilloscope, making sure those movies get into online storefronts. New media distribution will happen after the films complete their theatrical run.

The limited broadband speeds in the U.S. still aren’t enough to effectively stream HD video content to homes but are being utilized to some effect as complimentary channels for Blu-ray content.

Quick Takes: 7/3/09

The rising role being played by online, social network-based word of mouth is partly to blame, at least according to some people, for the fact that star-power seems to be waning in importance in movie marketing. Once-invincible stars aren’t bringing them in like they used to and are being beaten by movies with ensemble, second-string casts and other factors that don’t carry as much traditional weight.

The AMC blog looks at some of the greatest movie hype-starting hoaxes in history.

The Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood is increasing the pressure on federal regulators over the advertising for PG-13 movies that airs during programming meant for younger children. The group points to the large amount of ads for Wolverine, Transformers 2, Terminator Salvation and more that have been broadcast this year. In response, the MPAA, which is charged with self-policing the ads for these movies, says it works hard to make sure whatever is approved is appropriate for those audiences.

Valeris Van Galder is leaving her post as co-president of worldwide marketing at Sony Pictures but is not said to be going to another studio. Instead she simply appears to be stepping down for personal reasons. Mark Weinstock, the other co-president of the division, will assume her duties upon her leaving.