FLASH in hand!

FLASH in hand! I am very excited about the new possibilities of Verizon and Adobe partnering up to enable and create FLASH content for cell phones. I think that FLASH has been quietly smiggling in a new breed on content developers. FLASH is now the most widely deployed video platform on the web, click here for an example, now anyone with a decent design prowess and a passion for creating media can develop for almost any platform out there using FLASH. To me the internet has now truly democrasized the world by giving everyone out there the tools to create impactful media from a home computer. Anyone with a voice, a poem, a product or a cause can move millions with powerful content that can now be viewed on cell phones lighting fast. FLASH files are tiny and easily saved, you can download them, pass them along and post them almost anywhere. Advertisers will especially love this new trend because they will now be able to send highly targeted engaging ads to cell phones everywhere. Will cell service now be free? Something to think about...

COMING 'ROUND THE BEND ITS INTERNET BY A HEAD!!

Each day I open up my web browser and peruse the various "ad" news, blogs and gossip sites I see a very clear path, this path is not only clear to me but to those who are seemingly being trampled along it. Television stations are now using their websites as a means to drum up more viewers and advertising. Since the inception of the web, television has been pounding its proverbial chest and standing tall atop the media mountain, some would say King Kong would be a great metaphor, the obvious signs of defense and protecting its realm. The humble and quiet internet kept chugging along keeping a steady pace not looking forward or back to see where TV stood. This is the part of the race everyone enjoys and is the reason people tune in... INTERNET HAS NOW TAKEN THE LEAD!!!! COMING 'ROUND THE BEND ITS INTERNET BY A HEAD!!

Television stations have now started to wave the white flag (I love when Lex Luthor does it in Superman 2) and realize that rather than dominate the media realm we can all share it happily. Does TV have to worry? YES! Will the internet have mercy? NO! But that is life, no struggle no progress type of attitude. What i find really interesting is that smaller affiliates are the ones embracing the internet, The smaller egos allow them to, they have amped up their websites and are doing some really cool stuff, one affiliate in Plattsburgh, N.Y. is letting people pitch commercials for local car dealerships. I think just like those cute rediculous commercials we all saw growing up on our local affiliate stations had an effect on us with jingles and local familiar celebrity, so will the web in featuring Bob's Used Cars in a super cool flash mini site that will be as rediculous as ever!

Thats what the web is all about, low cost interactive mass media.

Agency Disconnect

Recently I have been noticing a bit of a disconnect between agencies and interactive partners. Not understanding fully what is involved in creating an interactive module, or mini site can create havoc on a schedule. Small things like files sizes in FLASH and backend integrations can be easily overlooked by an agency producer and can result in them over promising on delivery dates. Unlike print, or traditional websites there cant be pushing and pulling on a schedule once set in place, especially when jobs are bid on a time and resource basis, making sure agencies understand what is involved in the job of the interactive producer and I admit that I have stumbled in that area a few times because I assaumed that the agency knew what was up. With that said, you fall, you get up and you move on, hopefully within the next few years there will be a merging of expierience and we can once again live in contractual and scheduled harmony with one another!

HD BLEW! BLUES!

Hardrive blew this morning.... doesnt it suck when you love and embrace technology, support it and advance it, dedicate your life to its functions and how to make it better for all human kind and it just spits in your face? ARGHHH!!!!

Take the Lead is taking the lead

Take the Lead is taking the lead and showing the rest of Hollywood how to properly advertise their films properly. The newest Mash-Up site to allow users to manipulate assets and create their own clips is taking the web by storm. I recently used the Chevy Tahoe site that allows you to create your own commercial for the car and send to friends and even send to Chevy and it was FUN! I really enjoyed "mashing up" the content and creating my own version of the commercial, in doing that I was instantly familiarized with the Chevy brand and its messages, it really works!

Now the movie Take the Lead, the newest chapter of A-list Hollywood actor to "teach" inner city kids some life changing lesson, now its dancing. The site is www.taketheleadmovie.com
you can go to the site and create dance routines, mash up music, scenes and more! This is where marketing dollars need to be spent, TV sopts have proven to be limited and tickets at the box office have dropped, but now giving someone an interactive expeirience before they see the film and after they see the film will make the connection with the consumer much stronger and it may even result in higher DVD sales or even repeat visits to the theatre to see the flick again.

My hats off to Take the Lead for taking the lead and showing the rest of Hollywood how to really promote a new film!

Interactive expieriences

Interactive expieriences are something that seem to have evolved to become a theme in my life. At work, I am an interactive multimedia producer, we are trying to achieve the perfect blend and balance of the traditional ad campiegn with creating an entire interactive expierience behind the brand. (Most of my readers know my spelling sux) So I recently saw this act starring Sxip Shirey and Adam Matta that was seriously something amazing! These two guys were able to create an entire scene by using kazoos, harmonicas, their mouths and tiny bells and flutes. I was blown away by the simplicity of what was on stage and how complex the emotions and visualizations were for the crowds enjoyment. I encourage you all to check these guys out because as the ad industry and the movie industry as well as all media in general becomes more interactive you will see lots more of these types of groups becoming bigger and bigger, check em out! http://www.sxipshirey.com

Rebirth!

Rebirth! I am loving the news I read each time I open the New York Times and other industry rags about how much momentum is gaining for the smaller interactive shops within the ad industry. For years the BIG agencies have been running the show and now us small guys are starting to make some noise. Ron Berger said it so well when he used George Mason as an example from this years Final Four (I love sports mataphors) saying "Is George Mason being in the Final Four a statement that big-time college basketball is dead? Or is it a statement that the sport has a great vitality because talent is all over" To me this is another huge statement by an industry leader who recognizes that in order to achieve success in a multi tiered ad campiegn you must realize that the web and the interactive folks are just as big a player as the rest of the traditional media partners. Mr. Berger also said regarding the upcoming ad exec conference the 4 A's, that "These are people for whom the 'new media' isnt 'new media', Its 'media' " I love this statement because we were using the term New Media about 10 years ago and then it was really NEW. Now we have people like myself who have been toiling in Flash and interactive content for some time now and it refreshing to hear that the meduim is becoming not just the norm but the standard in which success is achieved.

Moving forward I think that the agencies will either put more money into serious interactive projects and rethink thier approach when putting together a campiegn or they will rebel and try desperately to hang on to the old standards of TV, Radio and Print and the rise of the smaller well established interactive houses that survived the .COM debacle will take place!

To me this is all so very revolutionary and I am simply loving it. Being a divorced father of 2 and a soon to be re-married father of 4 I am really hoping that my expierince of being an interactive producer will pay off in the paycheck department. Sometimes when you do what you love you dont think too much about how much your worth because you simply love doing what you do but when kids need to go to college and life starts shifting gears and coming at you fast (see www.lifecomesatyoufast.com) you have to start thinking about these things.... hang on folks its gonna get exciting!