The Revolution is Here! Digitas's Verdino Proselytizes

Someone has finally said it: "Be the Content." Hallelujah!
(It would have been us, but we were too busy fixing the water cooler.)

Greg Verdino, we salute you. As the popularity of online video soars, the question at hand for marketers accustomed to their usual 30 seconds is – "How long do we make our pre-roll ads?"

But as he says in the longer version of the article in this month’s OMMA mag, "Don't."

Today, as the consumer exerts more control over her consumption of media, as primetime gives way to “my time” and as technology empowers more people to make the shift from content consumer to content creator, the effectiveness of traditional, interruption advertising has been called into question…I’m not suggesting that television advertising is dead – of course, it isn’t – but it does feel like we’re headed down a slippery slope.

I’ll say. Rather than being the pesky little guys that interrupt the programming that viewers really want to see, he suggest that advertisers and agencies start leveraging their resources into producing content. Genius, really. He’s not saying that consumers will start watching content that is solely about the brand, but would be open to material that supports it – if it were entertaining or informative, of course.

So, How To…?

First, you’re going to need some friends. Obviously, your Creatives are not going to start donning the dark sunglasses of independent film producers nor start holding hands with mainstream media companies. And they’ll certainly not turn over their cameras to, god forbid, The Consumer. But they can start playing nice with them and see what comes of it.

Next – distribute, distribute, distribute. To their own destinations, but also to third-party sites, not forgetting to consider the potential influence of networked media. When you go wild boar hunting (you know, as so many of us do) you don’t just bring one bullet. To stretch the analogy further: although you shouldn’t be splaying the jungle with machine-gun fire, a few select shots to moving underbrush might be worthwhile.

And who knows? You just might be bringin’ home the bacon.