A Vision of Video

With all of the well-documented changes in media over the past 15 years it serves us well to give pause and consider the implications on digital product development, and that oft-maligned concept of media convergence.
Twenty years or so ago, when this Private Dick was just getting his nose wet in the real world, there were well-defined, concrete, and very vertically-inclined media channels. This was due to both the consumers that were paying for them and the relatively homogenous habitat they shared as separate animals and breeds. That is to say, there was room in the ecosystem for a local newspaper, a regional newspaper, and a national sheet all to exist, and even to be consumed by the same person or family of readers. Broadcast had local affiliates and the big three four (remember in this distant past that Fox was still more of an up-and-comer than the House that Murdoch built, although the Bundys and the Simpsons had made their mark), and cable was all but devoid of the mindless reality tv chatter and the vitriol-fueled cable "news" programs. The buckets were big, and they were filled by smaller buckets of the same make.
Then we began the rapid expansion of tech, and the slow, agonizing death of this era of media and its vanguard. The reasons for this can be considered manyfold: poor business practices, old leadership not stepping away soon enough, de-regulation and capitalism building monstrous, monolithic meg-corps, Too Big NOT To Fail. The truth of it is, with the birth of the internet came the rebirth of tribal society. The digital tribes have been touched on before, by more well-documented journalists than this hack reporter. For the layman though, the idea that the ability to endlessly sub-segment your interests and your information channels, your style and design esthetic, your dialect, your IDENTITY has made your sphere of influence smaller.
Now that the academic stuff is out of the way, I'll get to the point... (FINALLY!)
My vision of video is to tap into both of these concepts: that the big, Old Media, has changed drastically (or is dead if you're a pessimist), and the new tribally-conscious consumer is more likely to respond to marketing if it is in their style, their dialect! Online video makes that happen, at least for some brands. There was truth to the Old Broadcast model: "the best original content that speaks to the masses of our body politick will attract the most viewers, and the viewers it attracts we can sell these products to".
The trick is to take that core message, and make it small. Very small. Make it funny, risky, safe, silly, serious, sad, or something else. But create for the "mices" (My made up word of the day- means "small masses"), and you will create memorable, actionable work. Just make it good ladies and gentlemen. Or make it bad... some of the best content is TERRIBLE... but more importantly, make it honest.

Until next time,

Buzz Titan a/k/a Rory Mitchell Foster
www.thegiantdetectives.com