TV vs. Social Media: Concerts vs. Street Performances?
by Ian Schafer on January 18, 2012
NYC's Naked Cowboy
Unfinished thought:
Television advertising is a concert. Every TV spot is a performance seen synchronously by thousands or millions at a time. Marketers love putting on that show. Each and every time. It’s sexy. People remember it. But they leave.
Marketing within social media is street performance. Street performers perform for the same number of people as concerts do. It’s just asynchronous: they reach thousands or millions, too, but not at the same time. It’s not as sexy for an advertiser, nor does it have as much immediate impact on those large numbers of people, in aggregate. But people interact with those performers over time. They gather in crowds. The performers gradually learn how to work within and make the most of their environments. The crowds take pictures. Stories are shared. The performers become fixtures. They get discovered. It’s serendipitous, and it can be wonderful. And when you’re really committed, they become legend. Naked Cowboy-style.
Both deserve a proper (significant) investment. But I’d rather have the stuff of legend (legends are stories that grow), than the one-off memory that fades. If you can make them work together, you have a media empire, and can tell the story of how it was the people, your audience, your customers that made it all possible — versus just your ad spend.
About the author
Ian Schafer, CEO and Founder of Deep Focus (a part of Engine USA), is one of advertising’s most influential voices in interactive marketing and social media. Prior to founding Deep Focus in 2002, Ian was Vice President of the New Media division of Miramax Films.
Deep Focus is an award-winning engagement, social media and innovation agency boasting a client roster that includes brands such as AMC, Microsoft, Sony, Diageo, WellPoint, MoMA, and Nintendo. Deep Focus is a part of Engine USA.
Under Ian’s guidance, Deep Focus has been lauded for its expertise and excellence at using digital media, technology, creative, and communications strategies to create engaging, value-driven experiences that get people talking. The Emmy®-nominated firm has been responsible for many memorable, award-winning efforts over the years including 2009’s MadMenYourself.com, and has been the recipient of numerous distinctions, including several Webby Awards and a Cannes Gold Lion.
Named a ‘Media Maven’ by Advertising Age and one of Adweek’s “Young Ones”, Ian has been featured in Wired, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, Adweek, Advertising Age, USA Today, New York Magazine, Variety, CNN, Fortune and The Hollywood Reporter. Ian also sits on the executive board of the Social Media Advertising Consortium.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Great analogy! Extending your your thoughts in the last paragraph… I think Social TV experiences are positioned in a good way to enable what you are describing… they act as the bridge between the two worlds…