I can’t help but think that New Media platforms sprouted forth in abundance from the internet like pretty weeds just in time to fill up the waning garden of gifting.
What does that mean, you ask? Silicon Valley has become the new source of funding the fun!
For 100 years Radio, TV and Print companies did the whole shuck and jive, well past the point of having to prove their was inherent value in their platform. It followed though, that relationship building measures like meals, tickets and Holiday parties were just part of the gig. Much of the business is done on a hand shake and so you’d better know the people you’re dealing with.
Then, the world almost ended in 2009 and everyone tightened their belts forever. Simultaneously, from the ashes rose the Digital banana heads. Ad Tech, Social Media, SEO, Inbound Marketing, Web Design, Content Marketing, Email Marketing and every company, power point presentation, meeting and article that came along with it, made for an exciting time in the business (or horrifying if you were on the floor during the digital stamped). Literally an entire industry, materialized out of thin air.
If you read books like “Disrupted: My Misadventure in the Start-Up Bubble”, Ad Tech companies were often investment vehicles that suck up investor capital like vacuums and burn it like fuel to rocket themselves to an IPO. Most don’t make it, but the $ is free, so the Bashes are Bangin’ !
The latest one about to cash in on its IPO is Snapchat. But with a $25 Billion valuation comes a smidge of pressure to prove your worth as an advertising vehicle. So, time to bust out the Grey Goose and Prime Cuts… it’s party time! At the CES Trade show in Vegas, Snap Inc. “hosted a swanky dinner party at the Wynn Resorts’ Fairway Villa to schmooze senior executives from Pepsi Co, Nestle, Omnicom and Refinery29” according to WSJ. At $2500 a night, why not hear what they have to say about a picture book app??! It’s also a bit of a suck up; in a typical digital breech of etiquette, Snapchat first tried to go to clients direct, “leaving some agency executives feeling sidelined”, also according to the WSJ article. In the meantime, Snapchat is seeking double the amount of ad commitments from last year by asking WPP, Omnicom, Publicis and Interpublic for $200 Million more EACH in 2017. It’s not greedy. It’s desperate. They hired a Viacom executive with deep ties to Madison Ave in order to steel TV $. They’re asking for multiyear commitments, offering discounts on pricing, help with producing ad content, and…wait for it ….. first looks at new products!
I understand that with over 2 Million apps, you have to wave your arms and jump up and down, but come off it man – the thing either works or it doesn’t. There are too many platforms that promise too much, and the only way to win favor is to win the popularity contest. But what they maybe don’t realize is there’s another half to the equation – the benefits can’t just be a good time, but have to bare fruit.
So, in summary: Digital has created and destroyed a lot of jobs, confused and impressed a lot of people, created a graveyard of startups and a few huge mega companies + with no manners. .. elbowed its way into an industry and along the way provided lots and lots of good times.
