Working as a consultant in the advertising industry means you need to keep your eyes open for new succesfull ways to promote a brand. That’s the reason why a client hires you and you need to help him to makes choices. The latest hype was, or is? Narrowcasting. This is a network of tv screens on places where people come. Like in the MacDonalds. You can watch videoclips, that’s nothing new, but then, tatatarataaaa, you see a commercial of McDonalds! Yeeeh, that’s clever, you are already eating a Big Mac and you see another commercial about a hamburger. Or a salade. The Narrowcasting agencies can now measure how many times a commercial has been seen and how big the audience is. It’s tv advertising on the spot, right where the prospect is. Sounds clever, but is not. Also supermarkets and even bars are infected with the Narrowcasting virus. Imagine you are in a hurry, and then they really think you have the time to watch television in a supermarket. No way, they can hang the screens at the meat department, but all you want is meat. No commercials, I really don’t believe you will watch tv. I’ve even seen tv-screens hanging at the counter where people are standing in line. An even dumber place, because if you see something you like, you will not leave the cue to buy it. So to make my point, narrowcasting is not going to make it. It’s a package-deal of the industry between media-agencies and the audiovisual industry. Sony/Samsung/LG etc. will sell lots of extra screens, special narrowcasting companies will take away money from traditional advertising (what’s wrong with a door to door flyer?) and everybody is happy. But after one year, maybe two, the screens will be eating dust or showing MTV. A hype that is doomed to fail. A better hype is web-television; let’s talk about that the next time.
