Tuesday night, a diverse group of attendees came together at Vancouver’s Workspace to talk about Good Ideas in Media. The event is part of PSFK’s Good Idea Salon Series and marks the first event of it’s kind to be hosted outside of New York or London.
Brett McFarlen moderated a panel of speakers that included Grace Carter of Invoke Media, Steve Pratt of CBC’s Radio 3 and Rob Newell of DDB Canada. The three combined to provide perspective on the change happening in the media space for the point of view of a Media Owner, Media Buyer and Media Creator.
The discussion was well moderated, full of insights and wonderful quotes that I quickly “hunt and pecked” into my iPhone.
Good Idea Salon Vancouver: Great Thoughts
Who’s Doing New Media Well
The panel was asked to identify some companies of publishers that are harnessing the change that the internet has brought to the media landscape.
Rob Newell of DDB Canada mentioned Vice Mag, Monocle and Good as publishers that have pushed beyond a traditional business model. He went on to say “If you’re defined by your delivery channel you’re in trouble”. Agreed!
Closing the Gap Between Advertisers and Publishers
The topic of how advertising fits into new media brought forth some great examples.Steve Pratt mentioned Seth MacFarlane’s Cavalcade of Comedy a series of YouTube animated shorts created by Seth MacFarlen (Family Guy creator) and sponsored by Burger King.
The videos have millions of views and show the power of new distribution channels mixed with traditional internet advertising based promotion. An animated pre-roll advertisement that looks like it’s part of the video provides a traditional-esque branding opportunity for Burger King and leaves the viewer feeling that the ad was unobtrusive and funny.
Pratt noted that he believes there will be an increase in this sort of branded entertainment, saying the he “felt grateful that [Burger King] helped bring worth while content to viewers. His thoughts echoed the panel’s suggestion that advertisers must bring value to the consumer, not just create a perception of value.
Cavalcade of Comedy
As a side note, my company, Giant Ant Media, has been working in this space for the past year. Check out the latest from the Men’s Anonymous Series
Worries in New Media
Tuesday marked the last edition of the Seattle P.I newspaper, as the company shifts focus from hard copy to a digital format. Grace Carter brought up the concern over the diminishing role that traditional papers are playing in holding government and corporations accountable for their actions. Her worry stems from the broad concern that online media outlets such as the Huffington Post “reinforce rather than challenge ones opinion”
While I agree that the Huffington Post isn’t the most objective of blogs, the webs iterative process seems to keep them honest, at least to a degree.
Conclusion
Well that turned out to be more rambling than I was expecting. The event was well attended and informative, leaving me looking forward to the next one that rumored to focus on Good Ideas in Storytelling. I’ll let you know when it’s scheduled.
Kudo’s to Matt Neslon and Brett McFarlen for bringing the event to Vancouver