Crazy Media

I used to be heavily involved in Media and everything that evolved around it. I mean, the Digital TV Transition was all I ever heard about, but now it's 2 days away and if it weren't for those annoying TV commercials I wouldn't know a thing about it.

Don't get me wrong, I still read the media blogs and constantly read up on digital and innovative media, that's part of my job and I enjoy it. But Upfront Buys, Radio Stations, Print Buys, etc. pretty much a thing of the past for me other than what the general public knows or cares about it. I may still dabble in them now and then, but not keeping too current on the trends.

I received this link to the following YouTube video spoofing Media and that Media has died. It is a response to the Wall Street Meltdown Video. The video is funny and the whole "bye bye Big Upfront Buys" may be true, but media has not died. There have just been some shifts.

Consumers are more picky and more likely to shop around. With the Internet at our fingertips, price shopping no longer consists of driving to the store and figuring who has the best deal. Get a product in consumers hands before they shop, priceless. Or, like SparkPeople, receive testimonials from users which are even more priceless. Word of Mouth marketing is the best form of advertising for any product or company.

Digital spend has been consistently increasing since 2002. According to emarketer, Q1 2009 is the first time in over 7 years that digital has not seen year of year (YAY) growth, can't say that about every form of media. The economy is hurting marketing budgets everywhere, so even digital has to take a hit sometimes. But that doesn't mean media is dead.

I know we all hate TV commercials, Radio commercial and sometimes get annoyed by all the ads thrown at us. But without them it would be hard to know the brands and know the deals. Plus without media, who would have ever know about the Snuggy?