Advertising, Marketing,advertising,marketing, While it is the next evolutionary step in communications arts, multimedia is on a collision course with economic reality and the first casualties are likely to be the profits developers and producers like you have struggled months, even years, to achieve. To be a commercially viable industry, advertiser support is an eventuality. But advertising, as we've been inured to it, won't hack it in a digital, on demand, world. Sequential, purely linear structures – the only frames of reference most advertising directors and product managers understand today – are the very things conspiring to consign a multimedia production to the ranks of mediocrity. If a subject is better presented linearly, why not just use video? On the other hand, there are aspects of interactive multimedia that open up fascinating opportunities for marketers large and small to connect with individuals in ways they couldn't imagine before. Advertising – or more accurately, thoughtfully integrated sponsorship opportunities – can be a godsend if you're in this to make money. And you must be if you're reading this. In this two-part series, I offer an up-to-date snapshot of where advertising stands today in new media. Is it right for your project? How can you, the developer, find opportunities to offset some of the costs and risks of development?
Advertising: Why add it to your success equation?
Part 1 - The money just might be your life line. Parallels with television's early years Interactive media doesn't lend itself to one-size-fits-all advertising TV vs. multimedia: a lesson in comparative economics Why people aren't consuming more interactive content The three main benefits to letting advertisers buy in to a multimedia title Learning to think like a niche publisher, serving special interests Making the advertising connection User reactions to advertising/sponsored content Download Part 1 in Acrobat PDF format (64K) Note: If you have a problem viewing the file after the download, save the file to your hard drive and reopen it in Acrobat Reader to view it. On a Macintosh, save the file as "source" rather than as "text."	Part 2 - Making it work for you Behavior driven target markets and why they have such appeal to marketers. Gauging the advertiser-friendliness of your content How does the user stand to gain in all of this? Grooming the content to make room for sponsorship opportunities Identifying potential advertisers Different kinds of placements An online success story: Hot Wired Hybrid CD-ROMs promise the best multimedia experience with the timeliness of the World Wide Web. Early movers are doing this for learning Pricing of interactive advertsing opportunities Many measurement issues remain unresolved Download Part 2 in Acrobat PDF format (64K) Note: If you have a problem viewing the file after the download, save the file to your hard drive and reopen it in Acrobat Reader to view it. On a Macintosh, save the file as "source" rather than as "text."
Copyright 1996 Roger H. Silverberg All Rights Reserved