I’ve begun attracting some attention to my blog, so allow me to take a step back. The purpose of this blog is to change the status quo of the ad economy where the norm is that consumers provide $300 billion worth of time, attention and loyalty, receive none of the money, and advertisers wonder why people don’t like and pay attention to them. We can shift control of the ad economy to consumers by simply aggregating ourselves. It’s a concept which many at first scoff at. It seems crazy and far-fetched. So let me start by throwing out a few thoughts to ponder. Think about what we accept as normal. Sit with something long enough, and the status quo seems sane no matter how crazy.
1) Advertisers spend $300 billion annually buying consumers’ loyalty. The media properties (Lost, People Magazine, etc) receive all the money spent on us, and also most of the loyalty that advertisers are trying to buy. What role do they play to get the bulk of the value? They aggregate us. That’s it.
2) When a media company needs to build an audience, they share some of their ad revenue with competitors. Every bus has an ad for what’s on TV tonight. One media company spending with a competing media company. One media company helping another media company build an audience from their audience. It’s like going to McDonald’s and seeing an ad for a juicy Whopper.
3) Media and information are not the free compensation for the time we share. Cable bills, magazine subscriptions, internet access, movie tix. Consumers not only provide for free all that advertisers are buying, we are paying for it.
4) Regarding personal information concerns, is the thought of Pepsi knowing I’m a Coke drinker really that troubling to people? Or is it simply that our personal information is slightly more valuable to us than what we currently receive…nothing (but intrusions). If the hundreds of dollars spent trying to know who you are went to you, instead of companies who know who you are, would there still be a concern?
5) Consumers are very valuable to advertisers. But consumers don’t like advertising. So the market has created ways that consumers can pay money to hide. DVRs, satellite radio, ad blocking software. Is the best solution to enable consumers to become less valuable and charge them the difference? I suggest instead that we match consumers’ enormous supply of time and attention with advertisers’ enormous demand for our time and attention.
6) If I told you that over the course of your life, someone would be selling something that belonged to you to the tune of over $100,000, what would you do? OK…I’m telling you.
Just a few thoughts to consider as you kick off your weekend. I’ve added a “Raise Your Hand” sign up and I hope you will tell me you’re intrigued. I also hope you will share this with friends and post your comments on my threads. I’ll be Twittering and building a Facebook group soon, so feel free to follow “ourseat”. Let’s change the status quo!
2 comments ↓
Right on! We did exactly this at MyPoints (still in business), and others at places such as CyberGold. Compensate me as a consumer, and not only will I pay attention, but also follow your incentives!
Thanks Rich. MyPoints is a great model, but it’s a little different than what I’m thinking about. MyPoints, CyberGold, and others all require an effort from consumers. For consumers to be compensated, they have to visit/click/buy/etc.
I believe consumers can be paid regardless of whether we take action and respond to an ad.
Advertisers give money to media companies without any requirement of consumer response. My plan is to give the advertising dollars to consumers without any requirement of consumer response.
My plan is not about incentivizing consumers to respond to advertising. It’s about compensating consumers for the role we all play in the ad economy.
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