|
Newsletters
|
|
|
|
|
Former Yahoo! VP of Direct Marketing, Seth Godin, thinks wireless ads will never work. Perhaps that’s why Yahoo! has shown no wireless initiative
A while back, before they decided to become a movie studio, Unstrung suggested that wireless held the key for a Yahoo! breakthrough — both in terms of new reach and new ad revenue. We also suggested that an MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) deal might make sense. Terry Semel hasn’t gotten back to us on this, but we’re still hoping to do lunch. We did, however, have an interesting conversation with Seth Godin, former head of Direct Marketing for Yahoo! and author of the best-selling book, The Idea Virus. His ideas may explain why Yahoo! has yet to set the world on fire in the wireless space.
Godin couldn’t be less gung-ho about wireless if he were an orthodontist. According the Godin, “wireless is a zero billion dollar business for content and advertising.” THWAP! Take that Gartner.
As he’s pointed out before, Godin firmly believes that people will pay for certain critical apps that are worth it (like membership in the Unstrung Insider. I know, it’s a shameless plug. I got the idea in Godin’s book.)
But the guru of direct marketing thinks, “People will not pay attention to ads in order to get free content. Tellme is a fine example. I ignore the ads and go to the menu. If they stop letting me do that, then I'm going to stop using Tellme, because it's not worth a minute of advertising just to save thirty seconds in finding a taxi.”
Mike McCue, are you listening? I would differ on the ad front. Mobile is a media device, just like radio, TV, and newspapers. And part of it will ultimately be ad-supported, especially as the devices (think Stick Networks) get richer and the networks more robust.
Godin counters, “The cost of an ad in a mobile advice is just too high. Either it's easy to ignore, in which case, it'll be worse than a banner, or it's hard to ignore, in which case it costs too much attention.”
Again, for Americans, there is little advertising that costs too much attention. Just ask any of the millions of brain dead consumers that think half hour television shows are not actually 22-minute television shows. The key is to create a similar kind of interactivity that the fancy colors and high production value give you on the screen. That’s what companies like Mobliss and Digital Bridges are doing by creating interactive ad games.
Godin offered one exception to his anti-wireless worldview: Vindigo. “If they did it right, they could sell super relevant ads to those that would benefit.”
Oh the horror. I don’t want to get into my Vindigo rant again. Just check the link. But in fact, wait until Monday, when we talk about a little company named after the green guy who followed Fred Flintstone around. Then the wireless economy shall be enlightened. Until then, we await Godin’s next book.
More from Josh Newman: The Wireless Trojan Horse
Josh Newman is editor of Unstrung and is remaining consistent with his strategy.
Are you an Insider? Sign up for Unstrung's Premium Report.
|
|
|
