Jenkins begins the second chapter using American Idol as an example of the evolving television lanscape. I do not personally watch American Idol, but I have been exposed to it enough to know that the following is still tremendous and has had a huge influence on many different commercial businesses. The success of American Idol was obviously beneficial for FOX, but directly for AT&T and Coca-Cola as well. If not for American Idol and Apple, I would imagine that AT&T would be a subsidiary of Verizon right now.
I found it very interesting to look at the numbers that American Idol has helped to generate. The increase in text messaging, the decline of major network viewers in the summer, and the sheer amount of people that are devoted to this show are all very impressive. It is also very impressive that FOX was able to produce these numbers with a show that is not that expensive to create. One area I did not agree with Jenkins in was the target audience group he mentions. American Idol goes much broader than the 12-24 age groups, and I believe the increase in text messaging is probably due to the older viewers that were not that familiar with cell phones to begin with.
The fact that this book was written when TiVo was in its beginner stages is fascinating because the prediction for this technology seems to be spot on. TiVo and DVR may have put many companies and networks into a state of panic on how to recover the revenue that advertisements generate, but it has also forced them to be more creative. I like the interactive type of advertising and making a consumer of your product feel connected to you. If the 80/20 rule holds true, then you should reward that 20 percent of your client base for keeping you in business. When I began my first position in management, my employers stressed the importance of the 80/20 rule and building a loyal customer base. I was also very limited by them in regards to our advertising budget. This forced the grassroots type marketing, such as creating a Facebook page and advertising on foursquare. Having people comment on our wall or fighting to be the "mayor" of our restaurant on foursquare helped generate more interest than any single marketing campaign that we ever did.
The middle sections of this text almost seem to be a melting pot of the different types of viewers and the intentions of the brands that are after them. The studies conducted on the different types of viewers were done to determine how the "inspirational consumer" could better reach its target audience. Some of these parts were self-explanatory. Of course the loyal viewer will pay closer attention to the show, including the advertisements. They will also be more influential than a casual viewer because they have more interest in the show and its outcome. I actually respect companies like Coca-Cola for altering their approach as television itself changes. By reaching a consumer emotionally, you are using your actual product as a springboard into other forms of revenue such as social websites and future variations of your flagship beverage.
Aside from Paul Walker, I believe Keanu Reeves to be the worst actor of all time. However, his robotic like speech and awkward reactions to everything were perfect for The Matrix, which is why I liked the films so much. I didn't ever get into any of the secondary information. I read the summaries right before the next film would come out, but I do like how the franchise as a whole capitalized on every type of medium that they could. It did indeed create a unique following. People critical of the film for the actual content are not appreciating it for what it is. It is a franchise, and it demonstrates collaborative authorship, world creating, synergistic storytelling, and collective intelligence.
I have not seen Blade Runner, but the concept of the "origami unicorn" is the same concept that Survivor seemed to use to generate the massive interest outside of the show. Throwing a curve-ball into a film can generate new interest, as well as rejuvenate people that missed it the first time. Additive comprehension and concepts like Dawson's Desktop are very interesting to me because one form of media can spiderweb into many different forms. This opens up opportunities for businesses to generate revenue as well. Just like AT&T and Coca-Cola integrating into American Idol, websites catering to a show or movie create an interactive environment that companies can use as an advertising platform. I enjoyed reading both chapters because of the adaptive nature of media. When one platform changes such as the way television is viewed, it causes a domino effect and other companies must also adapt to the change.
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