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Disney plans to launch a half-hour TV program based entirely on its branded mobile service, in order to let parents know about the variety of features the service offers, on ABC Family sometime before November.
The show, or “storymercial,” will incorporate viewer-suggested storylines about the phone service, highlighting the features that could help families keep track of their minutes - and keep track of each other, writes Brandweek. Footage from the show will also end up in other media such as online, on DVDs and on television commercials.
The long form - or infomercial - is coming back into vogue thanks to a couple of factors such as the rise of video sites such as YouTube and the availability of inexpensive bandwidth (which makes it possible to reuse and recycle content). And because retailers are facing mounting pressure to “start selling from day one,” long form advertising is necessary to build online and offline buzz for complex products such as the Disney Mobile service, before they hit the shelves, says Dave Merton, vp for Meteor and consultant to manufacturers.
However, long form can be disastrous if it is simply a 30-second spot stretched to last a longer time. Rather, it must be exclusive, brand correct content that makes for great watching, says Doug Garnett, president of Atomic Direct and creator of the successful Drill Doctor long form campaign.
CBS Radio and Yahoo, two of the largest online radio providers, are combining their online radio stations, beginning early next year.
CBS Radio’s 150 stations and LaunchCast’s 150 online stations will be integrated into Yahoo’s music site, powered by CBS…
Cox Enterprises, Inc. announced today that the company is bringing together its three media units - Cox Newspapers, Cox Television and Cox Radio - under a new organization named Cox Media Group, Inc., effective January 2009. The subsidiary will be headquartered…
Target is one of the first brands to create an iPhone application. The Target “gift globe” allows iPhone users to shake their phones to launch a snow-fall effect.
When the snow clears, a gift idea from Target is revealed. Users…
ABC is set to launch a slew of new series in a midseason shuffle. Primetime: What Would You Do? returns Tuesday, Jan. 9, in the 10pm time slot. The show is a hidden camera experiment in which actors stage scenarios…
Only 28% of the audience of an average news program, website or magazine gets valuable information about products and services advertised there, making news venues less effective at conveying ad messages than all forms of media combined (see chart), according…
Effective immediately, any telemarketing call that delivers a prerecorded message must include a quick and easy way to opt-out of receiving future calls. The opt-out must work both for consumers who answer these calls in person and for those whose…
