Q: Why didn't I watch the Oscars?
A: Because I didn't care.
But its not like I haven't cared before. The thing is I am watching less and less TV, and I didn't know any of the movies, and few of the actors. So I had no investment. But the real problem is not just that I didn't watch. It appears no one did. Anecdotally it was already clear by talking to my friends, none of whom watched this year.
But the Nielsens don't lie. The Oscars, from a viewership perspective, was a train wreck this year. What does this say about our media landscape and the power of iconic brands, when one of the most famous media properties gets no more audience than a good networks series?
I think what it really says is something quite significant about the value and role of brands in modern culture. The Oscar failure is is a reflection of the fact that we are inexorably headed towards a day when brands, as a concept, mean absolutely nothing. The fact that it was "The Oscars" had exactly no value to me. Instead of watching the Oscars, I went out and had a drink with a friend.
In the old school it used to be that if you had a lot of money, and built up brand recognition, that this was like money in the bank. But this just isn't true any more. The pace of the Internet, and the breadth of available communications channels turns a brand into nothing more than a token that contains an approximation of your business or product truth.
This year, the product truth for the Oscars was... who cares? The storied brand history meant nothing. I didn't believe they would entertain me this year, so I didn't watch. It seems I wasn't alone.
The bottom line is for any company or product, you are really creating or maintaining a collection of truths. If the truth is good, people will like you. If it is not, no matter how much money you spend, failure is inevitable.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
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6 comments:
Actually, I did watch Oscars this year. This reason for that was another brand that I got to like in the past 6 months - John Stewart who hosted the show this year.
Overall, I think the "Oscars" as a brand is still strong. However, this year there was no strong contender to root for. Most of the films competing for the top honors don't have true mass appeal (while being good films nevertheless). There was no conflict, no film or director to clearly cheer for (i.e. Lord Of the Rings or Gladiator).
There was not enough conflict in this story, I believe the Academy needs to use its best writing talent for the next year's show to create one and then market it properly through Hollywood's hype machine.
Then watch the viewers return.
But I think you are missing my point. In the past, brands were powerful unconditionally. Now the "brand" means nothing. People will only watch if they think that what is happening at *this* show will be interesting. That is not brand power because any show can pull an audience if the premise is compelling. That is not the power of the brand but effective marketing of this particular show. Big difference.
I don't really understand. The Oscar's viewership decline was tied directly to it being canceled and only being re-scheduled two weeks prior. And yet it still garnered a humongous audience.
The oscars, was definitely not cancelled at any point. There were fears about how they were going to
do the show without writers, but it was not cancelled. As far as ratings, the worst in I believe it was 39 years. See the Bloomberg story.
The ratings are the worst in 39 years. The lowest number of viewers since they have been keeping the statistics.
Note that the reasons given is because people were not that into the movies, which is the point the first commenter makes and the point I make.
My point is that the oscars used to be a homerun no matter what. Now the brand by itself will not bring viewers.
To me it looked like the Oscars suffered from the Writer's strike in that people just stopped watching TV. I usually, even if I don't watch the Oscars, know when it was going to be on - this year I had no clue. Seems like it could just as well be a hangover rather than brand destruction - only next year will we know - one data point is one data point, two, at least, you can start to think about a trend.
"My point is that the oscars used to be a homerun no matter what. Now the brand by itself will not bring viewers."
Therefore brands are dead. Brilliant reasoning!
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