Online Distance Learning Forum

Monday, August 15, 2005

Internet Marketing - Hardly a Lost Cause

The hit TV show Lost previewed here in the UK last week, and it was destined for me to become addicted. I only like to watch one TV show (I spend most of the rest of my evenings writing) and, as luck would have it, Lost began airing the night after the reruns of Sex and the City ended.

Lost is one of the growing numbers of TV series and movies that are gaining popularity - and momentum - through Internet marketing. As soon as the program aired in the US, Internet sites and forums began springing up to discuss the possible implications - and plot outcomes, of the program.

Channel 4, the UK TV channel that is airing Lost, has long since caught on to using Internet marketing to further their cause. One of their flagship programs - Big Brother, utilizes Internet marketing as part of their overall strategy to ensure virtually 24-hour media coverage of the event. In the case of Lost, the company responsible for the Donnie Darko website has produced a website for Channel 4 - www.channel4.com/lost. This offers viewers the chance to take part in interactive episodes and enter characters' dreams. Interaction with Lost characters will involve utilizing the Internet, email and even answer phone messages.

Internet marketing no longer has the dry, unpopular image of banners and pop-ups. For TV and filmmakers in particular, it can take fan support - and therefore advertising revenue to the next level.

Having watched the first three episodes of Lost in one night, I have to wait until next week for the next one. I might just go to the Lost website in the meantime, though - oh the joys of Internet marketing!

Posted by fran @ 8/15/2005 02:47:00 AM

Comments:

Sweet. I am amazed at how much stuff is showing up on the Internet and the new ways that it's being marketed. Could you imagine explaining Internet marketing to a marketing professional ten years ago?

What are some of the Internet marketing tools that "Lost" is using?

James

# posted by James Tolles : 4:31 PM

I'm glad you are as interested as me in Lost and Internet marketing James. Both of them are good indicators of where the future of TV, the Internet, and marketing is headed.

I think that the two producers of Lost very much have their fingers on the pulse of popular culture and its place in multimedia. They have created the kind of program that has yesterday's "nerds" (who are today's style guides) reaching for their keyboard.

However I don't think they could have anticipated the level of Internet interest in Lost. These days, it is pretty much marketing itself. Literally scores of websites and forums have been set up to discuss the implications of the program, which in turns ensures that it ranks highly in search engines - the key of Internet marketing.

The two man production and directorial team behind Lost know their market because they are part of that generation of smart, educated and computer and media savvy individuals that are driving creative media today. They understand the value of Internet marketing - chiefly well-crafted websites, forums and search engine ranking, because they speak that language.

However, you can put your product out there on the Internet, and you can throw money at marketing it, but it is the quality - and the elusive quality - of Lost that has made it such an winner in Internet marketing terms. The internet is driving future successes - and predicting future failures. Any marketing professional worth their salt needs to recognise that.

# posted by fran : 1:22 AM

I've seen a bunch of new shows coming out for the network tv channels. Threshold, Invasion, and Surface are supposed to be following in the footsteps of Lost. Are they doing lots of Internet Marketing too?

# posted by James : 9:20 AM

I think that CBS's Threshold, ABC's Invasion and NBC's Surface are all set to create a buzz using Internet Marketing. Whether their quality will match that of Lost is, of course, another matter.

The proof of the pudding will be in the viewing, but what they have in their favor, marketing-wise, is that they are all of the sci-fi/supernatural genre. While the image of the nerd and the geek has had a considerable makeover these last few years, it is sci-fi nerds and geeks that remain some of the biggest users of discussion forums.

Threshold has the added bonus of being the creation of Brannon Braga of Star Trek fame - even boasting Brent Spiner (Data) in its cast. The die-hard band of star wars fans, fresh from trying to rescue Enterprise from its dying throes, may well turn to this and the other two genre additions with vigor.

Successful Internet marketing is all about the buzz. All three of of these new series are starting to generate Internet interest, but they are not there yet. Based here in the UK, I will have to wait longer to see these new series. I will be watching the Internet, though, to see how their marketing pans out.

# posted by fran : 8:21 AM

Online Distance Learning Forum

Monday, August 15, 2005

Internet Marketing - Hardly a Lost Cause

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