Worlds of Technology and Entertainment Converge For Digital Hollywood
February 18, 2009
In March 2009, the "Who's Who" of the technology, entertainment, publishing and advertising worlds will meet in New York City for the Digital Hollywood media summit to discuss how technology and entertainment converge in the realm of social media and entertainment marketing.
Unless you've been living in isolation, it's clear that the use of traditional media is on its way out as new forms of interactivity take to the stage. Broadcasters (including traditional media outlets), advertising agencies and entertainment conglomerates are faced with new business models that change the way people create and distribute information. How to take that information and make money off of it remains the question of the day for the heads of these organizations.
In the "old days", people used to sit around campfires or the family dinner table to share their stories. Today, we're able to form online communities in an instant and information is disseminated at the touch of a button. What's missing is a solid understanding of how online communities really work. To figure it out, we have to look at "old" technology (to find out what makes people tick), as well as new" technology to figure out what it is about technology that engages people and encourages them to do things online.
The Media Summit will cover such topics as "The Changing Face of Media", "Transforming and Redefining the Relationship Between The Consumer, Advertising and Media Platforms", and delve into the "Future of Entertainment and Communications."
All this is great and it's nice to get people talking...but to understand the relationship between people and media..isn't it worth taking time to go back to the basics?
The internet is a place to tell people who we are. Everyone is eager to tell their story, and technology has the capability of capturing and relaying the emotional components of our actions. To make a business decision, we have to FEEL that the product or service will be beneficial to us - and companies have to show us that we matter.
As long as companies focus on giving us flashy interactive experiences that don't tell us anything, we'll feel as if we don't matter and probably won't be eager to buy their product or service. So, to all the captains of industry converging in New York in March...it's perhaps not as complicated as it may sound. Give us a solid product (or service), make it relevent to our lives, and make it easy for us to find the information needed to buy your product or service.
What's missing is not an understanding of technology, it's an understanding of the people behind the technology. Remember to design human attributes into your interactive campaigns, and we'll buy into your idea. Find a way for us to relate our story to your own, and your Return on Investment will be a direct reflection of the Return on Interaction.