Madison & Vine by Scott Donaton
This title shows how advertising and entertainment are forging valuable new partnerships without alienating the customers they're trying to attract. New digital technologies, from the Internet to digital music devices and video recorders, have all but transferred control from content provider to consumer. "Madison & Vine" tells the inside story of this new archetype, exploring the revolutionary changes sweeping today's media and revealing what advertisers and providers must do to embrace them.Taking an in-depth and masterful look at the technological and sociological changes that severely threaten today's business models for advertising and entertainment alike, "Madison & Vine" defines the current challenges, then details a proven model for effectively straddling the line between content and commerce, entertainer and advertiser; provides six simple yet profound rules for creating compelling content while still managing to meet the needs of both content creators and consumers; and, examines case studies of how top advertising agencies, studios, and manufacturers are regaining their holds on the hearts and wallets of today's consumers. Business is never easy. Blindly ignoring reality, however, can make it virtually impossible."Madison & Vine" takes a behind-the-scenes look at how new consumer-friendly technologies and attitudes have changed the reality of today's entertainment and advertising industries, and what must be done to get on board this fast-moving, one-way train before the final boarding call is sounded. On "American Idol", judges sip from Coca-Cola emblazoned cups while contestants await results on a Coca-Cola-red couch in the glow of a Coca-Cola vending machine. Miramax asks automakers to pay $35 million for the right to be the hero's car, even though the film's script has yet to be written.Headliners from Celine Dion to the Rolling Stones routinely sell tour sponsorships to multinational conglomerates, suffering little if any backlash from media-savvy fans. The once-clear line between commerce and creative has become increasingly blurred. Mass marketers faced with fast-changing technologies and attitudes are being forced to abandon their staid, comfortable push model in favour of a consumer-controlled pull model, in effect moving from intrusion to invitation. And while nobody can predict precisely where this new dynamic is headed, there is little question that it has profoundly and irrevocably transformed the ways in which the glamorous, high-profile entertainment and advertising industries will reach and impact their markets, both today and in the not-too-distant future. "Madison & Vine" provides a front-row seat to this unfolding story. Written by "Advertising Age" editor Scott Donaton, who has played a central role in understanding and facilitating the new intersection between content and commerce, this valuable book explains what is happening and why. High-profile professionals from every corner and faction detail their successes and failures at reviving long-fractured pathways to the hearts and minds of today's consumer. More importantly, "Madison & Vine" sounds a call to those who fail to recognize what is happening around them. It explains how empowering technologies have transferred control from content creators and distributors to end users, and why collaboration must replace competition if all are to survive and flourish. The time is now. "Madison & Vine" shows how to take full advantage of the amazing technological era in which we live, and gives you the knowledge to ride the convergence of entertainment and advertising to new levels of success and prosperity.