Yesterday I talked about platforms and how agencies need to be on top of these platforms. Yahoo is throwing yet another platform in our face, Yahoo widgets will now be on your TV. People have tried to combine the Internet and TV in the past but to no avail. This time I’m going to call it, and say this is the way it needs to be done. Some people see this as Yahoo’s ticket to get out of the boring hole they have dug themselves into.
Your thinking “Yay! Stocks and Weather on my TV, big deal.” Well after you get past that and open your eyes, you need to realize the huge opportunity here you have now. You have a way to get at your customers on their TV even better then you could before. Commercials get Tivoed away or people leave the room. Now people will be inviting you to their television set and letting you entertain them. BE PREPARED. Companies are just now getting their act together with IPhone Apps, who knows how long it will take the Dinosaurs to figure out this Yahoo Widget thing. Agencies need to start planning now, do not wait for someone else to do it and see if it works.
For example lets take a channel like Bravo and their hit show ‘Top Chef.’ Top Chef is sponsored by GE Kitchen appliances. You could create a widget for GE that allows users to see the chefs recipe live while they are watching the show and then they can email that recipe to themselves or send a grocery list to their phone of what they will need. That is a quick and somewhat obvious example of what could be done. Take it further, make the people come to you, and please give them something in return.
-Dayberry
