Tuesday Thought: Forcing Change

I hope everyone is having a beautiful start to the week!

This sponsorship area is empty. It doesn’t have to be.

Venmo me @danny-weisman. C’mon. It’s just 5 bucks (and 2 cents)!

Today’s newsletter has nothing to do with Aaron Rodgers.

I’m still in a state of shock.

But as I sort through that, let’s talk about change…

Tuesday Thought

Let me start by saying, I love my mother.

I truly, truly do.

She’s a great woman who has done a lot for me.

But man…I often don’t want to listen to a thing she tells me to do.

Maybe it’s a carryover instinct from childhood.

A way for me to assert my independence.

Or maybe I just know not listening to her, gets on her nerves.

And sometimes, I like getting a rise out of her.

Regardless, sometimes she’ll tell me to do something, and my reaction will be to do the opposite.

Especially if it’s something I don’t want to do.

Because that’s how it works when things are forced on you.

You kick, you scream, you go down swinging.

And that’s what it felt like having ESPN taken away from me last week.

I’m a Charter Spectrum subscriber. I know cable subscribers are a dying breed, but I didn’t realize how bad it was until I gave a talk at my agency last week.

I shared some info and insight into the Charter Spectrum / Disney squabble.

“By a show of hands,” I asked. “How many of you have Spectrum?”

We’re a NYC-based company, so I thought it’d be at least half.

I think it was three people including myself.

Asking the non hand-raisers at the bar happy hour after what they have instead, I got every answer but Spectrum.

Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, YouTube TV, nothing, etc. etc. etc.

So there I was, a Boomer masquerading as a 33 year old, still clutching onto cable.

I grew up on cable. I had a TV in my bedroom. When I couldn’t go to sleep at night, I’d watch endless reruns on Cartoon Network or Nick at Nite.

And for those who don’t know, I’m a huge sports fan. See: Aaron Rodgers.

So getting ESPN taken away from me felt like a violation.

Finally, I was considering cutting the ol’ chord.

I tried YouTube TV. Why?

Because brand size is the biggest driver of profitability.

YouTube is a bigger brand than Hulu, which is a bigger brand than fubo.

So I trust it more.

So I signed up. I heard great things from my friends, and the people at the bar, after all.

And you know what?

It fucking sucked.

The video was slow. It buffered a lot. I missed key parts of Coco Gauff’s match.

Sure, that’s because of my internet. But you know what doesn’t buffer?

Cable TV.

Most of all, I felt forced into the future. A future I wasn’t ready for.

A future I didn’t want, at least not yet.

I’m chill with TV.

Sure, it costs a lot. But so do these streaming services. And they offer less!

And this all just made me think about force in media and marketing.

We are constantly forcing people to do something.

To watch our ads. To provide their data. To agree to our terms.

But the most effective media is often skippable.

Take YouTube proper. They built a $30B on the back of skippable ads.

Same with Instagram. $34B, from ads you can flip or skip right by.

And podcasts. One of the most intimate, effective ad formats - yet completely skippable.

But when you’re forced to do something, you hate it.

You tune out more. You avoid it.

For the first time ever earlier this year, attention on CTV ads went down per TVision.

Why?

The rise of ad counters, those pesky countdowns in the top right corner.

With the 2 minutes they have, people don’t want to be stuck watching the ads they’re forced to on their screen, even in this new shiny medium.

They’d rather go to the bathroom instead.

So in your next media and marketing plan, or even as a company leader, think about what you’re forcing people to do.

Streamers can try and force people to watch ads for less money.

Companies can try and force people to come to the office.

Spectrum can try and force me to leave their service.

And you can try and force ads on all your customers.

But brands are kind of like moms.

I’d rather not do what they say sometimes.

Stay thinkin,

Danny