Its official, Firebrand is in Beta. Thanks to Greg V at Crayon for the invite to test and frolic in the new multi-platform (web, tv and mobile) application. I have spent the weekend playing and admiring the design of the application. I must admit I was very skeptical that the public at large would seek out ads. Sure, people in the advertising industry would jump
at the chance to watch a channel showing nothing but commercials. But
does the average person want to do the same?
I now can see that this app could have many uses. The app also lets advertisers give a call to action that will allow you to click though to redeem a special offer, which is not that different from Direct Response (DR) marketing on the web today. It could evolve to a powerful video platform that gives you instant gratification of a purchase. Tie awareness to DR and that is pretty powerful. At first glance It brought me back to my days at Organic in Chicago. Do you remember the days when AdCritic was not locked down and was a spring board for the first viral videos in 1.0? Firebrand is a great app for our community. This application has a great archive of some of Madison Avenue's best creative outputs.
Firebrand appears on TV every weeknight on the ION network. While I still hold a level of skepticism that consumers at large will seek out ads - I will hold my opinions until the initial ratings and traffic numbers are published. I also struggle with their brand positioning. Who are they talking to? The marketer? The vast set of consumers on the internet? (i.e. Gen Y) or investors that have poured money in to the company? How are they making money? Which audience is giving them the best bang for their buck?
Putting on my marketers hat I ponder what will be Firebrand's angle for the Super Bowl's gallery of ads that will appear in what equates to the advertising world's Oscars.
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