The Tragedy of the Captive Audience

Investors and advertisers love networks that have captive audiences.  They love that fuel dispenser toppers catch people when they are tethered to a gas station with an 8 foot hose.  They love that people waiting for a movie to start in a cinema have to watch something when the lights are down and their cell phones are put away.  The captive audience that can’t escape the message you are trying to deliver.

But, think about it from the user’s perspective.  Who wants to be captive? “I want to be a captive audience,” said no one ever. 

People want to be captivated, not captive.  It’s a higher calling that we should all strive for.

The Audience Business

“We must shift from an asset business to an audience business.” – AdNews, November 2nd, 2015

Advertising networks, like those with ad spots or billboard locations to sell, have long been an inventory business.  More inventory (thus, the invention of the 22 minute TV show) and higher value inventory (ie, Times Square billboard) has been the recipe for growth.  But in today’s multi-channel world with mobile and multi-tasking consumers, it may be less about inventory than it is about audiences.  They may be able to quantify how many people walk through Picadilly Circus each day or would pump gas at a particular gas station during a particular month, but those aren’t audiences.  Those are statistics.