New Media Wizards
Welcome to the age of new media, where information is transmitted, digitally distributed and made interactive. Some think television as we know it is dying. Others say social networking sites are the new Gold Rush. Could all this hullabaloo lead to another Internet bubble, as some experts say? We interviewed several young titans in this male-dominated field -- graduates of LMU in the past eight years -- to get their take on new media today and what is coming down the road.
By Christelyn D. Karazin '99
Lindsey Breeden, CFA '01
The Triple Threat
Who said the days of cowboys and uncharted territories were over? The scene has shifted to the Internet and its potential to change the way companies do business. The evolution from paper and print to pixels and HTML has occurred so rapidly that companies accustomed to the old ways are often befuddled when navigating this new frontier. Enter Lindsey Breeden to show them the way.
Breeden, 28, founded Rein Media, a new media company that offers Web design and development, animation, video, print, branding, identity, copywriting services. His base is Torrance, Calif., but he has employees and subcontractors spanning the globe from Belgium to India.
Breeden is what you might call a triple threat. He uses a combination of creativity, business acumen and tech savvy to serve major companies, such as CB Richard Ellis, a global real estate services company, and Universal Studios. "We're kind of the wizard behind the curtain for their Web projects," says Breeden, who is helping with the company's print and Web-based "Change a Light, Change the World" campaign.
But Breeden also has a soft spot for his fellow LMU alums. He produced www.reidpriddy.com for his friend Reid Priddy, who won a gold medal with the U.S. Olympic volleyball team in Beijing in August. Developing Priddy's site was more than fun and games. It contains the kind of social networking technology that Breeden wants to harness to serve his business clients, too. (Social networking sites are interactive Web sites where people with similar interests or experiences stay in touch with one another.) "With the advent of social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook, users have an opportunity to express themselves in unique ways. Companies are no longer targeting a generalized group for their marketing campaigns," he says.
Looking ahead, Breeden says we should brace for a "fusion between the online world and your home living environment" -- the marriage of the Internet and television. "With the increase in video compression technologies and download speeds," he predicts, "DVDs and Blue Rays are going to be a thing of the past. All of your digital content will be delivered over the Internet directly to your media player or TV."
Lindsay Breeden is owner of Rein Media in Torrance, Calif.
Hung Nguyen, GradSFTV '07
Start The Buzz
Huge swaths of people are turning off TVs and clicking on computers to watch quirky, makeshift videos on sites like YouTube. There, anyone with a video camera can be a star seen by millions -- or even fodder for national news. Here's another big reason computers trump TV for some: You can skip all those commercials. With its social networks and blogs, the Internet has become a wholly interactive space, a great equalizer where everyone gets a voice and plays the critic. Therein lies the challenge for Madison Avenue-types who have relied on magazines, billboards and television commercials to build their brands. But with challenge comes opportunity.
"With the click of a mouse, a user can strengthen a brand name or seriously damage it," says Hung Nguyen, senior account executive for Feed Co., which "seeds" videos for advertisers. Nguyen, 26, and his colleagues advise Fortune 500 companies on how to penetrate the closely guarded, cliquish social networking space in a language that speaks directly to the audience. Advertising and creative companies produce a video, and then Feed evaluates it and makes editorial recommendations to maximize its potential online. Most clients yearn for views on YouTube, but a variety of other sites are targeted depending on the desired demographic. Feed "plants" the seed in hopes of reaping a big result. Of course, the goal is for the video to go "viral," or spread like a virus, which, in online terms, is a very good thing. "There's a lot of creativity and strategic thinking behind video seeding," Nguyen says.
All that creative thinking has brought Feed huge success in its 18 months of existence. Goodby, Silverstein & Partners hired the company to promote a video, "Bee-boy dance crew," a video that supported Haagen-Dazs' efforts to help save disappearing bees. The result was more than one million online views, to the delight of the ice-cream maker. Ray-Ban's video called "Guy Catches Glasses With Face," a homemade-looking video about two guys performing unbelievable tricks with a pair of sunglasses, snared 13 million views.
Persuading viewers to regard commercials as entertainment has an obvious lure for marketers who are hungry for an audience, but some of the old guard remain skeptical. "At the end of the day, [advertisers] don't know how this will move the needle on sales, and so they're apprehensive. At the same time, it is a huge opportunity to build brand awareness," says Nguyen.
So, is the death knell ringing for television? Well, let's not be hasty. "There will always be television. But there will be a convergence. Moving forward, it will be television/computer," Nguyen says.
Hung Nguyen is senior account executive at Feed Co., in Los Angeles.
Mathew Cullen, CFA '01
Maker of Worlds
Looking at Mathew Cullen's directing works -- like Hewlett-Packard's "Hands," Weezer's "Pork and Beans" video or spots for Tiger Woods' PGA Tour '09 video game -- is like seeing the world with bionic eyes after a fall into the proverbial rabbit hole. Cullen, 32, has made a business out of transforming the banal common commercial into an entertaining feast for the eyes.
"I want to see the reality we see everyday, just in a different way," says Cullen, who dubs his style "magical realism." His company, Motion Theory, which he co-founded with Javier Jimenez, employs some of the most creative minds in animation, film, art and graphic design. In just eight years in business, Cullen and his crew have become a formidable force in new media, competing with A-list directors and major animation companies to dissuade viewers from changing channels.
But packaging commercials as entertainment isn't new -- Super Bowl Sunday comes to mind. What's different is how the medium is changing into more of a TV/Internet hybrid, with the Internet quickly gaining traction as a solid mode for building brand awareness with the much-coveted 18Ð35 demographic. "The Internet has enabled individuals to be champions for brands they like and share them with their family and friends," says Cullen. But he claims the Internet is also a boon for entertainment companies that previously faced fierce competition and great expense in distributing creative content. "Now, it's free to upload something to the Internet and have the audience find it," he says.
The shift from reaching a broad audience that may or may not be interested in a company's product to turning individuals into channels for brands is an attractive one, and Cullen often works with companies to produce brand videos for YouTube in the hope that the videos will go viral. But does a viral video seen by millions in the virtual world translate into real green? That remains to be seen. Either way, Cullen has found his niche. "The bottom line with entertainment is that if it's good, people will watch it," he says.
Mathew Cullen is co-founder, with Javier Jimenez, of Motion Theory in Venice, Calif.
Aron R. Schuhmann, BCLA '06
See and Act
Go to any media industry blog today and you'll find multiple threads bemoaning the universal shrinkage of advertising dollars in traditional outlets, such as newspapers, magazines and even television. Although those sales are down, advertising online is on the upswing. In fact, Internet advertising has newspapers and magazines holding the presses -- some of them, permanently.
The rush to cyberspace has created a new media niche for Aron Schuhmann '06, an account executive for Hydra Network, an online ad network specializing exclusively in CPA (cost per action). The operative term -- "CPA" -- could be the key explanation for why traditional advertising dollars are shrinking. Unlike television commercials, where the viewers endure advertising as filler between their favorite shows, online ads allow the users total control. Schuhmann's company only gets paid when users take action on ads they see online, whereas Madison Avenue ad agemcoes get payments with or without measurable results. "Everything is traceable and measurable in real time online," says Schuhmann, who works with national companies and interest groups to formulate online campaigns.
What's also different about advertising in cyberspace is that a company can affect its bottom line almost immediately, Schuhmann claims. Top-shelf companies and interest groups have signed on with Hydra, including Comcast, Blockbuster Video, Dish Network, and the American Association of Retired Persons. All are getting measurable, almost instant results from their target audience.
Companies that advertise online get a direct connection with the person who wants to buy. This is achieved by meshing the message with the type of content the user enjoys. For instance, someone reading an article about the history of Harley-Davidson motorcycles just might be interested in a company that sells vintage bike helmets. While this isn't new, and television and magazines have been using this approach for decades, there is a marked distinction when transferring this method online: The user takes the initiative and makes a decision. Instead of being forced to watch an ad kicking and screaming, the viewer signs up voluntarily.
Does this mean the end of traditional advertising? Schuhmann predicts that print and broadcast advertising will continue to decline, but will never really become extinct. "The best campaign results I see are a combination of new media efforts and traditional modes of marketing. The Internet is still finding itself. We have our own strengths, but we also have our weaknesses," he says.
Aron R. Schuhmann is an account executive with Hydra Network in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Justin Biel, CBA '06
Do Good, Make Friends
Justin Biel, his actress sister, Jessica, and father, Jon, have embraced the social networking technology and given the whole thing a purpose. The site, Make The Difference Network (www.mtdn.com), is a conduit for charitable organizations and potential donors to connect. It's similar to Facebook and MySpace, but Biel is quick to make a key distinction. "It's very chaotic on MySpace, and there are a lot of advertisements. MTDN is very focused around causes, individuals and businesses that are really trying to do good things in the world and would like to work together to achieve common goals," he says.
The site works like this: Nonprofit organizations post profiles, and potential donors pick their favorite causes from a database sorted by subject. They click on the list to find a cause that fits, and presto -- they can send a donation as little as $1 via PayPal. Donors can track fundraising progress, see videos and hear audio updates about how their involvement is making a difference. They can also send messages directly to the charitable group and learn about volunteer opportunities.
Biel says MTDN isn't necessarily targeting large donors. That makes sense. Social networking in general draws a younger crowd with modest incomes. "For someone like me, who is 23 and doesn't have a ton of money, I can't give that $1,000 donation. But I can definitely give $20 that provides the materials for a kid in Africa to go to school for a year." Donors also are alerted to specific causes they may not be aware of, which is a boon for lesser-known groups: MTDN helps level the playing field so that small and large charities get more equal exposure.
Biel believes that if social networking isn't a prominent factor in the future of all charitable organizations, it very well should be. The Internet now plays a key role in raising awareness of charities, and he regularly advises organizations that don't have a Web site to get connected online. "Nonprofits have to have a strong Web presence or they're going to miss out on a lot of the giving and lots of opportunities to get their causes out to people," he says.
Justin Biel is an executive member of the Make The Difference Network team, with offices in Superior, Colo., and Marina del Rey, Calif.
Jordan Downey, SFTV '08
Small Screen Suspense
Jordan Downey wants to make you scream. Backed by the deep pockets of ABC/Disney's subsidiary Stage 9 Digita Media, he's set to direct and write "Red Weather," a modern-day serial thriller that would make Sir Alfred Hitchcock and Rod Serling proud. But you can bet old Alfred and Rod wouldn't have anticipated this twist -- the show's 13 scheduled horror episodes will be produced solely for the Internet and will be only two-to-five minutes long (www.stage9digital.com).
In the this era of gnat-size attention spans and droves of teenagers grazing online, the idea of a short horror flick appears on its face to be stellar. But the two very things that make it novel could also be potential drawbacks.
This first challenge is format. In a movie theatre endowed with a 20-foot screen and state-of-the-art speakers, a monster jumping out at the audience is startling. But put that same monster on a home computer monitor with iffy speakers and it will look about as scary as a fly. Downey sees the challenge. "We have to take into consideration that people will probably watch this on the smallest format. Somebody could even be watching this on his or her iPod," Downey says.
But what "Red Weather" may lack in conventional tricks of the trade Downey hopes to make up for with a tight story. "You have to go back to the basics of horror -- of what is scary. For the most part, you're scared when you care for characters. It's awfully tough to make [an audience] care for a character in four minutes," he says. That leads to the second potential pitfall: Just how will Downey create memorable characters and keep viewers from clicking off the page within five minutes or less?
"We're going to have to draw in viewers right away," he says. "Horror fans love to see blood and guts and carnage, and we'll give them plenty of that." Downey and his film crew plan to achieve these special effects from both wide-screen film and computer-generated images. But gore aside, his ultimate goal is to create a solid plot that hooks viewers from beginning to end. "If you're involved in the story and want to know what happens next, you're going to be involved. The way to go is through suspense."
So will teenagers forgo seeing "Friday the 13th: Part 80" in theatres in order to watch the latest happenings of the ill-fated characters on "Red Weather"? Tune in January 2009, if you think you can take it, when the first episode debuts.
Jordan Downey is writer and producer for Stage 9's "Red Weather."
Christelyn D. Karazin '99 is a freelance writer in Temecula, Calif. Her "Digital Learners: The Morphing of Education" appeared in Vistas (Summer 2008).