Director's Tips

Most major companies have a Twitter, Facebook or some kind of social network account. Major entertainment industry companies are no exception. MTV Networks is one of them.

MTV Networks is a division of Viacom and some of their networks include MTV, VH1, CMT, and Nickelodeon. But for MTV network in particular they have a major social media presence. Some of the reasoning behind this can be attributed to their young target audience and the greater ability to reach them through social media.  Their Facebook and Twitter page contains current updates about things on their network. These social media accounts, Facebook in particular allows for discussion boards and comments on various posts.

With more and more companies using social media it has morphed them into more customer friendly companies. With the ability for unhappy customers or viewers to freely air their frustrations, a lot more companies have become aware of that and try to correct their error if they can. For the viewer or customers it creates a sense of connection with the company that would not have happen without the use of social media.

For MTV their social media efforts have been successful. There is not much I would change about it. They add updated content on their pages regularly.  Most of it relates to upcoming programming. They could use individual’s comments from twitter and Facebook and use that to integrate more into their programming. I think doing exclusive contests through the social network platform would help increase their social network presence.

For all of the television fans this post will interest you. Today most scripted television shows have a storyline throughout the season called a story arc rather than a season of self-contained episodes. This could either keep viewers hooked throughout the season or make more viewers ready to give up on the show if they miss an episode. However, with the availability of many past episodes available online that may not be an issue either. Non-the less most shows use story arcs not just dramas like “Lost” but sitcoms like “Modern Family” as well. Just a few decades ago story arcs were used for soap opera shows. Story arcs also make syndication a bit tricky since the episodes would need to run in sequential order to make sense to a new viewer. There are shows that have story arcs as well as episodes that could be stand alone while barely grazing the arc, some might call those filler episodes. Shows with running storylines gives more dimension to the character and often involves a more darker and serious show.

In the last 20 years the world has seen technology change in ways unimagined prior.  Technology including the wide spread use of the Internet has altered almost every industry. This includes the entertainment industry, film and television to be specific. With this huge convergence to the digital realm comes the prevalence of digital marketing. More and more ads are being put on the Internet compared to print or television. Companies are also creating viral ad campaigns to attract new customers in different ways.  Most television shows not only show on air but online as well. Most of this has to do with people in society wanting things on demand. Now it is so easy to keep up with two different shows that air at the same time on different networks. Viewers have the option of recording them both on their DVR or watching them online at a later time. Movie trailers are now shown on the Internet.  Ads are very prevalent on web sites with a lot of traffic. Major business model for many websites is to make it free to the subscribers and charge for advertising. For statistics on online advertising visit: http://www.grabstats.com/statmain.asp?StatID=342. This shows that digital marketing is very heavily relied on for many companies especially those that are trying to reach a younger audience. In addition to pop ups, ads on the side of the page or ads during a video there is email spam. It is the digital version of mass mailing people. And just like those flyers people throw them away, in this case they delete them or put them in spam folders. Companies try to get patrons to sign up for an email news letter or something similar that way the individual receiving it is more likely to view it. Expanding even more into the digital marketing realm is the world of social networks that consist of the major ones like Facebook and Twitter. Not only do you have companies paying to advertise on those sites you also have them creating accounts and creating a fan base to interact with. Creating yet another layer of digital marketing.