In the early days of television, most output was live. The hours of broadcast were limited and so, for test purposes, a test card was commonly broadcast at other times. When a breakdown happened during a live broadcast, a standard recording would be used to fill-in. On the BBC, a film of a potter's wheel was often used for this purpose... (Wikipedia)
Whether you operate a web property or a digital signage network, its critical that you remove the word "FILLER" from your vocabulary. Producing engaging content and filling your screens are mutually exclusive. One is created to deliver value, whereas the other is a means to end.
If you're struggling to find the right content strategy for your network, or if pages of your website and quadrants of your screen are blank, don't just FILL them in for the sake of moving forward. In doing so, you're only moving backward.
Don't insert a news ticker or weather map into your content frame because you can't think of anything else to put there. Move beyond the lowest common denominator.
Even a potter tires of watching a potter's wheel.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Why to Fear the Potter's Wheel
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4 comments:
I know of at least two DS software platforms that have the term "filler" hard-coded in their scheduling platforms, filler being the term for the stuff between ads
Indeed this is a serious problem. The success of a network depends on attracting and retaining the customers' attention. If content is un-inspired or predictable and/or purely advertising, then they tune out. When this happens, the advertising fails and eventually this revenue stream dries up.
We encourage operators to use a balance of 'programmes' and advertising.
No one would listen to a Radio or watch a TV station that was 100% ads. Just as TV programmes need short ad breaks to fund the programmes, screen-based media need short ‘content-breaks’ to make the advertising digestible. All successful ad-supported media (Radio, TV & Press) result from a healthy balance between editorial and advertising.
We offer high quality video content packaged as short clips, from 20 seconds to 1 minute, adjusted to the length of the ad spots, which can be dropped straight into any play-list.
Whether such content comes from us or from other suppliers, it is essential for the health of this media that screen content is engaging, entertaining and informative.
Dave,
It's amazing, and really not so hard to believe, that DS companies include the word "filler" in their marketing materials. This is a great example of how a myopic view of digital signage as a complete media property plagues the industry as a whole.
Russ,
Your words echo the truth. People often fail to realize the critical role content plays in building an ad-supported medium. Without content stickiness, eyeballs mean nothing, no matter how many you may claim to garner.
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