Comments on: Spot Runner: Modularity in Television Advertising http://www.blackchai.com/2007/07/19/spot-runner-modularity-in-television-advertising/ Life defunked over a cup of tea Thu, 28 Aug 2008 01:40:08 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: Dimple http://www.blackchai.com/2007/07/19/spot-runner-modularity-in-television-advertising/#comment-31 Dimple Sat, 08 Mar 2008 18:11:58 +0000 http://www.blackchai.com/2007/07/19/spot-runner-modularity-in-television-advertising/#comment-31 Jon, I am not sure if I completely agree with your comment about TV advertising not working for the small business. I think TV advertising is being used although not effectively by small business primarily due to low budgets. But that does not mean that low budgets should equate to bad quality. Ever watched your local cable and shuddered at the sight of a local dealership ad? I know I have. I think Spot Runner has found that niche and while monetization is still a question to think about, small business who leverage TV could use Spot Runner's quality and sophisticated tools to create affordable ads that you and I can enjoy. I think the concept has potential. What happens to it is yet to be seen. Jon,

I am not sure if I completely agree with your comment about TV advertising not working for the small business. I think TV advertising is being used although not effectively by small business primarily due to low budgets. But that does not mean that low budgets should equate to bad quality. Ever watched your local cable and shuddered at the sight of a local dealership ad? I know I have. I think Spot Runner has found that niche and while monetization is still a question to think about, small business who leverage TV could use Spot Runner’s quality and sophisticated tools to create affordable ads that you and I can enjoy. I think the concept has potential. What happens to it is yet to be seen.

]]> By: Jon Montgommery http://www.blackchai.com/2007/07/19/spot-runner-modularity-in-television-advertising/#comment-26 Jon Montgommery Tue, 19 Feb 2008 00:55:39 +0000 http://www.blackchai.com/2007/07/19/spot-runner-modularity-in-television-advertising/#comment-26 Spot Runner has a unique offering to potential customers, but it is something that just does not work very well. There are not enough "one-timers" to keep Spot Runner afloat under its own power because, frankly, TV advertising does not work for the many small businesses that Spot Runner appears to target. Spot Runner can only make a small bit of money from large national companies who have local reps that want to boost their ego with a 30-second TV commercial. For example, Real Estate Agents. This type of business means that Spot Runner can only earn a small markup from buying a 30 second spot from the local TV networks and then reselling it to a customer. Furthermore, there are only just so many 30-second spots out there...and therefore there is a glass ceiling to the amount of profit that Spot Runner can earn in the US. With dozens of millions of dollars that investment firms are pumping in Spot Runner, they can only hope that enough buzz will be generated about this unique business model and that a larger company like Yahoo or Google will buy them up. Just look at LinkedIn and you'll see so many ex-Yahoo/Overture people working at Spot Runner. These people left presumably to start something new and oh, yeah, probably chase lucrative stock options. Unfortunately for them, by the time their options mature in 2010 they will be able to cash them out and buy a week's worth of Venti Lattes at Starbucks. The thing is that we haven't heard much, if anything about customer success stories. There probably are not any. No small business owner is going to grown their business and hit critical mass because of a $3000 TV media campaign. Most small businesses don't have that kind of loose change to spend anyhow on something that is untrackable. After all, how can a small business owner monetize how much new or additional business was generated through a TV commercial? Answer: He cannot. Our prediction: See Spot die. Spot Runner has a unique offering to potential customers, but it is something that just does not work very well. There are not enough “one-timers” to keep Spot Runner afloat under its own power because, frankly, TV advertising does not work for the many small businesses that Spot Runner appears to target.

Spot Runner can only make a small bit of money from large national companies who have local reps that want to boost their ego with a 30-second TV commercial. For example, Real Estate Agents. This type of business means that Spot Runner can only earn a small markup from buying a 30 second spot from the local TV networks and then reselling it to a customer. Furthermore, there are only just so many 30-second spots out there…and therefore there is a glass ceiling to the amount of profit that Spot Runner can earn in the US.

With dozens of millions of dollars that investment firms are pumping in Spot Runner, they can only hope that enough buzz will be generated about this unique business model and that a larger company like Yahoo or Google will buy them up. Just look at LinkedIn and you’ll see so many ex-Yahoo/Overture people working at Spot Runner. These people left presumably to start something new and oh, yeah, probably chase lucrative stock options. Unfortunately for them, by the time their options mature in 2010 they will be able to cash them out and buy a week’s worth of Venti Lattes at Starbucks.

The thing is that we haven’t heard much, if anything about customer success stories. There probably are not any. No small business owner is going to grown their business and hit critical mass because of a $3000 TV media campaign. Most small businesses don’t have that kind of loose change to spend anyhow on something that is untrackable. After all, how can a small business owner monetize how much new or additional business was generated through a TV commercial? Answer: He cannot.

Our prediction: See Spot die.

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