Firebrand Celebrates 30-Second Pop Culture

Almost midpoint between the decade of Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out and today, MTVwas born. Its success was inevitable, if only in retrospect. Programming three-minute videos, considered nothing more than promos for the music industry, initially made the nascent network a long shot. Who would watch such a thing? Indeed. Not only did the MTV arguably preside over the reinvention of the recording industry, it captured the teenage mindshare.

John A. Lack was not only one of that network's founders, but it was his voice that intoned "Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll," as the station roared to life in 1981. Lack is back as CEO of Firebrand, a tuning fork for another Zeitgeist. In an exclusive interview with JackMyers Media Business Report Lack maintains that Firebrand will not only thrive as a media property, but that it will revive advertising. A venture backed jointly by Microsoft, NBCU, and GE Capital's Peacock Equity Fund, Firebrand simultaneously opened for business just after Thanksgiving on www.firebrand.com, as mobile on demand, via iTunes as a free download, and weeknights at 11pm on the ION TV network. This multi-platform debut (a first) is integral to Firebrand's strategy, playing off the target demo: millennials.

Given that ad rates are based on ratings of a particular show, and that there's no "scripted" show to speak of, only other ads, what's the business model of Firebrand? Lack explains: "On TV we're just like any other network. We guarantee a rating and it’s a CPM against an audience. In our case a .2 or .3, our demos are 18 to 49 and 12 to 34, so we're looking at CPMs of anywhere between $7.50 and $10.00 for that audience. On the Web it's Clicks and page views. On mobile it's page views and downloads."

What's fascinating – and before now largely theoretical – is that Firebrand's one hour TV show validates that TV drives audiences to the Web. Reports Lack, "When FirebrandTV is on, our Web traffic spikes 300 percent. Now we're working on driving it backfrom Web to TV with exclusives, premieres, and promotions."

Jordan Rost, Firebrand's Chief Research & Strategy Officer, adds "the client who buys into TV is automatically put on live rotation not just that hour, but 24/7. We guarantee a TV advertiser six spots on the Web; buy two on TV, get twelve spots on the Web. There's not only the exposure and impressions, but every time the spot runs there's also a link enabling the viewer to act on the advertisement, be it a site referral, a promo, or any offer the brand chooses."

Firebrand certainly gets a bang for the buck in its one-hour television show. While an emerging TV network needs time to ramp up, its host, ION, is must-carry and brought Firebrand into 95 million homes from Day One.

At this point the Firebrand library of commercials is still growing. A mix of current and classic commercials (global as well as national) going back twenty years, it has a database of 1,500 spots; by year-end Lack expects the library to reach 5,000-6,000 commercials. Users spend an average of fifteen minutes on the Website, collectively viewing 70,000 commercials a day. With no promotion, the ability to create a custom playlist is really taking off. Users are increasingly downloading playlists of favorite commercials from the Website, to their mobile phones, PSPs, on any number of devices, and sharing them with their friends.

It might be anecdotal that AMC'sMad Men picked up a pair of Golden Globes, but there's something afoot with both the ironic product placement within NBC's 30 Rock, not to mention those AmEx ads. In a sense MTV was the seed for what John Seabrookhas termed Nobrow Culture. Michele Gondry is a case in point. The director of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind got his start directing music videos for Bjork which led him to direct commercials, including the critically acclaimed Levi's Drugstore ad. Only then did he morph into a film director. Firebrand is counting on the discriminating yet wide-ranging tastes of the viewing public – particularly those 12 to 24s that made MTV a success. Just like MTV's VJ's who became celebrities in their own right, Firebrand's hosts are "CJ's," commercial celebrities including Jay Klaitz, the Capitol One angel, and Ben Curtis, better known as the DellDude. Firebrand is gearing up to promote both high-profile sporting events such as the Super Bowl and "commissioning" celebrity playlists from the likes of Wes Anderson and (debuting the week of January 21^st) Quentin Tarantino.

Going full circle, Firebrand will soon air trailers to coincide with the release of New Line's Be Kind Rewind and playlists of its star Jack Black. Its director? Michele Gondry, himself not only the director of aforementioned music videos and commercials, but the star of a recent fabulous HP ad.

Advertising has been frequently accused of creating artificial demand. What's underestimated is the genuine excitement commercials create when successful. And just as MTV did, Firebrand blurs the distinction between art and commerce. Whether a videogame or movie trailer, a carefully crafted jingle, or a mini-film, Firebrand is showcasing, even curating, ads. Apart from the bumper crop from the annual Super Bowl adfest (see: Ridley Scott's 1984 spot for Macintosh) and annual TV specials for Best Commercials, viewers haven't had the framing of seeing commercials, we daresay, without interruption. Not anymore.

John Lack can be contacted at jalack@firebrandtv.com.