bobgrevey.com

Budgeting is never fun.

City, county and state revenues have been in the toilet for a while now, without much light at the end of the tunnel. Long debates have been had over government largesse, and building some sustainability into civic revenue models. The debates continue, and will for some time, as ideologies persist and political entrenchment holds firm.  What remains indelibly true however is that all of these bodies – on a civic, state and federal level – need to find ways to create new revenue.

Enter media.

Not the paper kind. Not even the broadcast kind. Governments tend to hold sway over varied pieces of real estate, and not just court and state houses. Some control retail stores, most control rest stops, and many own wide swathes of land on the side of your most-travelled roadways. These public spaces all have one thing in common: traffic.

That traffic – and the controlled area through which people pass – can make that real estate valuable with the right media application. Traditionally, federal rules have limited the amount of advertising on the road side, as it was thought to be overly distracting. However, as revenue-pressures persist, those rules have begun to loosen. Recently, the city of Miami, Florida allowed companies like ClearChannel to erect gads of LCD billboards and other out-of-home concepts offering wares to passersby on the city-controlled land beside the highway. That allowance was not given away for free.

Necessity being the mother of invention, as the budget pinch continues an opening of bureaucratic minds is taking place. And the creative firms that develop campaigns for some of the world’s biggest brands are bringing innovative, revenue-generating ideas to bear. Budget realities have created a window of opportunity, and those willing to do the government dance are finding a more receptive ear than in times past.

Public-private partnerships have always bucked tradition. Let’s hope the trend continues.

Really, it was only a matter of time. Some of us had seen it coming, but it was inevitable all along.

Social media – whatever your thoughts on it may be – has created a large, dynamic and measurable advertising network, combining the full force of individual inward looking vanity and the sinews of modern communication. That’s right, I said it. It’s marvelous, impressive, and revolutionary, but it’s an ad network.

Take the Facebooks. Your profile was once the domain of your close-knit digital family. Disparate as they may be, you kept in touch with your college buddy that lives in Seattle, your aunt in England. Messaging and photo-sharing helped you remain close, growing with them even as they were so far away.

Enter product pages and public figures. No longer an intimate space in which to communicate with your close relations and friends, brands and celebs can now be a part of your profile, even if you’ve never actually interacted in person.

Now the TV pitchmen are embracing the act, and it’ll only get faster. The Times report on the AsSeenForTV.com gambit characterizes it as a natural extension of the ad portfolio, which it is. And we happy (drooling) consumers get benefit from, of all things, “spokesmen like the former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan and the entertainer 50 Cent host(ing) product demonstrations.” What a treat! Maybe they can help The Clapper out – only 80 likes for that 80′s TV classic.

And as for the Pajama Jeans, I remain quite happy slipping out of my jeans before tucking in. Sweet dreams.