Binge-Casting
Over-Casting
Flip-Casting
Binge-Casting
When the media broadcasts episode after episode of a series for several hours.
This is not to be confused with a marathon. A marathon is an event. Binge-Casting is part of the regular programming schedule.
Some examples of this are:
Say Yes to the Dress
My 600 lb. Life.
Other examples are rebroadcasting episodes of "The Real Housewives" or the running of Flip or Flop
Fixer Upper
Property Brothers
Though HGTV seems to run shorter binge sessions.
Over-Casting
Over-casting usually occurs in a binge-casting session when the broadcaster minimizes the current episode to begin the next episode. In some more aggressive instances, the next episode will begin before the previous episode is over cutting out the punch-line in the previous episode.
Flip-Casting
Flip casting is a process where the ratio of the number minutes of content to the number of minutes of commercials approaches a point where the broadcaster will be airing commercials with content breaks.
"We interrupt this commercial to bring you programming already in progress."
This format is blunted by airing promos for upcoming programmes to give the appearance of broadcasting content.
The Bing-casting can be seen as saturation marketing. This, for a product, an industry, a lifestyle, or other offering.
For example:
Wedding dresses and wedding related products and services. Dresses, catering, photographers, honeymoon destinations.
Another example, this for a lifestyle transformation, is the pursuit of the "open concept" with the celerity of a honey badger.
Open floor plan, open concept, very open, spend time with my guests, keep an eye on the children, and so on.
The result? Houses that are cheaper to build, hence more affordable.
How can we sell this house without a kitchen wall?
Easy. Open floor plan.
How can we sell a house without a ceiling?
Easy. Vaulted ceiling.
How can we sell a house without an exterior wall?
Easy. Wall of windows.
The marketing putsche will guide the viewers--the consumers--to want that too.
Is there anything wrong with an open floor plan? No. The open floor plan makes smaller homes appear larger and larger homes more affordable.
With Over-Casting you compress content to free up time for more commercials and more promos for other shows. This, combined with Flip-Casting, conditions the market to accept advertisements that are less informative but definitely more entertaining.
These techniques are ubiquitous. Almost.
As home remodel shows first became popular the plot was formula. Smash the walls, smash the counter tops, smash the cupboards. Before the commercial break, replay the tape with a voice-over to tell the audience what they saw. After the commercial, replay the tape with a voice-over to tell the audience what they saw. And this is replayed before the recap at the end. Audience conditioning, audience acceptance, audience transformation.
To examine this in retrospect, look at the marketing and sale of coffee.
Once coffee came in 16 oz. cans. Then, 13.5 oz cans. Now? 11.5 oz. However, ask yourself, how much smaller can a can of coffee get? Not much. Hence: 27 oz cans sold at a Sale Price. Some pricing policy is confusing. Such as when I found out I can buy 3 small cans of coffee for less that one large one. I bought 3 small cans of coffee. However, while I've been drinking green tea, my wife is still drinking coffee. As a result, I am not checking the price of coffee. I just did. Coffee now comes in [approximately] 10 oz. and 24 oz. cans. And the cans are now plastic containers.
During the coffee price crisis of the late seventies, I heard where some would buy soda instead of drinking coffee. This despite the fact that the soda was more expensive. This was not a protest. This was the result of coffee looking too expensive while soda looked like a less expensive alternative.
And the consumer is not all that tuned in. Some 30 years ago, while buying coffee, I was checking the price per ounce of a smaller and a larger container of coffee. This based on the old canard that if you "buy in larger quantities" you save on the unit price. This did not play out. I said to my wife, "The coffee in this [the larger] can is more expensive than the coffee in this [the smaller] can."
A well dressed professional woman had been listening in and watching me. I said to her, "I was pointing out that The Coffee in this [the larger] can costs more than the coffee in this [the smaller] can."
She looked at one can, then at the other, and said, "That's because that can is larger than the other can."
I thanked her for pointing that out and she walked away. My wife and I exchanged glances.
But I digress:
There has been a result of this conditioning.
Dining room
Dining area
Formal Dining Area
Open Floor Plan
Open Concept.
Granite counter tops
Stainless Steel Appliances
Upscale Appliances
Bonus Room
Man Cave
And this all plays into the paradigm of
The Flash-Bite
A few decades ago, people spoke about the 5 second sound bite with derision. Then the 5 second sound-bite morphed into the 2 second sound bite. Then came MTV with what I all the Flash-Bite. Two or three second clips: cut to: cut to: cut to.
One Mississippi, two Mississippi, cut to: One Mississippi, two Mississippi, cut to.
The result?
Candlestick, andiron, switch-plate, cut to: cut to: cut to.
Series of interior shots--living room
Chair leg
Cut to:
Lampshade
Cut to:
Cuspidor
Cut to: cut to: cut to.
The flash bite spread to cooking shows.
Egg yolk, lemon slice, teaspoon, Cut to: cut to: cut to.
The media has gone far beyond Bread and Circus.
The now embrace, Loud Noises, Bright Colours, & Shiny Things.
Cooking Shows are now Game Shows. Everything from Beat the Clock to a Pie in the Face.
The History Channel? The Learning Channel? Duck Dynasty and Honey Boo Boo.
Is there anything wrong with those shows? Certainly not. They are good shows. They attract an audience. And you want to sell to that audience. Heed my admonition. Marketing to Millennials is a series of loud noises, bright colours, and shiny things.
I sincerely believe that this article should point you in the right direction. Do your own homework.
Regards,
Slim.
P.S. If you find anything here to be helpful, please don't hesitate to send me a really tricked out Mac Pro and to tuck a few dollars into the envelope along with the thank you note. Slim
Bob Asken
Box 33
Pen Argyl, PA 18072
Marketing 1959
Marketing to Millennials
If You Can Label It, You Can Sell It
Marketing Trumps Advertising
Remember:
"The Alchemists tried turning lead into gold and failed. The Marketing People succeeded by selling lead to the Alchemists." ~ Slim Fairview
The Quotations of Slim Fairview (c) 2017.
Slim.
