My Back Pages: Ah, Cable Marketing

Cable World, July 25, 2005

By Paul S. Maxwell

CTAM time in Philadelphia...

(Wonder why it's in Philly?)

Here we go again, looking for the magic mantra.

(There's never, ever been a better one than: Rinse, Repeat.)

Some cable phrase that will make every single TV watcher in America abandon all other video entertainment and/or information sources...forever!

Ah, methinks that won't happen.

Too bad.

We could use it.

Especially in Philadelphia in the summertime...warm, moist.

Let's go sculling!

Cooler on the rivers than on the streets.

While "the Thrilla in Phila" won't quite match up to the Thrilla in Manila, it should be elucidating and entertaining.

(An aside, and as luck would have it, I was there. Not in Manila, but in Vero Beach, Fla., when the satellite signal passed through the Scientific- Atlanta dish that I helped install while pretending to be working with Dick Jackson's contracting crew, and appeared on the TV screens unveiled by Jerry Levin with the fight...live, in color and exciting. That HBO gamble changed cable's world forever.)

CTAM always reaches outside the industry--sometimes way outside, sometimes even to competitors--in order to bring different perspectives to bear. A very good thing. If you wonder how CTAM persuades some to come, even though their "return on time invested" might seem a stretch...well, never underestimate the power of ego.

This year, we get to hear from NASCAR (Brian France--how to win by "owning" the race), Akimbo (Josh Goldman--over there! no! over there!), Verizon (Robert Ingalls Jr.--can you hear him now? he's coming!), Sony (Steve Jacobs-- will he tell how Howard Stringer has changed the culture?), the New England Patriots (Jonathan Kraft--will he tell the truth about "the ring," Robert Kraft and President Putin?), Overstock.com (Shawn Schwegman--how to sell old set-top boxes?), Sprint (John Garcia--but he's here to sell, not compete) and Samsung (Peter Weedfald--how to get hip with consumer electronics).

One thing I did note in looking over the speaker selection this year from within the industry: There is a proliferation of titles that remind me of P&G brand managers. A very good thing for the industry.

With the proliferation of products at cable's retail (that means the subscriber), having someone within the cable operations responsible (sort of, I haven't looked over the specific job functionalities and I'm guessing--hoping-- the traditional brand management ethos is translating to cable products) for specific product categories will result in better numbers across the board.

If someone, for example, is "in charge" of how PPV is doing (a stretch, the brand manager indications are, so far, much broader) in a given market, I can guarantee that PPV will do better than in the past.

Hey, marketing works!

What is happening is better apportioning of responsibility for the broader market segments of entertainment, voice and broadband--and, with all the above, SOHO and small/medium business.

Time to exploit the obvious niches here.

Dissect entertainment: basic, premium, PPV, VOD and then how to get the most for the money--subscriber and MSO.

Dissect voice: not just VoIP.

Dissect broadband: by speed and service.

And pay attention to all those small businesses that cable passes...a broadband package with news channels is compelling!

And, remember, marketing and advertising work!

[Copyright 2005 Access Intelligence, LLC. All rights reserved.]