A friend of mine has just told me about a company that will launch on Oct. 22. It's called Firebrand and you can find out a smidge more at their virtually content-free site, www.firebrandtv.com. Firebrand has a heavy-duty heritage so they're probably worth watching. It's co-founded by John Lack, one of the co-creators of MTV and is backed by Microsoft, NBC Universal and Nielsen, the parent company of Adweek magazine.
The idea is to "program spots like a DJ spins music in a club" and to let Gen Y and Millennial consumers build their own commercial playlists. It also gives advertisers and their agencies the chance to gauge how their spots are received. Maybe this marks a trend/movement of commercials that act more as entertainment than mere propagators of logos, over-acting and copy points. Maybe some advertiser/agency will wake up and do something that's not confined by a mere 30 seconds.
One caveat. The info above was gleaned from Firebrand's press-release, so we might have to sift through the hype. But keep watching and keep me updated. Especially if you're a gen Y/millennial.
