Viral Watch: Team Conan or Team Leno? Either Way, NBC is Dying Nick Butler, January 12, 2010 NBC has tried to embrace viral marketing by launching multiple campaigns for shows like The Office, Community, and even Late Night, but it seems that NBC is now shooting themselves in the foot. I’ll admit their not “launching” a campaign this time, but their recent handling of the Jay Leno-Conan O’Brien problem has caused quite the stir on social networks, like Twitter, creating a negative campaign against the already dying NBC.Tens-of-thousands of people are tweeting “Team Conan” in support of the late night comedian who recently announced he’d leave NBC if “The Tonight Show” is pushed to a 12:05 time slot, allowing “The Jay Leno Show” a half-hour time slot starting at 11:35. “I sincerely believe that delaying the “Tonight Show” into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting,” said O’Brien. “The “Tonight Show” at 12:05 simply isn’t the “Tonight Show.”While the internet-savvy “youth” may support Conan, Leno is the safe choice for NBC. Jay Leno has already proven himself in the 11:35 slot, something Conan never had the time to do. FOX has shown interest in late night comedy shows, but has yet to go after Conan – at least officially. NBC has yet to respond to Conan’s statement, so it will be interesting to see how they deal with all of this late night chaos.This debacle has shown the negative impact of ‘viral consumers,’ who also outed Sacha Baron Cohen docu-comedy – Bruno. Social networks are a very powerful thing, and are not yet completely understood by companies – like NBC. In any case, NBC is trying to deal with this in the most formidable fashion possible, but recent history has shown that social media can be a deal breaker or a life saver (sometimes, literally). I wish NBC luck, because I have no idea how they’re going to get out of this one.What do you think – Should NBC take Leno over Conan . . . or Conan over Leno? How do you see social media impacting the future of “private business?” Leave a comment below. Viral Marketing Late NightNBCViral Watch
New Study: Film Marketing and the ‘Net October 1, 2009Some interesting research has been released that speaks to the budding importance of viral marketing. According to Variety’s Marc Graser, film marketers are increasingly looking to the internet to promote upcoming movies. He cites a study by Stradella Road, which surveyed 1,547 moviegoers regarding their film consumption habits and where they… Read More
Create Your Own Pub Sign for “The World’s End” June 26, 2013In Edgar Wright’s The World’s End, five childhood friends reunite in their hometown after twenty years to repeat a legendary pub crawl from their youth that they failed. However, as the night goes on, they realize that robots are taking over the town. Every good pub needs an equally good… Read More
Mark of the Spider-Man Viral Event Happens Tomorrow! February 13, 2012March 21, 2012When we left off, a twitter account for The Amazing Spider-Man‘s viral campaign had been created and tweeted out coordinates for dead drops in several U.S. cities. Thanks to a comment left by a reader, we now know what the next step in this campaign. Countdowns were discovered, but you had… Read More
This is all secretly a plot to get FOX’s ratings to go down. I’m guessing they aren’t exactly going to go running to Conan.
As much as I dislike Conan, I dislike Leno more. He has no class. I hope this whole thing backfires in his face and Conan walks out victorious.