A compilation of information about Internal Communication Evolution and Trends can be found at the following Web site:

http://internalcommunicationtrends.wordpress.com

Following is an outline for the business model of the fictitious Societies Media Co.

I. ABOUT SOCIETIES MEDIA COMPANY
Societies Media Company is a leader in the social news media category. This award winning company has cracked the code on bringing popular news and local events to consumers. Societies Media combines the convenience of local city guides with breaking news and local news. With the rapidly evolving (declining) news media and new focus on personalized digital services, Societies Media is listening to and meeting the needs of consumers.

A. Target Demographic

II. MEDIA INVOLVED
Societies Media is aggregating news and events to bring them to its audience. Rather than follow the traditional top-down media conglomerate format of the past, Societies Media brings relevant content to its audience based on user locale. The company uses both non-mobile and mobile formats to reach its audience. Societies Media builds upon the techniques used and services offered by existing content frontrunners. These include the services of GoTime.com, DemandStudios.com, NewsVine.com and WestSeattleBlog.com.

A. Non-mobile

B. Mobile

III. DEVELOPMENT COSTS

IV. KEY PLAYERS IN MOBILE ECOSYSTEM
Brand & Content Owners
New Media Interactive Marketing Agencies
Mobile Application Solution Providers
Connection/Aggregators
Wireless Operators (Deck, WAP, MMS, SMS)
Retail/Sales
Mobile Subscriber

V. PRIMARY CHALLENGES TO DEVELOPMENT

VI. EXPOSURE

VII. MEASURING SUCCESS

The television conglomerate NBC has created a strong mobile media campaign for its hit show, The Office. The mobile campaign is broad in scope. It includes mobile content ranging from games to specially developed Mobisodes. Riding on the coattails of the show’s success, even mobile ringtones based on The Office can be found online from vendors such as AOL. Following is a review of NBC’s mobile campaign for its popular television series.

TYPES OF MOBILE CONTENT

The mobile campaign for The Office uses several types of mobile content: • SMS (short message service) is used to deliver program alerts via text message to fans’ cell phones. • WAP (wireless application protocol) is used to allow fans to access the show’s mobile Internet site from their cellular devices. • Web content is used to encourage users to try out the mobile services offered by The Office and directs them to the mobile site for the show.

TARGET USER

The target user for the mobile media campaign is an existing fan of The Office and a forward-thinking or tech-savvy consumer. The user is someone who is comfortable with mobile technology and able to afford the provider and device services required to allow SMS and WAP. There does not appear to be a gender-specific target demographic.

HOW DOES ONE INTERACT

Users interact with the mobile campaign through the Web, WAP and SMS services. They can interact with one-another in the Community pages of the site and write messages using the keypad on their mobile device. Additional interaction is done by following a mobile-adapted version of the traditional point-and-click method to move between pages/links. Content can be read, watched and written by users. (Sounds like an interesting campaign. I like the social/community aspects.)

HOW TO FIND OUT

The primary mode of exposure for the mobile campaign is through NBC’s Web site for The Office. Fans of the program are likely to visit the Web site to learn more about the show and their favorite characters. From the site, viewers are offered a multitude of bonus items relating to the show. Fans can send e-cards, download wallpaper, shop for memorabilia, watch episodes, learn about the set and costumes, and enter T-shirt design contests. Mobile content is pushed with an offer to “Sign up to receive text alerts on your mobile phone” by submitting your phone number on the Web site. The site also encourages visitors to “Visit The Office on Your Mobile Device” at m.nbc.com/office and suggests texting “OFFICE” to 62288. For a hit program such as The Office, word-of-mouth between fans would be another important portal for spreading the word about mobile content. The program may have also implemented on-screen promotion during the show by promoting the “OFFICE” keyword.

PRESS COVERAGE

There is a modest amount of press coverage on the mobile programs of The Office.

An article in The New York Times announced that NBC formatted episodes of the The Office to be streamed on the Apple iPhone. NBC Universal’s President of Digital Distribution J. B. Perrette is quoted as saying: “As the mobile Web becomes a popular access point, and video content is available on those platforms, that will become a very relevant and compelling way to get video content.”

The Internet site for PC Magazine, PCMag.com, featured an article in 2006 that announced NBC’s entrance into the mobile games market with The Office themed games. The suite of six mini-games was made available on all cellular devices and providers.

In online commentary on InsightCommunity.com, blogger David Cassel writes: “Hollywood is starting to recognize the mobile revolution. One big issue in the writer’s strike was securing royalties for the digital transmission of shows. B.J. Novak (a writer for The Office) said that most of his friends were watching online instead of on television – so the first migration has already begun. More and more people are realizing they can watch their TV shows in a digital format. Once they’ve separated their favorite shows from their set…they’ll be more open to mobile viewing!”

The site TheFutonCritic.com posted a press release from NBC that announced the new “Addictionary” for The Office. The user-generated compilation of the show’s jargon is available on Twitter – a service that can be utilized on mobile devices.

While there is not an overwhelming amount of news coverage on the mobile media campaign of The Office, the initiatives are not going unseen. The truly newsworthy part about the campaign is the amount of effort that NBC is taking to use many forms of new media to engage its audience. NBC is doing well to jump-in and fearlessly try new modes of communication.

MOBILE VS. NON-MOBILE

While The Office began as a traditional television series, the program’s Web site and mobile content provide a means for additional audience exposure.

On the Web, users can engage in a series of fun activities relating to the show. The site’s design is clean, inviting and creatively made to resemble an office bulletin board. Visitors can view episodes and read blogs about the characters.

The Web and WAP sites complement each other. The mobile site offers a link to NBC.com followed by a masthead for The Office that resembles that of the Web site. Program information is listed above a “Featured Content” section that offers part of an episode, a recap of the same episode, and a photo with details about the T-shirt design competition. These are similar content items between the Web site and the WAP page.

Also similar between the mobile and PC platforms are the links for About, Videos, Episode Recaps, Photos, Community, and Shows List. The Videos link offers Two Minute Replays, Extras, Full Episodes, Previews, Web Exclusives and Webisodes. The Community page offers a message board style area for discussions.

WHO PAYS

A mix between users and advertisers pay for the mobile campaign.

The text alerts to mobile phones regarding The Office are paid for by the consumer. The Web site for the program clearly states that “standard rates apply” for the service and that T-Mobile customers may face additional charges. However, the user is not bearing any costs beyond the normal carrier fees. Therefore, it is NBC who is covering the costs of SMS development and delivery. They are using a shortcode rather than asking the user to pay extra, such as Premium SMS. NBC is paying the fees that are associated with connecting to the mobile network. There were no ads on the text alerts, meaning they were not advertising supported.

The mobile games developed for The Office were also paid for by the user. The initial rates were $6.99 for single use and $3.99 for a monthly subscription to the games.

The mobile content via WAP is supported by display advertising. Banner ads for cable networks such as HBO and Showtime remind visitors to watch more television.

MOBILE MARKETING ECOSYSTEM

As identified by the white paper “Understanding the Mobile Ecosystem” by Strategy Analytics, there are many players in the mobile value chain. Content owners, designers and developers, publishers and aggregators, providers, and marketing and delivery agents are all part of the mobile environment.

NBC Universal likely worked with the MMA to follow standardized mobile regulations and employed Neustar to obtain the shortcode of 62288.

Content aggregators are utilized to coordinate with developers, owners and providers. The mobile ecosystem for The Office involves a gateway provider that delivers content and offers access to carriers who then reach the end user. The WAP page offers videos/content and the SMS goes out regularly to drive consumers back again to the WAP page as a marketing effort. NBC’s billing service for mobile content appears to be handled by the carrier/operator, as the Web site for The Office states that standard rates apply.

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

To try the mobile services of The Office first hand, I followed the Web site directions and turned to my Samsung Blackjack.

I signed up for the SMS service via the Web site by entering my phone number in the designated field. The site rewarded me with a “Thanks for Signing Up!” message and my SMS in-box received this text message:

The Office: To confirm reply Y. U’ll rcv up to 5 msgs/wk. To quit, reply OFFICESTOP. For help, reply HELP. Std msg rates apply. http://m.nbc.com/office

My curiosity was instantly piqued at the thought of the approval process for the verbiage of that SMS message.

To try all angles before moving forward, I then tried texting “OFFICE” to 62288, as suggested on the Web site. This apparently had the same result as texting “OFFICESTOP,” as I received a sorrowful message that read: NBC: Sorry to see you go. You won’t receive msgs from The Office. To rejoin, reply OFFICE. http://m.nbc.com I followed the directions to rejoin. A third reply, this time lacking the multitude of text jargon used in the first welcome message, came my way: The Office: Thanks for signing up! You’ll receive up to 5 msg/wk. – To unsubscribe, reply OFFICESTOP. – For help, reply HELP. http://m.nbc.com/office Now an officially registered recipient of The Office SMS alerts, I proceeded to visit the heavily-encouraged site http://m.nbc.com/office. The top of the mobile site featured a flashing banner ad for HBO – a sign that advertising dollars support the site. There are similarities in design and content between the Web site and the WAP page (refer to Mobile vs. Non-Mobile section above). The WAP content was easy to navigate and welcoming.

IT MAKES SENSE

The mobile program for The Office is a smart move by NBC. The trendy show resonates with working professionals who are often linked to business technology. This is an audience that has access to computers and is likely to visit the Web site for the show and thereby learn about the mobile campaign. The mobile program also makes sense for NBC since new media are rapidly replacing traditional media sources. It is wise for the mogul to stay current with trends and innovations. By entering the mobile market, NBC is maintaining its value for a demographic with changing preferences. Some programs are mobile and others are not in order to meet the diverse needs of consumers. By spreading its reach among various platforms, NBC can have a widespread impact. The text messages announce the program schedule in a “be sure to watch” manner. I did not receive any breaking news announcements.

CHANGES

In conclusion, the mobile campaign for The Office is agreeable overall. For improvements, I would simply change the SMS messaging to better fit the theme of the mobile campaign. For consistency with a show that offers witty humor, it would be nice to see a more in-character SMS note. A jocular message in the tone of one of the characters is almost expected from the text. The SMS is the single area that most stood out as being inconsistent with the The Office brand.

Sources:

Breaking News: NBC.com Gives Fans ‘The Office’ Additictionary. (2009, January 22). TheFutonCritic.com. Retrieved from http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?id=20090122nbc01

Cassel, David. (2008, September 24).Which TV Shows Have the Best Mobile Tie Ins? InsightCommunity.com. Retrieved from https://www.insightcommunity.com/case.php?iid=1252

Griffin, Jeffrey. (2008, Winter). The Americanization of The Office: A Comparison of the Offbeat NBC Sitcom and Its British Predecessor. Journal of Popular Film and Television, 35-3, 154-163. Retrieved from http://heldref-publications.metapress.com/app/home/main.asp?referrer=default

Hansell, Saul. (2008, May 8). NBC Bypasses Apple to Stream to Stream TV Shows to the iPhone. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/08/nbc-bypasses-apple-to-stream-tv-shows-to-the-iphone/

Johnson, Bary Alyssa. (2006, August 1). “New Game Reminds Viewers to Watch ‘The Office.’” PCMag.com. Retrieved from http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,1997422,00.asp

The Office. (2009). Retrieved from http://www.nbc.com/The_Office/

Understanding the Mobile Ecosystem. (2008). Strategy Analytics for Adobe Systems, Inc. Retrieved from http://www.adobe.com/devnet/devices/articles/mobile_ecosystem.pdf

In Germany, the past and present of communication technology resounds through the cities. Ancient churches feature pre-literacy communication: colorful stained glass windows tell the stories of The Bible. Marienkirche (St. Mary’s church) in the northern town of Lübeck features an old Gutenberg press. In Berlin’s Alexanderplatz, a different St. Mary’s Church stands within the same sightline as the tallest structure in the country, Berliner Fernsehturm: the space-age-esque Berlin Television Tower (photo below).

Mobile technology has a presence with store front shops in historic buildings, offering carrier services from E-Plus and T-Punkt (photo below) the Germanic arm of T-mobile. There seems to be stronger trend of downloadable mobile features in Germany than Seattle. TV advertisements play consecutively to encourage text-based downloads of animated animals and women.

Photos by Andreas Steinhoff and Christy Luther:

As Chris Anderson states in The Long Tail, “It’s the Internet that has become the ultimate discovery vehicle for new music.” Deana Sobel’s article “A Bite Out of Apple? iTunes, Interoperability, and France’s Dadvsi Law” examines how that “ultimate discovery vehicle” has led to an ultimately-contested copyright problem – a topic Anderson addresses as well.

The iTunes example Sobel uses is an elaboration on Anderson’s observation that big companies like “Disney and Metallica may be doing all they can to embrace and extend copyright” in the digital age.

Sobel examines the Dadvsi Law’s attempt to remedy the challenges of simultaneously promoting interoperability to please consumers, while discouraging unauthorized copying – to please creators. The Law does so by “establishing guidelines…to order companies to disclose source codes… and impose fines against copyright infringers.” However, Dadvsi shows favoritism by placing the “burden of proof” on creators. All that a creator needs to do to avoid disclosure is claim a reason “that publication of the source code would seriously undermine the safety and effectiveness of [its] DRM (digital rights management).”

Sobel asks, “Is the real purpose of DRM really to prevent unauthorized copies, or is it to enable companies to limit the interoperability of their products?” Anderson addresses the probability of diverse purposes with: “Once you think of the curve being populated with creators who have different incentives, it’s easy to extend that to their intellectual property interests as well.”

Sobel cites an example of a consumer advocate who perceived that “iTunes Music Store is trying to kill off… interoperability, in order to boost its own profits.” Whereas, Apple’s Steve Jobs defended iTunes’ use of closed source as simple compliance with the music industry, “who require strong DRM to prevent illegal copying.”

Overall, Anderson and Sobel relate through their recognition of a need for regulations in the digital age.

Sobel sees a “struggle to define the proper scope of government regulation” and thinks governments “would do well to define specifically what DRM holders can do with their DRM.”

Similarly, Anderson writes, “I hope marketplace and regulation will more accurately reflect [that some creators care about copyright and some don’t, as the current law doesn’t distinguish between them].”