Offline is content. Online is information. In the lean-forward world of online, advertising exists amongst a bevy of other information on the screen. It is not interruptive as with television, but peripheral to that information -- information you are there to retrieve, focus on. But the truth is that much of that information is available someplace else. Even worse, the better the content that's on a site, the more the consumer is focusing on the content and less on getting your ad message.
Think about that. The "Tiffany" effect of brand association that works offline can actually have a negative corollary online. The emotional tie to the content and the property that they have online is not as strong. That is why many of the subscription models have failed for paid content online.
Many properties that were originally subscription-based have, or are in the process of, opening up their walled gardens because the content online was not compelling enough to sustain the subscription model. Now, if the content wasn't compelling enough to sustain the subscription model, it's not compelling enough to transfer the brand halo to premium pricing. They may be able to charge for it, but is it worth it? Luckily for them, many will think so. But many people do it because they know the property and have approvers above them who know the property. They are an agency that presents it because they know you'll know the property, and your approvers may not understand the myriad nuances of online media.
All I am saying is to think about your media planning a lot more online. Because unlike offline, I can reach that exact consumer somewhere else. I have the ability to target not just that exact profile of consumer, but that exact consumer that has visited a competitor's site. I can scoop them up across the web at fractions on the dollar.
This may be a great win for ESPN, and at least it has the chutzpah to take a stand, but I'm going to check out who buys that high-priced inventory and short that company's stock.
Sean X Cummings is director of marketing for Ask.com.