AOL Gets Punk'd
- by Gavin O'Malley @mp_gavin, February 14, 2006
AOL and Katalyst--co-owned by Kutcher and business partner Jason Goldberg--plan to catch a generation of media-savvy young people off-guard with original--and what Goldberg described as "disruptive"--characters who, in the vein of viral marketing, will insert themselves into the AIM community.
"We're creating the first Internet stars using the tools that the Internet offers," said Goldberg.
Explaining what he meant by "disruptive," Goldberg said: "It will be somebody the audience will be shocked by." He added: "If AOL doesn't express concern at some point about the project, then we're not doing our jobs."
AOL, for its part, doesn't seem all that nervous. "These guys understand their demo really well, and they have great ideas about how to use new mediums like AIM," said Jim Bankoff, executive vice president, programming and products for AOL. "We're prepared for it to be really edgy--products that attract a lot of attention."
To date, Katalyst has launched aggressive--yet undeniably mainstream--entertainment that connects with a generation whose inaccessibility is growing at a rate proportionate only to its media viewing options. "Punk'd," MTV's Candid Camera take-off starring Kutcher, and the WB's reality show "Beauty and the Geek," are two of Katalyst's successes.
Each of the five projects, the first of which is expected by spring, will consist of 20 mini-episodes. AOL is offering advertisers the chance to immerse themselves within the content, said Bankoff. Beyond what is typically considered as product placement, he said there will be opportunities for appropriate brands to play key roles in content's direction.
AOL's AIM service is the nation's largest instant messaging community, with 43 million active users. AIM is accessible over computers and the majority of mobile devices.
AOL is involved in several deals to channel original entertainment content to its large membership base. At the end of January, America Online and Mark Burnett Productions announced plans to co-develop and produce an online reality treasure chase show. Dubbed "Gold Rush!," the program will track the progress of contestants as they cross the country searching for buried booty. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
LivePlanet, Yahoo and Burnett are considering bringing another program, "The Runner," to the Web as an original online series that ties closely with Yahoo's consumer services, including e-mail, maps, and search. Created by LivePlanet and backed in 2000 by Yahoo Media Group head Lloyd Braun during his chairmanship at ABC, "The Runner" was conceived as a simulated manhunt across the United States. But costs to insure real-life would-be contestants chasing the marked fugitive around the county, and other logistical uncertainties, sidelined the initial venture.
