• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, April 14, 2006

In another example of a major marketer bypassing established media outlets and utilizing broadband Internet as a means of distributing a channel direct-to-consumers, auto marketer Land Rover has launched a new broadband channel featuring original programming on sports, lifestyles and popular culture aimed at the kind of adventurous consumers that are targets for its brand. The new channel, aptly named the Go Beyond Channel, leverages Land Rover's current brand theme, and features content ranging from extreme sports to extreme pop culture, much of which is supplied by conventional TV networks that Land Rover has relationships with.

In an ironic role reversal, the deal, which was created by Land Rover media shop MindShare, transforms TV networks such as CBS, Discovery and the BBC from conduits into content suppliers.

"The media should embrace this. This is very exciting for the agency game. It's exciting for clients. And it's exciting for the consumer," says David Stubley, CEO of MindShare's Performance Worldwide unit in London, which is handling the project.

Stubley acknowledges that the role change represents a fundamental shift in the relationship between advertisers and the media, but he predicts it will grow dramatically over time as broadband becomes faster and more ubiquitous and gains critical mass as a distribution medium. Instead of using traditional media outlets like TV networks to distribute programming with TV commercials embedded in it, Stubley says increasingly broadband will become the source of content for channels that advertisers distribute directly to consumers.

"People will need to adapt for sure," he concedes, adding, "The answer is they should be supplying us with killer content and we should be wrapping ourselves around it."

At launch, the Go Beyond channel has about five hours of programming, and Stubley says it will be refreshed with an additional four to five hours each month of new programming. MindShare's research indicates the average viewer session is "between 20 and 30 minutes," he notes.

One of the key advantages of distributing the channel via broadband is that it is global and easily customizable to specific markets. The channel currently features programming in six languages, and the content changes based on where the user is accessing it. In the U.K., for example, there is a vertical "London TV" channel, whereas a user from Germany might get a channel devoted to Berlin. European users get a lot of programming about soccer, while U.S. users would get more American football.

Stubley says sports is the "low hanging fruit," and that the goal is to broaden the mix of programming to other lifestyle areas ranging from food to fashion. The channel, which is being distributed via Narrowstep's TV-over-the-Internet platform, features a fast-loading media player window with a TV programming grid next to it featuring specific content genres. Stubley estimated that no more than 5 percent of the programming explicitly features the Land Rover brand, but is designed to attract users interested in the brand's proposition and to get them to come back frequently.

Aside from their effectiveness, and ability to target and engage a brand's prospects, MindShare's Stubley says direct-to-consumer channels are "amazingly cost-effective." While he would not comment on the specific costs of the Go Beyond channel, he said it was considerably less than the cost of launching a conventional TV channel, and that it was "highly comparable" to the costs of conventional TV commercials.

Other marketers have been exploiting broadband as a means of distributing direct-to-consumer channels. Anheuser-Busch has used broadband TV provider Maven to create a Budweiser channel, while Audi has created Audi TV and BMW had its short-lived "BMW Films."

What makes Go Beyond different, says Stubley, is that it is much more dynamic and nonlinear than its predecessors. Among other things, the channel exists simultaneously offline in Land Rover dealerships worldwide. It also features occasional live telecasts, such as a program that was launched Wednesday live from the New York Auto Show.

But what really gets Stubley excited is the prospects for user involvement, including consumer-generated content.

"I think that's the next stage," he predicts, adding that the goal is to have consumers interact with Go Beyond's programming, mix their own, and forward it to others in a viral manner.

Stubley describes the Go Beyond channel as being in a "soft launch," but says it ultimately will be backed by an aggressive advertising and promotional campaign to drive traffic.

"I'd see us running online advertising, doing a deal with Google, running dedicated URLs in print and TV communications. I'd see us pushing it in dealerships around the world," he says.

This is not the first time MindShare Performance has been involved in direct-to-consumer broadband television. It recently began creating content for client Nike in a way Stubley says illustrates the advantages the format has over traditional advertising such as the 30-second TV commercial.

In one of the programs, MindShare went to Nou Camp, a soccer team in Barcelona, Spain, that has a sponsorship deal with Nike, and filmed a "guy putting a suitcase in front of them on the soccer pitch." He opened it and took out a pair of Nike soccer shoes, which a team member put on and began doing soccer tricks with.

"The cost was very little. It was shot on a Monday and it was on the Internet the following Monday. So far, it has had 18 million downloads," says Stubley, adding, "Now compare that to the cost and time involved in creating a commercial. Storyboarding, shoot time, polishing time. It would have taken three months."