Buggled

The case study Harvard didn’t write and business schools don’t teach about how MTV killed the idea that revenue needs to cost money.

What comes to mind if I say Buggle? Or buggled? Or buggles? No. Nothing? What if I spot you:

I heard you on the wireless back in ‘52
Lying awake, intently tuning in on you
If I was young, it didn’t stop you coming through
They took the credit for your second symphony
Rewritten by machine on new technology
And now I understand the problems you could see

No. Not Rudyard Kipling. Not Pablo Neruda. Stanley Kunitz? Nah. John… Denver? You’re getting closer.

46 years ago… nearly to the day… the one-hittest wonder of all time, the Buggles, released VIDEO KILLED THE RADIO STAR. It was the first song — sorry video — MTV played when they launched a couple of years later. How could they not? It was right there.

MTV doesn’t get nearly enough credit. Scoff all you want but they were brilliant. No, I didn’t watch it. Couldn’t care less. Their brilliance was completely changing how business can work. If we didn’t have MTV, we wouldn’t have Amazon. Or Facebook. Or Google.

Before MTV, if you wanted to sell… anything… you’d have to pay for stuff to make it. Think about old Hank Ford. He rolled Model Ts off his assembly line. But he had to pay for metal and wood and rubber and… I have no idea what else went into a Model T. Let’s just say, stuff.

With no exceptions I can think of and choose not to google lest actual data messed up my thesis — until MTV came along, this was how business businessed. MTV thrived in the era when other emerging cable networks, like Arts (really, who thought Alpha Repertory Television Service was a good idea? Other than ABC and Hearst), paid miniscule amounts to ballet. And when broadcast networks paid relatively big bucks for shows like M*A*S*H. Alan Alda gotta get fed.

MTV paid nothing for the videos it showed. I imagine the conversation between MTV’s early Poobahs and the folks who ran the Buggles label — Island Records — went something like this, “You know that video you hoped would promote Video Killed the Radio Star? The one no one watches. The one you made from the BBC One footage when the Buggles were on Top of the Pops a couple of years ago. Do you still have a copy? You see, we’re calling from America. We’re launching this new channel that’s just going to show your promo video and a few other promo videos. No. Seriously. Kids will love this stuff. Yes. We know promotional means the same thing as ads. Yes. We’re going to show ads all day long. Yes. Seriously. I’m telling you the kids will love it. It’s going to run on cable. It’s like TV except people have to pay to watch it. No. I’m not on crack. So, are you in?”

I imagine the Poobahs had to call back several times.

And just like that. The cost of MTV’s raw materials went to zero. MTV got money from advertisers to put their ads around ads. Oh, and on top of that, people paid to get MTV. Now, tell me how this isn’t brilliant. Come on business schools — where is the case study on this one?

A generation of people who grew up like me — not watching MTV; but wanting to be MTV business mavens have forged the next generation of American companies. Jeff Bezos for example.

Amazon is MTV for shopping. They make nothing selling stuff. Because their real business isn’t shopping it’s renting out parts of the huge cloud they have that runs their store. Computer people know it as AWS (Amazon Web Services). Pretty much every website we go to and app we use runs part of their service on AWS. And pays Amazon a lot of money to do it. If you squint the Amazon store is free input for AWS.

It’s easier to see how this works in Facebook. They’re MTV on steroids. We give them all our content for free. We’re Island Records. For the lame hope that people will buy our records or see our concerts.

This free-stuff model is why Google gives us Gmail and browsers and search. It’s pretty much how the entire modern ad model works. Instead of paying for stuff, you get ads.

There. Now we’re all on the same page.

This would be a shockingly boring story… fit only for the hallowed halls of case discussion at a teaching establishment… if it just rehashed how we got from wireless back in ‘52 to Amazon. But, you see, the story has new legs.

And, those legs start Tuesday. When Jimmy Fallon hosts a new show called On Brand. Which — spoiler alert — I think is a smart idea and don’t plan to watch.

On Brand will pit real advertising agency people against regular people building ads with AI.

Say what you want, but, to me, this drips with brilliance.

I imagine the conversation between NBC Poobahs and the folks who ran — I dunno — Range Rover went something like this, “You know that video you made to promote that new Range Rover? The one you pay to put all over the place and no one watches. The one you made from the footage BBC One filmed when they did that documentary on Top of Kilimanjaro? Can we have a copy? You see, we’re calling from America. We’re launching this new channel that’s just going to show your promo video and a few other promo videos. No. Seriously. Adults who still watch broadcast television will love this stuff. Yes. We know promotional means the same thing as ads. Yes. The entire show is an ad. Yes. Seriously. I’M TELLING YOU, THE BORED ADULTS WHO PAY MORE FOR STREAMING SERVICES THAN CABLE ARE SEVERING THE STREAM AND COMING BACK TO FREE OVER THE AIR TELEVISION THEY’LL HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO LOVE IT. That’s why it’s going to run on television. Television is like cable except people don’t have to pay to watch it. No. I’m not on crack. So, are you in?”

Range Rover — or whoever the brands are — are going to get a one-hour show about their product. Showing multiple ads. At least one from a group of real people. And, the people who watch won’t even realize it’s one big ad.

Whoever thunk this up at NBC ought to get a big box of Ocean Spray as bonus this year. You remember four years ago when that skateboarding guy created an authentic sensation for Ocean Spray on TikTok? Well…

NBC IS GOING TO MANUFACTURE BRAND AUTHENTICITY EVERY WEEK.

It will be like the Bachelor meets Project Runway meets America’s Top Brand. And, even if only tens of Americans watch it, it will still be genius. I imagine by Wedneday morning, the people who still go to an office will be huddling around water coolers chatting about the show and singing, I want my On Brand show. And, then, someone is going to take this model and run with it. And, I have a feeling I know who that someone is.

Moments after people started seeing the ad for On Brand, we got a call from an agency that buys ads from us. It went something like this, “You know the videos our clients pay creative agencies to make? The ones that we pay to put all over the place and no one watches. Could you use AI to make ads for your platform and give them to us for free? IT WOULD REALLY HELP OUR BRANDS OUT TO HAVE THEIR ADS NOT COST THEM ANYTHING. YOU KNOW, LIKE HOW AMAZON AND GOOGLE AND FACEBOOK DON’T PAY FOR THE THINGS THAT SELL? You get it, right?”

Oh, I get it.

We’ll take the credit for your second symphony
Rewritten by machine on new technology
And now I understand the problems you could see

VIDEO KILLED THE RADIO STAR – PART II.
AI KILLED THE AD AGENCY.