Firebrand Shows Ads The Way MTV Used To Show Music Videos

The dirty little secret that most people who make their living marketing on the Internet will never tell you is that they love watching TV spots.  Of course, it is frustrating how much clients spend on questionably effective television advertising … and there are a lot of crappy TV ads being produced.  But what if you could collect all the good ones in one place and let people watch them?  My guess is it’s not only the marketers that would watch.  People love watching good entertaining advertising.  There are entire television programs dedicated to them.  In the case of Geico’s Cavemen spots, some ads are even spawning entire TV sitcoms. 

YouTube is full of ads that people have put online themselves (as well as those seeded by ad agencies) and collectively those have generated millions of views from people who watch them over and over and pass them along to their friends.  Earlier this week, I got an invite from Chris Abraham to attend the press unveiling for a new service called Firebrand TV yesterday in NY.  Unfortunately, I could not make the event … but in reading about the site and what it hopes to offer I think it’s worth every marketer’s attention.  The reason is because from the limited information out there through videos and demos, Firebrand is trying to become an advertising on demand entertainment platform.  Their promotional video promises to serve up "advertising as content" and only feature the best ads.  Check out the video below:

Here are a few reasons why I love the idea of Firebrand and think it may become successful:

1. Aggregating all great commercials in one place is a long overdue idea.
2. Assuming it will allow embedding and sharing, this will be a great way to share ads virally (something people love to pass along to each other)
3. The international ad section will be huge, as lots of the best, funniest, and raunchiest ads never make it on air in the US
4. The site has a built in revenue model … what advertiser wouldn’t pay to get their ads seen by people who are actively looking to watch them? 
5. Short TV ads and movie trailers are perfect for mobile consumption.  The mobile access element of Firebrand has lots of potential.

These are just a few quick observations on what the site could do based on my very slim understanding of the site through their promotional materials.  The site officially goes live on October 22nd, though Chris has promised I’ll be on the private beta so I can share a more detailed review once I have a chance to play around with the site for real.  In the meantime, definitely add it to your list of sites to watch.

Further Reading: Firebrand TV’s Social Media Press Release