The other day, Katherine Ryan, who has reliably (an albeit thanklessly -- thank you Katherine!) kept the Tongal PR on track asked me to respond to a few questions a writer had. After procrastinating for about 48 hours (this is good, usually it's around a week) I answered them this morning. Sometimes when you finally get around to putting pen to paper, or fingertips to way too small new Apple Keyboard, you get lucky enough to type a sentence or two that you can hang on to. Today's exercise got me this one "a tsunami of creative energy."
The questions were basic, but designed, as far as I can tell, for me to explain what the hell we're doing here and why Tongal is relevant. Here's some Q&A I thought was worth sharing:
Katherine Ryan: In your eyes, what's game-changing about Tongal?
James DeJulio: For creatives, they finally have access to a meritocracy. For the first time, these creators have a direct line of communication to buyers and the ability to participate in the creative process. Businesses have been searching for an effective medium to do just that -- pull their marketing message up from their consumers, and Tongal is the lynchpin. It's also important to note that sponsors are getting the benefit of what we like to call the "theater of creation." The process of creation itself is as valuable as the output. How many records do you think that Kelly Clarkson would have sold if it weren't for American Idol?
KR: Why is Tongal innovative?
JD: Two ways stand out: #1-- Co-Creation and Collaboration. This is actually crowdsourcing -- breaking down large tasks into manageable parts so that many people can participate in creating things. Sites that simply host contests for video competitions are just one piece of the puzzle. What we do is to simply break down the creation of the content into smaller parts or building blocks. For example a Concept for a Commercial can be sourced from teacher in Maine, developed by a student in the UK and then filmed by an aspiring filmmaker in California. The benefit of Tongal is that the marketing message is created by a community -- all incentivized to work together. Once created, messages are all test marketed on the site in Prediction contests, my #2. Typically, crowdsourcing efforts have hung on "voting." We think that voting produces bad results, so we ask our members to but themselves in the shoes of the sponsor and evaluate which are the best submissions, not the most popular.
KR: How do you see Tongal impacting the OLV ecosystem and marketplace?
JD: Tongal provides a method to monetize internet video that isn't based on traffic or ad support -- the video, and the process of creating the video has become the advertisement, completely turning the old system it on its head. The OLV ecosystem has failed to mature because it is just a micro version of the system in place. Basically, in our opinion, the web has mimicked the broadcast TV model for way too long. Content has been supported by ancillary ad revenue, i.e., someone broadcasts or creates something, then someone else tries to get you to look away from that and focus on their ad.
The process of creation suffers in the same way. For example, Crackle, a site owned and operated by Sony, uses what is basically a network television development model. They hear pitches from "established" online video creators, if they like a pitch, they pay for a "pilot" and then a web series. This is an "expert" system. Crackle are the "experts." This is just the TV, Ad or Movie industry on a smaller scale. Tongal has changed how content gets created, and people can do it from anywhere, not just Madison Avenue or Hollywood. There is a market inefficiency because of the system in place which is a "have and have-not" environment. Those who are able to break through the system (for one reason or another -- and not always talent), once on the inside, thrive on scarcity and, whether they know it or not, try to keep others out. That results, unfortunately, in many floundering for years trying to breakthrough, or even be heard. This structure ignores a tsunami of creative energy and Tongal is designed to bring the work to these people and equalize the market.
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And there's the phrase that I'm hanging on to, a "tsunami of creative energy." Probably the main reason why we founded Tongal, which I could never articulate. It's coming. How are you planning to harness it??
