News
Jason Nazar, founder and chief executive of Internet documents firm Docstoc, tells a story about the time he tried to hypnotize three people at the request of his college buddies. He’d recently taken a weekend course on hypnotherapy, and this was his first show. It flopped, big time. He called the teacher to ask why he failed, and what his secret to success was. The teacher replied, “The next time you do a show, pretend that you are the greatest hypnotist in the world.”
OTCBB-traded kids media company GoFish is changing its name and altering its business model. The company, which has offices in San Francisco and New York, is rebranding as Betawave, which is a terms associated with brain activity. The name reflects the cin focus. Instead of concentrating on kids-themed media, Betawave says it will try to create a new kind of portals—media environments that demand users’ time. In a statement, CEO MaFreeman, described Betawave’s attempts to evolve from portals, saying that where portals are concerned with reach, the sites formed by Betawave will try to stress engagement.
ADOTAS — GoFish is relaunching as Betawave Corporation, following a $22.5 million financing last month. The company believes that consumer attention will become the new economic basis for brand media. Betawave focuses on the highest attention span media environments as measured by time spent per month, time spent per page and receptivity to brand advertising. This approach, coupled with an emphasis on immersive advertising products, allows Betawave to weave brands into the fabric of consumer experiences and deliver measurable results that far exceed industry norms.
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — When Matt Freeman left the CEO post at Tribal DDB last year to helm GoFish, the first thing many of his colleagues in the ad industry wondered was, “GoWhat?” And rightfully so. The tiny company’s stock trades on the OTC Bulletin Board for 20 cents, and its pedigree could easily leave some confused as to what exactly its business is. But Mr. Freeman’s vision was to create a media-sales company built on the idea that the value of media will be based on the amount of attention it garners, not just sheer numbers of people it reaches.
SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Following a $22.5 million financing last month, GoFish Corporation reported today that it is relaunching as Betawave Corporation (OTCBB:GOFH) (www.betawave.com), the industry’s first attention-based media company. The name change to Betawave, a cognitive term for the mind state of active concentration, reflects the company’s belief that consumer attention will become the new economic basis for brand media. Betawave focuses exclusively on the highest attention span media environments as measured by time spent per month, time spent per page and receptivity to brand advertising. This approach, coupled with an emphasis on immersive advertising products, allows Betawave to weave brands into the fabric of consumer experiences and deliver measurable results that far exceed industry norms.
An announcement that GoFish Corp. is changing its name to Betawave in order to shift its emphasis to attention-based engagement metrics is expected today. Matt Freeman, 39, who joined digital media and entertainment company GoFish in June, remains CEO of Betawave. Company headquarters will remain in San Francisco. Freeman previously was CEO at Omnicom’s Tribal DDB Worldwide. A self-proclaimed entrepreneur, Freeman founded that company in 1998 when it launched as the digital arm of DDB. He was recruited from Modem Media by Ken Kaess and Keith Reinhard, who were DDB’s CEO and chairman at the time.
GoFish Corporation announced today that it had relaunched as Betawave Corporation. GoFish had built a portfolio of represented youth sites with a large emphasis on virtual worlds. The company says that the rebranding–and the reference to the Beta state of consciousness–reflects its commitment to advertising in contexts that promote engagement and attention over pure reach and pageviews. Betawave combines both with a total reach of 69 million unique users per month around the world averaging 54 minutes each month on Betawave partner properties. The rebranding follows a $22.5 million round of financing in Decemeber.
Introducing the most popular Internet celebrities of last year: Smosh. If you haven’t heard of the comedy duo from Carmichael, Calif., you’re not alone. But Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla host the No. 3 most-subscribed-to video channel on YouTube. IStardom, a Web start-up that tracks Internet celebrity, declared Smosh the most popular name in online entertainment of 2008…YouTube appears to be weighted more heavily in iStardom’s celeb rankings. But the service does take other online social tools, such as Twitter, MySpace and Facebook, into account. The fact that we’re even talking about this just goes to show that social media is a lot like a popularity contest. But when the kids sitting at the “cool” lunchroom table are a couple guys who dress up as cardboard box men…it should give a glimmer of hope to any average Joe.
