Assemble!
Let’s do some figuring*:
- 3 out of 4 American households have a computer.
- 35 million Americans have broadband.
- 75 percent of Americans own a cell phone.
- 70 percent of American households will have HDTVs in five years.
- 7 million HDTVs will be connected to the internet by the end of 2010.
And here’s another seemingly unrelated figure:
- 8 out of 10 times, people watch Hulu alone.
That’s not to say that Hulu viewers are lonely people — only those who use it to watch reruns of Party of Five. This figure highlights that most of the time Hulu isn’t watched in an environment that’s conducive to groups of people.
Desktop computers tend to be stuck in an office or a bedroom, and aren’t the best things to gather ’round. Laptops don’t fit the bill either, obviously. This is not a very practical set-up.
So, the Hulu brand should expand on it’s core value of freedom. This one is in the Bill of Rights. Give us the freedom to assemble.
From an advertising perspective, its in Hulu’s best interest to be seen by more than one set of eyes per session. More eyes means more dollars. More importantly, community viewing increases brand awareness for Hulu and the content it hosts. And really, laughing alone is just not as fun.
How can we fix this?
The most obvious solution, put Hulu on the television. Couches work better for groups than desk chairs.
The Living Room Solution
Remember those 7 million HDTVs that are connected to the internet? That’s why, they’re watching Hulu, or Boxee, or Apple TV. But with 35 million Americans hooked up to broadband, and even larger saturation of households with HDTV, that 7 million is poised to skyrocket.
There’s just an issue of interactivity. Most desktops and laptops have HDMI support, which is all you need to hook up to an HDTV. But how can you communicate with your computer from the comfort of your couch? Don’t say wireless keyboard and mouse, that’s just clunky.
Remember how one in four Americans owns a cell phone? That’s your remote control. All it needs is an app, which I’m tentatively titling the Humote.
You grab your iPhone, or Droid, or BlackberryTouch, which is connected to your wireless network, and start the Humote. You select the most recent episode of The Office from a searchable database. Your phone instantly sends a signal across your network to your laptop, and — with the aid of a tiny background program — opens your browser to that episode.
Steve Carrell’s big stupid smile appears on your HDTV. Your laptop, connected, hums along quietly where the cable box would be. Your wife laughs with you and the five year-old, who’s thinks Dwight is silly. You use your Humote to pause when the baby cries, and to switch to Taxi Driver after you put the rugrat in bed.
An app like the Humote serves the Hulu brand’s core competency by giving viewers the freedom to watch in the living room, and the freedom to watch with friends and family.
Putting more eyes on the screen increases brand awareness, as does the presence of the Humote on Apple’s App Store, Verizon’s Media Store, the Droid community, and other digital outlets.
In the next installment, we’ll be assembling again, differently.
– Adam Gardner
*From About.com and “Numbers Games.” Sound & Vision Nov. ’09
