Article in the Times today about how the 18-34 demograophic is, in essence, crap form the perspective of marketing. They don't have the lion's share of cash to spend (that's the 50+ market), and in the case of Ford, they aren't even counting on them to buy anything now:

''These younger folks may not be big-ticket purchasers now,'' says a Ford spokesperson, ''but they may one day be. Ford wants to form a relationship with these younger buyers now and grow them up into our various brands.''

In other words, "Hey, we know that you don't hae the cash to spend now, but keep us in mind when you do, OK? Thanks! And hey! Here's your show!"

At the same time, consider what Doc was saying the other day about Tivo:

She just asked how many people in the audience own a TiVo. Not that many hands went up. At Digital Hollywood, nearly all the hands went up.

88% of ads in TiVo households don't get watched.

The goal of a market economy itslelf is to facilitate signals from customers to supliers... The problem is that moving that signal up the chain is like the game of "telephone."

I'm curious as to what the tipping point will be where it is no longer feasable for advertisers to bother with 30 second spots on shows. The first episode of the next season of 24 is running without any ads, and is being "Brought to you by Ford". While that makes watching the show with a six pack impossible, it is a pretty cool move for them to be making.

7:03:56 AM