xyz
posted 10/02/09 09:42 AM | updated 10/02/09 10:01 AM
Featured Post! | Views: 176 | Comments : 4 | Business

KOMO Adds Insult to Advertising

Subject: The look at B-town is b-rate!News I need. Junk ads I don’t!
By Michael van Baker
Editor
Recommend this story (0 votes)

Scott Schaefer of Burien's B-Town Blog now has the hands-down funniest story about KOMO's entry to the hyperlocal blog marketplace. On September 15, Scott got this comment on his site from "Derek":


Subject: The look at B-town is b-rate!

Message: Geez-Reading your blog is like reading the yellow pages. Could you put a few more ads in there? At least all I have to do is move on, no finding it clogging my porch or having to lug it to the recycle bin.

News I need. Junk ads I don’t!

While "Derek" provided a Yahoo! email account for identification, he also left behind his IP address: registered to Fisher Communications, KOMO's parent company. Schaefer goes on to say that his advertisers have also gotten calls from KOMO ad reps, asking them to cancel their B-Town Blog advertising and go KOMO.

B-Town Blog isn't the only neighborhood blog crying foul over Fisher's aggressive entry into the marketplace, according to the Puget Sound Business Journal. While it's hard not to applaud the moxie of creating and posting an ad for a business and then calling the business owner to sell them on it, you wish KOMO would put as much energy into breaking its hyperlocal news.

Save and Share this article
Permalink
Tags: komo, fisher communications, b-town blog, advertising, psbj + add tags
savecancel
CommentsRSS Feed
Um, the name's actually "Scott Schaefer" NOT Fisher
Just wanted to let you know that you've got my name wrong - it's Scott SCHAEFER, not "Scott Fisher."

If indeed my last name was "Fisher," at least in this case, I would be an UNETHICAL JACKASS.

However, I am but a "Schaefer," which is German for "Shepherd," and thus, my goal is to shepherd Fisher Broadcasting and KOMO OUT OF OUR HYPER-LOCAL BLOGGING MARKET.

thanks,
scott SCHAEFER (NOT "Fisher"!)
http://www.b-townblog.com
Comment by Scott Schaefer
3 days ago
( 0 votes)
( report abuse ) ( )
RE: Um, the name's actually "Scott Schaefer" NOT Fisher
There goes my "no relation" joke. :( But accuracy demands it. Thanks for dropping in, Scott "NOT Fisher" Schaefer.
Comment by Michael van Baker
3 days ago
( 0 votes)
( report abuse ) ( )
KOMO Adds Insult to Advertising - pushing around the little guy
interesting story - and, if true, then an example of corporate greed moving in to snuff out the little guys - kinda like Wal-Mart, Macy's, Starbucks, Walgreens, Rite-Aid, Home Depot, Lowe's - the list goes on.

What really matters is, in the long run, the local merchant and local media will win out. A small shop in Burien doesn't need a full coverage web site - just the local zip codes it serves. And with the vast improvements in content generation and delivery - soon the ABC, NBC, CBS and for that matter Amazon or Comcast strangle hold on the distribution channel will be circumvented when your local neighborhood hardware store can just as easily sponsor a movie you wish to see or a program you want to download. Hang in the b-town, your time is just around the corner!
Comment by barry
3 days ago
( +1 votes)
( report abuse ) ( )
For more on this story
The Puget Sound Business Journal has a cover story on this. It's a good read, but you have to go search for a print copy I guess since only an excerpt is on their site:
http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2009/10/05/st
Comment by Steve Winwood
3 days ago
( +1 votes)
( report abuse ) ( )
Add Your Comment
Name:
Email:
(will not be displayed)
Subject:
Comment: