Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/915639
www.postmagazine.com 29 POST DECEMBER 2017 OUTLOOK O AUDIO this space and putting hard dollars into creating experiences." WEAKNESSES: "The continuing weak- ness in VR/AR is the lagging moneti- zation of the industry. There still are precious few models where companies can recoup the costs of making these experiences, let alone make a profit from them. This is a weakness overall in the VR community, that there isn't a clear way to adequately monetize." OPPORTUNITIES: "The audio in a lot of ways follows suit to other opportunities that are presenting themselves in VR/ AR. Whenever content is created, people expect now — no matter what medi- um it is, that there will be a visual and aural experience of some sort. So when someone has an aural experience with no visuals, or a visual experience with no audio, it seems wrong or unfinished. In that respect, audio plays such a big role in VR that there is no shortage of oppor- tunities to do good work. For audio work specifically, the technology to create spatial audio is carrying on and continu- ing to evolve in exciting ways. In fact, for us, what we're doing in VR/AR represents some of the most exciting audio oppor- tunities we have right now." THREATS: "From my chair, the lack of monetization is the number one threat. If they don't figure out how to monetize, it will die. It will become an enterprise solution for corporations to either adver- tise their existing content in other media or it will be for corporations to use for training purposes or other enterprise solutions that are not entertainment based. So the number one threat right now is that there needs to be some way to monetize the pipeline and that has to be the number one focus for the large corporations right now." OUTLOOK: "Our outlook is extremely positive. Our company has been able to secure more VR/AR projects that aren't 'proof of concepts' in 2017 than we have between Q1 2014 to Q4 2016. Our VR/AR slate for 2018 looks bright. We've developed relationships over the last three years that are long-term, with companies that already have a pipeline of VR and AR lined up. We're absolutely expecting to grow that division substan- tially in 2018." RON DICESARE Ron DiCesare's commer- cial work includes national TV campaigns for brands like Tidy Cats, Estee Lauder, Blistex, Clear Eyes and Beggin' Strips. His work can also be heard on Vice's and Viceland's many promos and shows, including What Would Diplo Do?, F**k That's Delicious and Moltissomo with Chef Mario Batali. DiCesare is considered by some to be the 'Colin Farrell of audio,' that is to say, he's not afraid to break the rules. STRENGTHS: "Advertising agencies are producing commercials solely for the Internet and that has become legitimate to the point where it is the norm. Doing ads just for Internet is not considered a throwaway like it was, say 10 or 15 years ago. I worked on a Nix campaign that was a perfect example of this. The spots were originally produced for the Internet only, but they became so well received that they were added to run on broadcast TV after the fact. That is a complete reversal to what was the norm of the past. And I recently completed a campaign for Blistex where it was the first time I had ever done commercials solely for Snap Chat." WEAKNESSES: "As you know, people don't watch TV like they used to years ago. I grew up watching the three big networks and without a TV remote con- trol. Actually, you didn't need a remote control because there were only three channels to choose from! I know this is equivalent to saying that I had to walk to school uphill both ways, but I tell my kids about TV when I was their age and they cannot comprehend it. Now many people, particularly younger people, watch YouTube more than network TV or even Netflix. The result is the traditional advertising and audio post production model that has existed for so long is fad- ing away. One :15 ad per YouTube video, is that where we are going? "Another more recent weakness is something the audio industry has always had a firm grasp on, which is radio. Believe it or not, I still do a fair amount of radio ads. Now the main place most people listen to the radio is in their cars. Recently, I bought a new car — the first time in a while, and I was amazed to see the whole phone integration. Now, I don't want to listen to the radio in my car anymore. I plug in my phone and I listen to my iTunes library — one place where radio ads will never be." OPPORTUNITIES: "Mobile, but quite frankly I can't say exactly how. If I could, then I might become the next Jeff Bezos! But seriously, we all know that our lives have become more and more reliant on our mobile devices. I have gotten to the point where if I ever left my house without my wallet, I wouldn't care all that much. But if I ever left my house without my phone, I would be lost without it. I feel like I can't function without it. So, somewhere in there is an opportunity for audio — I just can't say exactly how." THREATS: "The whole concept of ads within program material, where they integrate the products into a TV show, could be an unexpected threat to audio post. For example, the whole Jimmy Kimmel Brooklyn week (in October) had one ad per show done with Kimmel and his guests within the show 'disguised' as a comedy skit. There are many other shows that are incorporating ads like this. That means less and less traditional commer- Nix TV spot