I’m a huge fan of animated cartoons. One of the bright spots in the 90’s was the Steven Spielberg-produced Animaniacs, a series which proved that it was still possible to create funny, acerbic, satirical cartoons that would appeal to both children and adults. Two of the stars of the series were two lab mice (who’s genes had been spliced), Pinky and The Brain. Pinky was an idiot savant with a goofy, slightly Aussie-sounding dialect, while The Brain was a masterful take on Orson Welles. (Go to YouTube.com and search for “Pinky and The Brain” – I’ll wait.)

Back? Good. Now that you’re familiar with Pinky and The Brain, you’ve probably heard The Brain tell Pinky more than once, “Focus, Pinky…focus.” Pinky was something of a free spirit, easily distracted by the here and now, and frequently distracted from the overall plan.

If you’ve been wondering where I’m going with this, wonder no more. In marketing, you’re screwing up if you’re channeling Pinky. Let me explain, with some real life examples…

Presented for your consideration, Cartoon Network. If you have no small children in your house, or you’re not, like me, a big animation fan, you might not know about Cartoon Network. It’s a Time Waner-owned basic cable channel that shows animated cartoons, 24-7. (If you think that’s too narrow a niche, they have a sister station, Boomerang, that shows nothing but vintage cartoons.)

Not long after Cartoon Network made a splash, they began creating original programming. Shows like Powerpuff Girls, Dexter’s Laboratory, and Johnny Bravo brought new fans to animation. Later, they added a programming block known as Adult Swim, where they featured second-run shows like Futurama and Family Guy, and original-ish shows like Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Sea Lab 2012, and Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Still, Cartoon Network has a market limited by their focus. That’s a good thing. Sadly, they don’t think so. You see, by focusing on Just cartoons, they can be THE place to go to watch cartoons online. Lose that focus, and you’re just another one of the herd. Unfortunately, Cartoon Network has announced that they are producing a block of live-action shows, coming this Fall. This is a bad move, for when you’re in the mood for some animation and you flip over to CN only to find live action shows, you likely won’t be coming back. Smart move for CN? Hardly.

Let’s now consider the fate of SciFi. The channel is about to undergo yet another rebranding effort, marking another transition from the Science Fiction Network to the SciFi Channel to the upcoming SyFy. Why? the SciFi Channel is known as the home of imports like Doctor Who, original shows like Stargate Atlantis and eureka, and classics like Star Trek and the Twilight Zone. Apparently, SciFi is not happy with being known as the place to go for science fiction and science fantasy. I smell a rebranding effort with the goal of expanding the brand.

They’re not alone. It’s been almost a decade since MTV (a.k.a. “Music TeleVision”) has broadcast nothing but music videos. In fact, you’d be hard pressed to find music videos on MTV. Ditto for VH1, formerly “MTV for adults.”

Stupid? Yes. They are exchanging a momentary buzz for their brand focus. And that’s never a good idea. If you don’t like your market segment, it’s risky – but frequently workable – to change it. What was once TNN (The Nashville Network) abandoned it’s focus on country music, and reinvented itself as Spike.tv – focusing on male-oriented programming.

Keeping your brand focused is a winning strategy. Losing focus by attempting to be something that doesn’t jibe with your image is a recipie for disaster. Stay tuned…

This entry was posted on Friday, June 12th, 2009 at 5:25 pm and is filed under marketing, media.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.