Comments and Suggestions Welcomed Version 1.0 The New Business Significance of Branding

Understanding of the future for media industries can benefit from a look backwards. In the era before radio and television, print media alone were highly successful in creating new consumer visions and aspirations, building national brands, and establishing significant brand equity. The advent of radio and television did not change total advertising spending as a share of total economic output, nor did it change significantly total advertising spending per adult media hour. Even rudimentary media technologies are sufficient to support highly salient brands, and constraints on the extent of advertising revenue do not appear to be linked to media technology. In order for media industries as a whole to grow relatively rapidly, branding efforts must shift toward collaborative market-building to develop user routines, comfort, and trust in new types of media interactions and transactions. 1 The most current version will be available from http://www.erols.com/dgalbi/telpol/think.htm or http://www.galbithink.org . This paper draws significantly on the author’s earlier paper, “Communications Policy, Media Development, and Convergence,” available at http://www.galbithink.org and http://www.ssrn.com . 2 The opinions and conclusions expressed in this paper are those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the Federal Communications Commission, its Commissioners, or any staff other than the author. I am grateful for numerous FCC colleagues who have shared their insights and experience with me. Author’s address: [email protected]; FCC, 445 12’th St. SW, Washington, DC 20554, USA.