By Jessica Scott
Viacom is easily one of the largest organizations in the entertainment
industry. They already have a stranglehold on the industry with ownership
of numerous brands such as CBS, MTV, Nickelodeon, VH1, BET, Paramount,
and a lot more. Perhaps this is why they felt they didn't really need
an engaging website, since they already have a lot of control in the
entertainment world.
The website is basically just a portal, containing links to websites
for those companies that they own. This website wasn't really designed
for the consumer though, the content on the site itself was designed
primarily for advertisers and stockholders. If you click on "Facts,"
the first sentence reads, "Viacom is the No. 1 platform in the
world for advertisers…" It is pretty clear who they are
targeting here. Viacom doesn't need to target the consumer to make
money, they leave that to the individual companies. They'll make their
money from advertisers. This website is targeted at those in the industry,
not those who consume it.
Because Viacom caters to the advertisers, it's not surprise that the
creative content produced by Viacom's sub-corporations might be impacted
by the wants of the advertisers. Additionally, a product with artistic
merit could easily be overlooked for something with more mass appeal,
and projects are more likely to be chosen based on the number of people
the advertisements that come with them can reach.
From the fairly uninteresting website, it's a little hard to believe
that these people are responsible for much of the entertainment being
put out today. As a consumer, I found the website fairly unappealing,
however, were I in the industry, I'm sure it would pique my interest
a bit more. There was plenty of information on stocks earnings. In
addition, there was a lot of helpful information on job openings.
Lastly, there were plenty of links to the websites for Viacom's many
companies, which are for more interesting to the consumer.