I wasn’t surprised to hear RocketBoom is pursuing a sponsor (via eBay even), nor was I surprised they want to keep full creative control (they should).
I was surprised that the high bid (as of this writing) of $15,099.99 hadn’t passed their hidden reserve.
Now, I know you need 10x that for a decent music video, but it makes me think RocketBoom doesn’t really want advertisers. Maybe they just wanted to see what their market valuation was.
At this moment in time, the market says 15 seconds in front of the RocketBoom audience is worth a hair over $3k (winner gets 5 ads).
I predict they’d get more from product placement or some other more persistent branding ad form more compatible with the medium. Yes, something closer to NASCAR drivers or superheros sponsorship.
Update 20 March 2006: Mark Pesce agrees – bugs, badges, and other screen tattoos are the future of advertising in a bittorrent world
Auction ended, $40,000 final bid and yes, the reserve was met.
Update 14 March 2006. I caught the first RocketBoom ad for TRM this morning. It was exactly what I expected it to be. A short video a la BMW’s the Hire.
Looks like the bid has doubled and still hasn’t hit reserve. I wonder if they’re just going to collect email address’ and broadcast an advertising plan after it’s all said and done. A little anti-climactic in my opinion. I also wonder if they’re putting an unrealistic reserve to encourage the bidding process since interest is obviously high. I would love to know how many people are watching this auction, wouldn’t you?