Jackass Takes Online Video to a New Level

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By Matt Clark

It seems that MTV Networks is willing to be a Digital Marketing science experiment with Jackass 2.5. As reported by the New York Times, Jackass 2.5, the hour-plus movie, will be available for free online. This is an out-of-the-box idea, but it’s not a new one. YouTube started the web video revolution, and every major TV network now offers their shows online. But this is one of the first major films following suit. MTV networks, a subsidiary of Viacom, will be utilizing pure web marketing and web revenue models starting December 19^th.

Jackassworld.com will be a mix of classic Web 2.0 products, such as blogs, online communities and video content. I think this is a great step for Digital Marketing and I am sure Jackass 2.5 will be a success. They already have a cult brand and a loyal following. It reminds me of Radiohead’s “Pay What You Want” digital marketing scheme from a few months ago. It is estimated that they sold over $10 million-worth of albums with over 1.2 million downloads.

I don’t know if such drastic approaches to digital and social marketing would work for classic corporate companies, but young consumer-focused companies like MTV understand the market. You’re giving your consumers what they want, the way they want it, for nothing (I know … I’m calling myself a liar as I type it). Although I’m not a fan of pure online advertising as a revenue model; if you build it – the money will come…

I look forward to reviewing the site and tracking their success.