“I Am the Long Tail” is a short film about the thousands of individuals who, powered by interactive advertising, have turned their interests and passions into a media revolution. The objective is to show marketers around the country, agencies in major cities, regulators in Washington and in state capitals and the public at large the true diversity of interactive media and interactive advertising. “I Am the Long Tail” gives voice to the people behind a historic shift in communications to establish its powerful economic impact, implications for our culture and contribution to the American conversation.
The IAB thought the best way to do this was to ask the very folks who live on the long tail to step out from behind the anonymity of their sites and tell their own stories, in their own words, in videos they would produce. Calls for contributions were made on YouTube, in long-tail communities, through advertising networks and more.
Long tail publishers were told to use any format they could, from HD cameras to mobile phones. They were asked to talk about themselves personally, about their sites, about their businesses, why they do what they do, and how their living is dependent on interactive advertising. They tackled this task with gusto and imagination—telling their stories with pride, or humor, or just straightforwardly—but always with heartfelt commitment. From the more than two dozen videos received, "I Am the Long Tail" was formed.
The film is just the beginning of something the IAB envisions as a much larger portrait of American entrepreneurs, who are pursuing and achieving the American dream, even as they row hard against strong economic currents. The intention is to continue to build on these contributions and capture hundreds of vignettes of people testifying about the long tail, about the critical importance of interactive advertising, making this new tribe of media moguls in the bloom of their business youth come to life.
Stay tuned for more on IAmTheLongTail.com. And, if you are a small publisher we encourage you to submit your own long tail video as well as join the IAB’s Long Tail Alliance.
