Brand Equity of Rocketboom –Amanda or Andy
Julio Garcia wants to bet me an entire US dollar, that he thinks that Rocketboom will be better off in 6 months with the loss of Amanda.
Edit: Julio writes that:
“I hate to be the one to say this, even though this is not personal but a skill critique, but Amanda didn’t really exude any remarkable talent, acting or comedic. It would not be difficult for RocketBoom to find another pretty face, with a more natural, less exaggerated on-screen persona. Amanda on the other hand heads to Los Angeles where very attractive women with more talent are a dime a dozen.”
I disagree.
As you know Amanda has left Rocketboom and it’s being discussed all over Techmeme, as Amanda has just expressed her view that she was indeed fired. The dirty laundry is being aired for the whole world to read. It’s a bit hard to tell what’s going as there seems to be some miscommunication.
In my opinion, L.A. is calling Amanda as she’s got the talent and skills needed for the entertainment industry. I could see her going to a national TV show, maybe something like E! Talk Soup or some type of witty talk show.
Take a look at what Andrew has written, (posted by Winer) you can see him a bit shocked over the sudden breakup –he’s not sure what to do, it’s as if she left him.
It’s so clear to me, that she’s the talent, the voice, the reason that people went to Rocketboom –Julio suggests that she’s just ‘another pretty face’ that can easily be replaced, while I see the talent, cleverness, and personality that can charm a globe of geeks.
I suspect that Rocketboom will have reduced visitors (they’re getting 300k visitors per episode right now says Washingon Post) (Edit: According to Scoble, it’s only 250k) in six months on January 5th, 2007, as well as decreased user opinion (we can use opinmind to check user opinion).
What do you all think? Was Amanda Rocketboom? Or will the show thrive without her?
7 Comments so far
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I think it is all up to the new host (whoever that may be). They could be awful and just do a bad impersonation of Amanda, or actually do it better than she ever did.
The decision on the new anchor will be the life and death of RB.
I agree, the new host is key… I elect Robert Scoble.
Oh my —see Rocketvote
http://www.rocketvote.com/
J,
It’s kinda like moving your blog to a new space. I know you are cognizant of the challenges inherent in such a transition, but I’m sure you will build up your traffic. All it takes would be time and patience as well as somebody as personable as Amanda for RocketBoom to Boom again. Plus as Scoble pointed out, RocketBoom may not have been all that great a success as imagined.
As for Amanda, she surely is a superstar within the high-tech space. Can John (from Podtech) really pull off a great coup by hiring her too?
Only Time will tell.
-Mario
Amanda was the face and voice of Rocketboom. It’ll be hard to replace her.
[…] Mark Wiens sent me this video of Joann Colan the new host of Rocketboom, she appears on Fine Living, a Travel Show. News about Amanda’s replacement is on Techmeme. She says things like “that’s incredible” and “amazing”. Julio hopes she can do more than that, or he’s going to owe me a dollar in 6 months. […]
[…] I’m curious and am going to stick around, I haven’t unsubscribed just yet. FYI, the tomato image is because that’s what they used in the video –not because I’m a basher. I wonder what Julio thinks, since we’ve got a bet going. Mark still hasn’t seen a full audience but wishes he had more clothes. […]