The "Lost" Marketing Opportunity

Like millions of Americans, I'm a huge fan of the ABC series, "Lost." Last week's episode - I won't spoil anything - furthered the storyline about the underground tunnel system. For those of you who haven't about this show and don't know anything about it, here's a quick synopsis. It's the story of a group(s) of airline passengers who are literally lost on an island after their plane crashed on the way from Austrailia to U.S.

Anyway, the series is a mystery/drama and propels the story by introducing new and interesting plot twists and questions. Where are they? Who else is on the island? Will they be saved? Who can they trust? Ad infinitum. This past week, the screenwriters introduced a character who pointed some of the lost survivors to a film reel that provided some background and exposition as to where they were and what the purpose was behind the underground tunnel system, aka "the hatch". Here's where I think ABC missed a huge marketing opportunity.

Instead of showing us the footage on the show...end with that and drive people to the ABC website to see exclusive clips. Or make another microsite with in-depth info. It would be a boon for this top-rated show. And think of all the cool stuff that ABC could do with this? Premium membership, advertising, sponsorships. Get viewers to submit storylines, film storylines, etc. Instead - they chose the tired and typical route - show everything on TV and wait for unofficial message boards to continue the dialogue.

Now is this move going to slow down this juggernaut? No, but it missed a big opportunity to strengthen its cult status with the power of the broadband web.