Darla Cardwell

Microsoft Online Services Customer Story: Darla Cardwell

“I don’t live in a user scenario.”

Catching up with the world, backstage.

What defines a “typical” lifestyle? Who lives their life on a “normal” schedule these days? Certainly not a professional singer and dancer who has to sandwich staying current with world news between rehearsals and her lunch break—or keep up with her favorite shows and recipes in the airport lounge on a layover. For Darla Cardwell, the answer is as close as her laptop, whether she’s backstage at the local theater or on a cross-country trip for an audition.

Since beginning piano lessons in second grade, the performing arts have been a big part of Darla Cardwell’s life. By middle school, her focus was singing. Now, as a professional theatrical performer, she spends her days turning her passion for the arts into a successful career, including roles in major productions like Cats.

But for Darla, the work that gives her the greatest pleasure often comes at a price: not being able to keep control of her own time. “My schedule as a performer is absolutely crazy,” she says. With rehearsals at random times, early-morning practices, and demanding travel, it’s hardly your typical 9 to 5. And that kind of a schedule can take a toll on personal interests. When do you find time for the TV programs you love if you’re never free when they’re on—or even home to watch recordings? How do you keep up with the events and information that mean something to you when you’re running between locations and roles? That’s why Darla chooses MSN® Video.

Customers are spending less time with traditional media, while online usage is growing:

-19% Radio

-30% Magazine

-30% Newspaper

-33% Television

+15% Internet (growth as measured by pageviews)¹

“I’m up practicing, or I’m delayed at an airport, or I’m on my lunch break. Whatever it is, I only have a few minutes. Those are the times that I can go to MSN Video and get plugged in—immediately,” she says.

	MSN Video is what I like to call the Darla Network.
	Darla Cardwell Professional Theatrical Performer

When your time is that short, being able to get the variety of content you’re looking for—all in one place—is a huge advantage, according to Darla. “When I have fifteen minutes, I love to go to MSN Video and load up my playlist. Like going and watching a John Mayer concert. Watching Be Jane for some really cool, quick tips—you know, do it yourself, and here’s how to do it. Catching up with an episode of ‘Arrested Development,’ ‘NBC Nightly News,’ the ‘Today’ show,” she says. And the rich experience of MSN Video is also about finding unexpected things that make life interesting. “I was doing a search for coffee, and up came this programming on the Food Network for ‘The Best Irish Coffee’!”

Darla is not alone. The more than 12 million viewers who turn to MSN Video are part of a larger trend that sees Internet content like streaming video replacing our nation’s primetime TV viewing habit. Recent Piper Jaffray research found that 64% of US Internet users watched video streams in a given month.² For viewers, that kind of demand means that more and more of the compelling content they want is sure to be programmed online at places like MSN Video.

For advertisers, the story is just as interesting. With a far more specific audience than is found through traditional media—MSN Video viewers have chosen the particular clip they’re watching—there’s greater potential for reaching consumers with quick, targeted marketing that is less intrusive on the viewing experience. “I don’t mind watching the advertisements as long as they have something to do with my life, and, more often than not, they do,” says Darla.

In our changing society, where many people are finding new ways to work—and are living their lives on new kinds of schedules—online content will play an increasingly important role in keeping them connected to their interests and their world. And each of these individuals will determine personally where, when, and how that content is used, whether they are on the run or, like Darla, on the boards. “I find it ironic that I’ve been trained in all these classical arts—and that’s what I’m spending my life doing—yet I’m going online for my news and entertainment. MSN Video is what I like to call the Darla Network.”

For more information, go to www.microsoft.com

¹Source: Ball State University Center for Media Design: “A Day in the Life: An Ethnographic Study of Media Comparison,” 2006.

²Source: Piper Jaffray: “The User Revolution,” (results for August 2006), February 2007.

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