The 30-second TV spot is far from dead -- but the time has come to stop thinking about TV ads as stand-alone messages. Rather, they should be seen -- and utilized -- more like "trailers" for "deeper branded digital experiences." At least that's the view of Shiv Singh, the global head of digital for PepsiCo Beverages, who shared his thoughts on the subject recently on the Harvard Business Review's HBR Blog Network. Singh said he sees three big changes on the horizon for TV advertising, including a re-adjustment in the value placed on ads “as we seek to account to for engagement metrics in the pricing.” The story arc of ads will also change as marketers adapt the view of advertisement as trailer “versus the whole story.” And third, said Singh, “location-aware technologies will force a greater degree of engagement on a format that has historically been passive, impersonal and certainly without any extensions.” Singh noted that recent research has found that 60% of television viewers are simultaneously using their cell phones while watching TV and 33% have their laptops at the ready. "Most interestingly," he noted, iPad owners spend "the most time" in front of the TV with their tablet compared to any other activity. It makes sense for TV advertisements to be thought of as an element in a broader narrative arch for the brand -- a narrative arch that allows the brand to tell a more complete and a more interactive story." Thus, said Singh, the return on investment for TV ads "won't be measured by the impact that the TV ad has when it's aired but also by its residual influence on engagement in other mediums in the weeks that follow the airing." As an example, he pointed to the company's "Pepsi Sound Off platform" that was launched to fuel conversations around Fox's new X-Factor series. In effect, said Singh, TV spots in the future will be most effective when woven into the fabric of digital media. "We saw this with the most successful Super Bowl ads like the Volkswagen ad, which was launched online the preceding week, and the Mercedes advertising, which was driven by their Tweetrace engagement program. We've also seen it with Best Buy's Twelpforce, where TV was used to promote the brand's digital engagement program." Singh concluded that marketers need to increasingly be mindful of the content environment surrounding their TV ads and be able to create structures that can exploit the real-time digital feedback to those environments. “Whether it's the Super Bowl or the [Video Music Awards], as marketers run television advertising, they need to be ready for the real-time response and the real-time marketing opportunities for deeper digital engagement,” he said. "When Beyonce showed her pregnancy during the MTV VMA's, that was a real-time moment. It lit up the Web with conversation and savvy brands jumped on the buzz to promote related products and services. This will soon become common for all marketers.”
NBC has created a new integrated marketing position for its specialized marketing/advertising efforts. Former DreamWorks and MTV Networks executive John Shea will be executive vice president and chief marketing officer for NBCUniversal’s Entertainment & Digital Networks and Integrated Media, responsible for NBCUniversal's special marketing efforts, including “Women at NBCU,” “Hispanics at NBCU,” “Green is Universal” and “Healthy at NBCU." He will have oversight in connecting advertisers with these key consumer groups, as well as collaborating on all other NBCUniversal integrated media marketing efforts. Shea will report to Lauren Zalaznick, chairman of NBCUniversal’s Entertainment & Digital Networks and Integrated Media. As a veteran show producer and content creator, Shea has struck a first-look development deal across NBCUniversal, providing the company with access to programming ideas. He will also oversee an in-house creative agency and a team of sales marketers in both both the TV and digital space. For the first quarter of the year, Shea was a “CMO in Residence" for NBC Integrated Media group. Before coming to NBC, Shea had headed up consumer and trade advertising for the DreamWorks/Universal location-based entertainment co-venture “Gameworks." Before that, he was a longtime marketing executive at MTV Networks. Zalaznick stated: “John is a highly creative content producer and strategic marketer, who is one of the top experts in this field."
Video ad network YuMe just received another strategic investment of $12 million from Samsung Ventures, the venture capital arm of the Samsung Group, along with Translink Capital. Jayant Kadambi, YuMe co-founder and CEO, said Wednesday that the new funding will be used to expand the company’s footprint in the connected TV space here and abroad. Ranked as one of the top video ad networks online, publishers such as MSN, MSNBC Digital Network, IDG Entertainment and Glam Media use YuMe's ACE ad management platform. “YuMe’s video advertising technology and three-screen expertise has the potential to accelerate the industry’s efforts to incorporate monetization strategies into all connected devices, including Samsung Smart TVs,” Stephen Lee, principal at Samsung Ventures, said Wednesday. With an eye on emerging platforms, YuMe recently acquired mobile video ad company Appealing Media. With Appealing Media, YuMe got an impressive client list, including ESPN, IPC Media, Bauer Media and Universal McCann. For these and other clients, Appealing Media has executed campaigns across native apps, touch Web and mobile Web properties. Today, over 70% of the U.S. online audience watches video online. Forrester expects the number of streams consumed to more than double by 2013. Driving this growth is an explosion of video content from users, professional studios and marketers. Last year, YuMe closed a $25 million round of funding, led by new investor Menlo Ventures. Existing investors Accel Partners, BV Capital, DAG Ventures and Khosla Ventures also participated in the round. The company recently launched YuMe Europe and its first office in London. Like its domestic counterpart, YuMe Europe is expected to provide advertisers and publishers with the platform to manage advertising campaigns across all screens, including PCs, mobile, connected TVs.
MTV is well-known for overhauling its programs in order to appeal to its target audience, since its previous core demo ages up. Several years ago, it found that Generation Y coveted a certain authenticity compared to their Gen X predecessors. Reality series such as “The Hills” that seemed a bit contrived or staged wouldn’t cut it. Something more relatable was needed. “They wanted to see themselves -- not a glamorized version, nothing manufactured,” said MTV president Stephen Friedman Tuesday at Ad Age’s Media Evolved conference. Enter “16 and Pregnant” and “Teen Mom” and maybe as tough at it is to believe, “Jersey Shore.” “Those are the characters,” MTV Production Chief Chris Linn said of the hit with Snooki and JWoww. “We just follow them and what happens, happens.” MTV has been mindful of other trends intersecting with Gen Y that MTV, such as “peer-enting,” where parents look to be friends and equals with their kids, and dating patterns where becoming “Facebook official” can be an affirmation of a relationship. “We’re always going to follow our creative gut, but research gives us places to play in,” Linn said. Friedman added that as MTV continues to move into new platforms, it is aware that not all outlets call for the same presentation. Tumblr is not Facebook. “You’ve got to have a different voice for every single platform,” he said.
Several Omnicom Group agencies are teaming with the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communications to create a new fellowship designed to sharpen skills in the disciplines of advertising, marketing and public relations. The college said it was the first time a program at its school was specifically designed to provide experience in an integrated fashion across the three disciplines; it is partly a reflection of the industry focus on integrated-marketing plans. The new program comes as digital technology is rapidly transforming all aspects of marketing communications. Industry leaders have talked openly about the need for recruiting people equipped with the skills required to thrive in the sector’s constantly changing environment. Participating Omnicom shops include BBDO Atlanta, Porter Novelli, Ketchum, Fleishman-Hillard, OMD, recruitment marketer Bernard Hodes Group, fund-raising and philanthropy consultant Changing Our World Inc., among others. Commenting on the new fellowship, Chris Hall, president and CEO of BBDO Atlanta, stated: "The dynamics in the field are changing rapidly and require a broader perspective and facility with advertising, public relations, social media and beyond. The fellowship with Grady College allows for our organizations to participate in the development of top talent through this innovative program." Dean Cully Clark of Grady College added: "We've offered internships with many great companies and are excited to bring an integrated approach with top agencies to our students. Grady has a rich history and reputation for being forward-thinking, and this program will keep the college at the leading edge for students who want to get into the marketing profession." The program kicks off in January 2012 with its first three to five fellows. The parties said that the fellowship, which has a term of six months, is expected to expand over time.
Clear Channel Airports, a division of Clear Channel Outdoor, has renewed its partnership with Airport Marketing Income to deliver experiential marketing and sponsorships to advertising clients targeting air travelers. The partnership, first formed in 2009, offers advertisers a number of channels to reach busy business travelers, including naming rights and venue sponsorships, experiential one-to-one marketing campaigns, health and wellness initiatives, product rights, supplier sponsorships and audio rights. These can be combined with a number of CCA assets, including LED screens, interactive digital platforms, backlit displays, baggage carousel wraps, mobile media and digital passenger assistance service systems. CCA assets are typically positioned throughout the airport, from ticketing and concourses to gate areas and jet bridges. CCA and AMI have already collaborated on airport campaigns for a number of major clients, such as BlueCross BlueShield, Dunkin' Donuts, Google, Hotels.com, Lexus, Pepsi, Sprint, and Under Armour. With partnerships with 148 airports in the U.S. and scores of airports overseas, CCA claims to reach 800 million passengers per year, delivering approximately 2 billion annual advertising impressions. Roughly 60% of these are delivered to frequent flyers, who average 18 flights per year and spend an average two hours in the airport before each flight. They are a desirable demographic. Research shows they are 230% more likely than the average American to have an annual income of $100,000 or more. According to separate data from AMI, frequent flyers are two and a half times more likely than the average consumer to have made a corporate purchasing decision in the last year, twice as likely to purchase or lease a new luxury vehicle, and almost twice as likely to sample and adopt new products, services and technologies. Most important for advertisers, per AMI research, 82% of frequent flyers read and recall airport displays.
There is continued digital distraction -- and engagement -- for college students: More than three-quarters are busy with digital activities while watching television. A new study among 1,000 college-age students ages 17-21 from Jack Myers' Media Business Report found that 76% say while watching TV they like to use digital devices contacting friends and others about the TV shows they’re watching. The report cites other studies, which have established that 80% of tablet owners are actively using their tablet while watching TV. While including all forms of mobile communications -- smartphones and the like -- this number rises to 94% of college students engaging in some form of multitasking while watching TV. No wonder that every TV network is very active in producing apps and content that take advantage of this, according to the report. Jack Myers, chairman and media economist at Media Advisory Group and publisher of the Media Business Report, says: “Second-screen content synchronized with TV and videos has a built-in and already active online audience that is primed to jump in if the content is worthwhile and the technology is simple." He adds: "This technology already exists from several companies and every leading TV network is producing for multiple screen interplay.”
As it looks to keep itself in the mixed martial arts ring, the Spike network said it would launch a prime-time newsmagazine focusing on the sport in January. The half-hour live “MMA Junkie Live” will be filmed at MTV’s Times Square studios with previews of the coming weekend’s fights as well as other content. The show is a partnership with MMAJunkie.com, which the USA Today Sports Media Group recently acquired. The site does have a daily radio show that could lend some talent, but Spike said hosts and others are to be determined. Spike has carried UFC programming for years before News Corp. acquired rights. It will begin airing fights under the Bellator banner in 2013 if not before. Spike senior vice president Jon Slusser said recently that the network is looking to build its sports properties in addition to live programming. Slusser oversees sports and multiplatform programming and “MMA Junkie Live” hopes to build interaction via social media sites in real time. “The goal of the series will be to create the must-see destination for MMA fans who crave news, discussion, information, and expert opinion about the sport they love in a unique and entertaining way,” Slusser stated.