The spread of mobile technology has been a boon for news consumption, bolstering the appeal of traditional news brands and even expanding long-form journalism. More than a quarter of Americans (27%) get news on mobile devices, increasing overall news consumption, according to a new report by Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism. The research firm’s annual State of the News Media study found social media has grown quickly in the last year as well, but still plays a limited role in how people get news. Regardless of platform, the report concluded that technology providers -- rather than publishers -- are collecting the lion’s share of ad revenue from the digital news boom. “In sum, the news industry is not much closer to a new revenue model than a year earlier and has lost more ground to rivals in the technology industry,” the report stated. The majority of Americans now get news through at least one digital, Web-based device, mainly a desktop or laptop computer. But the number who get news through multiple devices is growing, with nearly a quarter (23%) of adults doing so on at least two devices. Nearly a third (31%) of smartphone owners also own a tablet, and 13% have a computer, smartphone and tablet. On smartphones and tablets, users are more likely to go straight to a news site or app, rather than relying on search. That works to the advantage of established news sources with familiar brands. Based on data from mobile analytics firm Localytics, the Pew study also found people tend to spend more time with news on mobile devices than on PCs. They go to news sites more often, spend more time at a sitting and read more articles per session. Rather than cannibalizing usage, comScore research indicates that mobile devices increased traffic on major newspaper sites by an average of 9% last year. Social media has generated as much -- if not more -- buzz than mobile gadgets in recent years, but hasn’t been as big an influence on news consumption, according to the Pew report. Less than 10% of the digital news audience follow news recommended on Facebook and Twitter “very often,” it found. That compares to 36% who get news directly from a site or app, 32% via search, and 29% from news aggregators like Topix or Flipboard. Still, social media is playing a growing role in news distribution. Based on an analysis of Hitwise data, Pew found 9% of traffic to news sites comes from Facebook, Twitter and other social sites -- up by more than half since 2009. Facebook users follow links from friends and family, while Twitter users follow a range of news sources. The growth that news publishers have enjoyed through mobile and social channels, however, hasn’t been matched by business gains. Technology intermediaries are capturing even more of the digital revenue pie. The Pew study cited an eMarketer finding that five technology companies last year generated 68% of all digital ad revenue. And roughly one of every five display ad dollars is expected to go to Facebook by 2015. For traditional newspapers, the problem of monetizing growing online audiences is especially acute. Last year, they lost about $10 in print ad revenue for every $1 gained online. That’s worse than in 2010, when print losses to digital gains had a $7 to $1 ratio. Up to 100 newspapers in the coming months are expected to join the 150 dailies that already have some kind of digital subscription model. Despite a handful of exceptions, such as The Financial Times and The Boston Globe, the study faults legacy news providers for failing to adopt new approaches to boost revenue. As an example, it points to the lack of targeted or “smart” advertising in digital media to generate higher ad sales. A separate Pew report released last week found that two-thirds of Internet users are uneasy with targeted advertising and search engines tracking their behavior. That reflects the tensions traditional news outlets face as they seek to grow revenue, while maintaining trust with their users.
Thanks to YouTube, Google still dominates online video. Video advertising is a different story. Hulu and its premium content now attract the bulk of video ad impressions -- more than 1.5 billion in February alone, according to new data from comScore. By contrast, Google sites (including YouTube) generated about 1.1 billion video ads during the month. Trailing Hulu and Google, Adap.tv generated 706 million video ad impressions in February, followed by BrightRoll Video Network with 683 million, and Specific Media with 611 million impressions. Among all video properties, consumers also spent the most time watching ads on Hulu -- 650 million minutes in February. Overall, time spent watching video ads totaled nearly 3.2 billion minutes. What’s more, video ads accounted for 16.6% of all videos viewed, and 1.3% of all minutes spent viewing video online. In total, video ads reached 50% of the total U.S. population an average of 49 times during the month. Hulu delivered the highest frequency of video ads to its viewers with an average of 48, while ESPN delivered an average of 26 ads per viewer. Ads aside, Google still leads the way with 147.4 million unique viewers in February, followed by Yahoo Sites with 60.9 million; VEVO with 52 million; Facebook.com with 43.6 million; and Viacom Digital with 43.2 million. Nearly 38 billion video views occurred during the month, with Google Sites generating the highest number at 16.7 billion, followed by Hulu with 951 million and Yahoo Sites with 721 million. The average viewer watched 21.8 hours of online video content, with Google Sites (7 hours) and Hulu (3.8 hours) demonstrating the highest average engagement among the top ten properties. For February, YouTube partner data revealed that video music channels VEVO maintained the top two positions, with 50.8 million and 29.9 million viewers, respectively. Gaming channel Machinima ranked third with 22.9 million viewers, followed by Maker Studios with 14.4 million, FullScreen with 12 million, and Warner Bros (The Ellen Show) with 9 million. Among the top 10 YouTube partners, Machinima demonstrated the highest engagement -- 64 minutes per viewer -- closely followed by VEVO -- 61 minutes per viewer -- while VEVO streamed the most videos -- 674 million -- followed by Machinima -- 344 million. Across the board, 83.8% of the U.S. Internet audience viewed online video in February.
Intel tests what people would do for an Ultrabook computer, from breaking societal norms to testing feats of strength, in a new guerilla marketing campaign making the rounds in Asia. In six lighthearted experiments filmed in four locations earlier this year, Intel placed some of its new Ultrabooks in heavily trafficked public places. The experiments were positioned as “temptations” that challenged consumers to go outside of their comfort zones for the chance to own a new Ultrabook. One experiment, for instance, placed an Ultrabook in a glass box along with a hammer that passersby could use to break the glass and take the computer if they dared. Other videos, which can be viewed on YouTube, show people punching a sensor pad to show their strength and a challenge in which individuals were given five minutes to convince enough people to stand on one side of a seesaw to lift them up for a key to the Ultrabook box. “Ultrabooks are a new category of mobile computers, inspired by Intel, with features from the best of both notebooks and tablets,” Paul McKeon, Regional PR Manager for Intel Asia-Pacfic, tells Marketing Daily. “Our goal is for the devices to become mainstream over the next few years. But we recognize that to many folks, Ultrabook is new term, so this campaign is one of the many things we are doing to introduce it.” Filmed in Australia, Indonesia and Thailand in February and March, the videos are intended to entertain and inform people about the new Ultrabooks that are available. The videos were captured through roving and candid cameras to capture people as they really were. The overall creative direction as well as the concept came from The Monkeys, an agency in Sydney, Australia, McKeon says. For now, the “Temptations” project has been introduced only to audiences in Asia-Pacific. But, McKeon says, there has been interest from other regions to conduct similar programs. “That’s something we’d love to do but haven’t committed to yet,” he says.
The United States Marine Corps on Monday will run an advertising campaign on YouTube for desktop and mobile. The campaign shows Marines as warriors and humanitarians. The ads target YouTube's traditional audience, males ages 17 to 24, and aim to complement the unit's YouTube Channel. The campaign will run on the site for the second consecutive Monday this month. Last week, ads generated 133 million impressions in 24 hours. That means the ads had more viewers than the 2012 Super Bowl, at 112 million, and more than the most-watched TV show "Roots" at 130 million, according to Google. As part of a recent rebranding campaign, the Marines ran an expandable home page masthead and mobile ads, as well as a First Watch ad unit, which Google launched last year. First Watch activates when someone enters YouTube to watch a video through email, another Web site or search engine. On Monday, March 19, the Marines will run ads -- one each -- on the home page and mobile for 24 hours. The units have social tools that allow people to share the ads across sites like Google+. "Research shows users are more likely to recall an ad or take action on the first ad they see," said Courtney Rose, Google's head of the public sector, referring to stats from the Center for Media Research. "That's why the YouTube home page takeover ad and the First Watch ad can produce higher return on investments." The analytical data on the back end, such as the time spent with the video, comes from YouTube Insights. JWT spearheaded the campaign, which aims to recruit potential enlistees. It conducts research for the Marines to keep an "eye on what the pool of potential American recruits is thinking. It found in the late 2010 survey of 17- to 24-year-olds that roughly 70% believed helping others was essential to being a good citizen today," according to the Associated Press. While the Marine Corps --the smallest U.S. service branch at a little over 200,000 -- might be hiring, it isn't accepting all applicants. The U.S. service branches continue to receive an abundance of applications, partly as a result of the ailing economy. Many times recruiters must turn away young, enthusiastic applicants due to poor high school grades or college scores.
Social gaming firm PlayPhone has added a marketing model in buying SocialHour, a social mobile marketing company, for $51.5 million, reports VentureBeat. PlayPhone has already constructed a large social network for games across iOS, Android, Windows Phone 7 and HTML5. Gamers can meet and play against one another on the same games but across different operating systems, including the Web. The company claims to have had accumulated 3 million members just in the months leading to the December launch of the social gaming platform. In acquiring a social mobile marketing group, the company is looking for ways to integrate models like incentivized play and other marketing to target that constant flow of gamers. PlayPhone CEO Ron Czerny told VentureBeat: “We’ve been following SocialHour for a while, and they have a very sophisticated program for marketing and lead generation on mobile devices.” While the deal is a stock-only transaction between PlayPhone, with 110 employees, and SocialHour with 22, the price tag of $51.5 million is another eyebrow-raiser for mobile. In recent weeks Asian telco Singtel acquired mobile marketing company Amobee for a hefty $321 million, ranking it among the most lucrative deals ever made in the segment. Google bought AdMob in 2009 for about $750 million and Apple got Quattro for about $275 million. But the market for mobile social gaming is enjoying rosy projections in part because it leverages virtual goods. Inside Network estimates that virtual goods in mobile games will hit $500 million in spending this year in the U.S., up from $350 last year. Marketers see an obvious opportunity to build programs that exchange ad exposure for virtual currency and other ways of providing gamers with value within this ecosystem. PlayPhone competes against rival social gaming networks like OpenFeint, which operates on iOS and Android. OpenFeint was acquired by the Japanese company GREE for $104 million last year.
Have you noticed that women are multi-taskers, run the family social calendars, are the majority of caregivers, do the household purchasing, gift buying and most all family communications? Now, women can get information online to streamline their busy lives but also to do research and shopping for autos, travel, clothes, shoes, caregiver solutions, gardening, finance, hobbies and more. Women are super consumers. The brands that engage, connect and provide them with solutions will earn their business. Brands that provide helpful tips and advice on how to improve their busy lives will be embraced with a loyal consumer. How well do you know your super consumer? Here are three quiz questions to get to know her better: 1. Women Ages 45 + Make or Influence 80% of all Household Decisions affecting trillions of dollars annually.A. TrueB. False True. Women ages 45 + make or influence most of the household decisions. Think about your life and the women around you; they influence products for the home, auto selection, education, pharmaceutical, health care, cell phones, technology, care giving options. 2. Women 45 + who are Empty Nesters leave the extra bedroom empty when their children move out. A. TrueB. False False. The extra bedroom now becomes a home theater, game room, yoga room, reading or mediation room. This means opportunity for those manufacturers and retailers that can help women transform their rooms and enhance their busy lives. 3. Women 35 + Socialize Online Once per Day to Relieve Stress.A. TrueB. False True. According to Harris Interactive Poll Fall 2011 Women ages 35 + are driving the growth of social media to relieve stress and connect with friends and family. We know that Baby Boomers are buying three out of five new cars; here are additional auto facts for consideration:
When running the ING New York City Marathon in November for a small local charity, it was easy for me to see the big picture — especially when surrounded by thousands of other charity runners. It reinforced the idea that contributing to a cause is never a solo act. The things we believe in aren’t about just ourselves; they’re about our communities, locally and globally, and joining together with other likeminded people to effect change. Because of that, powerful cause marketing will always be about building stronger, better and more meaningful relationships that inspire people to be a part of something and take action. Social and digital media have made it easier than ever for nonprofits and others to connect with those who believe in their causes. But a simple connection isn’t a relationship, and the challenge for cause marketers is to create online relationships that draw people in and leave them wanting an even greater level of engagement—to get past digital connection to begin face-to-face relationship building, often the ultimate goal of any nonprofit. There’s a meaningful difference between being moved by a charity’s story on a blog and running a marathon for that charity with a team. But, the online story has the power to start the deeper commitment. So the question is, how do you get people to want to know your team, your organization, and to take an active role in the community as a whole? Original online content, as part of a well-considered online strategy, is a great catalyst to in-person meet-ups—blogs, websites and social media are about relationship building. But with all the noise out there, it’s essential that you set yourself apart. How? Make people like you. They’ve already shown an affinity for your cause, so the real goal is to charm and to make your audience want to know you better, work with you, and advance your cause. And in most cases, if people like you online, they will like you in person. In short, your online strategy should include meaningful content that inspires people to get to know you. A personal mantra of mine is: people like working with likable people. Take the example of event fundraising company, Event 360, which helps nonprofit organizations strategize, plan, and operate charity events. They’ve done a great job connecting with customers and prospects through online content. Their strategy includes giving their audience complete accessibility to staff by encouraging email communication, blog contributions by various experts in their company, and “Meet Team360” posts where employees write about what matters most to them. A “Team360” Q&A is included as part of a monthly email, and then that same person is featured more in-depth in a blog post a few weeks later. Each member of the team is encouraged to talk about something they are passionate about – in their own voice – so their personality shines through. Event 360 CEO Jeff Shuck just invited people to contact him directly for “free fundraising advice to nonprofits, social entrepreneurs, and world-changers big and small,” posted on both his personal and company blogs. (“My time is now your time! Let me help you change the world.”) “We’re finding that talking to people as individuals — and not as the masses — is creating more authentic and genuine touch points with our audiences,” said Event 360 Marketing Director Therese Grohman. “When we’re putting out content, we try to keep very specific audiences and personalities in mind, as we want to connect with people at a personal level that naturally lends itself to real conversations. At the end of the day, we’re using all of our online tools to drive back to the basics – real offline, in-person conversations.” By showing passion and a commitment to helping others, Event 360 has increased online followers and user engagement. Event 360’s online relationships often translated into positive in-person encounters at industry events, charity walks/runs, and their Event Fundraising Roundtable series. So, when developing your online content strategy be sure to keep engagement front and center. Here are a few things to consider: