A top Nielsen executive said the company is looking to extend its measurement capabilities for mobile devices to include apps, which would join tracking Web browsing on tablets and smartphones. Steve Hasker, the president of global media products, said Wednesday that Nielsen is making a significant investment in that arena, but a rollout will be slow. “We’re going to be pretty measured about this,” he said, as the goal is to obtain Media Rating Council accreditation en route to the data becoming a currency. Nielsen has a partnership with Apple, where it measures behavior on its iOS platform. Speaking at an investor event, Hasker also said Nielsen’s year-old Online Campaign Ratings are proving to be “unerringly accurate,” while they provide TV-style daily data on age, gender, reach, frequency and geographic data for digital usage. “That product has enjoyed very significant uptake in its first 12 months,” he said. It is becoming a currency, where buyers and sellers are using it for guarantees, as it offers measurement that goes beyond server log data, Hasker said. “There was a lack of independent third-party measurement and a lack of trust. Therefore, there was a lack of growth in digital advertising,” he said. “Online Campaign Ratings is starting to change that in a meaningful way.” Nielsen is also set to announce founding media and advertiser partners for a cross-platform product in early October that tracks TV, tablet and PC usage, Hasker said. Testing of campaigns took place during the London Olympics. Hasker also spoke about Nielsen’s attempts to launch data sources that can offer a link between media exposure and purchasing. He said ABC sales chief Geri Wang used Nielsen “buyer insights” data in an upfront presentation, where she showed “Modern Family” posts ratings similar to CBS’ “Two and a Half Men.” But ABC says the series delivers an audience makeup with “two and a half times as many heavy Marriott users.” “That’s pretty rich information for both Marriott and Hilton,” Hasker said.
Online research giant comScore is teaming with the radio industry’s Arbitron Inc. to launch what they claim to be the “first-ever five-platform” audience measurement service simultaneously tracking video, audio and display content across radio, TV, PCs, smartphones and tablet computers. The new service will provide persons-level data by integrating the array of audience measurement services offered by both companies, including comScore’s census and panel-based PC, mobile and TV set-top systems, with Arbitron’s portable people meter technology. The companies announced that ESPN would be a charter client, and will “collaborate on the design” of the service, including how it will measure and report ratings for video, audio and display content via television (both in-home and out-of-home), online and mobile video, PC web, mobile web, apps, tablets, digital audio and terrestrial radio. “This initiative lays the foundation for a national-scale, continuously operating, syndicated cross-platform measurement solution for the media and marketing industries,” the companies said in a statement announcing the initiative this morning. “The goal is to produce common metrics across all platforms at the scale and granularity required by both content providers and advertisers, and to demonstrate the audience reach and duplication of each media platform.” ESPN, comScore and Arbitron will unveil details of the new service during a series of events on October 1st, 2nd and 3rd as part of Advertising Week in New York.
As promised and breathlessly awaited, at least among tech bloggers and media mavens, the iPhone 5 was formally introduced by Apple at its now-annual big reveal in San Francisco this afternoon (Sept. 12). As expected, the device will be enhanced along with most of its features. Because the overheated tech press is focusing on the specs, we will do a quick snapshot of the changes that will have some effect on marketing and media. Everyone gets more real estate on which to play. The screen size has increased from 3.5 to 4 inches, with the added dimension coming in length. The taller iPhone 5, as it is now officially named, will have a screen resolution of 1136 x 640 but will retain its pin-sharp Retina Display pixel density. This will allow for an extra row of icons, which no doubt makes discovery within one’s own deck a mite easier. But it does also allow for more content exposed in apps and a new full-screen Web browsing mode in Safari. The 16:9 aspect ratio allows for full widescreen video viewing. Apple says that old apps will run in their original aspect ratio in a box until the developers update them for the longer screen, but the company also insists that early experience shows updates can be done quickly. Apple’s Phil Schiller demonstrated that the extra real estate can be used for more sophisticated operations, such as more pleasing use of white space (in one example of a revised CNN app) and multi-pane functionality in ordering screens. Schiller also insisted the display will be sharper and with deeper color saturation, partly because the touchscreen technology has been revised. The iPhone 5 should be able to handle richer content across both WiFi and cellular networks. WiFi has been enhanced to handle 802.11n networks running at 5 Ghz. The iPhone will be 4G, running on international LTE networks. Finally, the processor itself has been upgraded to an A6 chip that Schiller says is twice as fast in both graphics and functions processing. For games especially, this will be a substantial lift to near console-quality imagery, claims Electronic Arts Executive Producer Rob Murray. In other technical matters, the iPhone 5 will have a new, smaller and faster connector. The camera has been enhanced to handle the longer aspect ratio. Audio output is improved, as is recording. Releasing at about the same time as the iPhone 5 will be the iOS 6 update, which has already been covered as it has rolled out in beta form among developers. The Google Maps have been replaced by Apple’s own mapping system, including a 3D flyby effect. The device is also slightly thinner. Apple claims it has maintained the width of the iPhone and added length in order to maintain the iPhone optimal one-handed usability. Of special interest to marketers will be the arrival of the iOS Passbook, which collects in one app actionable content like coupons, tickets, and boarding passes. For the sake of convenience, Passbook can be called up from the lock screen, making things like fast boarding pass or coupon retrieval much easier. Siri’s voice search functions have been enhanced. It now can understand requests for things like restaurant recommendations. It can also post messages directly to Facebook via audio command. Pricing will remain the same for the iPhone 5: $199 for a 16GN model, $299 for 32GB and $399 for 64GB (with two-year contracts). It ships September 21. Pre-ordering begins this Friday, September 14. iOS 6 will be released Sept. 19 and will be compatible with iPhone 3GS and all subsequent models as well as the iPad 2 and new iPad.
The subject of endless speculation finally arrived Wednesday with the unveiling of the iPhone 5 at a ritual Apple event in San Francisco, led by CEO Tim Cook. As expected, the company rolled out its signature device with a larger display, improved camera and 4G LTE networking all wrapped in a thinner body of aluminum and glass. Given the months of rumors and leaks ricocheting around the blogosphere leading up to today, there were few surprises left as to what the latest iPhone would offer. There was no novel addition like Siri in the iPhone 4S or controversial new design feature like the external antenna. Still, digital ad executives and analysts expect the iPhone to lure new customers and provide a richer canvas for mobile campaigns and m-commerce. Forrester analyst Charles Golvin noted that competitors like HTC and Nokia already offer some of the features Apple debuted Wednesday, like those for imaging. “But Apple still outpaces the competition when it comes to the entire package -- the new iPhone unites significant improvements in industrial design, imaging, audio and connectivity, along with the wealth of new capabilities that iOS6 enables,” he wrote in a blog post today. Ad executives see promise with the iPhone 5's larger, 4-inch screen with Retina display, boasting 18% more pixels for delivering interactive campaigns. “176 extra pixels isn't exactly acreage, but it's just enough to make mobile ad creative a little more eye-catching and get users more deeply engaged. Mis-clicks will be less likely and actions a little easier to execute,” said Rachel Pasqua, vice president of mobile at digital agency iCrossing. She added that the extra screen size will also be a bonus for landing pages and sites that campaigns link to, encouraging interaction. Likewise, Anne Frisbie, managing director, North America for mobile ad network InMobi, sees the device enhancing brand advertising in mobile. “The iPhone5’s richer display and faster operating speed will allow brands to really take their offering to the next level and more deeply engage through mobile,” she said. The faster delivery of mobile data via 4G could spur greater use of video in advertising with the knowledge that users are likely to have a better experience than with 3G networks. Combined with the better visual aspects of the iPhone 5, it could lead to increased use of apps, the mobile Web and other types of mobile media. With the iPhone 5 and rollout of iOS 6, Apple is also introducing Passbook, the digital wallet service announced in June that allows users to store and sort loyalty cards, gift cards, virtual offers, ticketing and the like. Large retailers, including Starbucks, have already signed on to integrate Passbook into iOS apps. As executives see the potential to tap into the new service to expand m-commerce efforts. “Passbook will offer brands the opportunity to be front and center with the consumers they are trying to reach. Imagine walking by a store and having a coupon for 20% off pop up -- a very powerful tool for marketers,” noted Alex Campbell, co-founder and chief innovation officer at mobile agency Vibes. Others, however, expressed disappointment that the new iPhone did not incorporate near-field communication technology, which many expect to become the standard means of powering mobile transactions. Getting the iPhone on board would help accelerate that process. The absence of NFC “begs the question -- what is holding Apple back from the m-commerce and m-payments space that all the other big OEMs and software companies are sprinting toward?" said Patrick Moorhead, vice president, mobile sales at in-store and digital shopping marketer Catalina Marketing. Unlike Samsung or other companies that may be embracing NFC, he said Apple “has the power to fundamentally create and shift markets.” Among other iPhone 5updates (rumored or not) that marketers were hoping to see were an on-screen keyboard enhancement akin to Swype on Android, a Liquidmetal screen and the addition of T-Mobile USA as a carrier partner. (AT&T, Sprint and Verizon Wireless already sell the iPhone.) Beyond the iPhone 5 itself, Apple also made the line more accessible by dropping the price of the subsidized 16 Gb iPhone 4S to $99, while making the 8 GB iPhone 4 free with a two-year contract. Kurt Hawks, general manager at mobile ad network Greystripe, said the move would simply lead to greater opportunity to reach consumers on smartphones. A JP Morgan estimate projects Apple will sell some 45 million iPhones in the fourth quarter, with more than half being iPhone 5s.
We’ve known what the top story of today would be way before Apple formally sent out its invitations for yesterday’s unveiling of iPhone 5 and assorted accoutrements and other stuff -- new iPods, a release date for iOS 6 and redesigned iTunes, among them. The products –- real and phantom -– have been widely blogged and videoblogged about (and covered in old-fangled media, too). The headline above Keach Hagey’s piece in the Wall Street Journal today says it all: “Media Ecosystem Feeds on Anything Apple.” Leading with an anecdote about a blogger who gave up his six-figure IT-director job to make more money writing 24/7 about Apple in 9to5Mac, Hagey writes: “The public's bottomless appetite for Apple news, such as Wednesday's unveiling of the latest iPhone, has turned producing media about the company into big business, regardless of the medium. That is because the Apple story merges the high advertising rates typically associated with technology news with the mass-entertainment appeal of one of the business world's greatest stories.” Indeed, the headline on the Journal’s lede story by Jessica E. Vascellaro suggests that there may be a whole lot more sizzling going on than the amount of steak in the pan would normally justify: “Is Apple's iPhone 5 Boring?” it asks, going on to list some Android widgets, features and niceties that reviewers find lacking in the new iPhone. (Still, iPhone customers are more satisfied -- at least up to now -- than Android users, as we report below.) As for the essential product details, “Apple still thinks you’re too stupid to change the battery in an iPhone,” writes Shelly Palmer. “But, other than that, judging only by specifications – not the actual performance of the iDevice -- the iPhone 5 looks like a winner.” It’s thinner, lighter, faster, has a bigger display, a more literate Siri, runs the upcoming iOS 6 and contains an 8-megapixel camera that shoots 1080p HD video. “Know that if you don’t order immediately (on Sept. 14) you will wait -– this phone will sell out immediately,” Palmer says. It actually goes on sale Sept. 21. The iPhone 5 also has a smaller, thinner connector on its base, as was widely rumored to be the, ahem, case. It’s a feature that “Thrills Apple’s Partners” -– namely the companies that sell about $2 billion worth of add-ons and accessories in the U.S. alone –- “But Will Cost Users,” as the headline atop Brian K. Chen’s piece in the New York Times, tells us. (In the print edition and online this morning, in fact, that story takes prominence over Nick Wingfield’s coverage of the actual unveiling of the products.) “The Lightning port, as Apple calls it, is smaller and shaped differently from the old one, instantly rendering obsolete the millions of spare charging cords, docks and iPhone-ready clock radios that its customers have accumulated over the years,” Chen writes. Apple is selling a couple of adapters (for $30 and $40) but they will not work with all of the accessories. You can watch Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller describe the features of the iPhone 5 on CNN. The new version of iTunes for Mac and PCs is “a major update to the company's digital media desktop software, with built-in iCloud support and a redesigned user interface,” CNET reports. It will be released sometime next month. The new iOS 6, with “Apple-designed maps, new Siri features, Facebook integration, shared Photo Streams and over 200 other new features,” will be available for downloading on Sept. 19. The OS is compatible with older devices. The redesigned iPod Touch is larger, thinner and lighter than “the already svelte new iPhone,” and features the same processor, writes Jamie Lendino on PCMag.com. It’s primarily for “gamers, streaming radio fans, movie watchers on the go, or anyone who wants to run iOS apps without signing up for an expensive iPhone contract,” he says. What about that smaller, cheaper version of the iPad that was said to be taking on Amazon directly? Not this time. After yesterday’s iPod news, in fact, at least one reviewer is scratching his head over where an iPad mini would fit in. “Apple's decision to price the iPod touch starting at $299 doesn't leave much room for the iPad mini. Would the market support a price of $350 when a full-sized iPad 2 costs $399, and the latest model only another $100?” asks ZDNet’s Adrian Kingsley-Hughes. But there’s apparently no accounting for what Apple zealots -- who are willing to shell out $9 for a wrist strap -- will spend their shekels on, he concludes. Apple has uploaded all 117 minutes and 45 seconds of yesterday’s event, including a live Foo Fighters mini-concert that wrapped things up on a few energetic notes. So take a gander at how the Cupertino branding whizzes transform a press release into a revival meeting, then untuck your shirts (check out the photos in the New York Times’ Nick Bilton’s live blog entry at 02:02 p.m.) and start practicing your own version of “The Turn” -- that part of a magic trick that makes something ordinary look extraordinary, as TechCrunch’s MG Siegler blogs.
InsightExpress has developed a method to link and measure consumer attitude and behavior as they relate to mobile ads. The marketing research and data analytics firm plans to release the project Thursday. The research method allows marketers to track mobile ad exposure on iOS devices, which have remained nearly impossible to measure across browsing sessions, according to Marc Ryan, chief research officer at InsightExpress. "It allows us to measure the impact of online and mobile together," he said. The modeling platform -- Ignite Mobile -- builds on Ignite Network, a panel-based digital analytics and research platform by capturing the mobile ad exposure across a 250,000-member panel that analyzes data from Android, iOS and WP platform users. Some of the biggest issues with collecting data on mobile campaigns come from the "fat finger issue" user who mistakenly presses a button on the ad and a fairly small screen, or intrusive ad and pop-up invite. Finding people to participate in the research related to emerging marketers is not easy, so panelists are invited via email to participate in the survey rather than targeted with pop-up ads. The belief that iOS devices reject third-party cookies by default also created challenges. All ad servers, including mobile, for the most part use third-party cookies. The iPhone rejects the cookie, making tracking in mobile "ridiculously" difficult, Ryan said. InsightExpress doesn't use third-party cookies -- only first-party cookies. Privacy related to cookies and technology on the phone also remains a concern. Those who have read Apple's privacy policy for Siri know the audio file gets sent to the company for processing before completing the action on the phone. Apple processes a copy of each command and phone number the phone's owner verbally calls.
Asked what the biggest “drivers of growth” in media content consumption over the next three years will be, CEOs of the world’s biggest media companies unanimously cited mobile devices, including tablets, according to a new study from Ernst & Young. The report, “Opportunity and Optimism: How CEOs Are Embracing Digital Growth,” distills the views of interviews with the CEOs of 34 major companies covering advertising, media and entertainment. Nearly four out of five (79%) of the media industry titans singled out tablets as the single most important driver of digital media growth. Interestingly, the CEOs were less sanguine on the role of social media, with 84% indicating that it primarily serves the role of connecting with customers, but not significantly for “building audiences and brands.” The top priority of the CEOs “remains the evolution of digital and online distribution” (56%), followed by “creatively differentiating content” (44%), per the report.
Data breaches became the focus of a report from Symantec released Wednesday, highlighting the need for advertising and marketing execs to become more vigilant about protecting consumer data. The mere mention of data theft can ruin a brand's reputation and turn off consumers from purchasing online. The Intelligence Report: August 2012 points to several concerns that arose during January to August 2012, related to identity theft through phishing, malware and other threats that often accompany the collection of sensitive information. Phishing Web sites with IP domains rose 24% in 2012, compared with the prior year, and Web hosting services made up 3% of all phishing, dropping 13% sequentially. Organized spoofed phishing attacks by industry put ecommerce at the top of the list this year with 39.1%, followed by information services at 32.21%, banking at 27.01%, telecommunications at 0.52%, and retail at 0.40%. The average number of data breaches per month fell to 14 in the first half of 2012 from 16.5 in 2011, but Symantec continues to warn that companies need to secure customer and employee data. The average number of identities stolen also fell during the same period. In the last eight months of 2011, the average number of identities stolen was 1,311,629 per data breach. This year, the number fell to 640,169. The study also shows that while the overall average number of identities stolen fell, the core number of identities stolen, when accounting for variance, rose over time. Symantec suggests it could mean that hackers are going after more select, targeted batches of data, as opposed to making off with big-number caches. The information they steal could be smaller in size, but more useful for criminal activities. What industries are responsible for the most data breaches? Information technology and computer software were top of the list in 2011, making up about 80% of total breaches. These industries have done much to improve their standing, having been surpassed by the retail trade and telecoms in numbers of identities stolen. The most common category of spam in August is related to the sex/dating category, with 42.51% in August, up from 23.46% sequentially. Pharma followed with 32.61% and 12.87%, respectively. On the other hand, some of the biggest threats to a company's data become the ability for employees to access company intranets through their own mobile devices. Image by Shutterstock
Looking to keep you kids occupied? Parents have no trouble giving them a mobile device.Fifty-six percent of parents give their mobile device to their child for entertainment purposes at least once a day -- according to Mojiva, a mobile ad network.Mobile is used more frequently when it comes to shopping for children. Seventy percent of parents are "comfortable" purchasing items for their kids using their mobile device.Almost half of parents that had previously purchased products for their child use their mobile device instead of visiting a brick-and-mortar store or using their computer. Another 18% says they do this with some frequency, with 25% having no problem in spending more than $50 on a single item for their child. Fifty-seven percent of parents have previously downloaded or added an application or a Web page on their mobile device for their child to use.Amy Vale, vice president of global research and strategic communications for Mojiva, stated: "The opportunity for brands to reach parents on a daily basis through mobile advertising is incredible -- especially given the amount of time that families now spend on their smartphones and tablet devices." Image by Shutterstock
A new privacy bill unveiled on Wednesday by Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) would require wireless phone manufacturers, carriers and app developers to inform consumers about monitoring software installed on their devices. The Mobile Device Privacy Act (HR 6377) provides for companies that market software that transmits data about geolocation or how people use their devices. The bill says those companies must inform consumers what type is data collected, who will receive the data, and how it will be used. The proposed law specifies that companies must disclose this information before people purchase phones with monitoring software, and before they install apps with those features. "Consumers should know and have the choice to say no to software on their mobile devices that is transmitting their personal and sensitive information," Markey stated on Wednesday. Markey indicated that the proposal stemmed from allegations that Carrier IQ's software -- pre-installed on an estimated 150 million phones -- was logging keystrokes. Late last year, a researcher posted a video clip that appeared to show Carrier IQ tracking his keystrokes. Carrier IQ responded by saying that its software sometimes captures the contents of messages, but that the data is encoded. The company said the logging was a bug, and that its software was intended to help mobile carriers to discover the source of network problems, like dropped calls. Carrier IQ isn't the only mobile company to find itself at the center of recent privacy controversies. Earlier this year, it emerged that app developers like Path and Hipster were collecting users' address books without telling them. Since then, Google and Apple said they would require apps distributed through them to inform users about data collection in advance. Broadband advocacy group Free Press is backing the bill, even though the group tends to involve itself more with online access issues than privacy. "We need some kind of general principles that clearly state what's permissible and what's not," Free Press legislative director Joel Kelsey tells Online Media Daily. He adds that questions about privacy and broadband online access "bleed over" if privacy concerns discourage people from using technology. But the Software & Information Industry Association panned the proposal, calling the bill "the wrong way to go." The group said the measure "would impose rigid privacy rules on the mobile industry that can only lead to stagnation and a loss of innovative dynamism." The bill isn't likely to come up for discussion until next year, after the elections.
The latest release of USA TouchPoints (2012.2) is made up of two waves of data. The most recent of these waves shows continued overall growth in social networking among all adults 18-64. It also breaks down average weekly reach bydevice.• This gives a clear picture of the relative position of each of the key devices used for social networking in the overall hierarchy.• With a weekly reach of 40% (equivalent to the weekly reach of DVR viewing – USA TouchPoints 2012.2), social media across all platforms continues to exert a hold on an ever-broader base of the adult population.• The computer dominates among the specific devices used for social networking with a weekly reach of 33%, more than double social networking via Mobile Phone. The use of social networking apps stands at 12% and social networking via the mobile Internet delivers 11% weekly reach.• Perhaps more surprising is the size of the gap between mobile phones and yablets for social networking –- both apps and the internet on the tablet deliver 3% weekly reach for social networking among adults 18-64.• All will continue to grow, but both mobile phone and tablet are likely to show faster rates of growth over the coming year than computers as penetration of smartphones and yablets and social networking platforms continue to invest in the mobile space. Social Networking by Device - Weekly ReachSource: USA TouchPoints 2012.2 (based on most recent of two waves offieldwork)Sample: Adults 18-64o Any Social Networking: Weekly Reach 40%o Social Networking - Computer: Weekly Reach 33%o Social Networking - Mobile via Internet: Weekly Reach 11%o Social Networking - Mobile via App: Weekly Reach 12% o Social Networking - Tablet via Internet: Weekly Reach 3%o Social Networking - Tablet via App: Weekly Reach 3%
While iPhone 5 got all the love at yesterday’s Apple fest and obeisant press attention, the impending release of iOS 6 is actually even more relevant to more users and marketers. If the platform follows historical precedent, a large share of iOS users will be upgrading to the new OS in the weeks and months to come. Although the changes to this version are not quite as striking as some earlier updates, a few fundamentals have shifted. The gold master of the iOS 6 was released to developers yesterday, so I have had a couple of hours to play with a few key elements. The big winner is Yelp!, but that's not always a good thing for users. The Apple-made Maps app comes front and center as a major shift in IOS design. Setting aside the eye candy of the 3D view, the real meat of mapping has been revised. The look and feel of the visuals is different from the very bare bones Google-made maps of the past five years. Streets and highway numbers are more prominent and clearer. But the most striking change is the integration of deeper information about local resources. Yelp! is the source of user-generated content that is available at a tap on locations. If you zoom a view down to street level so that local destinations become icons, a tap on any of the listed locations will tell you the star rating and how many user reviews exist for the place. Tap through and you get a miniaturized version of a Yelp! page. User or merchant-made images from the place fill in a neat profile page. The reviews tab allows the user to check in right from the maps app. The problem with relying on user-gen listings is the same now as it always was -- an incomplete view of available resources. While the Google maps in iOS 5 did not have any of the interactivity and depth available in the iOS maps on certain locations, the map view did offer a more comprehensive overview. The Apple maps have selective listings in map view. In the few locations nearby I have compared new and old versions of the maps, the old Google maps were giving me a better overview, while Apple’s tended to favor the places where Yelp! users had interacted. Apple clearly set itself up well here to leverage iPhone mapping as a potential cash cow of local marketing. Siri is very nicely integrated with both the maps. and with Yelp! to deliver seamless responses to questions like “what are the best Asian restaurants nearby?” Siri even seemed to recognize a travel route I already had programmed in the map app’s new integrated turn-by-turn voice directions to deliver answers relevant to my route. Merchants will be well-served to update their Yelp! profiles and get richer information into the system. But the system is too dependent on Yelp! In my nearby strip mall where there are at least seven well-trafficked restaurants, only one shows up on this map because Yelp! users seem to like reviewing it. Which is not to say that Google’s Map interface was much better. But both remind us that local listings on devices are still in a relatively nascent state. The opportunities here are staggering for providers like Apple and Google. Multibillion-dollar industries were built on local listings. It still doesn’t feel "there" yet.
It is rumored we'll see a new iPhone and possibly an iPad Mini this week. But from a marketer’s standpoint, the big news was in June, when Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that iOS 6 will be available this fall, most likely released in concert with the new iPhone. The beta release of iOS 6 has been available to developers since then, and there are key features early adopters are already incorporating into their mobile strategies. These include: new enhancements to the Safari mobile browser, deeper integration with Facebook and the Passbook application, an assumed precursor to an Apple-operated mobile payments system. Savvy brands can use these new tools to greatly improve a consumer’s experience and overall engagement. Incorporating updated functionality into a well-integrated, seamless experience is as important, if not more important, than the functionality itself. Here are a few feature tips we can expect from the new operating system: Safari Brands will have some great new functionality to incorporate into their mobile optimized sites with the release of Apple’s updated mobile browser. One new feature is the ability to easily show a banner, rather than a page takeover, at the top of your mobile site to point users to the corresponding app in the App Store. As marketers struggle to drive downloads of their apps, this is a great way to point consumers to your mobile app instead of relying only on the mobile site. With iOS 6, brands can allow consumers to upload photos directly from their camera roll to their mobile site. This feature makes it easier to drive engagement in programs with a heavy user-generated content element, like a photo contest. Finally, there is the ability to synchronize browser tabs with iCloud. Many users are hesitant to engage in certain experiences on their phones, such as filling out registration forms or divulging personal information. Those consumers will now have the ability to put down their iPhone and pick that visit back up where they left off, preventing significant drop-offs. Facebook With the deeper integration of Facebook into iOS, there’s a great opportunity to boost social functionalities in apps and mobile sites. Improvements such as showing Facebook events (like friends' birthdays), synchronizing friend lists with contacts and the ability to post or share content from anywhere are small changes that make social sharing more seamless. And they help marketers drive engagement. In addition, the ability to more easily integrate Facebook login capabilities will be a massive improvement for mobile-optimized sites. Many iPhone and iPad users are always logged into Facebook’s mobile app. With this new feature, consumers will no longer be required to re-enter their login information to activate sharing capabilities on other mobile sites if they’ve logged into the Facebook app. This removes a substantial barrier to consumers using social functionality — and marketers can look forward to users sharing their content more consistently and easily across the Web. Passbook Passbook has been one of the most talked about changes in iOS6 given its potential to disrupt the mobile payments space. Rumors are that the new iPhones will be equipped with NFC capabilities and Passbook integration. Users will be able to automatically apply offers/coupons to purchases, earn purchase-based points or punches on their mobile loyalty/punch card, or deliver purchases to their phone. This is a game-changer. What Apple eventually does with payments and NFC remains a mystery, but marketers can take steps to capitalize on the initial release of Passbook. For example, they can integrate coupons and gift codes and allow consumers to store these codes in Passbook for use via mobile, as opposed to email. It also allows brands to set time or location-based alerts so that offers can present themselves to consumers when they are about to expire or when the consumer is physically at a retail location where the offer can be redeemed. Imagine walking by your local Starbucks in the morning and getting a notification that your free coffee offer will expire in two days and you can get an upgrade to a free Pumpkin Spice Latte today? The applications for both retailers and online merchants are endless. The key is to focus on the features that will make the consumer’s mobile engagement more enjoyable and integrated into your overall brand experience.
TV and movie viewing on tablets by older Americans is quickly rising, according to a new study. The number of tablet owners 55 and older who watch TV and movies weekly on tablets increased from 11 percent last year to 19 percent in 2012, while the number of tablet owners in the 45 to 54 age range who watch weekly rose from 15% to 24%, said strategy consulting firm Altman Vilandrie & Company, based on an online survey conducted in partnership with Research Now. “The implications for marketers and the future of advertising are profound: video advertising on tablets can be more timely (inserted at time of viewing), more targeted, and more interactive than has yet been possible with TV advertising,” said Jonathan Hurd, author of the study. What’s particularly interesting about tablet viewing habits is that they don’t seem to be cannibalizing other media. Research firm TDG found that among those in the key 18 to 49 demo who use tablets to watch online TV, 39% said their tablet viewing has led to a rise in their regular TV viewing, while another 46% said they have experienced no change, and only 15% reported a drop in regular TV viewing. Among tablet owners 50 and older, the impact of tablet viewing on regular TV viewing is virtually negligible, TDG found. When consumers watch TV shows and other video programming online, they are also interacting with the ads more. Digital advertising company MediaMind reports that the click-through rate for online video ads (IAB standard video ads) averages 2.84%, which is 27 times higher than that of standard banner ads, and nearly 12 times higher than rich media ads, according to a MediaMind study of more than 3 billion ad impressions in the first six months of 2012.
On Monday, Tapjoy announced the appointment of Patrick Seybold as vice president of global communications and marketing partnerships. The San Francisco-based mobile advertising platform says that Seybold will be responsible for all of Tapjoy’s consumer media strategies. “Patrick is a seasoned professional and an ideal fit to help lead Tapjoy's global communications team," said Mihir Shah, CEO of Tapjoy in a statement. "He offers a unique perspective within this space and brings with him a proven track record of developing strategies that will strengthen Tapjoy's position as a leader in the mobile industry."
On Monday, Redwood City-based mobile ad solution provider Amobee launched Amobee PULSE Create. Amobee PULSE Create is a mobile ad creation platform that allows both advertisers and publishers to create 3D mobile ad campaigns, according to a release. “3D is a game changer in mobile advertising,” stated Amobee CEO Trevor Healy. “3D ads engage mobile users and deliver results in ways never seen before.”