With tech giants like Google and Amazon nipping at their Christian Louboutin high heels, fashion brands need to step up their technology game. Yet few are keeping up with the latest ecommerce services and trends. For example, just 6% of fashion brands are offering in-store pickup options, this holiday season -- far below the retail sector’s average of 14%, according to L2. In fashion terms, this would be like sending models down the runway in 2013 with hoop skirts and ruffled neckwear -- a faux pas that brands can’t afford to make, according to Scott Galloway, founder of the L2 think tank and a professor of marketing NYU Stern. "The … profits registered by the fashion industry [are] attracting nontraditional players, ranging from Apple to Amazon, to the sector,” said Galloway. “The most powerful -- if only -- defense is increased product and digital innovation.” In its defense, the style industry is investing in digital and ecommerce efforts. Over the past year, for instance, nearly one-fifth of fashion brands relaunched their Web sites -- focusing on improved navigation, upgraded image collateral, increased mobile optimization and expanding e-commerce support, per L2. A full 84% of fashion brands are now e-commerce-enabled, while a search for fashion brand terms on Amazon yields relevant first-page results more than half of the time. (A third of these results include items that qualify for Amazon Prime, and nearly a sixth of brands have set up a “store” on the omnipresent retail portal, according to L2.) More than two thirds of fashion brands now support a mobile site, and over half support m-commerce without relying on their desktop site. Yet while email frequency continues to ramp up -- 1.3 email per week on average -- only 15% of fashion brands now demonstrate an ability to send abandoned cart notifications, and only 7% are experimenting with responsive design templates for mobile mail clients. As for social skills, L2 recently reported mixed results among fashion brands. After ranking 250 prestige brands across 15 social media platforms, the think tank found that social standouts included Swarovski and Uniqlo, while Rolex had only recently established a Facebook presence.
Companies that run "native advertising,” or ads that mimic editorial material, run the risk of misleading consumers, Federal Trade Commissioner Edith Ramirez said Wednesday at a daylong conference about the subject.“By presenting ads that resemble editorial content, an advertiser risks implying, deceptively, that the information comes from a nonbiased source,” Ramirez said in her introductory address.Consumer advocates, publishers and advertisers who spoke at the event generally expressed agreement with the idea that Web sites should make clear when they are running native ads -- at least when the ads directly hawk a product. But there was little consensus on the details -- including which types of native spots should trigger disclosures, and how to word disclosure in a way people will understand.One of the biggest unanswered questions tackled by speakers on Wednesday centers on what language companies should use to describe native ads. Current common terms include “sponsored by” and “presented by.”But that language often is confusing, experts said on Wednesday. “Really smart people may come to different conclusions about what 'sponsored' means,” said Chris Hoofnagle, a lecturer in residence at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. Hoofnagle added that he thinks “sponsored by” indicates an arrangement -- which was typical on PBS -- where a company pays to have its name associated with a show that was created independently. Online, however, “sponsored by” often refers to content that an advertiser has created.Mary Engle, associate director of advertising practices at the FTC, asked industry experts why companies didn't simply use the word “ad” to label native advertising. One reason put forward by an industry representative is that not all native advertising hawks products. In some cases, the sponsored content is just an item that advertisers think readers will find interesting.But some advocates say that even those types of native ads should carry a disclosure, so consumers will know that the article didn't originate with the publisher. “Consumers also need to understand when publishers are -- and are not -- exercising their independent judgment,” the watchdog group Public Citizen said in a statement issued on Wednesday. “Native ads often mislead consumers into thinking independent judgment is being exercised, when in fact, placement has been purchased.”
Mobile shopping and buying is up significantly this holiday season by all accounts. But a new analysis of retailer apps suggests that some are better positioned than others to capitalize on the mobile surge. Ranking highest overall was American Eagle Outfitters, which was cited for successfully integrating its loyalty program and social media properties, while providing user-friendly browsing and checkout. The only major qualm was that the app was extremely slow -- definitely a drawback for users expecting desktop-like connections.The study by mobile marketing agency Plastic Mobile rated the apps for 10 large apparel retailers against 10 criteria including loyalty, transactions, customer service and in-store experience. Runner-up was The Gap, noted for its quick search function and streamlined checkout process, with U.K.-based Topshop taking third place, offering a similarly smooth browsing and checkout experience. At the other end of the ranking, based on cumulative totals from scoring for each criterion on a 1-10 scale, was American Apparel. Its app takes a novel approach in allowing users to scan images for product details. But the marquee feature was not functional, according to the analysis conducted by five area experts (e.g. strategy, design, UX architecture) at Plastic Mobile, which doesn’t count any of the 10 retailers behind the apps among its clients. Abercrombie & Fitch’s app was likewise slammed for looking pretty but not working well. Given the teen brand’s current business and financial woes, perhaps that’s not so surprising. Staple features such as mobile-optimized browsing, checkout and access to account information were all missing from the app. Finishing in between Topshop and Abercrombie & Fitch were Zara, Urban Outfitters, Forever 21, H&M and Express. Among the main areas where the retail apps generally stumbled were in connecting to loyalty programs, customer service, and the in-store experience. “The research team found that, while a number of brands were making a concerted effort to bring quality mobile experience to the table, many were simply creating a mobile presence,” stated the report. But that's not enough. It suggested brands have to understand how people are using mobile to better engage them on mobile device. It points out that the Gap’s app, which ranked No. 2 in the study for overall performance, doesn’t do much to encourage users to interact with the brand. New users, for example, are not able to sign up through the app or learn more, and there’s no social component in the overall mobile strategy. As a result, “the app falls short on creating a medium that drives consumers to become brand enthusiasts."
Spending on "3rd Platform" technologies -- consisting of mobile, cloud services, Big Data and analytics -- will rise 15%, compared with the prior year, accounting for 89% of IT investments. IDC has released a list of 2014 predictions, noting that marketers will find their company's IT departments moving toward business services -- including those required for advertising campaigns -- and away from managing technology. Such tactics will help support the one in five Internet users who will only use mobile within the next few years. The need for mobile devices will continue in 2014 with sales of tablets growing by 18% and smartphones by 12%. The Android community, led by Samsung, will maintain a lead over Apple. IDC analysts suggest companies must have a plan to interact with mobile consumers next year. It will require building a secure IT infrastructure to protect data, and assess the current IT architecture to determine the financial impact of the project to upgrade. This doesn't mean building a mobile app or Web site in hopes that consumers will come. It takes more than an app or Web site to build a mobile strategy. IDC suggests that within the first year, companies must begin to create a portfolio of mobile services. Within 18 months, they should have a mobile strategy in place for people, devices and processes. Within 24 months, executives should begin to map a plan for company employees and customers. The mobile application development requires a cloud computing infrastructure that can support millions of devices interacting with content processing massive amounts of data. Cloud spending -- including cloud services and the technology to enable services -- will rise 25% in 2014, reaching more than $100 billion. The analyst firm wants to set the record straight: Cloud computing is not less expensive. It is offset by the need for additional security and infrastructure. A company can plan to use 10% of its budget for cloud services on security, per IDC. Social technologies will become more closely tied to the company's enterprise applications within the next 18 months, and data from social applications will feed the product and service development process -- not only customer engagement and marketing strategies.
Not to be outdone by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' announcement earlier this week, Google exec and Android founder Andy Rubin is spearheading a project to build robots. Google's robotics project squarely aims at manufacturing; the robots would extend the manufacturing supply chain from the assembly line to delivery of the products at the consumer's front door, per reports. "I am excited about [Android Founder] Andy Rubin's next project," Google founder Larry Page wrote in a Google+ post. "His last big bet, Android, started off as a crazy idea that ended up putting a supercomputer in hundreds of millions of pockets. It is still very early days for this, but I can't wait to see the progress." The New York Times reports that during the past six months, Google quietly acquired seven technology companies in the United States and Japan in an effort to create a new generation of robots. Among those companies are Schaft, Industrial Perception, Meka and Redwood Robotics, Bot & Dolly, Autofuss and Holomni. Some of the companies have a focus on robotics, while others support advertising and design, and camera technology. The report notes that Google has experimented with package delivery in urban areas across North America, but the real benefit will come from acquiring a contract manufacturer to build out its newly acquired hardware businesses. That will enhance its efforts to create an efficient and green manufacturing and assembly line, from raw materials to delivery, completely done in the United States. Rubin lays claim to specific U.S. patents, but mostly in mobile design, such as estimating the remaining use time of a battery in a mobile device. Palo Alto, Calif. will remain Google's home for its robotics arm, with an office in Japan, according to reports.
Although it’s only been out for a few months (and has a long way to go before catching over-the-top competitors Apple TV and Roku), Google's Chromecast has relatively high awareness among consumers. According to NPD Connected Intelligence, 33% of consumers said they were aware of the device, which allows people to watch streaming content on their television sets via a $35 fob. What's more, Google itself has been the primary source of the awareness, with 41% of consumers saying they learned about the device from Google's Web site. “The Google brand would factor into its higher awareness levels, and that is supported by their Web site being the primary source of awareness,” John Buffone, director of devices for NPD Connected Intelligence, tells Marketing Daily. “But promotions had an impact as well. Thirty-five percent of consumers who know about Chromecast already saw an online ad and 25% saw or heard a TV or radio ad.” In stores, however, things are a bit different. Only 11% of consumers said they became aware of Chromecast in-store or on a retailer's Web site. Buffone says that's primarily because only two retailers -- Amazon and Best Buy -- were supporting the product. “Given the early success of Chromecast, you would expect additional retail partners to surface, which in turn will help more consumers discover the device. Retail discovery can be a key mechanism to drive continued consumer awareness.” Of those aware of Chromecast, 48% said they were extremely, very or somewhat likely to use it, citing the product’s low price and promise of simplicity as the main drivers. Although the market is dominated by Apple and Roku, which control a combined 78% market share, Chromecast's appeal should remain strong, Buffone says. “Sixty percent of Internet-enabled homes do not yet have a TV connected to the Internet representing a large market of prospective customers for Apple, Roku, Google and others,” Buffone says. “Further, consumers that do have a TV connected to the Internet typically have one or two additional TVs in their home that have yet to be connected offering even more room for this market to develop. Given these factors there is opportunity for Chromecast to support overall growth in the streaming media player category.”
Data for data's sake is garbage. That was a major point presenters made at the Association of National Advertisers’ Real-Time Marketing Conference in New York on Wednesday. Everyone has a lot of data, but knowing how to use it means knowing how to exploit it for your goals in real-time and make it easy for marketers to access. Bob Rupczynski, VP of media, data and customer relationship management at Kraft Foods, said the company has metrics all the way down to store sales. "For us, data incorporates all pieces of marketing communications. But if you don't have infrastructure, you can't leverage it." For the company's Lunchables product, the challenge was how to keep kids aging out of the lunchbox phase interested in the product. The company partnered with pro skateboarder, actor, and reality TV star Rob Dyrdek for its first iterative campaign with 17 pieces of content on YouTube and social, adjusting the content weekly based on real-time insights. Lisa Donohue, CEO of Starcom USA, which handles Kraft, said programs like this aren't about making "ads." "It was about those 17 pieces of short-form content driving engagement rather than finding one ad that's a common denominator." Donohue and Rupczynski argued for a five-point approach to real-time marketing: 1. Strong data strategy, paired with an enterprise approach to breaking down silos. Rupczynski said Kraft, for example, collapsed all departments touching media and data into one department. 2. Infrastructure in place driving a different culture about marketing and building brands. 3. Understand the importance of content, and know how to write and deliver it nimbly. 4. Have an attribution model. 5. Organizations need to educate people about real-time, what it means to be agile, why it makes sense and how to operate in that world. Victor Lee, VP global digital marketing at Hasbro (in a combination standup routine, lecture on risk taking, and case study presentation), said data and execution matter little if the content isn't compelling enough to crack the chaos of relevant news and inane social content. Lee led a social program for Hasbro's Monopoly game around letting people vote for updated versions of game playing pieces -- those familiar tokens of a car, iron, top hat, and a shoe. The effort was a huge success, attracting not only individuals but brands -- all of whom had ideas about new pieces. The campaign also won top-tier earned media, and votes from all over the world. "The PR team got calls: 'We are a shoe company; we want to lobby for shoes to stay in the game. The iron-worker's union lobbied for the wheelbarrow. The bacon society was pushing for a bacon playing piece. Purina lobbied for the cat (which became the new icon.) It was brilliant. We realized people do care about it. And we sat back and watched it happen.” He said 185 countries voted. “More countries voted than participated in the Olympics." Lee said the program worked because the game is ubiquitous, and people are passionate about those pieces. “They'll refuse to play if they don't get the piece they want.” The bottom line, he said, is, "If you just say, 'Look at me, I'm awesome, I'm awesome, look at me,' nobody cares. And they know when they are being told to do something. Saying you're real to be real isn't real."
Machinima, the massively popular YouTube suite of channels mainly aimed at teen boys and young men, has extended its platform subscription contract with Poptent, the Phiiladelphia-based social video marketing company, through 2014. The subscription gives Machinima the ability to to manage its YouTube source talent, conduct influencer video ad campaigns and manage for-pay programs to drive clicks from YouTube. The platform also delivers back end aid. Poptent’s CEO is Nick Pahade, a digital advertising pioneer, with varied experience in emerging platformms . Most recently, Pahade was president and CEO at Interpublic Group‘s Initiative North America, part of the company's Mediabrands unit. Machinima has more than 2.1 billion video views and, it says,over 188 million unique viewers each month. Poptent crowdsources advertising videos for specific audiences, and presides over a network of thousands of creative video producers worldwide, and solicits creative campaign that fit with specific audiences, like the one Machinima attracts, from diverse sources. It brags,for example, of using video producers from Athens, Ohio to West Chester, Pa. to Los Angeles, to create a campaign for Famous Footwear. Working together, a Poptent press release says, Poptent and Machinima coordinated an influencer campaign to promote eBay collections within its network, creating eight videos that attracted 750,000 viewers.
Random iPhone App of the week: GoBank is a mobile bank built for Generation Smartphone. The bank is insured by the FDIC and allows users to make deposits by scanning checks and deposit money into a savings account, or money vault. Members can transfer money in and out in real time, for free. The app also supplies snippy responses when a member uses the Fortune Teller function to see if they can afford a certain purchase. “Remember that time you won the lottery? I don’t either,” is a sample reply. Users can also check their account balance without logging in by using a slide for balance option that members can opt-in to use. The app is available for free in the App Store.
Starcom MediaVest Group and data and analytics firm Acxiom said today they have created a new partnership that will give SMG clients access to Acxiom’s new Audience Operating System. SMG and Acxiom will also co-develop applications for AOS that will introduce new ways to utilize the system’s consumer data and insights services. The agreement is said to be the first agency deal of its kind for Acxiom. It’s also the latest in a recent spate of agreements that SMG has forged to co-create new products this year with outside companies. Earlier, it fashioned similar deals with Twitter, comScore, Google and Yahoo. AOS is a newly launched open platform that Acxiom claims allows marketers, agencies and publishers to plan, buy and optimize audiences across channels, devices and applications with precision and scale. The agreement with Acxiom is a multiyear deal that gives SMG the right to extend at the conclusion of the partnership as well as first rights to global expansion. The deal also gives SMG parent company Publicis Groupe the option of expanding offerings to VivaKi and other Publicis Groupe companies. There are opportunities for the new partnership to work in conjunction with VivaKi products, like Audience On Demand and SkySkraper. “This is a next-generation partnership that will accelerate data-driven marketing and precision targeting for our clients,” says Laura Desmond, CEO at Starcom MediaVest Group. “We’ve dreamed for years to scale personal and addressable communications from niche to mass, across screens and platforms. We believe this partnership will, in part, make this dream a reality.” “Leveraging Acxiom’s AOS will help SMG to continue to make the best data-driven marketing resources available to its clients,” said Scott Howe, President and CEO at Acxiom. “AOS advances SMG’s ability to help its clients get closer to 1:1 marketing at scale than ever before, allowing them to connect with consumers in more meaningful ways.”
The standard online display banner ad finally can breathe a sigh of relief. It now has another ad unit that is even lower on the totem pole of ad industry respect -- a mobile banner. In addition to their purported invisibility on small screens, they are derided as microscopic, poorly repurposed versions of already disliked Web formats. And worse, they are often portrayed as clicked only by fumbling fingers. And of course, every rich media platform beats up on mobile display regularly. The lowly mobile banner ad gets at least a backhanded compliment from three academics writing recently in the Harvard Business Review. Professors from the University of Pittsburgh school of business, Insead and Columbia Business School tried to dispel the conventional wisdom that mobile ads don't work by surveying market research on 54 display ads from 2007 to 2010 and their impact on nearly 40,000 U.S. consumers. First things first -- and before we can get to the results. We are talking about only 54 ads and responses taken even before smartphones have penetrated early adopters. So before bloggers start passing this one around as if it's the new gospel, consider the data on which it is based. What these researchers found, regardless of the limitations on the data itself, still bears some discussion. They found that mobile banner ads had no effect on consumer attitudes or intent to purchase when they involve items that are bought mainly for pleasure or “hedonic” reasons and those that had very low involvement. In the pleasure product category we get things like beer, candy, movie tickets and coffee among those low-involvement products that don’t require much thought or investment. These were the ones that seemed to register least well through mobile banner ads. Apparently, ads for pleasurable products that involved higher consideration such as sports cars, designer clothing and jewelry had somewhat better impact, but were still low. Useful products seemed to fare better than pleasurable ones -- so toothpaste, groceries, socks and even a smartphone case move the needle better than cheap pleasurable objects. On the other hand, products that were deemed utilitarian with high-involvement like life insurance, furniture, gym memberships and brokerage services actually produced the best increases. In these cases the researchers found that consumers who saw these ads had an increased positive attitude of 4.5% and an increased purchase intent of 6.7%. Put aside for a second the obvious argument that we all know that there have been mobile display campaigns that likely have moved the brand and purchase intent needles across any of these categories. The researchers do propose an interesting hypothesis that may be true whether or not the data is wholly reliable. They believe that mobile ads work better with high-involvement items because they are triggering an existing base of knowledge in the user. They write: “We believe that mobile display ads, even though they convey little information, can cue consumers to revisit facts they already possess. That's why these ads are more effective for high-involvement goods: If a product is relevant to them, people are more likely to have retained—and be motivated to recall—information about it. And psychological research has shown that the higher people's involvement, the more likely they are to process information cognitively (rather than emotionally) -- a method better suited to the decision to buy utilitarian products.” There is a sound idea somewhere in here about mobile advertising having a reiterative function in the user's path to purchase. It would be nice to have data that was a lot more recent and comprehensive before we make any sweeping judgments about mobile ad impact. From what I can tell from the original academic paper on which this article is based, the post-campaign studies involved mostly mobile Web ads being targeted by the general ad networks available at the time. Again, both the inventory and the targeting methods available at scale in the 2007-2010 time frame seem to me not representative of the mobile ad environment now. Still, their arguments point toward thinking harder about that very complex process whereby consumers are in a multiscreen tango dancing toward a purchase. Personally, I don't believe that genuinely visible ads on a page are really truly invisible to the user except when they are nullified by clutter. I think it is just really hard to account for the role that persistent digital presence has on the user's brand consciousness. But it is quite possible that some ad placements like mobile are not there to impart information so much as to recall information gathered elsewhere. That makes their function no less important to the process of accompanying a consumer toward the purchase. But it does suggest how important integrated campaigns are where the creative is aimed at different modes on different screens.
More mobile technology is going to be on the table. I mean literally, on the table. Well, at least on 100,000 tables at Applebee’s, which bills itself as the world’s largest casual dining chain, with some 2,000 locations in 49 states and 15 countries. While numerous restaurants have been moving to various mobile payment schemes, many utilizing and leveraging the consumer’s phone, the Applebee’s approach is to actually provide the technology itself. This will be interesting to monitor on several fronts. One issue is whether consumers will lean to venue-supplied technology or prefer the comfort of using their own mobile device to interact with the establishment. An early example of this was by supermarket chain Stop & Shop, which provided shoppers with scanning guns so they could scan and bag their own groceries. This was before the proliferation of smartphones, so the stores provided the technology. The company eventually expanded the scanning capabilities to smartphones. Its Scan It app program ultimately was expanded to about 400 Stop & Shop and Giant stores and now drives $1billion in annual sales, says John Caron, VP of Marketing at Catalina, which developed and deployed the technology. The idea of using technology in stores and restaurants is hardly new, though new ways to use it keep coming. When the cashier at the local espresso shop takes your order, enters it into the computer and the person just behind him sees the order pop on her screen, the technology is being used for automating a process. Meanwhile, a Starbucks barista asks you for your drink order, your name (don’t we all use Bob?), uses a marker to write all of that on a plastic or paper cup and then has you wave your phone in front of their scanner to pay. In this case, technology also is being used to automate a process, but only the process (payment) at the end. What these technology deployments have in common is that they’re exposing more consumers to mobile technologies and helping them gain knowledge in how they can be used. “The greater the exposure, the higher the comfort level,” says Caron, who’s been dealing with consumer behaviors around mobile scanning for a number of years. “With time, this will accelerate adoption of all mobile experiences as consumers become more comfortable with the smartphone as their direct connection to the companies, brands and services they love,” he says. In the case of Applebee’s, the tablets will let customers order and pay at their table through a credit-card reader on the tablet. Another aspect to watch will be whether the tablet will be viewed and used as essentially a self-service, food ordering and payment device or if it will become a centerpiece of the dining experience. The company plans to add additional features, such as video streaming, music, games and social media capabilities. The mass verdict is yet to come in on mobile usage within the restaurant experience, but at least now more of it will be on the table.
Forrester Research's report, "Why Every Online Retailer Needs To Think Green," found green retail initiatives attract and retain high-value customers. Some 60% of the retailers the research firm reviewed offered a corporate social responsibility report or some similar online resource to show their commitment, but the quality of those efforts vary dramatically. Better understanding green consumers who shop online will help those retailers that fall short fulfill environmental requirements and win over those willing to spend more throughout their lifespan. Forrester used its consumer technographics data to segment U.S. online adults into four categories: super-green, green, yellow, and red. Interestingly, about 50% of today's U.S. online adults fall into either the super-green or green categories, who are interested or very interested in buying green products or buying from brands that engage in green initiatives, such as supply chain transparency or carbon reporting. Super-green consumers spend an average of $3,422 online annually, whereas green consumers spend $1,808. They spend more online than the average U.S. adult and are more affluent than their peers. Some 79% of green and super-green U.S. online adults say they have purchased a product online in the past three months. Forrester estimates that super-green consumers are the biggest opportunity for online retailers, because they are more likely than the other segments and the average U.S. online adult to buy via most channels, including mobile. They make on average nearly 40 online purchases annually, compared with the U.S. online adult average of 27. In fact, 38% of green consumers said they would spend more for products that are consistent with an image they like. They also are more likely to recommend the product to others. Some 43% of green consumers said they encourage family and friends to buy environmentally friendly products, while 95% of super-green consumers share that sentiment. Google, Microsoft and Yahoo try to support green consumers. I'm not too aware of green search engine marketing companies aside from Covario, which highlights its social responsibility to a greener world in brochures to clients. I'm sure they're out there. How green are you?
“Look, if you had one shot, or one opportunity, To seize everything you ever wanted -- one moment --Would you capture it or just let it slip?” -- Eminem While this is the line Eminem may be best remembered for, I’d like to hijack it as a rallying cry for the nascent field of native advertising. On Dec 4 the FTC is holding a hearing on native ads that will certainly shine a spotlight and lay the foundation for how the industry should coalesce. I define native advertising as “paying for the opportunity to become part of a consumer’s experience on a publisher’s editorial platform, where the brand’s content is seamlessly integrated into the publisher’s environment.” This definition is updated from what I heard at one of the first native advertising conferences almost a year ago. And while the nuances of the definition may still be debated, the opportunity of native advertising is concrete. As an industry, we have a collective opportunity to make native advertising everything we ever wanted in a digital advertising format. Why? First, native ads are great for the publisher. Three out of four publishers already offer native advertising on their site, and nearly a fifth are considering offering one this coming year. Second, they are meaningful for brands. Almost universally, U.S. digital professionals call native mobile ads for branding campaigns very or somewhat effective -- and, even more important, such ads bring value to the consumer. Consumers look at native ads 53% more frequently than display ads. Native ads also registered 18% higher lift in purchase intent and 9% lift in brand affinity compared to display ads. But like any new form of content, effective native advertising takes acumen and careful coordination from both the publisher and the brand marketer. It is a very delicate balance. It’s easy to fall off a cliff. Still, when deployed effectively:
Video rules. Okay, fine. We’ll back that statement up with data. Video viewing across digital venues rose by double digits year over year, according to the just-released report from video ad platform FreeWheel. Specifically, video views jumped 20%, and video ad views 31%. TV Everywhere is also catching on in consumer usage, according to the report. Authenticated viewings now account for 14% of ad views for long-form content, up from 5% of long-form ad views a year ago. That’s a reassuring finding for multichannel video providers who have been investing resources in TV Everywhere rollouts for the last few years. This is also one of the first data points suggesting that TV Everywhere is starting to pay off. “Authentication remains a key opportunity for Programmer/MVPDs to rapidly expand the number of long-form video assets online,” FreeWheel said in the report, which analyzed more than 15 billion ad views in the third quarter. Another promising finding for the video ad business lies in the increase in ad loads relative to content. Ad loads clocked in at 11.6 video ads per video view for the quarter, up 29% from a year ago. The growth comes in part from the rise in long-form video ads, the number of which increased 56% year over year. All the while, completion rates for ads have remained steady at 91%. Most of the video programming being monetized is the long-form variety, such as TV shows and movies. Freewheel also noted a rise in video ad views on other devices. They are up 235% on mobile and 365% on tablets, and have tripled on over-the-top devices. Nielsen said in its new cross-platform report that the average American watches 1.5 hours of Internet video each week.
For the holidays, I decided to spread good cheer through song. As this season flies by due to a late Thanksgiving, I hope 2013 was a success and your 2014 plans include effective strategies, like those listed below, to reach moms. Since you (luckily) can’t hear me sing in a written post, sing the tune to “The Twelve Days of Christmas” in your head for the full effect. On the first day of Christmas, my mom marketing gave to me: A trending Twitter Par-tee On the second day of Christmas, my mom marketing gave to me, Two thousand Facebook Likes And a trending Twitter Part-tee On the third day of Christmas, my mom marketing gave to me, Three Pinterest pins Two thousand Facebook Likes And a trending Twitter Part-tee On the fourth day of Christmas, my mom marketing gave to me, Four positive blog posts Three Pinterest pins Two thousand Facebook Likes And a trending Twitter Part-tee On the fifth day of Christmas, my mom marketing gave to me, Five viral videos Four positive blog posts Three Pinterest pins Two thousand Facebook Likes And a trending Twitter Part-tee On the sixth day of Christmas, my mom marketing gave to me, Six Moms a -sharin’ Five viral videos Four positive blog posts Three Pinterest pins Two thousand Facebook Likes And a trending Twitter Part-tee On the seventh day of Christmas, my mom marketing gave to me, Seven Mommy Parties Six Moms a-sharin’ Five viral videos Four positive blog posts Three Pinterest pins Two thousand Facebook Likes And a trending Twitter Part-tee On the eighth day of Christmas, my mom marketing gave to me, Eight million impressions Seven Mommy Parties Six Moms a-sharin’ Five viral videos Four positive blog posts Three Pinterest pins Two thousand Facebook Likes And a trending Twitter Part-tee On the ninth day of Christmas, my mom marketing gave to me, Nine brand ambassadors Eight million impressions Seven Mommy Parties Six Moms a -sharin’ Five viral videosFour positive blog postsThree Pinterest pinsTwo thousand Facebook LikesAnd a trending Twitter Part-tee On the tenth day of Christmas, my mom marketing gave to me, Ten seconds of Vine Nine brand ambassadors Eight million impressions Seven Mommy Parties Six Moms a-sharin’ Five viral videos Four positive blog posts Three Pinterest pins Two thousand Facebook Likes And a trending Twitter part-teeOn the eleventh day of Christmas, my mom marketing gave to me, Eleven Google Hangouts Ten seconds of Vine Nine brand ambassadors Eight million impressions Seven Mommy PartiesSix Moms a -sharin’ Five viral videosFour positive blog postsThree Pinterest pinsTwo thousand Facebook LikesAnd a trending Twitter part-tee On the twelfth day of Christmas, my mom marketing gave to me, Twelve months of sales Eleven Google Hangouts Ten seconds of Vine Nine brand ambassadors Eight million impressions Seven Mommy Parties Six Moms a-sharin’ Five viral videos Four positive blog posts Three Pinterest pins Two thousand Facebook Likes And a trending Twitter part-tee. Have a happy holiday season and a prosperous 2014.