Social media has long been synonymous with “owned” or “earned” media -- the kind you don’t actually pay for. But a new survey commissioned by Nielsen unit Vizu indicates that three-quarters of advertisers are spending on paid social advertising and nearly two-thirds (64%) plan to increase their social ad budgets this year. That’s welcome news to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and others as they ramp up paid ad opportunities on their respective platforms. Still, social media budgets remain relatively small. Last year, the vast majority (70%) of companies earmarked 1% to 10% of overall ad spending to social media, with only 13% allotting 21% or more. And while social ad spending is expected to rise this year, the increases will be modest. Four in 10 marketers plan to grow paid social ad budgets by 1%-10%, while 15% said they expect to increase budgets by 11%-20%, and 11% by 21% or more. The increase in social ad spending will often come at the expense of other online and offline marketing channels, including online display. Social might be growing even faster as an ad category if businesses had better means of gauging its effectiveness. A lack of standard metrics for measuring ROI remains a major stumbling block. Less than one-third of both advertisers and agencies said social advertising is effective and produces measurable ROI. Two-thirds of advertisers said social ads “move the needle” when used with other efforts, or is a promising new tactic, but they’re not sure how to assess how well they work. The study noted that many marketers are using things such as “likes,” “pins” and click-throughs to evaluate campaign results, but prefer to apply more traditional metrics. More than half of advertisers and two-thirds of agencies said a clear link between social advertising and sales would increase their use of the medium. Many want to see a link to brand lift. “It is not a coincidence that these metrics translate to both offline and online mediums,” stated the report. “Media buyers should ensure that they are using these relevant metrics to get an accurate assessment of campaign ROI.” That’s especially true since paid social media is mainly being used as part of broader branding campaigns. Two thirds of advertisers run social ads with other online advertising; 51% do so with offline advertising. Social ads typically run most often in conjunction with online display, online video and mobile efforts. As part of cross-platform campaigns, marketers want to use the same metrics for social ads that they use for online and traditional media. “Very few media sellers, however, can actually provide this,” according to the study. Only 11% said they could provide the same metrics as offline along with some measures specific to online.
Building out its social and mobile services, the online reservation specialists at OpenTable have agreed to buy Foodspotting for about $10 million in cash. Like an Instagram for foodies, Foodspotting encourages its socially savvy community to snap and share their favorite dishes in picture form. Foodspotting’s strengths lie “in the areas of imagery and social sharing,” according to Matt Roberts, CEO of OpenTable. The startup also categorizes its content by restaurant, which creates a visually rich menu of eateries for potential patrons to peruse. Giving OpenTable and its users a chance to kick Foodspotting’s tires, the reservation company recently added dish photos through a preliminary partnership. “By adding more visually compelling content to help people decide where to dine and discover dishes they’ll love, we hope to make it even easier to find the perfect table,” Roberts added. Per the deal, Alexa Andrzejewski, co-founder and CEO of Foodspotting, is expected to join OpenTable as a lead user interface designer. OpenTable plans to maintain the Foodspotting site and mobile apps on a standalone basis. Worldwide, OpenTable says it seats roughly 10 million diners a month via online bookings across more than 26,000 restaurants. As recent research demonstrates, the app-driven mobile Web is presenting new opportunities and challenges for the food industry. Indeed, half of media-savvy mobile users now have at least one restaurant-specific app on their devices, according to recent survey-based research from the Interactive Advertising Bureau in partnership with social TV rewards startup Viggle. In addition to the company's Web site and mobile apps, OpenTable powers online reservations for nearly 600 partners. Late last year, OpenTable said reservations booked on smartphones and tablets accounted for 28% of the 28 million diners it seated in North America in the second quarter of 2012.
Super Bowl advertisers will see a 20% rise in Web traffic to their sites for seven days following Sunday, while mobile video views will double on the day of the game, according to Adobe Systems data built on billions of visits to Web sites and content in the two prior years. The advertising data, based on 33 million visits, reveals an increase in traffic prior to the Super Bowl. Adobe Senior Marketing Manager Tamara Gaffney believes it has to do with the increase in digital marketing campaigns inviting online conversations prior to the game. Rather than think about online videos and 30 seconds of airtime at an estimated $3.8 million this year as separate campaigns, marketers need to view the two as complementary, Gaffney said. "There's also a lot of mobile video consumption during sporting events," she said. This year, as with last, VW began showing off its new Super Bowl commercial for the 2013 Volkswagen Beetle on YouTube, accompanied by a dude with a Jamaican "be happy" accent. The Beyonce and Pepsi campaign in New York's Times Square asks consumers to log on at pepsi.com prior to the game to engage with the brand. Coca-Cola ask fans to vote on the ending of its Super Bowl ads, while Audi suggests viewers tune in to catch the ending. The Adobe Digital Index team also analyzed Web traffic for companies that ran Super Bowl ads during 2011 and 2012 to estimate mobile video consumption. Based on 1.4 billion video starts during 10 large sporting events, the data reveals that online videos from tablets and mobile phones reached 16% on a day with a major sporting event, up 100% compared with a typical day in sports. Gaffney suggests that advertisers look for more targeted media, or if they are unable to afford a Super Bowl television ad, capitalize on low CPMs and an affluent audience. U.S advertisers spent $180 billion in 2012, but directed only 2% into mobile advertising, according to eMarketer.
The Mobile Marketing Association has released an updated primer on mobile couponing as it works toward establishing a standard ad unit for mobile offers and discounts. The MMA formed a specific group late last year to develop a mobile coupon ad format to help promote consumer use of on-device coupons for redemption at checkout. A Forrester report last week projected that U.S. in-store mobile payments overall will nearly double this year to more than $1 billion and reach $41 billion by 2017. But technological and business hurdles to growth remain, especially at the point-of-sale. The new MMA report lays out a six-step process for developing a mobile ad unit to help address these issues. It includes developing a conceptual framework around mobile coupons and rewards, developing ad specifications, conducting field trials and launching a compliance program. The MMA’s Mobile Coupon Ad Unit Standards Committee, whose members are drawn from companies such as FunMobility, Valpak, Spotzot, Hipcricket, Medialets and RadiumOne, plans to begin testing a coupon ad format by the second quarter. "As mobile presents new opportunities for personal brand engagement, marketers need to consider tactics like mobile coupons to get their brand in the hands of consumers while they are in searching or purchasing mode," said Michael Becker, North American head of the MMA. “This is the reason why MMA members have rallied around this.” The primer acknowledges that retailers’ limited ability to redeem mobile coupons at the point-of-sale (POS) remains a stumbling block to growth. Most stores don’t yet have the optical scanners required to read m-coupons and POS systems are varied to begin with. That means store clerks often have to manually enter codes from phones, slowing the checkout process. “To overcome this obstacle, standards for mobile coupons must be compatible with standards for digital coupons in terms of set-up and communication, acquisition, validation, redemption and reconciliation,” stated the “Current State & Promise of Mobile Couponing” report. But with retailers still experimenting with different technologies from Near Field Communication (NFC) to Square’s mobile payment system, that’s easier said than done. The document also adapts a five-stage process for digital coupons from the Association of Coupon Professionals that includes setup and communication, discovery and acquisition, presentment, validation and redemption, and reconciliation. The discovery and acquisition section, for instance, discusses newer options like Apple’s Passbook and Google Wallet for pushing out offers. In one example, Valpak said users of its app have shared more than 90,000 coupons through its Passbook integration, which removed barriers like registration and account linking to encourage adoption. The Forrester report said coupons are part of the strategy to boost mobile payments by increasing convenience and delivering clear benefits to consumers. But coupons and other value-added services will just be “table stakes” for in-store, or proximity, payments. In that vein, the MMA is trying to help marketers at least “ante up” by creating standards for mobile coupons.
AT&T recently filed a petition asking the FCC to take steps that the telecom says will facilitate the transition to an entirely IP-based network. Among other measures, the telecom wants the agency to open an administrative proceeding that will focus on lifting some longstanding regulations on a trial basis. The telecom says that doing so will demonstrate that "conventional public-utility style regulation is no longer necessary or appropriate in the emerging all-IP ecosystem." But advocacy group Free Press warns that granting AT&T's request could ultimately put an end to common carrier rules. "It would completely vaporize all existing oversight over what remains of our nation's communications network," says Free Press Research Director Derek Turner. The group says in a new filing that deregulation could result in a host of problems, including lack of access and localized Internet blackouts. They reason that deregulation could mean carriers will not have to interconnect with each other. Free Press says that the FCC shouldn't take action on AT&T's request without first revisiting broadband regulations more generally. "We strongly urge the Commission, if it is inclined to grant AT&T’s request for a new proceeding, to open a global proceeding that first addresses all of the issues surrounding the transition to next generation networks that the Commission has long neglected." The advocacy group also points out that removing regulations over telecommunications services could ultimately undermine Net neutrality. The neutrality regulations -- which prohibit carriers from blocking traffic -- stem partly from the FCC's authority to issue rules considered "ancillary" to telecom regulations. "If there are no longer telecommunications services subject to Title II, a major rationale for these Open Internet rules vanishes," Free Press says. "Just as we need reliable and non-discriminatory access to roads, electrical grids and transport systems to conduct commerce, so too do we need the same kind of access to two-way communications networks. ... We would not have today’s Internet if it were not for the non-discrimination obligations imposed on telecommunications carriers beginning in the 1960s."
A special interest group formed by the standards body NFC Forum now supports the retail industry through a little embedded chip in phones that allows Google to process electronic payments through Wallet, a virtual credit and debit card app. The standards body formed the group to help developers focus on apps aimed at retail marketing. GS1, the organization behind barcodes, will focus on supporting digital coupons and product information that brands can pass via near field communication technology. It enables consumers to tap a shelved product in a store with a NFC-enabled smartphone, open the phone's browser and search for the landing page with the specific product information. As landing pages become more dynamic and personalized, the app can pull in data from the phone and location to customize the information, based on prior searches on the browser or information in the phone. The group said the chip reduces consumer frustration of having to click through multiple pages on a small screen.
Publicis Groupe media shop Starcom USA has appointed Mitch Brandow senior vice president/digital director, a new position at the agency.Brandow will oversee the shop’s ESPN and U.S. Cellular digital accounts. He will also help expand the agency’s digital product and service offerings, Starcom said.Brandow, a 15-year industry veteran, is based at the agency’s Chicago headquarters and reports to Mark Pavia, executive vice president/digital managing director. Most recently, Brandow was director of digital strategy at Omnicom’s OMD. Beginning in 2010, he led global digital strategy on the Hewlett-Packard account. A particular focus was driving innovation in the client’s use of social media, mobile media, IPTV and behavioral targeting.Previously, Brandow founded Local Marketers, a Seattle-based startup that provided advanced digital advertising technologies to small and mid-sized businesses. He started the company in 2005 with a single employee (himself). Within two years, it had 25 employees serving 800-plus clients and generating $3 million in annual revenues. Later, investment firm Madrona Venture Group acquired control of the company.Prior to launching Local Marketers, Brandow served as the interactive marketing director of Sedgwick Rd., then a unit of Interpublic Group’s McCann-Erickson located in Seattle. Before that, he was director of marketing for Sony Media Software and Services in Los Angeles.
When speaking at conferences or writing columns, I’ve sought to remind people that those in the media and associated industries are not like the people most media owners and advertisers depend on for financial success.Indeed, my colleagues at Media Behavior Institute undertook a small research project that focused on exactly this issue; the results were shared at the Collaborative Alliance, part of last year’s Advertising Week festivities. Devices used and the extent to which they were used were markedly different between our sample of media pros and a broader sample of the population, providing the same data in the same way at the same time.Even though I have spent much of my working life gather data and insights about the realities of human behavior and the factors that drive or inhibit media usage, once in a while even a hard-bitten cynic like me is caught by surprise.One such occasion occurred last week. My colleagues and I have recently been involved in a project that — among other things — included my viewing a handful of focus groups centered around understanding more about viewing behaviors, platform and program preferences, etc.Respondents were from a cross-section of the population and were not drawn from major cities like New York and Los Angeles, but instead from states like Ohio, Michigan, Colorado, Oregon.Part of the discussion in each group addressed raised the subject of apps — phone or tablet — as a means of finding information about TV programming. To say that discussion on the subject was brief would be an understatement. Only one respondent out of the entire sample said she used an app for such a purpose. She was 22. No other respondent of any age or gender laid claim to usage — and in most cases, respondents didn’t know how such a process would work. They indicated a distinct lack of familiarity with TV-related apps. Some were simply lost by the question.As someone who uses apps for a wide variety of things — despite my instinctive caution about being led by industry noise rather than the realities of consumer behavior and attitudes — I was surprised at the extent of both the lack of comprehension and usage of such apps.We continue to be excited by the apparently rapid increases in device penetration and usage of apps of various kinds. The same applies to second screening and social TV, though it is growing from a low base.When one witnesses the kind of response I’ve described above to simple questions about the use of these functions, it demands that we think hard about who is using apps, and drill down into relevance and frequency. Is growth being led by the coasts and major cities, by specific demographics or attitudinal groups?And even if it is growing, is it still big enough to warrant serious attention, relative to all the other things on our collective plates? I’d like to think the emerging channels will get some degree of attention, but if you’re trying to promote content and have finite resources to do so, one has to wonder how far down the pecking order mobile apps should be.