AT&T AdWorks is expected to launch an ad platform in September allowing brands to target ads online based on TV and mobile data, according to Danielle Lee, AdWorks VP of product marketing and innovation. Two undisclosed brands have signed up to participate in the initial rollout. The AdWorks division worked with AT&T Labs to develop an algorithm that allows brands to target audiences based on aggregate demographic data from TV programs watched or downloaded on apps, games and videos on mobile. The move will lead the company to support cross-screen ad targeting as technology becomes smarter at understanding consumer behavior and devices. "This is not panel data, but rather actual first-party user data in aggregate," Lee said. Common attributes in the data create audience segments. The "aggregate and anonymous" data comes from 10 million U-Verse set-top boxes, as well as 69 million mobile subscribers. The targeting data from TV will initially rely on demographic and geographic attributes rated to the top 100 TV shows. AT&T AdWorks also supports online ad targeting using data from mobile subscriber to serve ads across the Internet to Verizon FIOS customers. The audience network reaches 80% of Internet users, including third-party sites. AT&T does not place ads using another Internet provider's ad platform, such as Verizon's. The audience segments rely on TV and mobile data to target ads online, but Lee said AT&T plans to build out the service to focus on cross-channel targeting. Advertisers will then have an option to push the same ad across cross-platform. Once that occurs, AT&T will compete with companies like Microsoft Advertising, which recently rolled out a cross-channel ad-targeting tool. The tool, aimed at national advertisers purchasing millions in ads, supports A/B testing the creative ads online first before bringing it to TV -- a trend that recently caught the attention of political marketers. Lee also said AT&T could integrate the TV with the mobile data to build a bigger picture of consumers and audience segments. "We're just getting out of the gate with this," she said. "There are several ways we can take this product as it evolves."
While Food Network's cooking shows continue to sizzle, Bravo is launching another spinoff for its “Top Chef” franchise. The network is taking some of the compelling personalities of its “Top Chef” series and bringing viewers a sort of “where are they now?” In October, Bravo will debut “Life After Top Chef,” with a look at the personal and professional lives of four previous contestants from Philly (Jen Carroll) to L.A. (Fabio Viviani). Bravo says all four have established themselves as "culinary leaders in the food world.” Food Network and Bravo approach the food genre differently. By one measure, Food had a 15% ratings bump in the 18-to-49 demo through most of the second quarter. Part of the coming show will look at Carroll’s move to open her own establishment, Concrete Blonde, while caring for a sick mother. Viviani owns two L.A. restaurants and is “going nonstop with global food festivals, charity events, a Web show and multiple partnerships, and this unwavering ambition starts to take a toll on him, both physically and emotionally.” In 2009, Bravo debuted “Top Chef Masters,” three years after the original (which has had nine seasons) launched. “Top Chef Just Desserts” had two seasons, the last in late 2011.
For the second year in a row, the NBC affiliate in Salt Lake City has decided not to air a first-year series from the Peacock network. The Mormon Church-owned station will take a pass on comedy “The New Normal,” which includes a surrogate mom for a gay male couple. Last year, KSL-TV opted not to show drama “The Playboy Club,” which had only three episodes on NBC. "From time to time, we may struggle with content that crosses the line in one area or another," Jeff Simpson, Bonneville International CEO told the Salt Lake Tribune. "The dialogue might be excessively rude and crude. The scenes may be too explicit or the characterizations might seem offensive."Bonneville International is the parent company of KSL and falls under the ownership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The CW Salt Lake City station will air the NBC comedy at some point on weekends. It carries “Saturday Night Live,” which KSL opts not to carry. Nexstar recently agreed to buy the CW station.
Axe recently launched its "Susan Glenn" campaign featuring Kiefer Sutherland and the idealized woman he wished he had spoken to. The Unilever brand has a new campaign that spotlights a different stylized view of men and women. The ads detail a love story between a man and woman who see each other at the office but somehow never connect. The catch -- and the element that manages to dance around the stereotyping issue -- is that each is a ridiculous embodiment of what men and women are theoretically drawn to in each other: the guy is a two-foot-tall walking haircut; the girl is a two-foot-tall walking cleavage. The campaign, an umbrella effort for all of Axe's 21 or so hair care products, is via BBH New York. It comprises 60-second and 30-second ads whose message asks, what if we are attracted to what we first notice about the opposite sex. For women, it would be hair. The new tagline --“Hair. It’s what girls see first.” Axe has dealt with hair in other recent campaigns such as one for its anti-dandruff products, wherein a guy's blizzard of dandruff makes women disappear, leaving only their apparel. If there's something Muppet-like about the diminutive, quirky sex objects, it's because they're Muppets. BBH, eschewing digital effects for real puppets, went to Jim Henson’s Creature Shop to build the characters. A new study on the body wash and shower products categories from Chicago-based market research firm Mintel says Unilever shampoo brands increased by 10% between 2010 and 2011, it was due in large measure to the acquisition of Alberto-Culver in 2010. Axe, which was not an Alberto Culver brand, increased share in shampoo by 10% as well in that period. Mintel says, broadly speaking, private label is exerting pressure on the category as consumers are more focused on price. Mintel reports sales of P&G’s products were down almost 2% in the 2010 to 2011 time frame with Pantene posting nearly an 8% decline in the period. Showing the relative immunity of dandruff products, Head & Shoulders saw an increase of 6.9% in sales during the period, per Mintel. Where Axe really took off, per the firm, is in the gel and mousse area of hair care, as did sibling brand Suave, because of the affinity of younger men to the former, and price-conscious consumers to the latter brand. Mintel says of products for younger men and value shoppers, "Both attractive niches in the current economic climate." Sales of Axe mousse and gel products rose 21.6% in the 2010-2011 period, per Mintel. Axe is also the top-selling body wash brand in the retail market, with sales of $63 million 2011, up 5.7% over the prior year. Unilever expanded the brand in 2012 with the release of Axe Anarchy for men and women.
Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) on Monday launched a new campaign to promote its mbrace2 telematics platform. The campaign centers on a 30-second spot, "All From One Place," that will break during the 2012 U.S. Open, of which Mercedes-Benz is a presenting sponsor. There are also extensive digital and social media executions, per the automaker. The new version of the telematics system was introduced at this year's Consumer Electronics Show. Mbrace2 has features like "Travel Zones" and so-called "geo-fences" which delineates where someone (one's driver-aged kids) can and can't go, Curfew Minder, Driving Journal, Speed Alerts, Valet Protect and Remote Horns & Lights. It also has "Mercedes Benz Apps," a suite of in-vehicle versions of social media platforms as well as things like Google Local Search. The company says it also includes update software that automatically updates apps via the cloud. The new spot puts the guy in various scenes -- in a stadium full of fans, in front of a burning house, on a stock exchange floor, in the middle of violent storm, at a party and on a date -- in which he talks to the camera about how the system helps him optimize his daily life with sports information, weather, business news, restaurant listings and such. The Montvale, N.J.-based MBUSA says that after it debuts on CBS during The U.S. Open, the ad will continue in rotation through early November, including on the 2012 Emmy Awards on ABC, NFL games on CBS and throughout network series season premiers such as "The Office," "Revenge" and "Smash." The automaker says it will also run the spot on cable channels like Bravo, E!, ESPN, Discovery, The Food Network, National Geographic, TNT and USA. The U.S. sales arm of the German luxury brand is also doing a digital component of the campaign, but the focus is tablet versions of publications in auto, tech, news and business verticals. Autoweek, Engadget, Bloomberg, CNNMoney, Forbes, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal will get the ads. The mbrace2 platform will also get the spotlight in custom sponsorships on landing pages of both Slate and Wired according to the company. Also, the company is running a program where people searching for information about mbrace2 on Google, Yahoo, or Bing, or on social channels will be connected to Mercedes' content on mbrace2. By way of example, the company explains if you search "mbrace2" on Google you get a text ad that you can click to go to mbrace2 content on MBUSA.com. On social media, people with interests in auto or tech content will get mbrace2-sponsored posts. The automaker says mbrace2 messaging will also be featured on the MBUSA Facebook page with a dedicated mbrace2 tab coupled with a takeover of the MBUSA YouTube Channel.
According to YuMe and research firm Frank N. Magid Associates, 30% of all Internet homes have TVs connected to the Internet, and users of those sets are generally receptive to advertisements and ad-supported business models. Almost 90% of connected TV users reported that they noticed ads on the platform, with 60% noticing pre-rolls. The majority of those users also interacted with ads and 19% of users subsequently purchased a product as a result of an ad they've seen on connected TV. Travis Hockersmith, senior director of client strategy at YuMe, points out that “... like any nascent medium, it is difficult to find baseline information that would help advertisers make informed decisions... much (like) the early days of the internet... users weren't yet bombarded with ads... engagement and ad recall were much higher... “ 59% of viewers of short-form video on connected TVs and 44% of those streaming TV shows preferred viewing 15- or 30-second ads over monthly subscription or the pay-per-view model. For movies, however, more than six in 10 users preferred either subscription or PPV models over ad-supported viewing. Hockersmith continued, “... users of connected TVs seemed willing to watch ads in exchange for getting free content... for TV length content, they would rather see ads than pay for the content... movie viewers were much more willing to accept subscription or PPV models. The report note that game consoles were the most popular with Internet connected TVs, with 77% of connected TVs connected to a game console, 34% connected to a Blu-ray player, 28% being a smart TV with an internal internet connection and 25% hooking up a streaming device or set-top-box. Other significant findings from the study include:
Over 10 years ago, Margaret Mark and Carol Pearson wrote a masterful book, The Hero and the Outlaw, which showed how the most successful brands were those that effectively corresponded to the fundamental patterns in the unconscious mind known as “archetypes.” My reading of the book wasn’t the first time I had thought about archetypes, but it was the first time I had considered their application to my chosen profession. The idea that, regardless of time, location or culture, people have told stories that essentially repeat the same story lines and character types over and over again was a powerful one. For me, it explained why people everywhere could relate to a Hero who overcomes great obstacles, a Magician who transforms dreams into reality or an Outlaw who rebels against the status quo. Over the years I’ve successfully used Pearson’s 12 Archetypes to inspire coworkers and clients to think about how they can give their brands greater meaning. Recently, however, I’ve begun to wonder if those 12 archetypes aren’t in need of a couple of additions. As I watch TV with my own daughter, there appears a new set of repeated character patterns that are shaping her view of the world that are very different from when I was a kid. Yes, Disney still delivers a steady stream of Innocents, Heroes, and Jesters (in both human and animal form), but they, like many of the other major childhood content providers, have evolved. Here are six new character archetypes I’ve observed (through co-viewing with my daughter) and corresponding products and brands that either enable or use the archetypes in marketing efforts: The Instant Celebrity: Carly Shay from iCarly and Austin Moon from Austin & Ally are the most prominent examples of this archetype. They both live the lives of normal teenagers, but are also aspiring celebrities who become famous almost by accident. Carly becomesfamous when her friend Freddie posts a video of her and friend Sam acting funny at a school talent show audition and then decides to start the iCarly web show. Austin becomes famous after he secretly records one of his shy songwriter friend’s songs, creates a video for it, and then posts it. Several brands and products are tapping into this archetype and enabling the Gen We belief that the world is a stage and that all it takes is the right person to see your performance and you’ll be famous. Products like the Just Dance and Guitar Hero series of video games and Radio Disney (which constantly encouraging kids to call in and perform) speak to the latent desire this archetype represents. The Cool Geek: Phineas Flynn of Phineas and Ferb embodies this archetype. In every episode of the show, Phineas is the mastermind that comes up with a brilliant and often technologically complex idea for a project that he and his friends will complete to stave off boredom for the day. He uses his superior intellect to achieve an outcome that maximizes the fun of summer for all while staying conspicuously under the radar of his parents. When I was a kid there were ton of geeks and nerds on TV (Steve Urkel from Family Matters stands out,) but it was rare that someone got to be smart and cool at the same time in the way Phineas does. The mindset that the two things aren’t mutually exclusive has infiltrated today’s youth. Geeks are now chic. AR Drone offers an amazing array of remote control flying devices that can be controlled via iPod, iPhone, iPad or Android. The come complete with video feed cameras and games that let almost any tween boy play the role of cool geek. The Frenemy This archetype has become so prevalent that Disney actually created a TV movie entitled “Frenemies.” Gunther and Tinka Hessenheffer from Shake it Up are my favorite example of this. In the show Shake it Up, they for the most part serve as antagonists to the main characters Rocky and CeCe, making fun of their dance moves and wardrobes at every turn - but at the same time they frequently have to be friendly toward and work with the main characters in order to accomplish some larger common goal. Sour Patch Kids has used this archetype as the backbone of their ‘Sour. Then Sweet’ campaign for the last few years with great success. The Animal Savior Perhaps it’s because kids have such a natural attraction to animals, but Gen We starts to be exposed to this character archetype at as young as age two via Diego Marquez. Diego and his sister Alicia are the animal rescuers at the heart of the cartoon Go Diego Go. This archetype has also been at the heart of some of the last few years’ biggest kids’ movies, Hotel for Dogs and Dolphin Tale. In both of these movies, alienated tweens found their purpose taking care of injured or unwanted animals. Fur Real Friends taps into this archetype with its line of newborn animals that come to life with your touch. Newborn lambs, ducklings, rabbits, and piglets give kids a chance to nurture their own inner Diego. The Prodigy Andre Harris from Victorious and Chyna Parks from A.N.T. Farm are great examples of this. Both are musical prodigies that go on multiple adventures that allow their talents to, in some way, be used to their advantage. Beyond music, this generation is also exposed to characters that are prodigies in art, computers, and even sports. The most interesting thing about the prodigy archetype is that all the characters have relatively normal social lives outside their one magnificent talent. This is very different from Doogie Howser, M.D., a similar character from early-’90s TV. An example of a product that helps the young prodigy to advance their skills would be the U Draw Studio Instant Artist game and tablet for Wii. The product lets kids advance their drawing, painting, and sketching skills then share their creations with others. The Naïve/Family Idiot For those familiar with Pearson’s 12 archetypes, this one is best described as a combination of the Innocent and the Jester. Three characters immediately come to mind for this -- Max Russo from Wizards of Waverly Place, Cameron from A.N.T Farm, and Boz from Pair of Kings. Each of these characters is frequently confused or clueless about what is really going on with their friends and family. Even very basic things like how to craft a cool nickname are often beyond their grasp, and thus they often become the target of ridicule. Marketed as “slippers with personality,” Stompeez appeals to the fun and inner goofiness of this archetype. At this point if you’re not thinking to yourself, “ Wow, she sure watches a lot of kids TV,” I’d be amazed. I will admit I am a kid at heart. Perhaps that is why I love stories so much and believe the best brands typically have one thing in common -- they are great storytellers. As humans, regardless of age, culture or geography, the one thing we all connect with is stories and the foundational archetypes within them. As such, I encourage you to pay close attention to the stories and archetypes that this next generation of consumers is growing up with, because those archetypes will be a key to continued connection with them as they grow into adulthood.
Technological advancement or sign of the apocalypse? LG Electronics, a big proponent of content viewing in 3D, created an experimental platform in which users could view their Facebook Newsfeeds on 3D screens. This begs the question: Is 3D becoming ubiquitous? Perfect Fools created LG 3D Studio, which houses the free app that brings a user’s Facebook feed to life, morphing posts from friends and brands into 3D building blocks. The number of likes and comments to a post determines how tall and how wide a block becomes. So if a pal’s senseless trivia and everyday minutia is aggravating in 2D, what will it do in 3D? I’m guessing Facebook will begin offering anger management courses – or users will get more selective about friending. Conversely, if your buddies lead a jet-set lifestyle, 3D just enhances their fun. The application can also be viewed using a 2D screen, but looks better in 3D. “It can be used anywhere in the world, as long as Facebook is not restricted,” said Michael Aneto, head of strategic planning at Perfect Fools. “It can also be used on all 3D screens, not just LG's.” The app launched July 30 and initially debuted in beta, tested by members of Amsterdam’s creative community. Aneto said the biggest challenge of the campaign was “convincing LG to do something different.” How about a cellphone you can actually hear on? He also said the app has left users feeling a bevy of emotions, from “inspired, intrigued, puzzled and critical.” Let's add confused. If they keep viewing everything online, they may forget how to use their legs. Here's five words that may save you from an early embolism: Step away from the screen.