Half of connected TV owners are more likely to stream content than to watch traditional TV because there are fewer commercials. A new study from The Interactive Advertising Bureau also says that 40% of those surveyed consider TV commercials on connected TV platforms to be less intrusive than standard TV ads. Seventy-six percent of those respondents say that connected TV streaming is just as good as -- or better than -- traditional TV, while 51% say it is “as good” and 25% say it is “better.” The study says that 33% of Americans over the age of 18 own either a smart TV or a device that streams video to their TVs, with 38% of those individuals who were spending at least 50% of their TV viewing time streaming video to their television. Research shows that 35% of connected TV owners are streaming more video to their TV than a year ago. In addition, 25% of smartphone and tablet owners and 20% computer owners say they are streaming more video. Vision Critical’s Media & Entertainment Practice conducted the survey on behalf of the IAB from January 19 to January 21, 2015 -- a sample of 651 adults 18 and older, representative of the U.S. census/online adult over-18 population. In addition, 13 of the online survey participants were invited to a two-day online discussion forum.
How does paid TV advertising affect a brand’s earned social media? Drawing a direct link between the two, new research from Nielsen shows how a recent Microsoft TV campaign significantly increased the brand’s social presence. In the 30 days after the U.S.-based campaign, Microsoft tweets increased 41% from those who sent tweets about at least one prime-time show that Microsoft ads aired within. By contrast, conversation around Microsoft tweets declined 38% from those who did not send any tweets about shows the company's ads had aired in, Nielsen found. Meanwhile, Microsoft’s TV campaign contained two distinct types of creative. One was emotional and tugged at the heartstrings of viewers, while the other was more rational with creative that focused on the product’s competitive benefits with price as a call to action. Seventy-six percent of those respondents say that connected TV streaming is just as good as -- or better than -- traditional TV, while 51% say it is “as good” and 25% say it is “better.” Overall, the emotional ads drove significantly more Microsoft discussion from exposed TV authors compared to the rational ads, Nielsen found. Nielsen also found that ad placements in more social episodes drove nearly five times more mentions for Microsoft commercials compared to less social programs. This confirmed to Nielsen that social TV activity -- as opposed to TV viewership -- is the key in driving earned media. The understanding that paid media can significantly drive earned media for a brand has two major implications for TV advertisers, according to Deirdre Thomas, SVP of client solutions at Nielsen. “The first implication is that it’s important for those TV advertisers to factor social TV activity into their TV media planning and buying process in order to maximize the earned media impact of a TV campaign,” Thomas said on Monday. “Second, the findings explain that it’s also critical for those advertisers to be smart about their creative.” The Nielsen Social “cohort analysis” used in the first part of its study to determine brand lift measured the volume of Microsoft-related tweets from two distinct groups during the 30-day period before and after the Microsoft TV campaign aired on a national prime-time TV schedule. “Exposed” TV authors were Microsoft authors who sent tweets about at least one show that Microsoft ads aired in within the prime-time TV schedule analyzed. Control group authors were Microsoft authors who did not send Tweets about any of the shows that Microsoft ads aired in within the prime-time TV schedule analyzed. As Nielsen notes, some authors within the control group may have been exposed to ads without tweeting about program content or ads placed outside of the analyzed TV schedule.
Gannett’s broadcasting revenue grew 4% in the first quarter, due to higher retransmission revenues and Super Bowl advertising. Broadcasting revenue climbed to $396.8 million during the period -- with a 26% rise in retransmission revenues to $110.2 million. But core broadcasting local and national advertising sank 2% during the period to $253.1 million, with political advertising nearly 80% lower to $2.1 million. A year before in the first quarter, Gannett benefited from a combined $51 million in Winter Olympics and political advertising. Digital advertising for Gannett’s broadcasting business grew 11.2% -- and up 85.1% company-wide to $332.7 million, coming from its CareerBuilder.com and Cars.com business. The gain resulted largely from Gannett’s 73% acquisition of Cars.com that it didn’t own. Gannett’s publishing revenues were down 8.8% to $768.2 million as a result of softness in display advertising. Advertising was 11.3% lower to $444.4 million in the period. Overall, company revenue was up 5% to $1.47 billion with net income nearly doubling to $127.5 million from $69.6 million in the first quarter of 2014. On the same day of its first-quarter earnings release, Gannett says its new publicly trade broadcasting/digital company, to be spun off later this year, will be called “Tegna.” Tegna is a loose anagram of “Gannett.” Gracia Martore, president/CEO of Gannett, stated: “Tegna is a nod to the more than 100 year-old history of Gannett." Tegna will operate 46 stations Gannett currently owns or provides services to, as well as its digital unit, which includes Cars.com and CareerBuilder.com. The Gannett name will be retained as a separate publicly-traded company for all its publishing businesses.
Comcast's proposed $45.2 billion takeover of Time Warner Cable would result in “higher prices, fewer choices, and poorer quality services,” a coalition of senators says in a letter to the Federal Communications Commission and Department of Justice The lawmakers are asking regulators to block the deal, arguing that it would leave Comcast with too much power over broadband and other forms of communication. “With 57 percent of the broadband Internet market and 30 percent of the cable market, Comcast-TWC would have an ability to defeat competing TV and Internet companies and stifle American innovation across the industry,” states the letter, sent today and signed by Sens. Al Franken (D-Minn), Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). They add that Comcast's ownership of NBCUniversal gives the company “incentives and means by which to extract higher prices from other multichannel video programming distributors and prioritize its own programming over that of competitors.” Comcast says that the deal will result in better video and broadband for consumers. The company says its broadband connections are 25% faster than Time Warner's, and that it has twice as much video on demand as Time Warner. The company also says that the deal won't reduce competition, given that the two companies don't currently overlap. Comcast also says that the deal will only leave it with 30 million of the 87 million U.S. broadband subscriptions. The lawmakers estimate that Comcast will control 57% of U.S. broadband connections is based on the FCC's new definition of broadband as Internet speeds of at least 25 Mbps. Comcast's numbers come from a report by the Leichtman Research Group, which looked at broadband subscribers in the U.S. at the end of last year, before the FCC revised the definition upward. The letter from Capitol Hill comes just days after reports surfaced that staff at the Justice Department are leaning toward opposing the merger. Comcast reportedly is slated to meet this week with officials from the DOJ, in hopes of salvaging the merger. One concern raised by opponents of the deal is that Comcast could use its broadband footprint to harm online video companies. Writing this week in Medium, broadband policy expert Susan Crawford says that the deal would provide Comcast with “innumerable opportunities to squeeze online companies.” She adds: “Every element of the Comcast network provides an opportunity for control and rent-seeking... Comcast can use data caps and other pricing mechanisms to make life miserable for online businesses that aren’t willing to play along.” Comcast currently imposes data caps in some markets, starting at 300 GB per month, with each additional 50 GB costing an extra $10.
The number of streaming media devices has reached a point where it is large enough to predict how OTT content will shape consumers’ future viewing habits, as well as the ways in which marketers will need to engage with them. According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau, about a third of all American adults currently have some sort of streaming media device in their homes (either smart TV or other device). That’s a large enough sample to have a roadmap of where things might be heading in the future as even more people pick them up, says Sherrill Mane, senior vice president of research, analytics and measurement at IAB. “We can now start looking at where the future is going to be,” Mane tells Marketing Daily. “It’s pretty clear we’re at a critical mass of what television is going to be.” That future is likely to be streamed content. According to the survey, nearly two-fifths of those consumers (38%) spend at least half of their time watching content streamed from the Internet. Why? Because there are fewer commercials (cited by about 50% of connected TV owners), the commercials are less intrusive (40%) and the content is just as good as (51%) or better (25%) than what they find on traditional TV. “In many ways, we’re experiencing a new golden age of content,” Mane says. “The whole experience of the living room is going to change. It’s creating more opportunities for marketers to be involved with consumers.” More than a third of connected TV owners said they are streaming more video to their TV than a year ago, and 19% of adults said they are watching less traditional TV than last year. Of those who stream programming at least once a month, Netflix and YouTube are the top providers (cited by about 75%), while half stream traditional TV shows, Amazon Prime or videos from other portals (such as AOL, Google and Yahoo.) Two-fifths stream content from Hulu Plus. Over a third (35%) of connected TV owners are streaming more video to their TV than a year ago. (One in four smartphone and tablet owners, and one in five computer owners, say they are also increasing streamed content viewing.) Meanwhile, 19% of adults 18 and older state that they are watching less traditional TV year-over-year. While consumers may be watching more streamed content, they are also more distracted overall. More than three-quarters (78%) say they’re simultaneously using another device while watching TV, mostly via their smartphone (69%). Nearly 80% of computer users and 65% of tablet owners also multiscreen while watching TV. While Web browsing is the most predominant multiscreen activity, other popular tasks include messaging with friends about the content being viewed, searching for information about the show or actor onscreen, reading about or posting on the onscreen content’s social media feeds, and searching for reviews of a product or service shown in a commercial. That last activity -- which accounts for nearly 40% of smartphone, tablet and computer users -- indicates that marketers need to be aware of what is being said about them, as they are working to get their messages out. “As we move forward into this new age, marketers can explore different ways of telling their stories to consumers,” Mane says. “This is yet another sign that marketers need to be in charge of whatever they can in their messaging.”
Jeep's most iconic nameplate — and therefore FCA U.S.'s most iconic vehicle — is the Jeep Wrangler. But another vehicle, the Jeep Renegade, is the brand's most worldly: the vehicle, which launched in February, is the first model under the all-American nameplate to be built overseas — Melfi, Italy, to be precise, where it shares a platform with sibling Fiat 500X. It is also a subcompact crossover, which means it has an automatic Millennial appeal. And the automaker is counting on that. Jeep has been pitching 20-somethings since earlier this year when it launched a program with NBCUniversal and iHeartRadio spotlighting, among other things, artists like Hozier and Charlie XCX. Jeep is extending the music focus with a new marketing campaign featuring a song called "Renegades" by Brooklyn-based band X Ambassadors. The effort — which includes print, radio, experiential, social, long-form video, and other digital elements — kicked off on Friday with a 60-second spot. The music video for the song is on Jeep's YouTube channel, while the lyrics are on Jeep's microsite for the vehicle, at www.Jeep.com/RenegadeLife. The 60-second TV launch spot features footage of the band using the Renegade as a tour vehicle for a national trip. They travel around the country with other Millennials, as the song plays, with the lyrics saying “Long live the pioneers, rebels and mutineers, go forth and have no fear, come close and lend an ear." Jeep says 30-second spots — including “Endurance Race,” spotlighting capability, and “Beach,” spotlighting the all-new 2015 Jeep Renegade MySky Open-Air Roof System, in addition to a 30-second version of “Renegades” — will launch in the coming weeks. In a statement, FCA's global CMO Olivier Francois said that the campaign — a collaboration between the band and its producer KIDinaKORNER (Alex Da Kid) and Interscope Records — is intended to reach younger consumers whose attentions are probably otherwise engaged, probably by other marketing messages. “Building break-through creative to launch the Jeep Renegade to the Millennial audience around the world propels the Jeep brand into an all-new space,” he said. “We’ve created a one-of-a-kind platform that features lyrics and track written with the modern renegade in mind — its name invoking the very spirit and mindset of Millennials.” The new music platform for the 2015 Jeep Renegade will be applied across the brand’s social, digital and website channels. Jeep says the new Jeep.com/RenegadeLife microsite is intended to be a lifestyle portal, and will be updated with rich-media content, per Jeep.
Anheuser-Busch has launched a digital ad for its new beverage brand Oculto, a lager blended with beer aged on tequila barrel staves. The 30-second video highlights the brand’s core elements: intrigue, mystery, seduction and spontaneous nights out with friends. The beverage’s name, Oculto, means “hidden” or “waiting to be found” in Spanish. The marketing strategy to reach Oculto’s target is to focus primarily on social, digital and experiential, says John Steed, marketing director, Anheuser-Busch InBev. “Oculto is for millennials who seek to maximize every experience and view unique, exciting memories made with friends as the ultimate social currency,” Steed tells . “These drinkers are often also drinking other premium beverages.” Marketing aims to reach the target where they are: “in the clubs and on Instagram, Twitter and Tinder. Everything we do is designed to drive Instagrammable and share-worthy moments,” Steed says. In the three weeks since the product launched, A-B has seen more than 13,000 organic posts about the brand using the hashtag #Oculto on Instagram, he says. Consumers are also encouraged to use the hashtag #MakeSecrets, further defining the Oculto brand persona, he says. Experiential elements are focused in Miami and include both traditional and disruptive OOH, geotargeted social advertising and experiential on-premise events. The digital ad “epitomizes the seduction and intrigue of the brand highlighting unforgettable nights out,” Steed says. “The visuals are meant to inspire curiosity around the various vignettes of secrets being made throughout the video.” “The spot is a dreamy, seductive invitation to put on the mask and have an Oculto kind of night,” he says. “We catch passing glimpses of a masked woman who wants us to follow her into a night where we’re the strangers, lured by what awaits us around the next corner.” The video was directed by Melina Matsoukas, who is known for her music video work with artists including Rihanna’s “We Found Love.” The music used in the spot is the classic "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" by soul music pioneer and legend Sam Cooke. “It was picked for its effortless cool and the way it balanced the party vibe in the visuals,” Steed says. “We chose to use something seductive and unexpected. This is not your typical lager and the music needed to reflect that spirit.”
Two Sundays in a row, with special Sunday daytime/nighttime events, put CBS on top. “The Academy of Country Music Awards” -- running from 8 p.m. to 11:30 p.m -- rose around 10% higher versus a year ago to a Nielsen 3.6 rating/ 11 share among 18-49 viewers. The show pulled in some 15.77 million overall viewers, to score the best results for the show since 1998. All this gave CBS a big 3.1/9 18-49 rating for the night. A week ago, CBS earned less than half those results, with a 1.3/3. But it beat all networks partly because of late afternoon/early-evening coverage of “The Masters,” which push up “60 Minutes” that night to a 1.8, leading all network prime-time programming. This week, against “Country Music Awards,” ABC was in second place with a 1.4/4 18-49 rating on the night -- up from the week before, where it earned a 1.2/3. “Once Upon a Time” was the same at a 1.6/5. “Secrets and Lies” (1.4/4); “Revenge” (1.0/3); and “America’s Funniest Home Videos” (1.4/5) were all higher. “Videos” benefited from the late-afternoon NBA playoffs coverage. A mixture of originals and reruns for Fox’s animated Sunday night programming pulled in a 1.2/3, up slightly from the 1.1/3 of a week before. NBC was down versus a week before -- a 0.8/1 from a 1.0/3. “A.D.: The Bible Continues” dropped to a 0.6/2 from a 1.1/3.
It's not exactly Taste of Lexus, the experiential and lifestyle program Lexus ran for several years that featured luxury products and experiences for an invited crowd of owners and prospects. Traditionally, those experiences had been oriented toward leisure rather than active lifestyle: spa treatments, apparel, foodie stuff, personal care, handcrafted merchandise and the like. And maybe golf. For a couple of years now, as Lexus has redefined itself with marketing and products as a performance-oriented brand — even getting back into racing this year — the company's lifestyle programs have an “active” modifier. Programs like the GS Performance Tour took people to racetracks to test drive the car, but mixed in the gourmet life. And there is this weekend's Bottega Gran Fondo in Napa Valley, of which the automaker is in its second year as official auto partner. The event, of which chef Michael Chiarello, a “Lexus Culinary Master” is host, is less a hardcore bike race than an epicurean bike tour through Napa. But with technology advances pushing up prices of premium bikes, it has become expensive to swing a leg over a light, high-tech racing bike. The two-day tour features six pro cyclists and six “special guests” as hosts, with a thematic focus on sustainable farming, cooking, and winemaking. Lexus will provide a full race support fleet, featuring the Lexus NX 300h hybrid crossover, which the company says will be the lead race vehicle. Lexus is also the presenting partner for the event’s King, Queen and Couple of the Mountain jerseys. Brian Smith, VP marketing at the Torrance, Calif.-based U.S. unit of Lexus, said that in addition to the cycling aspect, there is indeed the usual focus on luxury: “Cycling, food, wine, stunning landscapes. We can't think of a better event to begin Lexus’ 2015 cycling initiatives... . This exclusive event is an ideal partnership for Lexus, distinctly mixing our commitment to active lifestyle programming with our passion for culinary pursuits.” In addition to Chiarello, former Tour de France winner and world champion Cadel Evans is hosting. Lexus’ first master sommelier, Carlton McCoy, will host a wine seminar on Saturday. Other participants are 17-time Tour de France competitor George Hincapie and legend Andy Hampsten. Riders can choose from 75-, 55- or 40-mile courses through Napa Valley, featuring chef-sponsored stops along the way and culminating in a post-ride Italian-style luncheon. Other major sponsors include Delta Air Lines and appropriately enough, Aleve. Lexus will have vehicles throughout the event,which the company says will be the first of a series of Lexus-sponsored cycling events this year. Lexus is also the official vehicle sponsor for the Amgen Tour of California this May and the U.S.A. Pro Cycling Challenge in August. Data from the National Association of Sporting Goods Retailers Simmons, MRI, USA Cycling Membership, and Bicycling Magazine says cycling is the top fitness and health activity among doctors and lawyers over the age of 40. Overall, it is the second-most popular recreational activity behind sport walking. There are around 17 million bicycles sold in the United States each year, with the average price of a racing bike about $3,500. The median household income for 45- to-49-year-old racers is $95,940. Over 80% are college graduates.
HSN, the cable TV network-based retailer, has as a new senior marketing executive. John Aylward, former marketing executive at Starbucks, The Gap and Sony Corp., will be the company’s new executive vice president/chief marketing officer. He will have responsibility for the development of the HSN brand, overseeing all marketing, channel marketing and creative. He will report to Bill Brand, president/chief marketing officer of HSN. In the fourth quarter HSN gained 10% in revenue to $1.12 billion. Most recently, Aylward was senior vice president/head of marketing, brand engagement and media for DSW, which followed two years as vice president/marketing for Starbucks’ premium tea division Teavana. Aylward spent seven years, from 2006-2012, at the Gap, where he held positions as director of marketing strategy of Gap North America, then brand director for Gap Europe. He spent two years at Sony Corp. in London where he was senior manager of marketing communications for Sony Europe.
Sharply divided opinions are focused on Netflix’s future. Some believe the company will continue to soar; others believe it’s a disaster waiting to meet its media maker. In that regard, one veteran media agency buying executive, speaking with TV Watch, asked an incredible question: “When will Netflix start taking TV advertising?” Though Netflix CEO Reed Hastings swore that will never happen, some analysts believe the wild spending for TV-movie content by the company — a projected $5 billion for programming in 2016— means Netflix will have to answer to the financial media gods one day. That $5 billion will be more than HBO, Showtime, Amazon, and Starz spent on programming in 2014 -- combined. The positive news that could keep Netflix out of clutches of TV-video marketers? One analyst estimates the company could grow by triple in five years to an eye-popping 180 million worldwide customers. With its reasonable price point of $8.99 a month, you can see why some consumers can’t turn down a run with Netflix. Netflix has over 62 million global subscribers and over 40 million in the U.S. And cord-cutters? Worried entertainment consumers are an easy target, those who are spending $90 to $125 a month and need financially to make a change. Analysts like to make comparisons to that one big pay TV player: HBO. That similarity isn’t correct. Consumers are using Netflix as an TV service “anchor” as a partial replacement for slimming down on big cable TV channel packages.Netflix has the added benefit of allowing viewers to blow through a year-long 13-episode series in a weekend. But that added pressure to ramp up production in wildly accelerated ways, bolstering Netflix’s original TV and movie slate, has caused concern. So, Netflix will need to find a way to keep that very modest $8.99/month price tag around for consumers. And advertising might be an answer. Some history here: AMC — the network of “Walking Dead” and “Mad Men” — started off as a cable channel with no advertising. It just ran old movies. Then over time it gradually added “sponsorship”-like advertising opportunities, messaging that would appear before and after programming. Now we are left with a network with traditional TV advertising/commercials. PBS programming has consistently added sponsorship/advertising messaging — including video — before and after TV programming content. So could Netflix nudge into a marketplace with some kind of digital “pre-roll” advertising, stuff digital video consumers are now used to? Better still, could Netflix also offer up the option to viewers to skip the pre-roll ad after five seconds? More than other new digital platforms, Netflix has the added burden of dealing with a massive misstep of just few years ago, when it wanted to raise prices by separating its now DVD by mail business from its new and fast growing streaming video service. Netflix will continue to walk the line with customers. But if it will never consider adding some revenue-producing advertising, how will its business model evolve?
There is a signature pause in my wife’s step that precedes her asking for the umpteenth time in our marriage some variation on “what madness is this, then?“ (a subset of “what did I marry?”). I was asking for it this time. Deep inside my Roku app box on the Shout Factory channel, I had discovered episodes of the 1960s “Stingray” series. This Saturday morning filler on local channels was a sci-fi adventure in “supermarionation": the weird technique that inspired Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s “Team America” film. “What the hell?” Now at full stop at the spectacle of marionettes barking military orders without a whiff of irony. “Science fiction with puppets,” I explain -- as if that were any kind of explanation. Admittedly, my TV stopped being a “TV” as we have known it for years. I have been testing OTT boxes since before the Apple TV. My aging Sony HDTV and home theater receiver are clogged to capacity with HDMI inputs (Apple TV, Roku, Chromecast, Fire TV, PS3, Xbox One, plus the DISH receiver and VOD). The poor woman has no idea what to expect when she walks into our living room unprepared: “Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” via Fandor, My “Watch Later” Soupy Sales clips, Disney WWII cartoon propaganda, or uniformed marionettes with creepy eyebrows that appear to have been stripped from shag carpeting. TV is not TV anymore. It has quickly become an on-demand museum of a century of video. And according to the IAB’s latest study of changing TV habits, I am no longer alone (save, perhaps the supermarionation fetish). About a third of Americans now have some way of streaming digital content to their TVs, either directly on a connected TV or via OTT boxes and game consoles. But this TV-Next set is very bad news for traditional TV, since 38% of the group now says they spend half of their TV time with streaming media. About half of the connected TV viewers say they prefer streamed media because there are fewer commercials, and 40% find the ads on these platforms less bothersome. The genie is out of the bottle. Half of these users say the new options for content on TV are as good as traditional TV, while 25% say it is better. Not surprisingly, Netflix is a key driver of the connected TV world, with about three-quarters of these smart TV owners using Netflix and YouTube content. Half of these new Tv audiences stream traditional TV shows and about 40% say they view hulu. Overall, 35% of connected TV users day they are using more streamed media than a year ago and 19% say they are watching less traditional TV. For those of us using app-based boxes like Roku and Fire TV, dynamically served in-stream video spots have become commonplace, if not always elegant. One brand that stands out is Method cleaning product, whose ads seem to pop up everywhere in my obscure Roku and Fire TV apps. They are memorable not only because I don’t see them advertise elsewhere on TV but because the ads are ironic takes on new suburban life: for example, a spaghetti-eating toddler launches a saucy meatball at Dad’s white shirt back. The tone seems well-targeted to the likely demo for a Roku box. The problem for dynamically served OTT ads is timing and redundancy. I have seen the same Method ad countless times and in just about every pod. Some of the larger services like Sony’s Crackle do a better job of finding suitable breaks in the movies and TV episodes for advertising. But most of the niche content apps are relying on networked in-stream ads that do a lousy job of finding natural breaks. Still, we are starting to see the first instances of truly interactive OTT advertising. I have already encountered several spots on Amazon’s Fire TV that let me click through to TV-optimized landing pages for more content and interaction. The experience was smooth, and in general the content was a welcome extension of the spot. Done with discipline, one of the dreams of the Interactive TV era may well be upon us.
Spain. July 2, 1494. A stone-cold morning. Spanish King Ferdinand II complains to his queen, Isabella: “The Portuguese. Always the Portuguese.” Isabella munches on a quail egg and light toast. “Boundaries,” he murmurs. Then taps the right-handed quill twice: once to his Aquitaine nose – an itch perhaps; the second, to the table summoning a minion. The king affixes the royal signature to the hieroglyphic’d, besotted treaty. A servant appears. A specter. Rolls up the parchment, gingerly. Places it in a black box, closes the lid, bows, and obsequiously retires. “Boundaries,” the Spanish king mutters. The purpose of the line of demarcation mediated by Pope Alexander was to divide trading and colonizing rights for all newly discovered lands of the world between Portugal and Spain to the exclusion of other European nations. The Treaty of Tordesillas specified the line of demarcation in leagues from the Cape Verde Islands. It did not specify the line in degrees, nor did it identify the specific island or the specific length of its league. Though intermittently repudiated, violated and anathematized by both signatories, the imaginary demarcated line stood for nearly 100 years. Wikipedia A few centuries later. Colonial America. October 1, 1765. A brisk morning. British surveyor Charles Mason signals partner Jeremiah Dixon to move three feet to the right. Right hand in trouser pocket, the left pole hauling, his silent partner acquiesces. “Five feet back towards Pennsylvania,” barks Master Mason. Dixon slides into position. “Too far,” eyeing the angle. “Stop,” Mason commands. Dixon freezes. “The Calverts of Maryland are not going to be happy,” muses Mason. “Neither will the Penns of Pennsylvania,” he grimaces. Dixon shivers. The left-handed held pole quivers. “Head a stone’s throw towards Maryland,” the master surveyor instructs. The purpose of the line of demarcation surveyed between 1763 and 1767 by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon was to resolve a border dispute involving Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware in Colonial America. It is still a demarcation line among four U.S. states, forming part of the borders of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and West Virginia (originally part of Virginia). It represents the cultural border between the Southern United States and the Northern United States. Wikipedia A few centuries later. New York City. April 24, 2015. A warm morning – though overcast. A national TV buyer, a local TV buyer, a digital video buyer, a traditional media planner and a programmatic TV platformist conjoin over breakfast, digesting each other’s points of departures. The programmatic pragmatist leads the conversation: efficiently, automationedly animated, fact-backed data-infused ubiquity, seasoned irrefutably with digital analogies and promises of futures present. “Gertrude Stein,” he muses, “said a rose is a rose is a rose. Shouldn’t that be the same for video impressions across screens?” he implores. The national TV buyer smiles; the local TV buyer asks the digital buyer to pass the ketchup; the digital video buyer, too young to understand the reference, sports a quizzical expression and slides the container forward; and the traditional media planner grimaces, having heard this analogy proffered in prior powwows. “Aren’t you referencing the wrong rose?” the traditional media planner asks. “Don’t you mean: A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet.” “That, too,” standing corrected, the programmaticist sits. Undaunted by the reception of the misplaced quotation, he resumes his polemic. “Then by a literary analogy, a video impression delivered across multiple screens should be as effective and sweet as we propose in programmatic TV offerings to the media community.” The national TV buyer spears a large slice of French toast and chimes in. “Yet whether we reference Shakespeare or Stein, they both have identified the flower as a rose. A very specific genus Rosa within the family of Rosaceae. Not any flower, but a rose. Transparently rose.” The waiter, witnessing steam emanating from his charges, circles the table. “Coffee, decaf, more water. Anyone?” “But that is precisely my point,” the programmatic purveyor beams. “Based upon our analytics and myriad data sources, there are over 100 species and thousands of cultivars and we have the capability to segment that woody perennial – the rose your clients wish to target – by fragrance, florist, cost, in-market interest, and past purchases. One bill. Touch of a button.” The national TV buyer daubs the spiked French toast with more syrup; the local TV buyer excuses herself and heads to the restroom; the digital video buyer checks his smartphone and scrolls through email; the traditional media planner contemplates how this conversation of media and the inclusion of different video distribution channels became so rosy to be subsumed by horticulture – metaphorically speaking. The purpose of the line of demarcation between video channels – national, local, syndication, unwired, broadband, over-the-top, addressable, on demand, cinema, place-based and programmatic – was established through the evolution of media value assessment. Sight (or print) set baselines. Decades later, sound (or radio) seeded the media planner’s imagination. Motion in conjunction with sight and sound (or television) exploded thereafter onto the scene. The cost of reaching a thousand potential consumers became the lingua franca.As different video platforms emerged, the media planners, with TV buyers in tow, were forced to assess valuations – CPM valuations – of each platform’s potential viewer i.e., age, gender, and some psychographic and behavioral attribution. The CPM for national broadcast was different than local broadcast, was different than local and national cable, was different than original or off-network syndication, was different than unwired, was different than addressable, was different than ad supported video on demand, was different than broadband video (premium or otherwise), was different than place based and cinema advertising and is different than programmatic TV propositions. The traditional media buying community has always demonstrated reluctance to experiment with new forms of TV content distribution and audience based targeting. Programmatic TV endeavors are making headway – at least by trade coverage representation standards. At this juncture, combining inventory across multiple distribution channels in programmatic TV proposals can only obfuscate value propositions by crossing established lines of demarcation, which will ultimately delay acceptance and inclusion in media campaigns by the traditional media buying community. HocusFocus
There is encouraging news today with the release of AA/Warc figures, which suggest the advertising market saw its biggest growth in four years and that the momentum is carrying on into 2015. The reason is simple -- economies are recovering and consumers are more confident, and the channel is obvious: digital. Or is it? The takeaway is that UK ad spend is up roughly 5% between 2013 and 2014, and this same rate of growth is forecast into 2015 and 2016. The headline figures are that Internet advertising has risen by 15% and will do so again this year -- but more to the point, mobile Internet advertising rose by more than a half last year and is scheduled to rise by nearly as much again this year. The decline of print -- both in magazine and newspapers -- is around 3% to 4% last year and this year. Yet digital newspaper advertising is up a quarter and scheduled to rise by nearly a fifth again this year, while digital magazines saw a 5% increase last year which will be repeated next year. So digital is seeing encouraging growth while the decline of print continues and direct mail is flatlining. It would be easy, then, to see these figures as suggesting that traditional advertising is out and digital is in. There's a certain element of truth and logic to that -- but then you look at tv and realise the story isn't so simple. While print is clearly falling out of favour, television showed 5% growth last year, which is forecast to be repeated this year and next. When you see the broadcaster video-on-demand percentage increases of 15% last year rising to 20% annual growth in 2016, it would be all too easy to say that what has happened in print is happening in television. Looking more closely at the figures may lead to a more sobering conclusion. Broadcaster VOD is just a couple of percent of traditional television's overall value. Hence, when advertisers get rightly excited about broadcaster VOD and pump money in, it can prompt headlines about the future being digital television. However, take those growth rates and even in 2016 after nearly doubling in size, broadcaster VOD will still only be around 5% of today's traditional television spend. It may buck a trend and it may be the fly that stops people from being able to say old is out, digital is in, but there you have it -- it's a fact. Television is not going the way of print because people consume far less print material than they used to -- preferring online content -- but people, give or take, still watch a lot of television. Speak to any startup that is gaining real traction or any brand that wants to get its name out there and they will all being looking at television as the medium, either through a selection of spots or sponsoring an apt programme. Sure, Internet advertising is roughly 50% larger than television and it is showing signs of pulling away from television with larger future growth. But the rhetoric that all traditional media are crumbling and adding fuel to Internet advertising needs to be checked with the awkward truth that television is more than holding its own -- and that digital broadcaster VOD gains are a welcome contribution to this but they are not the main cause.
"Game of Thrones" is back, and we’re here to unearth the marketing principles lurking in season five. Here’s what we took away from “The House of Black and White.” Episode two certainly set more pieces in motion for an exciting season. There was fierce swordplay, a surprise election, three beheadings (two human and one pigeon), a dysfunctional small council meeting, and Drogon the dragon’s return. But one of this episode’s big themes was “the company you keep” — and how it can affect your future. That’s an important point for brands, because partnerships led by content, live events, or media properties have become a key element in marketing campaigns today. We saw some of the show’s most important characters make very specific partner choices in this episode, which clarifies how they plan to move forward in the series narrative. And while in our world, choosing partners or sponsorship opportunities isn’t a life or death decision, borrowed equity can help marketers tap into culturally relevant events that they typically wouldn’t touch. Jaime volunteered to head to Dorne to rescue Myrcella from the grasp of the Martells, but he surprised us when he chose everyone’s favorite sell sword, Bronn, to be his companion. While Bronn has a killer sense of humor, his greatest asset is his incredible swordsmanship. Jaime knows they’re potentially in for some trouble and by aligning with Bronn, he’s giving himself a secret weapon – one that he needs now that he lacks a right hand. Similarly, Sansa chose to stay with the relative security of Littlefinger rather than choosing the uncertainty (and loyalty) of Brienne. Look at where she’s come in just a few episodes now that she’s embraced Littlefinger (literally and figuratively) and you can understand her desire to stick with the former Master of Coin. From a sponsorship perspective, marketers spend lots of money, time, and resources to activate around tentpole events. When done right, this investment can pay off in spades, allowing brands to play in spaces and be associated with cultural moments that they have no natural place in. Sometimes, those associations, like a good swordsman (or swordswoman) at your side, can be priceless and literally change the trajectory of a brand. Speaking of changing trajectories: Daenerys’ association with dragons has led her from the Dothraki desert all the way to Meereen, where she’s trying to bring both “freedom and justice” to the people. In fact, her dragons have become a massive part of her brand identity. But as we’ve seen so far this season, even the best intentions have unintended consequences. In last night’s episode, we saw firsthand how Daenerys’s decision leads to dissatisfaction amongst her subjects — placing her entire campaign in jeopardy. Marketers can take another lesson from “Mhysa’s” problems in Meereen: that the denial of a problem can only make things worse. Sometimes campaigns have unintended consequences, and denying that fact can only lead to ruin. It’s best to “turn into the spin,” or face the problems head on, especially in an always-moving digital world. Recently some brands have even tried creating assets with clear mistakes in them to generate conversation. While this strategy may be as questionable as letting your eldest dragon roam the countryside freely, it shows that crisis management (manufactured or not) has a big role in today’s marketing environment. Here’s hoping that the Mother of Dragons gets some better advice in the weeks to come. The trick for her, as it often is for marketers, isn’t actually procuring advice — it seems as if everyone has that to share — rather, it’s figuring out whose advice to heed.
Last week, I proclaimed April to be the month of Dove. I wrote about how the brand had released a stunt video about female beauty standards every April for the last three years and how those stunts drove debate and conversation, which, in turn, generated viewership. But the success of Dove's female empowerment campaigns over the last three years has encouraged other brands to launch their pro-women campaigns in April as well. This month we’re seen three great examples of female empowerment campaigns that address body image and beauty issues, paying homage to Dove’s legacy while pushing the genre forward. And, let’s be clear: Female empowerment has moved from a trend to a genre unto itself. Let’s start with Lane Bryant’s “#ImNoAngel,” which features curvy models – including Ashley Graham, who was in this year’s Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue – in the retailer’s new Cacique lingerie brand. The campaign takes a direct shot at Victoria’s Secret, showing that women of all sizes can be sexy, and asking the question, “how boring would it be if we were all the same?” “#ImNoAngel” showcases different body types – much like Dove’s 2004 “Campaign for Real Beauty” – and has created debate about body image and body-shaming issues, much ase Dove has. But unlike past empowerment videos, these non-traditional models aren’t just communicating body acceptance; they are making the bold statement that they are just as sexy, or more so, than supermodels. Or what about Dear Kate, a small retailer that manufactures underwear made of fabric that protects against stains. In its new campaign, “First Time,” the brand interviews a group of women about their first periods. Done documentary-style, the campaign normalizes a subject that can often be awkward. Asking everyday consumers to talk straight to the camera about a difficult and personal subject has been a staple of Dove’s advertising for years. Where this video moves the genre forward is in its tone, which is humorous. Most “go girl” campaigns make us introspective, and maybe a little teary; this campaign empowers us by finding the amusement in a shared experience. The most high-profile brand besides Dove to launch an empowerment campaign this month is Nike. In its biggest initiative to date, Nike Women released “Inner Thoughts,” a video that depicts all the self-doubt that run through a woman’s head when she sits behind a row of models in spin class, runs a half-marathon, and joins her first yoga class. The campaign ends with an uplifting message as those thoughts are overcome by enjoyment of the exercise itself. The campaign uses the tag #betterforit, a softer and more inward looking tagline than “Just Do It.” Addressing women’s self-doubt and criticism is a mainstay of the empowerment genre, but, in the past, brands like Dove have done so in a serious and emotional way. Online viewers tend to love hyper emotional content; it is what makes them want to watch and share videos online. Nike knows this, which is why its campaigns are often so gut-wrenchingly inspirational. But viewers are really connecting with the light-hearted tone of this Nike campaign, which may inspire other brands to ease up on the tearjerkers. These campaigns from Lane Bryant, Dear Kate, and Nike Women all owe something to Dove. Dove showed brands that tackling the tough issues could lead to big pay-off – debate, conversation, and viewership – when done well. But there is more than one way to empower a consumer, and it will be exciting to see how Dove and other brands continue to advance this new genre of creative.
In case you were wondering, YouTube still grabs a huge slice of attention from millions of U.S viewers, and new YouTube data released today emphasizes that point -- and stresses that these viewers seem peculiarly loyal. Looking at Google Preferred, the collection of YouTube channels that are most viewed, the content giant is reporting today that: “We found that desktop viewers who watch Google Preferred tend to be younger, more likely to be online shoppers in market for products, and importantly...the majority are viewers not reached through other video platforms.” The report continues: “In fact, we found that nearly one in 10 Google Preferred desktop viewers do not watch traditional TV at all and 90% of them do not visit any of the top five full-episode players.” (That phrase--”full episode players”--is the clunky-but-marginally-quicker way of saying Hulu.com, ABC.com, CBS.com, Fox.com and NBC.com. The moniker doesn’t include Netflix because it doesn’t carry advertising.) From this, we can conclude, pretty definitely, that these people don’t like broadcast network television. According to these stats, though, these Google Preferred people positively loathe it. “Younger audiences are also heavily represented on YouTube and on Google Preferred specifically, where viewers skew younger than the online population,” YouTube reports. “We found that 18-34 year-olds who watch video on smartphones go to YouTube first for online video, 2.3 times as likely or more than other platforms.” The Google Preferred channels represent the 5% of channels that accumulate the most YouTube viewers. It’s exclusive, but it’s not that exclusive--preferred still means thousands of channels. These are the biggest fish in an enormously big pond--because YouTube has an awful lot of channels. It has reported previously that the operators of a million channels worldwide earn revenue from its partner program, which seems to be a handy way of separating video businesses from the owners of cute, telegenic kitties. Preferred channels, Tubefilter reported a while ago, come from 14 different content categories. YouTube is releasing the material, no doubt, because the NewFronts are coming soon, and possibly because Facebook today will release its Q1 earnings, which could show its own giant leaps in the online video advertising trade. YouTube is returning to the annual NewFronts dog-and-pony show announcing another year of its Google Preferred channels to advertisers. And while YouTube’s presentation is always way over the top, it looks like as a business, YouTube is going to announce it’s going to keep doing the same thing. Its research says Google Preferred desktop viewers are 2.7 times more likely to be in-market online shoppers than the general online population, and they’re 182% times more likely to be in the market for a luxury car, 166% more likely to be looking for apparel, 170% for beauty stuff, and 195% more likely to be looking for computers and tablets. Possibly because they are such YouTube devotees, they are 46% more likely to search for a brand than not-so-crazed YouTube users. The odd segue paragraph here could start, “But despite how much its users respond enthusiastically to advertising, YouTube is starting a commercial-free premium site...” Maybe another day. pj@mediapost.com
We’ll never get rid of advertising, but it seems that once the data start rolling in, there are a lot of people who keep trying. It’s not like advertising people are like journalists--liars, biased, stupid, self-loathing--but a lot of viewers don’t like the commercials that advertising people help deliver.Reportedly, 31% of YouTube users employed an ad blocker last month, and that percentage goes up the younger the user. For 16-24s, it’s up to 36% and for 25-34s, it’s 35%. But even among the hopeless decrepit YouTubers aged 55 to 64, a full 21% are blocking YouTube pre-roll, according to GlobalWebIndex.net. Maybe that's another good reason for YouTube to start its premium, ad-free version, though I have my doubts people will spend much per month to get what they once got for free--and what seems almost emblematic of the "free" spirit of online video. Amid all the video related stats that show yearly double-digit increases, add this one: Between June 2013 and June 2014, AdBlock Plus subscriptions increased 70% worldwide, to 144 million. A report by PageFair and Adobe says 28% of U.S. Internet population uses AdBlockPlus. And the trend line is going up. A report by Adobe’s Matthew Roberts last year pointed out a bigger underlying problem with viewer avoidance of ads. “While content producers expect to be compensated, it is difficult to attract consumers to content if they are forced to pay for it. This creates a dilemma that has been typically solved through advertising, an age-old solution that provides “free” content to consumers by giving it away with strings attached. But now ad blocking is cutting those strings, and it is up to marketers to find the sweet spot between these polar opposites."In our study, we asked 1,600 participants about their willingness to receive advertisements packaged with the content they consume. Sixty-one percent of respondents stated they were completely unwilling to receive such advertisements, yet only 20% of respondents stated they would be willing to pay some sort of fee for an ad-free experience.” So that’s a problem. Roberts says research shows there is some willingness--like, people are not totally hateful--toward text message advertising or skippable ads of the sort YouTube offers (unless you have AdBlock Plus). A report just out today from the Interactive Advertising Bureau is getting headlines today because it points out that smart TVs and streaming is truly gaining mass appeal, but significantly, 50% of the users say they prefer online TV better than the old-fashioned kind because there are fewer commercials, and 40% volunteering they find online advertising less the intrusive. But it’s also true about three-quarters of these people watch Netflix on their smart TVs, so they are getting a good dose of un-commercial content and Netflix, as its latest financials just showed, continues to grow. And as mentioned, so does Ad Block Plus pj@mediapost.com
The May 7 elections in the United Kingdom will be so close that political marketing and digital campaigning could well make a difference. Consultants and strategists will make legitimate albeit inflated claims of credit regardless. The campaign year has already been compared with 2008 and 2012 in the US as likely landmarks in technological advance. But it’s a steeper climb. Television and radio ads — sorry, adverts — by political parties and candidates are prohibited in Britain. That would seem to open the door to extensive web adverts, and they have indeed flourished, along with instant spin on social media. But data privacy strictures enforced by the Information Commissioner’s Office permit the promotion of political parties, candidates, and referenda through digital channels only to individuals who have consented to receive such communications. Marketers are liable for peer-to-peer forwarding and third-party list acquisitions that breach the rules. This means campaigns have to get permission afresh each election to contact some voters. Across the board it means that what occurs in the U.S. at the speed of “Furious 7” transpires in the UK at the speed of “Downton Abbey.” My MediaPost panel gurus Brittney Greer and Alex Masters-Waage told us we shouldn’t expect to see the cutting edge honed in UK campaigns this spring. If Labor outperforms expectations, its leveraging of union lists and volunteers will be praised. If Conservatives outperform, its spending will be praised. But in contrast to e-government, where the Brits outperform us Yankees on the national level, e-campaigning runs about a decade behind. However, there’s an X factor whence innovations may bust out, an aspect glimpsed in the U.S. in 2000 but much more relevant in today’s UK multi-party scramble, and that’s the advocacy of tactical voting. Digital marketing seems exquisitely adaptable to encouraging and even facilitating votes for a second-choice candidate in constituencies where the first choice has no chance of winning and the second choice could aid the party of preference in piling up more victories nationwide. UKIP’s Nigel Farage is calling for tactical voting, and others are calling for it against him. (UKIP stands for UK Independence Party; it opposes immigration.) Swapmyvote.uk asks site visitors to select their preferred party and the parties they are willing to vote for from drop-down menus, verifies eligibility and residence, and then finds inverse matches with other visitors who reside elsewhere. Thanks to the considerable sums expended by billionaire Lord Michael Ashcroft, who resigned his Tory seat on March 31, there is unprecedented polling data available on more than 150 of the 650 constituencies where races are close. These are dots worth a political strategist’s connecting in adverts and opted-in communications. Should it work, we’ll see and hear about it soon enough.