Famed rapper, producer, director and "Little League football coach" Snoop Dogg is adding two more G's to his last name to promote regional wireless carrier MetroPCS's addition of the Samsung Galaxy Indulge. "Snoop is a direct bull's-eye hit for our core customer target," Bob Fant, staff vice president of advertising and brand development for MetroPCS, tells Marketing Daily. "We thought [using him] would be a good way to get off the leash for this handset." With a variety of one-cost price plans, MetroPCS draws heavily from minority customers (about 80% of the company's customers are African-American or Hispanic). Snoop's broad range across many different demographics -- and high social media presence -- will help the company appeal to more affluent and tech-savvy consumers as well, Fant says. To promote the phone, the newly rechristened Snoop Dogggg appears in an Internet video series called "The G-Connection" being promoted both through the rapper's and the company's social media feeds. The video apes "The Dating Game" and other popular dating shows from past decades, with three potential suitors (all played by Snoop Dogg) trying to woo a woman. One of the men ("ReGGie") was voted "most inspirational student at his continuation school," while another (Grrrrrrregg) is a poet who likes to apply different creams and lotions to feet. The third features the rapper playing himself (albeit with 4 G's in his name), who boasts that he's had to "amp up my G's to facilitate my needs." (The video also features cameos from rapper producer Warren G, model Brittany Dailey and the golden-voiced Internet sensation Ted Williams). Subsequent videos in the series -- to be released throughout March -- will show Dogggg winning the woman's affections and explaining why the 4 G's are better. "What's integral to our brand is we're fun and irreverent with our advertising and marketing in general," Fant says. "Some of our competitors -- including the big four [national carriers] are straightforward. They're about maps and dollars; we think that's a bit left-brained for us." MetroPCS is hoping the video will catch on through viral channels, and is offering a contest to win autographed Snoop Dogggg gear, and Samsung Galaxy Indulge smartphones with MetroPCS service via the company's Facebook page. The company is also offering in-store promotional prizes such as signed copies of the rapper's upcoming CD, the Doggumentary, and a sweepstakes offering one winner a VIP trip for two to a Snoop concert this summer.
In a move that could make planning and buying via digital TV set-top data a reality for many big agencies and their clients, Rentrak has cut a deal to integrate its set-top-based audience estimates into Donovan Data Systems, the company that provides the back office systems and software that power much of what Madison Avenue does, including planning, buying, posting and even paying the media. The deal, which is being announced this morning, is believed to be the first to integrate set-top data directly into the "enterprise" systems that agencies use to conduct business, and could have a profound effect on the way agencies treat the data, especially for highly-targeted niche TV networks that are not currently measured by the Nielsen Co. The deal grew out of conversations that began last spring as part of a special task force created by MPG's Collaborative Alliance to find ways of utilizing set-top data to buy networks whose audience and/or coverage are currently too small to be measured by Nielsen's national TV ratings sample. The initiative, which successfully developed a method for extrapolating the equivalent of Nielsen ratings from set-top data, initially analyzed three networks - Bloomberg, Sprout and INSP - and at least three agencies - MPG, Carat and OMD - said they were considering using the data as a way to plan, buy and post networks not currently measured by Nielsen. Industry experts estimate there are upwards of 100 networks whose audiences currently are too small to be measured by Nielsen's national TV ratings panel. Those so-called "long-tail" networks, in aggregate, are estimated to represent about 7% of total national viewing. While small in total numbers, many of those networks represent the kind of highly targeted audiences that many advertisers and brands actually want to reach, but before the Rentrak/Donovan deal, did not have a way of practically integrating into their planning and buying systems. Rentrak has been one of the most aggressive of a group of digital set-top data aggregators to bring new audience measurement services to the ad industry. Others include WPP's Kantar unit, TRA Analytics, and TiVo. All say their systems have some superior attributes to Nielsen's methods, not the least of which is the size of their databases; the dynamic, real-time nature of the data; and the fact that they are based on actual "census"-level viewing, as opposed to a proxy sample of the TV universe. Nielsen's national TV ratings sample currently is about 18,000 households. Rentrak's currently is based on 17 million. Nielsen supporters say that set-top data systems cannot currently determine who is watching TV inside the homes they gather real-time viewing data from, and cannot generate reliable demographic estimates. Set-top data proponents say who cares, because demographics are crude, and possibly anachronistic ways of clustering actual viewing behavior. That latter argument is gaining more momentum as big ad agencies begin integrating the way they analyze and plan digital media, especially online video, and some including Havas spin-off Adnetik and Interpublic's Cadreon, have already begun integrating ways of buying TV audiences into their electronic trading systems the way they buy online display and video advertising. Both Rentrak and Donovan indicate that their deal is not mutually exclusive. Rentrak plans to integrate its data into other big enterprise systems such as Mediabank and Strata. Donovan plans to strike deals that would integrate other digital set-top databases into its systems and software. To date, Nielsen which recently began trading as a public company again, has paid only lip service to developing a serious digital set-top data-based measurement service, and the company seems to have little incentive in doing so, as long as its panel-based samples are the currency of the $80 billion U.S. TV advertising marketplace. Ultimately, Rentrak CEO Bill Livek says the real value of set-top data will be in developing new ways of integrating it with other powerful consumer behavior data - such as purchasing behavior or other lifestyle information that could be better and more precise indicators of who advertisers should be targeting than traditional age/sex demographic breaks.
Netflix has inked a deal with CBS that allows it to stream some of the network's shows, although apparently none currently on the air. The list includes the recently canceled "Medium" and summer show "Flashpoint." Under the two-year deal, there is also a slew of library content owned by CSB Corp. such as "Cheers," "Frasier" and the original "Hawaii Five-O." CBS has an option to re-up the deal for two more years. Negotiations with Netflix to stream current CBS shows will continue. Netflix is content to acquire rights to previous seasons, saying that fits its business model as sort of a catch-up-on-a-rainy-day approach. The company does stream back episodes of shows currently running on ABC, NBC and Fox. "This deal recognizes the increasing value of our content in today's marketplace," stated Scott Koondel, who heads distribution for CBS's syndication unit. Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker said the deal could worth hundreds of millions of dollars to CBS. Meanwhile, Amazon said it would make 5,000 movies and TV shows available for instant streaming to members of its Amazon Prime service (which costs $79 a year) at no additional charge. The service marks an expansion for the service that allows free two-day shipping for Amazon purchases.
Granting a request by TV broadcasters, a federal judge has ordered the online video distributor Ivi to immediately cease offering streams of television programs. In a 59-page ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald in New York rejected Ivi's argument that it is a "cable system" and therefore entitled under federal copyright law to a mandatory license allowing it to stream TV shows. "Ivi's architecture bears no resemblance to the cable systems of the 1970s," the judge wrote. "Its service retransmits broadcast signals nationwide, rather than to specific local areas. Finally, unlike cable systems of the 1970s, Ivi refuses to comply with the rules and regulations of the FCC." The National Association of Broadcasters praised the ruling, saying it was "gratified to learn that the federal court in New York has preliminarily enjoined Ivi from continuing its illegal retransmission of broadcast signals over the Internet." But Ivi CEO Todd Weaver said the company will appeal Buchwald's ruling to the 2nd Circuit. Ivi, which launched in September, streams TV shows as they are being shown over-the-air in select markets: New York, Seattle, Chicago and Los Angeles. The company offers nationwide subscriptions to its streams for $5 a month. As soon as the service launched, the broadcasters alleged that their copyright was being infringed by Ivi because it didn't have their permission for the streams. The matter landed in federal court in New York, where the broadcasters sought monetary damages and an injunction ordering Ivi to stop streaming TV shows. Ivi argued that the infringement claim should be dismissed because it's entitled to a license to stream shows, under the federal Copyright Act. That statute says that cable systems are entitled to compulsory retransmission licenses under copyright law, as long as they pay a fee of around $100 a year. But Buchwald said that a "common sense approach" to the copyright law's mandatory retransmission provision shows that it wasn't meant to apply to Internet companies like Ivi. She wrote that Congress enacted compulsory licensing rules because it wanted everyone to have access to the same network programs offered by local broadcast stations. "It had no interest in ensuring that all Americans would have several opportunities to watch 'The Good Wife' on their computer or Internet-capable device in case they were unavailable at the time it aired in their time zone, or could watch every Seattle Seahawks game no matter whether it is available in their region," she wrote. The legal matter is complicated by a separate communications law providing that cable operators must obtain broadcasters' permission to retransmit. While the broadcasters didn't bring suit under that law, it clearly factored into the judge's decision. She wrote that Congress enacted the Copyright Act's mandatory retransmission provisions "with an understanding that the cable systems it was granting a compulsory license to would also be subject to the regulations of the FCC." Ivi's Weaver said in a statement that the company complies with all FCC rules. But Ivi isn't subject to the same FCC regulations as cable operators because the FCC doesn't categorize Ivi as a cable system. Ivi garnered support for its position from a coalition of digital rights groups, including Public Knowledge, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Media Access Project and the Open Technology Initiative. They argued in a friend-of-the-court brief that the law shouldn't favor "1970s-era cable operators" over companies that use new technology to offer similar services. The digital rights groups also argued that companies like Ivi help create demand for high-speed Web access, which in turn gives Internet service providers more incentives to expand broadband to those areas that still lack the service. Public Knowledge said in a statement that it was disappointed in Tuesday's ruling, adding that the decision shows "the ambiguities in current law and regulation." The group also called on the FCC and Copyright Office to update their rules "to conform to the realities of new technology and consumer choice."
Two weeks ago I discussed the first five realities of video click-to-play vs. auto-play pre-roll advertising. Here come the next five: Reality #6: It's all about ROI and Accountability All marketing needs to back into some kind of return of investment (ROI): the campaign objective could be branding, traffic or sales. Most likely, as in online display advertising, the future evolution of video market pricing will see two separate markets for "filet mignon" and "burgers", which will be driven by the price of grades of "beef" (quality levels of video inventory, adjusted for targetability). Sadly, thus far the markets have blurred with the clientele too often eating in the dark without knowing what it's eating. The appeal to advertisers should be: "If you can pay the premium and want the highest grade of video ad inventory, by all means go for Click-to-Play Pre-Rolls. But, if you desire a far lower cost, higher reach vehicle then you might consider Auto-Play videos." It is not either/or, it is about creating a strategy that yields the most value, the biggest bang for the buck. Reality #7: Push vs. Pull It is important to stress that Auto-Play video is going to reach more people by "pushing" a marketer's message. This offers a lot of value, although on a per-stream basis it definitely should not command the same rates as the Click-to-Play view that is "pulled" by the user resulting from actual viewer engagement. In effect, one could argue that Click-to-Play video as a medium has it all backwards: demanding a Call to Action for the viewer before the content can even be viewed. While "Pull" environments (like Click-to-Play and Ad Selector) do not guarantee attention by any means, most of us tune-out when a pre-roll ad precedes a video, prompting one to grab a beverage, find headsets or even check email in another browser. However, if one is reading an article on Florence and sees a video profile of Florence alongside the article -- preceded by a relevant ad for Florence hotels -- we have marketing nirvana: highly valuable messaging. It is hard to deny the power of contextual relevance. When audience and behavioral segmentation are added to contextual relevance, both "Push" and "Pull" approaches to less-than-premium video elevates the whole market. Certainly most publishers and networks, almost all of whom have difficulty creating video inventory, will benefit from this coming value-added capability. Reality #8: Don't annoy the viewer, publisher or marketer Taken to an extreme, we are not suggesting to place a video player below-the-fold with the sound off as this will not have much value. Ads should be above-the-fold (or alongside the main content on a page, since above-the-fold placement risks ads disappearing when a viewer scrolls down below the horizontal navigation bar and leaderboard). We believe that automatic sound-on an Auto-Play video pre-roll turns off viewers and alienates publishers. Further, we believe sound should be "on" in a Click-to-Play environment, but should be set in the "off" position (viewer-initiated) in an Auto-Play environment. In fact, much the same way that online media professionals get nauseous when they see a TV ad repurposed for online, we get queasy seeing a TV-ad-repurposed-for Click-to-Play-Pre-Roll that is repurposed for Auto-Play-Pre-Roll. When reading an article and seeing a video ad on mute, most of us will be curious to learn more, but run audio automatically and you will likely turn us off. Running pre-roll video ads in-banner and on Auto-Play reduces goodwill between the viewer and the brand if the audio is automatically on. As an advertiser you are inserting rich media without the user's expressed content, enabling audio automatically is set to backfire. When it comes to video ad pricing, the sweet spot for many may be between what: - a publisher commands for standard display, and - an advertiser will pay for the Click-to-Play Pre-Roll. If a publisher offers a marketer video content in-banner, preceding it with a pre-roll ad in a sound-off environment on Auto-Play alongside contextually relevant areas and throwing in a companion 300x250, you will find demand. In this scenario, pricing it at a premium to traditional display banners, but at a discount to the Click-to-Play Pre-Roll variety will find takers. Ultimately, marketers are buying reach in this example. Ideally, marketers are also buying Click-to-Play Pre-Rolls and judging the ROI on each. The only reasonable solution in this example, as so many others, is total transparency and candor with the marketer and his agency. Reality #9: Marketers and their agencies will spend in the short-term, but you cannot build a strong foundation for a new medium on the back of ignorance. Clients appreciate and are generally aware of the benefits of this approach. The click-through-rates are so different when a video pre-roll is run as Auto-Play (versus Click-To-Play) that they cannot possibly not know, right? But, while some Chief Marketing Officers may spend all of their budget in one year to get no less spending money the following year, unless marketing objectives are reached, enhanced video ad spending at the rate of growth we all seek will be unattainable. The problem occurs when some marketers are led to believe that they are getting Click-to-Play Pre-Rolls for single-digit CPMs when they are really getting Auto-Play pre-rolls (or, quite often, Auto-Play in-banners with no content following the video advertisement). That's when we-as an industry-are falsely conditioning marketers feeding them hamburgers priced as filet mignon. Reality #10: There is a real opportunity here for all video stakeholders. The objective isn't to render the Auto-Play Pre-Roll obsolete, to the contrary, it is to encourage sellers and buyers to be more candid, transparent and careful as they price each accordingly, as the act of not differentiating Auto-Play views from Click-to-Play views renders true Click-to-Play views less valuable. A special thanks to both William Lederer, CEO of Kantar Video and James Conley for their feedback, contributions and insights.
Identifying a primary demographic is as important, if not more important, in online video, viral and social media marketing than in more traditional channels of advertising and marketing. The primary demo is that group of people most likely to buy what your brand or business is selling. Another important target to establish is the secondary demographic, made up of people who are either somewhat likely to buy or in a position to influence those who are very likely to buy a brand's products or services. Word-of-mouth marketing has been around pretty much since the invention of words and mouths, and, since then, people have been referring friends to everyone and everything from the guy who made the best hunting spears to the hottest new video game releases. Reaching the target consumer directly 100% of the time would be awesome, but they are not always in one place online just waiting for your video. Also, while they may all share a love of certain brands, products and services, they may respond to different stimuli designed to encourage them to watch your video, share, interact and follow a course of action that will lead to a sale. So, including the buying consumer, here are the five people you have to reach and engage to get the most out of your online video campaign. 1. The Influencer. Influencers include bloggers, publications, writers, people with a large Twitter following, people with lots of Facebook fans, hot YouTubers with tons of loyal subscribers and celebrities. They will share your video and message either because... a. they believe the content will be interesting to their readers, viewers, fans, followers and subscribers. b. they're being compensated. c. they're involved in the project somehow as a sponsor, partner or creatively. 2. The Fan. Fans can be broken down into 2 categories: a. Fans of the brand, who will always be on the lookout for anything brand-related, including new products and branded entertainment. They are part of a loyal club and are always eager to share with other fans and convert new ones. b. Fans of the video style, including fans of comedy, videos that touch an emotion like happiness, or outrage, or videos that inform and educate. Video optimization including titles, tags and descriptions is key so that fans of the style can find your branded videos. They often may or may not care less about the message but will pass it along to other people they think may enjoy the content. Many of them will be your consumer! 3. The Zealot. Zealots will be interested in your video because it either supports their beliefs or goes against them. Either way, they are likely to pass the video to help further an agenda that may or may not be completely removed from your brand message. Take for instance the 2011 Groupon Super Bowl ad that sparked so much controversy. Plenty of people blogged and ranted about the insensitivity of the Tibet spot, but I'm sure a good number of them, and the people they reached, were still interested in saving a few bucks on fish curry. 4. The Friend. Friends will share your video and message with friends they think might need the brand's product or service, who may want to enter the contest, sign up for the social network, attend the classes, or otherwise take advantage of the offer included in the messaging. 5. The Buying Consumer. Buyers constitute the end game. These are the people you are ultimately trying to reach, and that you rely on to not only follow a call to action and make purchases, but to share their experiences with influencers, fans, zealots, friends and other buyers. Get the seal of approval from these five people -- and your branded entertainment and viral marketing videos will be a smash!