Wednesday’s surprise patent litigation settlement between online audience measurement giants comScore and Nielsen is expected to accelerate innovation, creativity, improvements, and possibly even better standards for the Internet advertising marketplace. That was the initial takeaway from observers who were trying to figure out the ramifications of the settlement, which one influential Wall Street group said made the two previous arch rivals, “frenemies.” The settlement has the power, Deutsche Bank securities analyst Matt Chesler wrote, “to change the scope of the relationship between the two fierce competitors, which is the potentially more interest long-term implication.” What the long-term will ultimately will bring will depend on a number of market developments, but in the short-term a few things are very clear, Chesler noted, including removing an unnecessary distraction for both companies that ran up significant time and legal costs that could’ve been better spent developing systems and services and improving methodologies for online advertisers, agencies and publishers. In particular, Chesler said the deal is likely to help accelerate the deployment and acceptance of Nielsen’s new Online Campaign Ratings service, which Nielsen has been pushing hard to make for the online advertising industry, what its TV ratings are for the television industry, a “currency.” Another clear near-term result is that comScore’s stock value will dilute by about 3%, due to the $19 million in shares it is giving to Nielsen as a form of payment to license its patents for online audience measurement. Interestingly, no one has mentioned any questions of the need for regulatory approval or potential antitrust implications from the settlement, which makes the two dominant online industry suppliers de facto collaborators and shared equity owners. But the settlement does appear to be designed to keep the two companies from getting two cozy – or potentially more hostile – depending on how you look at it. Citing a clause that prevents Nielsen from acquiring or selling comScore shares without comScore’s consent, Deutsche Bank’s Chesler, noted, “So any hopes of a hostile takeover are put off for at least a year, not that we were expecting one.” The most positive aspect, he said, are the implications for better online industry standards that could benefit the “broader advertising ecosystem. “In reality, this may also create more of a two horse race in digital measurement which could have ramifications for the balance of power across the industry and with customers.”
In today’s multiscreen content environment, technology -- then “entry” and “discovery” -- become as important as the content itself, while the online and mobile Web disrupt conventional models of entertainment consumption and development. The elephant in the room is becoming discovery, which drives engagement and experience, and the technology that powers it. This can be seen by recent announcements about “social TV,” “second screen” and “sync to TV apps” initiatives and partnerships in the U.S. and internationally. For example, there’s YAHOO’s social TV app IntoNow, Zeebox in the U.K., and SQURL, with the latter’s emphasis on social TV discovery through tablets, with the app recommending and bookmarking video that interests the consumer. The race to offer and define the “social TV” experience is on. Social platforms, casual games and content gamification, recommendation engines, “taste and mood” technology, TV check-ins, online conversations, and online activities all play a part in engagement, with social and digital extensions playing as big a part in the entertainment brand’s success as the technology or social strategy. Reaching New Audiences Through Disruptive Technologies: Apps are becoming a crucial part of content development and strategy, and an entry point for discovery. Sync to TV apps are providing much of the opportunity in the “social TV” space, from linking directly to a “social TV” app like IntoNow, to a TV check-in app like GETGLUE or MISO, and a dozen others all offering differing levels of engagement. The power of understanding the role of technology and app development is that if a TV show or entertainment brand has an audience, and a vibrant community that cares about the content, then it becomes about “experience” to sustain and build engagement. The right technology also helps with retention. From launching a game tie-in, community page, graphic novel and book tie-in or digital extension of the entertainment brand, all become part of a detailed “second-screen” strategy. With discovery and recommendation strategies that convince broadcasters and advertisers that interest in an app will drive engagement and provide detailed data on how a show performs. It also helps in testing new character and story ideas. The Community Proposition: Most producers and providers of entertainment content for multiplescreens nowadays will have a “community strategy,” outlining not just how and what platforms the audience can engage with, but strategy focused on the content experience. The challenge and focus is about creating engaging experiences once in a “content zone”: show micro-sites, distribution platforms, or anywhere dedicated to the content online. Once a community strategy and whatever “disruptive technologies” are in place, engaging the community becomes more important, as a big part of social is about people sharing, recommending, etc It’s a shame when great content is not fully exploited, and not all producers and content provider have all of the rights either, but having that strategy in place does help. 2012 and beyond is all about the content experience being personalized and customized through “social TV” apps and SMART and “disruptive technologies” that allow content to be recommended with personalization and customization across-platforms. It can be agreed that discovery, entry points, recommendations, and an audience’s social graph, are defining the opportunities in today’s multi-screen entertainment environment. And with the high penetration of Internet-delivered TV content and “second-screen” engagement, the opportunities are many.
I can't think of anything that would make my wife happier than if I went out and, without first consulting her and at least two of the major credit bureaus, dropped 35 grand on a car. But to hear my beloved TV tell it, that's the only proper way to convey appreciation to a loved one during the holiday season. What's a sensible sentimentalist to do? See if the ad-rabid automakers that pump millions of dollars into local buys are equally feisty on the web, that's what - and in doing so, determine just how nimble and expansive the campaigns are. Thus I took a look at the three automakers who, as best as I can tell, have the biggest if-you-help-us-meet-our-year-end-sales-quotas-we'll-be-your-bestest-buddy-4-eva ad budgets. I've ranked them in ascending order of video vapidity, likeliness to inspire derision and permanence of brand blemish. I dig Hyundais, because Consumer Reports is favorably disposed towards Hyundais and I'm favorably disposed towards anything that Consumer Reports digs (seriously, if its product mavens told me to stock up on canned donkey and prayer boots in advance of the rapture, I'd do it without question. My fealty to CR is absolute). Hyundai's marketing around holiday time? Not so much. Last year, the company went the hipster-bait route, but at least had the good sense to hire one of the most talented practitioners of the craft. This year, it has handed over the keys - driving metaphor! - to anyone capable of articulating the words "Hyundai" and "assurance" and uploading a video to YouTube. The results, not surprisingly, are mixed. Most of the testimonials are just that: straight-spoken testimonials, which make the uploaders come across less as brand ambassadors than as brand brainwash victims. Still, the user videos do more to sell me on the cars than do this year's ads. One of the three in heavy rotation, actually, is quite lovely: it features a father and daughter singing "Feliz Navidad" while sitting on the bumper of a car. Unfortunately, another showcases a googly-eyed costume fetishist and a third goes the white-people-faux-rapping route. At least Hyundai had the good sense not to showcase an extended remix on its YouTube page, as the MC would likely run out of features to tout ("the tires, man, they're dope and round/they are usually in contact with the ground"). Acura takes a far different approach, hiring a pair of big-name celebs to tout its "season of reason" promotion. The thought process appears to go something like this: Overthinking one's holiday prep, whether by hiring a Broadway ringer to lead your caroling posse or a master chef to lightly braise your Christmas goose, is akin to overthinking your choice of automobile. The analogies are a bit mild for my taste, but the ads are clever in a way that pitches of this ilk usually are not. Too bad that Acura's marketers don't do much with them on the web, whether by showcasing Midler singing different holiday tunes from the ones in the TV spot or by capturing Ramsay ripping some random production assistant a new one for failing to equip his dressing room with a university-grade terrarium. These are opportunities missed. And then there's Lexus, keepers of the oversized-novelty-ribbon flame. For the last few years, its holiday pitch has been the same: a Nutcracker-y piano theme cues one partner that the other has purchased him/her a Lexus. Duly stimulated, they run outside together, to find the shiny, ribbon-adorned vehicle sitting in the driveway as snow dusts the fairy-tale capitalist tableau. I'd try that approach with The Missus, but can't figure out a way to bind Van Halen's "D.O.A." to the gifting of an electric toothbrush. Make this happen, Madison Ave. Anyway, the idiocy of the premise notwithstanding, Lexus does little with it online. The ribbon bit, in particular, seems ripe for something more than a Facebook charity tie-in - a game, a giveaway, whatever. Given Lexus' attempts to position itself as an agile provider of online content, through both a wealth of product videos and its L Studio productions, the lack of imagination is disappointing. In conclusion, the three automakers surveyed don't bother to post much in the way of exclusive video content on the web - nor, for that matter, do similarly relentless advertisers Honda or Infiniti, which at least gets points for dubbing one of its ads "Mischievous Snowball 2011." That renders this video critique more or less pointless. Oh well. Happy holidays, everyone.