On the cusp of the 2012-13 upfront advertising marketplace, new data indicates that demand for digital place-based networks has slowed down relative to the rest of the digital out-of-home advertising marketplace. The estimates, released this morning as part of PQ Media’s annual global digital out-of-home advertising forecast, indicate that U.S. ad growth on digital place-based networks “decelerated” to 7.5% during 2011 -- about half of the medium’s 15.3% rate of growth in 2010. While digital place-based networks nonetheless remained one of the fastest-growing segments of ad-supported media during 2011, the slowdown indicates that some steam has gone out of the digital out-of-home media marketplace. PQ, which attributed the 2011 slowdown to “cyclical events” including the economy, said the impact was more negative during the second half of 2011, and singled out a “substantial slowdown” in cinema ad spending, the largest sector within the place-based digital ad network marketplace in the U.S. On the plus side, PQ cited “double-digit demand” from corporate, health care, entertainment, education and transit advertisers. “While 2011 began strong for [digital place-based networks] in the U.S., a record broadcast and cable TV upfront and the sudden change in sentiment regarding an economic recovery triggered a decline in national scatter ad [spending] in the second half, as ad budgets tightened in the fourth quarter,” PQ’s analysis notes. “Excluding cinema, however, the deceleration in overall DPN growth was much less severe in 2011, as combined operator revenue in the other four venue categories increased 13.2% to $736 million.” Digital billboards and signage, the other major digital out-of-home ad category, meanwhile expanded 20.3% to $638 million in 2011. When combined, the total U.S. digital out-of-home ad marketplace grew 11.2%. US DOOH operator revenue increased 11.2% to $2.05 billion, making it the largest market in a rapidly expanding global marketplace. PQ estimates the worldwide digital out-of-home marketplace expanded 15.3% to $6.97 billion in 2011, and projects it is “on pace” to expand 19.2% in 2012, due largely to fast-growing markets such as China and Japan, as well as special stimulus in the U.K. due to demand from advertisers related to the London Sumer Olympic Games. Despite the slowdown in 2011, PQ projects the U.S. digital out-of-home ad marketplace will expand 12.5% to $2.3 billion in 2012, and that it will continue to expand at about that rate through 2016. “While TV remains the 800-pound gorilla of ad-based media due to its reach, scarcity and measurement, [digital place-based networks] offer brands opportunities to extend their reach by engaging target consumers with contextually relevant content in venues outside the home,” PQ CEO Patrick Quinn states, adding: “Despite the growth deceleration in 2011, we believe 2012 has the potential to be a watershed year for DPNs, particularly in the second half, as there appears to be a good chance for network operators to differentiate from other emerging media and prove their value as part of integrated media solutions.”
YouTube is launching a series of tools and services, among them Traffic Estimator, Conversion Tracking, and several other features and services to support advertising on Google's video site. In Traffic Estimator, a budget, a bid and an audience target allows the tool to estimate views and impressions for the video, according toLane Shakleton, product manager at YouTube. Marketers will find the feature in the campaign management creation tool. The Conversion Tracking for Video tool will allow marketers to compare their budgets to video views, and identify the number of subscribers generated from a TrueView video advertisement. Additional graph options have been added, too making it easier to see and visualize the data, while hoping to provide a more consistent experience with AdWords online, such as filtering and segmenting. Shakleton said YouTube will make sure TrueView scales across devices and platforms. "It makes sense as we continue to see viewership shift to mobile, YouTube on the Xbox and TV," he said. YouTube also will give away $50 million in free Google AdWords advertising to support 500,000 businesses so thet can get into video. Aside from the $75 credit available to new AdWords users, the tool -- Google AdWords for Video -- becomes available to all. In the AdWords for Video suite, advertisers will find TrueView -- a tool that only requires brands to pay for advertisements when viewers choose to watch the ad for more than 30 seconds, not just when an impression gets served. Marketers aren’t charged when viewers skip it. The cost structure aligns with research from Vindico. Highlighted by eMarketer in a recent research note, the Vindico study suggests marketers place too much emphasis on click-through rates. Ad completion rates can become a much more useful metric than CTRs, which are often misinterpreted as a sign of success. Viewers committed to watching a long-form video are more willing to sit through ads, especially midroll. Ads served in long-form video had a higher completion rate -- 88% -- compared with 76% for ads placed in short-form content. Google found on average that YouTube video ads increase traffic to Web sites by 20%m and searches 5% -- but Undercover Tourist, featuring an entertainment analytics tool for travelers and theme park lovers, generates better percentages. The company posts raw footage of partner theme parks, sells discount tickets, and through technology, can estimate the most crowded rides and areas in the theme park for any specific day and week. Forecasts are based on 12 years of data. For Undercover Tourist, initial YouTube investments began at a few hundred monthly and gradually increased to several thousand, according to Undercover Tourist CEO Ian Ford. "People click, watch, comment and subscribe," he said. "From some videos, we have seen between 20% and 50% increase in traffic, when considering daily views." It's not just the ads, Ford said, but rather the ability to track traffic from the nearly 400 YouTube videos to the company's Web site. Its YouTube channel has more than 5 million views and 5,000 subscribers. About 30% of its customers come to the U.S. from the U.K., Australia and Germany after seeing the videos. Ford plans to add theme parks in California soon, which will increase the number of videos and those promoted on YouTube. Some 181 million U.S. Internet users watched nearly 37 billion online content videos in March, while video ads topped 8 billion for the first time on record, according to comScore. The research firm reported Google sites, driven primarily by video viewing at YouTube.com, ranked the No. 1 property in March with 146.1 million unique viewers. Overall, viewers watched nearly 37 billion video in March, with Google sites generating the highest number at 15.7 billion, followed by Hulu with 1 billion, and Yahoo with 815 million. The average viewer watched 21.7 hours of online video content. Google took 7.1 hours; and Hulu, 4.6 hours.
In its ongoing attempt to win over women at every step of their fitness journey, Under Armour is introducing a goal-setting Web site called “What’s Beautiful.” Involving Twitter and Facebook, the site is “a competition to redefine the female athlete,” with an end result of three new “faces” for Under Armour, as well as seven brand ambassadors. It’s also an opportunity for the brand to max its ROI on social media, while building a closer relationship with its core customer, Adrienne Lofton-Shaw, senior director of women's marketing for Under Armour, tells Marketing Daily. “What we get really frustrated with is advertisers who talk about beauty in terms of how you look, not what you are made of,” she says. “So this site, which allows women to enter any kind of fitness goal, whether it’s competing in the Ironman or running your first mile, is about tenacity, and never quitting.” Enlisting people’s social networks is a logical way to get support, she says. “Every powerful woman’s brand starts with hearts and emotion, so we designed this contest in a way that uses her social community to help her.” Through the site, women declare a goal, and then post proof of their progress with videos, photos and diary entries. In addition, users will get 15 Under Armour Missions, as well as motivational content from guest trainers, UA’s athletes (including the likes of skier Lindsey Vonn and sprinter Natasha Hastings), gear giveaways and updates on other competitors. Ads, running online, push the idea of redefinition, and women themselves deciding what makes them athletic and beautiful. “We’re taking it back,” the voiceover explains, “from the marketers who want us to look Photoshopped, from the jocks who want us topless, from the people who think we should be happy just the way we are. How will you take it back?” Both 30- and 45-second spots are scheduled for Under Armour Women’s social media channels, as well as BlogHer Network, DailyCandy, Glam Media, Pop-Sugar and Stack. The idea, she says, is that the brand has something to offer the inner athlete in every woman, whether it’s someone who wants to lose enough weight to have a baby, or a hardcore boxer looking to rehab an injury so she can get back in the ring. Ultimately, she says, she’ll be pleased if just 1,0000 women complete the challenge. “The average woman has 235 Facebook friends, so if just 1,000 finish, we’ll have reached 235,000 people, many of whom won’t just be reading, but will actively encourage the woman. Of those who complete the challenge, Under Armour will choose 10, with three ultimately being christened as the new faces of Under Armour. The three will win a nutritionist for a year, as well as sessions with celebrity trainers and ample Under Armour swag. “We’ll use them in all our marketing channels,” she says, “even potentially in TV advertising.”
Happy Monday, folks.In today’s VideoDaily Roundup, we’ll start off by asking why minorities watch more online video. Next we have one columnist's rant against the poor state of Web video content, and how to change it. Our third story highlights two marketers who claim to be shifting a portion of their TV budgets to Web video. After that, analysts talk up Netflix's prospects for the rest of the year ahead of its Q1 earnings report. Finally, we have one CNET editor's lament on repurposed, 30-second pre-roll ads. Enjoy! Minority Targeted Shows Thrive on YouTube Minorities are increasingly looking to Web video to find content that is relevant to them, The Washington Post reports. Of the 20 most-subscribed-to channels on YouTube, eight feature minorities; most of these feature Asian-Americans, but many more black and Latino shows make up YouTube's top 50. While the Google site doesn’t reveal how much minority video producers earn, it says hundreds of them make at least six figures or more, annually. According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, nearly 80 percent of minorities regularly watch online video, compared with less than 70 percent of whites. Analysts say the trend makes sense: minorities might feel neglected by mainstream television, which mostly features white stars, whereas Web video can target more niche audiences and thrive on smaller production budgets. As the IAB's Seneca Mudd says, advertisers would ignore this trend at their own peril. Talent Investment the Key to Making Web Video Better Web videos largely “suck,” Jordan Kurzweil laments in a column for TechCrunch -- mostly because they have been unable to build large, steady audiences that keep coming back for more. Kurzweil offers a three-step plan for online video success: promotion, great content and product (making it easy for audiences to come back for more). Of course, the hardest of these to achieve is great content, which he says the industry has failed to produce. There are many reasons for this -- but the answer, according to Kurzweil, is investing in talent. However, getting the most talented people to produce great content will require that they be paid like television, production and studio executives -- something that may not happen until Web video amasses the kind of audience and the universal metrics that have made television the go-to medium for brand advertisers. Oh, and speaking of advertisers, “keep the advertisers out of [the project] until it’s done and ready for them,” Kurzweil says. “Consensus is no way to produce anything actually creative.” Amid Declines in TV Viewership, Marketers Redirect TV Spending to Video Some marketers are indeed migrating spend away from TV and into online channels. According to a new Wall Street Journal article, Samsung plans to redirect 30% of its TV upfront budget into online media, while GM plans to increase its digital spending by 3-5 percent, with most of the money coming from print and TV. As the article points out, fewer people on average have been watching television this season: according to Nielsen, 60.1 million people watched broadcast or cable TV at any given moment of the day between Sept. 19, 2011 and March 25, 2012 -- down 2.8 percent from last year. Sharper declines were reported among younger viewers. According to comScore, more than 100 million Americans watched an online video on an average day last year -- up 43 percent from the year before. Ahead of Q1 Results, Analysts Mixed on Netflix Netflix, which reports first-quarter earnings today, is expected to post a gain of 1.73 million new online subscribers in the U.S. since December -- or a total of 23.4 million -- after the market closes. However, as some analysts tell Bloomberg BusinessWeek, its U.S. online subscribers may soon peak, as competing services from the likes of Amazon, Time Warner, HBO and Hulu cannibalize the U.S. market for TV and film content online. According to the article, seven analysts recommend buying Netflix stock, 20 say hold and nine have sell ratings. As the company continues to shed subscribers to its DVD mail-order business, its streaming business takes center stage -- but this faces challenges from Hollywood studios seeking higher fees for the streaming rights to their content. For example, Netflix’s costs extending out five years or more rose to $3.9 billion at the end of 2011, from $1.3 billion a year before. The key question, one analyst says, is whether the company will need more content to attract new subscribers—and how much it will have to pay for that. Why Repurposed 30-Second Pre-Rolls Must Die The migration of content from TV to Web is on, millions are cutting (or at least shaving) the cord, and people are consuming more video content across more devices than ever before. But one problem persists, laments CNET Executive Editor Molly Wood: the 30-second pre-roll -- the one that you can't fast-forward or skip -- must die. This is particularly irritating, she notes, when the content that you want to watch is only a few minutes long. “Result: you're angry at the publisher, you're angry at the advertiser, and everyone's brand takes a hit. The publisher and the advertiser haven't made an ad ‘impression’ -- they have made an enemy,” she says. Even 15-second pre-rolls have issues, she adds -- and the biggest is repetition. These problems will only get worse as video increasingly goes mobile. Wood issues a ringing cry for marketers to stop repurposing TV ads for the Web (and presents several alternative ideas) in order to make advertising additive to the online video experience, rather than turning consumers into brand enemies.
Once Facebook bought Instagram, some wondered if it was a matter of time before Google would acquire Pinterest. Indeed, once something becomes huge (like Pinterest), Google wants it. But if a young, small company addresses one of Google’s problems earlier on in the company’s lifecycle, Google thinks it can do it itself, in-house. Pinterest’s discovery benefits seem like a natural fit for Google’s YouTube, which is now seeing over 60 hours of content uploaded to the site every 60 seconds. According to Google’s head of corporate development David Lawee: “If you look at what we're rooted in, it's kind of obvious what we're looking for....The most challenging problem we have right now is discovery of video, that's the most challenging problem on the web. Social is one enabler, tagging is one enabler." Theory vs. Practice That statement makes me think of the various branches of the U.S. military. If you believed Lawee’s observation, you’d think Google would have bought Del.icio.us – but it didn’t. In fact, corporate development and business development executives (let alone product guys) don’t always see eye-to-eye. Corporate development executives operate at high altitudes like the Air Force; business development executives are like the Marines; and product managers grind it out in the trenches like the Army. So while they technically share the same objective, they don’t necessarily share the same approach to a problem, let alone find the same solution. Humans vs. Technology While Pinterest addresses the discovery of videos indirectly via curation, there are countless entrepreneurs who are focusing their attention and efforts on directly solving this problem via technology. I’ve long told those entrepreneurs that these shiny tech solutions to improve YouTube’s signal-to-noise ratio will have a hard time gaining traction (doesn’t mean they shouldn’t pursue this, of course) because: - Like many awesome businesses with their share of challenges, YouTube doesn’t necessarily think it has a problem. - Google doesn’t want your product until you’re huge -- at which point it will think that it needs it. But therein lies the challenge: YouTube is the monopoly in video, but it wouldn’t want to partner with a startup, because it would do to that startup what MySpace did to YouTube early on: give it validation and traction. Told You that Stupid Quadrant Would Come Back to Haunt You Online video can be broken into four quadrants: content, technology, advertising and distribution. Even though content and distribution are often seen at odds, content is the only box that plays nice with the other three; all other three seek to kill one another because tech is a zero-sum game. Online Video is the Afghanistan of the Media World As such, these tech innovations that seek to “fix” YouTube’s so-called discovery problem are in a bind. That is why online video is the Afghanistan of the media world: everyone keeps thinking it can overcome it, but even the winners find themselves in a quagmire. An outsider looking at YouTube would argue that discovery of video -- or cutting through chaos and clutter -- is the hardest problem Google faces right now. But anyone working in advertising and publishing will tell you that that is oversimplifying the “problem,” because the common area between what viewers watch, distributors/publishers want to feature/showcase, and advertisers want to promote alongside of is rather small. YouTube is Betting On Content, Not Tech You’d think Google would be buying every startup in sight looking to fix this issue, but it’s not. Instead, it’s paying $100-200 million up front for content. YouTube doesn't needs more brand-unsafe content being watched. In fact, a conspiracy theorist would almost argue that YouTube will move away from technology-driven discovery in favor of good old-fashioned (read: human-based) programming and the funding of content. Let’s face it, left to their own devices, human beings will only watch more violence, news that might be unsafe for brands, raunchy humor, sex, etc. A wise man once reminded me that human beings have a tendency to like “bad” things: wine, cheese (food gone bad, basically). Content consumption is no different. Video – the combination of sight, sound and motion – is especially susceptible to that. Viewers have to be force-fed brand-safe content. Meanwhile, I recall that on some conference calls early on in 2007-08 for YouTube, which then featured much brand-unsafe content, YouTube managers actually believed that technology alone would land them $20 CPMs. But over time, YouTube imported executives like Robert Kyncl from Netflix (you can argue Netflix isn’t a content producer, but for YouTube, that’s as good as it will get at this stage of metamorphosis). While YouTube is a distribution partner of my company, we didn’t get any of the upfront opportunities -- so you might assume that I would say that YouTube doesn’t get it, but au contraire, YouTube certainly does: 1. It’s all about content; 2. Content – like advertising – has a negative ROI early on; 3. But if you want to sign up Fortune 500 advertisers, you have no choice but to be a content company.