Harmonic Aftershock

Banner Ads: Not just for Direct Response

It was great to read Gian Fulgoni’s (chairman of Comscore) quote in a recent eMarketer article, “There is compelling evidence that an ad impression on the Internet works just like an ad impression in traditional media.”

He makes the point that just because clicks can be measured on the web doesn’t mean CTR (Click Through Rate)/direct response is the right (or only) measurement of digital media effectiveness. We’ve seen traditional media, like broadcast TV and print, work as successful brand building mediums and there’s no reason why the web can’t also act in a similar and effective capacity.

This Pringles display ad which recently won a Cannes Cyber Lion award is less about direct response than it is about brand building through engagement.  (You can be the judge on whether or not it’s effective in doing so):

Source: Chris Rawlinson

I’m often fascinated at the lengths we, in the interactive marketing field, have to go through to build the case for digital programs that cost a fraction of a broadcast media buy and production.  “We don’t hold traditional media to the same standard of accountability”, Fulgoni says.

Yet I expect that to change as our media channels continue to converge and become as measureable (and direct response-enabled) as the web is today and then some.  If anything, the justification and proof behind marketing programs, regardless of their medium, will only increase in demand. What Fulgoni’s interview underscored for me is that we must push complacent boundaries about what constitutes success in the first place.

How Teens Use Media (Nielsen Study)

There’s a lot of talk about an impending death of “traditional media” but The Nielsen Company just released a report that shows otherwise. In order to predict the future, Nielsen looked at those who are our future adults: Teenagers.  And in addition to finding that Teens are watching more TV than ever before, their use of the web is not what we, as marketers, might have suspected.

Because of the fact that Teens spend most of their days in the classroom, extracurricular activities, weekend sports, etc., they are simply not in front of computers like adults in their offices – So their time spent surfing the web is actually considerably less than adults (about 50% less).

The gem in the report is the affirmation that one of the best ways for marketers to reach the teen demographic is through mobile/portable content. Some interesting insights:

• 77% of teens directly own a mobile phone
• Teen texting over the past 2 years increased 566%.
• 66% of teens prefer texting over talking on their phone
• Teens send/receive an average of 2899 texts/month
• Teens ARE they early adopters of all mobile media
• Teens watch more mobile video than the average user
• #1 source of video content is music-related

I’ll often quote digital marketer Mitch Joel when he talks about the choice of new/emerging media versus traditional media in that “it’s not either/or, it’s in addition to.” And Nielson clearly agrees, “Teens embrace new media not at the cost of traditional media, but in supplement to it.”

I continue to believe when looking at the future of media, that it’s not so much whether certain kinds of media are dying off but how they’re evolving/adapting given the fundamental changes and options for distribution. And it’s no secret that I very much see a “media converged” future where Web and TV are one in the same and our “mobile device” will harmoniously extend our content consumption/interaction in a portable format – and in the end, content is content regardless of what mechanism we use to consume it.

Is the web/mobile bringing back the music video?

As a young teenager in the in the mid-80s, I am a product of the music video generation. MTV and VH1 were built around music video content and it seemed that everyone dreamed about being an MTV “VJ”.  And then something happened over the years. The “Music” part of  “Music Television” started to dwindle.  This past November we said good-bye to Total Request Live and with it, pretty much any formal music video programming on TV.

[But are music videos dead or are we simply consuming them through different distribution channels?]

We all know that online video consumption continues to increase across the world as this eMarketer report shows.

And in looking at the all time most popular online video’s on YouTube, 12 of the top 20 are music videos. iTunes continues increase its music video content as fast as smartphones and iPods support it. And we see sharing of links to videos all the time in social networks like Facebook and Twiiter plus musical artisit pages that  help distribute their music videos.

There was a time in the late nineties and early two-thousands that I would have said music videos were dying. But the convergence of media and technology has once again proven otherwise and continues to give rise to new possibilities to content distribution and consumption in this world of on-demand portability.

Social Burglary

Oprah’s on Twitter. Twitter is on the June 15th cover Time Magazine. So who’s next to get on the Twitter bandwagon? The answer is thieves, robbers, and crooks.

If there’s any question about whether or not Twitter has hit the mainstream, a recent story on CNET features a guy in Arizona who’s attributing his May house robbery to the fact that his Tweets tipped the public off that he and his wife weren’t home – that they were in Kansas City on vacation.

Whether or not this was indeed the case, it does underscore the fact that the openness and connectedness of the social web and supporting technology can speak volumes to the general public based on our digital footprints.

As a kid, there was a reason why my parents always told me not to let strangers on the phone know if they weren’t at home. Is the culture within social media causing us to lose our common sense when it comes to privacy and security?

Be careful of the techno-savvy burglar – you never really know who’s following you online.

Exclusivity + Twitter = Business

In Los Angeles, Kogi is all the rage. Mix Korean and Mexican cuisine together into a taco and you get something pretty special -- So much so that people are willing to hunt, chase, and wait in line for (sometimes up to two hours a pop).

Two trucks hit the city streets and post updates to Twitter letting their followers know where they’ll be showing up next. People gather at the disclosed location awaiting their coveted prize: Their $2 fusion taco.

Is it the food, the exclusivity, or both? What we do know is that the demand is high and the creators of Kogi are on to something. Converge traditional mobile fast food (as in transportation) with social media to yield a self-fueling business model. One that is doing so well, the company is adding a couple more trucks and is considering expanding to NYC.

Next time I’m in L.A., I hope to see if the payoff is worth it. But in the mean time, I’ll continue to be intrigued by their far reaching (amplified) marketing for such a local offering.

Facebook boom is over for Boomers?

Earlier this week, Inside Facebook released usage stats covering activity over the past 60 days for the popular social network. Last November I blogged about my own experience with the Facebook tipping point noting the seeming surge in boomer joiners. And then just 3 months later, this past February, Facebook announced Women 55+ was their largest growing segment. 

But does the latest data show that they’re not sticking around?

 

Out of all of Facebook’s demographic segments, there was a decrease of over ½ a million repeat users 55+ over the past 2 months. After reading the comments both on the Inside Facebook blog as well as Josh Catone’s related Mashable post, the speculations as to the reason run the gamut. Some cite the complexity of Facebook for non-digital savvy natives while others point to a more seasonal usage of the social network especially around the holidays when families tend to connect more often.  I personally lean towards the latter especially given the surge in usage around and after this past holiday season.

Should this be a cause for alarm that our boomers are falling out of love for Facebook? No. It’s too early to make any definitive conclusions.  And to what degree does it matter? As my colleague @Stevebags pointed out, the most active (and thus repeat) users of Facebook are going to continue to age and eventually be the 55+ demographic for which Facebook (or social networking) is as much of a way of communicating as the telephone has been for our Boomer generation.

The only question is whether or not marketers, today, can effectively reach the current 55+ demographic on Facebook (or related social networking sites) given the inconsistency of their current usage trends.

NightTline: One Step Closer to Web/TV Convergence

One May 11th Mashable’s Ben Parr posted about ABC’s announcement to launch a new 30 minute online-only news show incorporating Twitter. NightTline (2nd “T” is for “Twitter”) has now had 2 webisodes – the first covering “Torture” and the second honing in on “Veterans”.

As I watched, I was glad to see ABC embracing social media. At the same time, CNN has been integrating Twitter in a similar way for months now into their live TV broadcasts. And as Nielsen just reported, TV viewing is still insanely dominating web video viewing.

What also ran through my head is that while we all seem to get giddy about social media going “mainstream”, view participation in live programs has happened for many years via the telephone (remember that thing?). Larry King is a great example of this. The difference (and where the “social factor” comes in) is that unlike the “call queue”, everyone can see (and reply) to viewers commenting on Twitter in real time – and that’s where the conversation really takes shape.

A decent first step by ABC despite it being a bit clumsy and awkward. I would like to see much more interaction with the various Tweets (it seems that only a few are referenced during the 30 minute show which is billed as a “Twitter Web Show”).

“Give me the simple life.”

I was reminded of these lyrics from Steve Tyrell while on the tram, with 2 of my colleagues, at Newark airport this morning. While feverishly replying to emails on my MotoQ, I happened to catch a glance of a guy dressed very casually pointing us out to his female companion. While obviously whispering to her, he made air gestures of “tumb typing”. I looked over at my two colleagues who mirrored my self-absorption into their own mobile devices. We were like 3 emotionless drones all acting in unison.  To an “unconnected” observer, I could understand why the sight was a bit ridiculous and comical.

I’ve become all too accustomed with the fast-pace of my life and the way in which technology has completely converged with it – I’ve welcomed that to happen. Like many of us, I get restless when I’m not connected.  Yet just 10 years ago, none of us were digitally enabled the way we are today – and in 10 years from now, we’ll look back to right now and probably laugh at how archaic it is.

But It takes encounters like this morning to remind me that it’s important to slow it down every once in a while, just for a bit, to enjoy  “the simple life” for that very moment in time.

Life’s One Constant: Human Nature

In his book Meatball Sundae, Seth Godin says, “Human nature hasn’t changed a bit. What has changed is the environment we live in.” and in Groundswell, Charlene li and Josh Bernoff say, “People have always depended on each other and drawn strength from each other.”

The fact is, people have opinions and need to share. The hype about social networking is due to the fact that it’s something that resonates with the very core of who we are in our ever constant “escape from aloneness.”  Social media represents a perfect harmonic marriage between communications technology (the changed environment) and our fundamental, simple, and very natural instincts (human nature).

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

 A segment on this morning’s Today Show (above) does a great job bringing this point home.

Social Media: The Best Focus Group.

Everyone’s got an opinion. And with the exception of paid blog posts or paid tweets (which you already know my thoughts on), I LOVE the real-time, unaided consumer reactions/intelligence one can get on pretty much anything by just doing a simple Twitter search.

One of the great things about working in Advertising/Marketing these days is having the ability to hear raw, near real-time feedback as to what people think about your execution as they experience it – especially broadcast spots (TV Commercials). People are a lot more uninhibited in the comfort of their own home hidden behind the security of their computer.

Let’s take “Pepsi Throwback” as an example. The company at their very moment has instant access to the very latest consumer sentiment about the product – and without paying a cent for the intelligence. Some of the reactions are very positive and some are negative. But in general there seems to be an overall positive vibe to the new (or, more accurately, old) Pepsi product and some people want it to stick around beyond its limited 8-week lifespan.

The big question, as a colleague pointed out to me, is how much weight should Twitter or the greater social web hold in terms of making business decisions? To what degree should companies/brands rely more on social media intelligence versus the comfort of more traditional consumer research & testing methods?

I think both have their place in the marketing world but if brands/agencies are only employing traditional methods to produce consumer insights, they’re missing out big time on a goldmine of useful data.