Closed social networks the next fad? Maybe so...

As social networking expands, the niche aspect and sexiness of "select" & "exclusive" takes on a whole new turn as businesses get more into the social media thing through the usual suspects of Facebook, MySpace, etc... to engage their customers with "special offers'' that you need to sign up on the page for. Exclusive clubs go back a long time, and there are many on-line now like Small World http://www.asmallworld.net/login.php, and Black Card Cirlce https://www.blackcardcircle.com/, but the opportunity for companies, specifically in this hotels, takes the business model to a whole new place.

It is a way to take the LinkedIn style of networking to a whole new place that allows for more interaction, such as what the Pod hotels are doing with exclusive meet-ups for people staybing in their hotels, in some cases, planning to meet weeks in advance. This same exclusive group model can lend itself to so many ideas, such as any thing that is a chain or linked in group that provides opportunities to get together in other cities, while keeping exclusive company.

B2B Conferences take hit in down economy

Bound to happen, conferences and trade shows take hit as B2B events downscale as less companies look for other ways to get businesses talking to each other. This decision will definitely have reverberation in many ways, not just opportunities for business people to meet on their specific industry, catering, hotels, et al...

This could also be one one of the big reasons that MAC World will make next year their last, with CES definetely happy as they happen at the same time.

As companies test and samples new ways to reach their core constituency, B2B will always be around but will re-engineer itself as it looks to new ways to engage companies and clients, with the most likely avenue being web seminars ona regular basis, less glamaourus meet-ups and scaled down events, and possibly bi-yearly conferences.

Any way that it goes, conferences and events targeted towards the B2B market and in connecting business are core to... well business. They are needed, but hopefully they return and remain in a way not just focused on digital models as those sponosred parties are always a nice place to meet and discuss business.

MINI continues to innovate in advertising

This is a great story. Innovation in advertising, which in some cases translates to content. A German advertising agency has created a MINI ad that brings to life - literally - the new convertible that MINI is launching in Europe. A German company created a technology called Metaio, which is a form of augmented reality. The user takes the advertising out of the magazine and places it in front of their webcam. The picture then appears on the screen, replicating what it looks like but in a convertible style in 3D. Truly amazing.

This has so much potential and not just for advertising but for content companies in terms of intricate story lines, on-line gaming, etc.. The biggets opportunity is to utilize old fashioned media in a way that maintain's it "sexiness" while embracing and promoting what is here and what is next. No word on what U.S. companies are embracing this technlgy but definetly something keep an eye out for in an advetising or media campaign sometime soon.

Mobile CPM's levarage in U.S. market

Mobile CPM's are starting to come down from the high of $50 to $ 60.00 to an average of $15.00. That's a big bump, what's the affect for the sudden change in elevation and downward spiral? Many people measured the 50 - 60 dollar avg. into their financial projections, so that will come as a shock as mobile spreads thinner in terms of video. While the projections may be less than expected and favoured, it still offers many, many opportunities. Those opportunities exist in WalMart looking to sell the iPhone, thousands of homes & customers cancelling their home internet and cable TV packages, with droves of people using their mobile device as their key avenue to the internet. Mobile is here and will grow an dengage the user in more ways than people are using now, while video and other kinds of media is included in that, tangible and functional applications like grocery shopping lists, Point of Purchase, and too many to list. While the CPM drops for mobile ROI, the need for robust and targeted mobile apps and content, much of it delivered through advertising, grows at a fevered pace as companies try to provide the services, technolgy companies try to create grounbreaking apps, and content cerators try to engage an uaindece on the move. This all points to positive and sutainable growth over the next 6 months, and which might even surpass expectations and revenue projections again.

Can lack of development be good news for digital spend.

As the economy falters many people forget that all around people are trying to cut costs, and now we can include and add to that list the fall TV development schedule. Who knows what the real reason is and will it be the smart one, but as studios are looking to cut money due to a advertising slowdown most development schedules have been scaled by close to 30%. This presents two opportunities, one for original content for on-line, and two, for TV studios to rethink their strategy of the past few decades. The second one could be by revisiting a stripped down development schedule that is focused on and still develops and purchases original scripted & unscripted projects for TV, but rethinks how they promote those series. One way could be to produce short-form cost-effective programming content, embracing the on-line production model, and deliver in shorter pieces like interstitial and through various on-line portals. With this model advertising dollars could be spent on-line increasing revenue for some sites, most likely deals would be put in place with Hulu, YouTube, etc... to make sure that their shows are seen through their portals. If done properly it could save millions of dollars, although the prospect of job losses suck, but it is a model that should be tinkered with to see the merit of it, with themuch thought put into possible job losses.

Change is defenitely a coming...

Mobile advertising provides some up ina down market

Sequoia was one of many VC firms that recently stated they were pulling back the strings on new investment based on the recent market crash, and coming storm clouds. Somehow AdMob, and Seqoiua, and some other VC firms missed that memo. Any well. Ad-mob, a company that manages ad buys and advertising for distribution through mobile platforms, recently recieved another 15.7 million in a third round of funding, and specifically with Sequiao spear heding through their new "growth fund" of 1 billion.

While many companies have scaled back in these uncertain times it is still veyr important to realize two things:

Digital media is not slowing, and the U.S. market while very robust in terms of usage, lags behind many otehr countries in terms of technolgy and viable revenue models that actually work.

The mobile advertising market is definelty maturing with more companies and ahenghies looking at the plaform as avery viable and appealing way to reach their audiences, it still is far from its glory days.

So, overthe very short term it might not be that greta of anivestmetn, but looking at internationally a s ameasuring stick, as well aa in the U.S. as it moves rapidly towards a mobile focused economoy that is in man ways 70-90 english speaking, this is a very long-tail and briliant move as Afd-Mob is very well run and has a good product.

Lets look forwrad to seeing more of these balnced but forwrad looking funding announcements of mobile companies.

Does Out-of-home really provide the best ROI?

Out-of-home video has taken off the last for years as a place for content and targeted message to be seen. In Europe and parts of ASIA, Out-of-Home, specifically digital signage at grocers, malls, etc... are turning out to be a viable distribution platform for people with unique and targeted content to be seen while people get through their days.

Now with media buyers and content producers looking to reach new audiences, a new study shows that digital screens in grocery outlets and out-of-home might be the best place to get the best ROI. I know surprising at first but when considering the following it really is not that crazy after all.

Out-of-home includes screens on buildings large and small, as well as grocery stores, malls, and many other platforms that include receiving media on a screen other than the key 3 - mobile, internet, and TV.

If you are a media buyer or content producer, or someone just really interested in pricing engagement, then you would be interested in hearing that ROI has the best return on teh audinece remebering where and when tehy saw the ad. With a betetr return than TV and on-line maybe out-of-home is not such a bad place to reach an audience.

Robust growth in interactive ad spend and ROI

You can look at many different research papers, study' and metrics and can see from most if not all of them that traditional advertising is declining, and interactive is on the march - and steadily growing. As we move to a more wireless and digital world, one where we are on the go and receive our media through as many digital platforms as possible, the media buying and ROI will increase in areas that are showing the largest growth, in this case mobile/interactive/on-line/out-of-home.

With many metrics showing that the ROI is also much better, the following stats below will provide a better outlook on specefic areas of growth and information to back it up:

• 45% of 2007 interactive ad spending counted as display
• Paid search advertising accounts for 38% and is expected to grow.
• Google commanded a median 86% share of 2007 search inquiries in the survey’s sample of 35 countries, somewhat ahead of other industry samples.
• The mean online shopping spend per user in 2007 was estimated at $471, and the only country to break the $1,000 mark was Denmark.
• There is also strong positive correlation between the amount of broadband a country has and the internet’s share of advertising investment.
• Demographics alone will sustain growth in internet use among consumers for at least another generation, and possibly two, as those under 25 years old carry their habits into middle age and beyond.

The Power and draw of Social Media and it's ROI

Social media by most accounts can be seen as an additional draw for many consumers and fans of entertainment that allows for further and deeper engagement of content and brands offerings. While many of us champion the possibilities and opportunities daily on what we see is a strong opportunity to really engage people on-line and through the adjunct of communities, we now see another and very comprehensive study that shows people are actively looking for and want to have more engagement through on-line communities and digital interaction.
The study focuses on Americans and their desire to have companies engage and promote to them through social communities, with the following information additional food for thought for agencies, content producers, or any company looking to build their brand while offering an additional way to increase ROI.

• Americans think companies should use social networks to solve my problems (43%)
  
• Americans who want to provide feedback on a specific product and service (41%)
  
• Americans want new and exciting ways to be engaged and interact with a brand (37%)
  
• Americans want to be target-marketed through a specific on-line or interactive community (25%)

What is DECE and how does it affect the businss of multi-platform media

Since the advent and gravitation towards a total digital eco-system, one that provides the content we are looking for when we need it, with the power to bring and push that content to any device. Wit that being said, while many people look at Apple as the key go-to player and innovator in digital distribution, they have alos slowed growth in some ways by their heavy-handed focus on DRM. DRM is useful in some ways but with a maority of people now accessing their media from devices and platforms other than TV it has become a problem that has slowed the acceptance of a viable and sustainable business model for content creators and entrepeuners large and small.

DECE could literally be the straw that broke the camel's back, with the Camel not necesarily being Apple, but a colletive of comapnies that want to control the distribution of content on their devices or platforms.

What DECE does is bring together the largest electronic and media companies in the world with the key directive and goal of distributing and providing content to a market anxious to consume at a lower or fixed cost. With players like Alcatel-Lucent, Best Buy Co Inc, Cisco Systems Inc, Comcast, News Corp’s Fox Entertainment Group, Hewlett-Packard Co, Intel, Lions Gate Entertainment Corp, Microsoft Corp, General Electric Co’s NBC Universal, Viacom Inc’s Paramount Pictures, Philips, Sony Corp, Toshiba, VeriSign, and Time Warner Inc’s Warner Bros Entertainment, a cabal o fht biggest, it will hard for Apple not to come up with an alternaive model, or work with DECE for the ultimate good of the consumer.

Regardsless of the outcome this can only be good news to the digital marketplace, for both content creators and users.

The final presentattion will take place at CES in January where DECE will launch their initiatives to the world.

ROI on Japan's interactive mobile poster experiment

Japan is clearly ahead of the curve on many things but this is truly visionary. Based on earlier technology and initiatives that Japanese companies already use for people to get interactive with a movie, but after visiting a site with a text code from the poster, they can now do that instantly with a major initiative by Soft Bank Mobile.
Using technology by Near Field Communication (NFC), Soft Bank Mobile customers can access trailers, movie stills, ringtones, etc... that are related to the film and are avilable from a customer syncing up with any poster that utilizes the technolgy by NFC, whihc sends targeted movie info directly and immemdialty to the the cionsumer.

This is a really, really great turn for new technolgies that will undoubtedly open the door to so many other types of digital signage and billboard type advertising, which will create fantastic opporutites veyr high ROI and CPM. Pint in fact, a recent reserach paper stated that digital signage and POS signage has teh best retention, just about 2 to 1 gretaer than TV an dinternet in terms of a conumer remebering the ad, what it was about, and any other distinsguishing elements about it.

For any content producer, ad compnay, or any one directly involved in digital media, this is a huge step forward towards the embrace of new technologies, and stronger ROI.

Continued growth in mobile advertising

More evidence to show that growth in advertising ROI is based and focused on off-deck, with the strongest numbers coming from that platform says Crisp Wireless.

Worth taking a stronger look at, but for all of the businesses deciding on where to focus their energy or marketing dollars for their content plays, off-deck seems to be the place.

the power of social networking through twitter

Most people by now have heard that users on Twitter have been signing up under the names of characters from the hit AMC show Mad Men with various posts in character.

While this has brought some publicity to the show the question remains what is the endgame and actual measurable benefit that is has had for the show?

Two things can be taken form this experiment, the first being the name and brand recognition for the show is increasing, and second that many users signed up to receive "tweets" from the character.

Going forward the success of future creative story arcs, and ones that are possibly pitching new products or services, could be based on further engaging the current and future audience by continuing the dialogue off-platform.

Unique way to engage that seems to have captured the imagination of many people.

Who has the right numbers for on-line metrics?

Many people, at a time including me, have thought on-line metrics to be more accurate and paint a much more detailed picture than TV. This was backed-up by very detailed numbers from on-line that provided a clear identity for a demographic group that advertisers covet, and content owners wanted to engage.

But now new numbers tell different story, especially when looking at what is funding and providing revenue for the majority of on-line shows - advertising.

While TV has fairly strong measurements pertaining to advertising buys, some on-line numbers are not providing actual and measurable numbers with regards to brand-integration and other forms of video and on-line advertising revenue. While on the surface it seems to be bad that there is not a n actual gauge of how revenue-generation, on-line video is increasing at such a pace that it can only provide conficdcne for the future.

And with companies like REV3 and FOUR YOUR IMAGINATION charging integration fees and CPM at 60-80 per 1000 it is only anythign but positive.

Great article and string recomendation to read.



accurate when looking at is not allow for specific The numbers show that

Where AD dollars are moving over the long tail!

Ad dollars are moving away from the traditional leaders on ad-spend to new platforms, specifically out-of-home and internet platforms. This shift will also include newspapers moving from first to second till 2010, when it will move to third place behind internet and digital platforms and broadcast TV.

This coming shift will further cement the significance of digital media and present both a challenge and opportunity for content producers and digital platforms as they work to make and faciltate those strategic partnerships that will pay the biggest dividends.

Her e is a link to an extensive study with lots of stats - http://www.vss.com/news/index.asp?d_News_ID=177

Unique paid content model to distribute ads/social networking information

Avenue A is taking a step in the direction of banner ads helping to promote content and UGC. Through a new initiative that will take advantage of real estate on key sites, Avenue A will embrace the power of placement as a way to promote social networking while allowing users to add information and feedback ot the actual banner ad.

The really interesting thing about this is that the ad will be generating revenue while not only promoting a specific brand or service but getting users to add to and advance media & content.

Advertising - Inventory Partitioning

It was can be seen as as future ad/business model that will most likely be embraced by many other ad-networks as digital advertising networks will be able to post ads and choose from real estate on all platforms (mobile/on-line/etc...) as opposed to being only able to choose from one platform at a time. AOL is pushing this initiative forward through their Platform A brand, which is borrowing from ad agencies in Japan et al that already offer this form of Inventory Partitioning.

Great news that will likely make things easier for publishers/buyers alike.

Another key move on the right track to better ROI

A new company backed by the ex head of Endemol is actively and aggressively getting its name out and brand positioned as a go to company and a key to the solution of the lack of good models for distributing TV content to the web, mobile, and IPTV. Although the new company, My Video Rights - http://myvideorights.com/Home.aspxt, is backed by U.K. companies, and investors, and most of the content plays are in the U.K. and is focused on U.K. content it is a very welcome addition to a space that needs strong TV distribution experience to take advantage of, and maximize digital opportunities. Definitely a company to keep a watch on.

Will hyper targeting increase CPM and ad-revenue for content owners?

One of the key growth areas for many social and video platforms is the possibility and option of hyper-targeting ads to specific information/content/etc... that can offer the closest thing to exact targeting of key demographics, in turn increasing CPM and a much stronger ROI for brands.

The question going forward will be how will this unique metric work on all platforms, and who will it benefit more - content producers or publishers and advertising and brand agencies?

On-line now more than Bite size!

Another recent article on the on-line viewing habits of key demo groups ;like 12-24 and 24-50 show the older demographic spending a lot more time watching full length video, and the younger dem. group watching more full-length programming as well, with increased focus on social networking, and other digital and on-line community elements. The elephant in the room is that it is harder for advertisers to accurately gauge where people are going to watch TV on-line.

3 screen strategy paying off?

A recent Nielsen study shows that more people are gravitating towards on-line to watch their favourite TV, shows with another study showing that on-line is no longer about bite size pieces or short-time viewing with most viewers looking watching more long-form and series programs on-line. While the TV experience and TV itself will never go away, it is just reinventing itself with people splitting their TV viewing over more platforms. The most exciting thing abut this study is the specific demo groups that are watching on-line/mobile/TV, with female viewers spending a larger amount of time on-line, and viewers under 24 using on-line in many different ways than just viewing of videos.

Here is a link to a downloadable version ot eh recent study by Nielsen. If you are involved in or interested in digital viewing habits this is a must read study:

http://www.nielsen.com/pdf/3_Screen_Report_May08_FINAL.pdf

Back-end digital ROI with Avril Lavingne

Chris Anderson wrote about it in an amazing and forward looking article in Wired magazine that talked about the economy of free, specifically "freekonomics", where you provide some part or component of your brand or media to the consumer for free, hoping that they will purchase a premium part for a fee.

Avril Lavingne is one artist who says that she has received upwards of 2 million in revenue (her cut would of been much less after songwriters, composers, etc...), which shows that artists of all kinds have an opportunity to be entrepreneurial and increase revenue by in some ways incorporating the basis of what Chris Anderson was talking about. Provide something for free and sell on the back-end, a premise that goes back to Gillette amongst others.

This model shows promise for many musical artists or publishers that their is revenue potential after a huge drop in recored sales, and the record industries major reluctance to not embrace Napster/P2P as a new way to distribute music.

This shows that a "free" model works for music with the right partners, but it also shows that people are willing to pay for something that they want if some part of it is for free.

Dynamic ad integration through instructional, how to, and DIY videos

Brand-integration is one model that many large and small producers look at as a feasible revenue stream for the financing of their content. DIY, how to, instructional, and general personal interest and non-fiction content all provides a very easy platform to be able to integrate brands as part of the process through a form of soft sell that does not feel like a commercial. While this has been done for awhile on many different platforms, on-line videos are becoming a sort of brand ambassador for specific products while the audience is gaining hopefully useful information.

The one area that this could get better is if a sort of exchange was set-up where content producers could pitch for the opportunity to use a specific brand in a DIY/How To/Instructional video.

The wall street of on-line ad exchanges

With a huge push that will benefit publishers over the short-term, companies like RightMedia are offering left over ad-space on ad exchange where advertisers can compete and buy ad-space on publishing networks. The exchange is tailored much like NASDAQ and has advisor's from Wall street looking to incorporate some of the fundamentals from those exchanges into the advertising ad-exchange called Adsdaq, with publishing not sold there kicked over to smaller ad-exchanges like Traffiq and AdBidCentral . Something for everyone to keep on an eye on as digital real estate becomes for a commodity as digital continues to further explode over many platforms.

Joost looks to China

Joost in an aggressive push to further its brand internationally has ventured into a business deal with TOM Group that will see it be co-branded with TOM where they will provide the technology and TOM will handle the local ad sales.

With this deal Joost is pushing the hands of other portals by making a considerable push into one of the largest media markets in the world with a group that is co-owned by politically connected billionaire Li Ka-shing.

Youth demo and their off-line pursuits.

Interesting article that showcases the growth in gaging off-line/deck transactions created by on-line media/articles/social networking pushing engaging and pushing consumers/users in a specefic direction. In this regard the sought after youth demo.

Huge growth in interactive advertising

Interactive advertising (internet, mobile, gaming) will continue to grow at a increased pace through 2012 with the biggest positive being in the demographics make-up and acceptance between 16-24 yr olds. Amongst this group we will see continued usage and acceptance of ads to deliver free content right into the groups 40's. Interesting study that shows in some ways advertising and interactive content will only increase its foothold amongst the key demographics groups that advertisers covet, and who much of the growth and margins are being made up of.

ABC IN Asia

Much has been said of companies like ABC and NBC making deals and working in other countries. ABC has been in the Japanese mobile space for years, but was slow to move forward in the U.S., but this new deal is aggressive in it is providing ABC content on-line (for now only 4 series) much like they do in the U.S., but Asian customers will get the added benefit of VOD-like services that is not fully available to U.S. customers.

The winds of change

Another great event in laying the groundwork for the future of feature length documentaries on-line. With more well funded entrepreneurs with strategic partners the future of on-line ad-sponsored cinema is starting to take shape.

4 out 5 aint bad!

Showcasing what many people have looked at and said for many years, peole are willing to sit through ads for videos that they like. What has been known for awhile in terms of peoples willingness to sit through ads to watch premium TV or film content, but this survey goes one step further and looks at if people are willing to sit through UGC content for ads as well, and only 4 out of 10 people say yes, compared with 8 out of 10 for premium. Shows that diversification is the key to maintaining and growing sites like YouTube.

Web video production dollars and branding both moving up!

Vogue has commissioned a web video series focusing on three up and coming models that is aiming to be a great example of what the future holds, if you get all the key people to the table at the same time. Coming in at around 31k per minute, and with advertisers clamoring for a spot to be a lead advertiser on the series, Vogue has moved forward with a great fashion series that has brand integration throughout but is always interesting and educational , while having the potential to move to TV effortlessly.

Greta example of what internet video has to offer if done right.

Niche market targeting.

Timely article on how many people (and companies) are using niche target marketing to their advantage.

Study Refutes Niche Theory Spawned by Web

Unique look at the future of on-line video and brand monetization.