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.