- Like social networking on mobile devices, location-based services are still in their infancy. eMarketer projects the number of mobile social network users will more than double between 2010 and 2015, and adoption of location-based services will rise with it.
- Despite years of big growth and even bigger hype, the network-delivered rental and sale of videos continued to represent only a small portion of the U.S. home video entertainment market in 2010, as consumers flocked to buy and rent Blu-ray discs, according to Screen Digest, now part of IHS
- According to Juniper Research, marketers spent $87 million worldwide advertising on mobile games last year. By 2015, the amount will be 10 times greater, at nearly $900 million.
- Video ad network WebTV Enterprise saw ad revenues triple last year, according to its latest results. It saw a 244% rise in video ad revenue in 2010 compared to the previous year.
- If Tracking Is Outlawed, Only Outlaws Will Have Tracking, so says ClickZ
- ITV has restructured its commercial and online division as part of its strategy to develop premium content and deliver it across multiple platforms.
- Ad spending on the most controversial form of targeting—behavioral targeting—is expected to rise by double digits in 2011. So how can marketers tread safely without turning off their audience?
- The Office of Fair Trading is warning companies that sign up celebs to promote their products that they must be clear about their methods.
- Spending on advertising will grow by 4.5% in 2011, double the rate of the previous year, according to ZenithOptimedia, an ad agency. This will be led by online advertising which will increase by 16%.
Year: 2011
Curns’ Ad Links for 8 January 2011
- Display advertising will lead the digital industry’s recovery from recession in 2011, with confidence in brand advertising online seeing display’s ad spend growth rate overtaking search’s.
- 20 facts of 2010: A snapshop of life in the UK:Â Nearly a quarter of the UK population has no internet access, but one in ten can surf the web on their phone, according to one of the largest surveys examining life in the UK.
- Real-time bidding is helping to propel the online ad market, as publishers and advertisers find more efficient ways to monetize inventory. But there may be a long way to go before media buyers and publishers are making the most of those efficiencies.
Curns’ Ad Links for 7 January 2011
- 20 facts of 2010: A snapshop of life in the UK:Â Nearly a quarter of the UK population has no internet access, but one in ten can surf the web on their phone, according to one of the largest surveys examining life in the UK.
- Real-time bidding is helping to propel the online ad market, as publishers and advertisers find more efficient ways to monetize inventory. But there may be a long way to go before media buyers and publishers are making the most of those efficiencies.
- What can a publisher – and more specifically, ad operations – do to ensure that RTB will help grow the business?
Curns’ Ad Links for 6 January 2011
- Time to reject “audiences vs. content” as a false choice? Start a three-part quality movement in the exchange space?
- Juniper Research forecasts that by 2015, adspend on this platform will reach $894 million, up from $87 million in 2010, fuelled by increasing brand interest in mobile as an advertising channel, and apps – of which games are the dominant sector.
- The key market driver for PVR products is likely to be digital terrestrial television set top boxes that integrate PVR capabilities. However, PVR products will be overtaken by internet-enabled television sets. Around 350 million connected TVs are expected to be sold worldwide by 2015, according to Parks Associates.
- Consumer behavior has shifted, and it’s becoming increasingly clear that online video advertising is an effective channel for reaching consumers. Yet, online video represents only 7 percent of the entire ad market, according to eMarketer, which suggests that advertisers are still trying to figure out how to access online viewers successfully with the media buying dollars traditionally used for broadcast.
Curns’ Ad Links for 5 January 2011
- Consumer behavior has shifted, and it’s becoming increasingly clear that online video advertising is an effective channel for reaching consumers. Yet, online video represents only 7 percent of the entire ad market, according to eMarketer, which suggests that advertisers are still trying to figure out how to access online viewers successfully with the media buying dollars traditionally used for broadcast.
- Who just happens to be sitting on the best data? Publishers!
- In 2010, 65% of people younger than 30 cited the Internet as their go-to source for news, nearly doubling from 34% in 2007
- Chris Maples with some interesting predictions for 2011. I agree with many of them.
- Display advertising will lead the digital industry’s recovery from recession in 2011, with confidence in brand advertising online seeing display’s ad spend growth rate overtaking search’s.
- One future for publisher's to better manage customer & advertising relationships is for them to buy up – or a least invest – in better technology. This might be the first signal that more publishers will be doing it.
- The alpha release of Privacy Icons aims to usher in a new era of understanding of how users' personally identifiable data – including name, IP address or email – is being used, and often exploited, by publishers and third-party companies.
Elsewhere: Will 2011 be the year that internet radio will pass traditional radio?
Then there are habits to break. Others here have touched on the car radio but broadcast receivers are also clock radios, shower radios, kitchen radios etc. I imagine substantial number of these form part of a routine and there’re not easy, nor cheap, to replace quickly. And why would you if it’s still working well for you?
In the spirit of keeping things in one place. I just answered my first question on Quora, a question and answer website that’s hooked into your social network – via Facebook and Twitter. I imagine it’ll become overwhelming pretty quickly as it needs much more engagement than Twitter so, should all the people I follow on Twitter start posting questions, I’m going to end up swamped with questions. Still, so far, so interesting.
The question: Will 2011 be the year that internet radio will pass traditional radio? [link]. And my response:
I can’t see internet radio will pass traditional radio for quite some time.
There are too many broadcast radio (AM, FM, HD, DAB) receivers out there for this to happen quickly, and – even today – the number of FM receivers continues to grow as they are added to mobile phones, MP3 players etc.
Right now, broadcast radio remains more portable (mobile data is inconsistent) and FM receivers can generally handle a poor signal quality in ways that data connections don’t seem to be able to do (at least, without resorting to continual re-buffering).
Then there are habits to break. Others here have touched on the car radio but broadcast receivers are also clock radios, shower radios, kitchen radios etc. I imagine substantial number of these form part of a routine and there’re not easy, nor cheap, to replace quickly. And why would you if it’s still working well for you?
(There are some interesting figures for streaming & mobile listening produced in the UK by the Absolute Network and analysed at James Cridland’s blog.)
You can add something to the answer by joining quora and going here.
Here Comes Capital
I do find it heart-warming that, while the comments are in the main equally predictable, they show that people are still passionate about the radio station they listen to.
I tweeted earlier about an article in the Guardian that spoke about Capital FM’s UK roll-out. More specifically, it was written from South Wales where Red Dragon Radio has been re-branded Capital. While I think most of the article trots out predictable arguments (networking is bad, local is good and that name will never work) that, personally I find nonsensical (there was networking under the old name, most speech wasn’t local under the old name and the old name wasn’t that station’s original name anyway, CBC anybody? Gwent Broadcasting anybody?) I do find it heart-warming that, while the comments are in the main equally predictable, they show that people are still passionate about the radio station they listen to.
Change is always a challenge for everybody but, in the end, if the music’s the kind I want to listen to and the ‘talkie-bits’ funny and/or interesting enough then it will succeed. And given that music is the key ingredient for a music station it could be played from Mars as long as it’s well put together. Given that, I wonder how long they will continue to play different tracks for the London feed. Why bother?
For Global Radio it is a relatively brave move (but probably less so since the Heart re-brand seems to have worked out quite well). Since the early-70s launch of legal commercial radio, the UK has lacked strong, national commercial radio brands and Global now have several under their belt. The difference now is that they can launch a national brand with a set of technologies that actually work and allow those stations to attempt to benefit from a little of both worlds: local presence and national recognition.
That’s not to say we shouldn’t have strong local brands too. What Orion Media are doing where I grew-up in Shropshire (and the rest of the Midlands) is interesting: pushing the localness of their offering. Even there, however, there’s a good amount of networking.
To compete today, radio has to use all the technology it has available (and that inevitably leads to smart networking) and build a recognisable brand. It’s really interesting to watch.
Elsewhere: An Insiders View Of Government
The diary format is easy to dip in to – and that had been my intention – but I found I was hooked and could spend many hours reading; it’s not a slimline book!
A just posted a review on Goodreads and Amazon of Chris Mullin’s account of life inside the Labour government.
A View from the Foothills by Chris Mullin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
As an insiders view of life as a Labour MP and, at times, as a junior Minsiter (transport and environment/Africa) this is a compelling read. The diary format is easy to dip in to – and that had been my intention – but I found I was hooked and could spend many hours reading; it’s not a slimline book! The inner working of government are fascinating: Mullin has a particular dislike for the poorly written speeches he was expected to deliver; the excesses of Ministerial cars and the fact that, as a Junior Minister, it seems impossible to actually get anything done. It’s interesting to see that a relatively few number of MPs – mainly those nearest the Prime Minister – can actually do very much at all; the rest expected to tow the party line. Mullin was not that close to The Man but he certainly has a different view than most of us. Of most interest historically, of course, are the discussions that lead to the UK’s support of the Iraqi war but, if you’re interested in how much of government works, this is possibly better positioned than some of the bigger names.
Curns’ Ad Links for 4 January 2011
- A new content distribution network built by BT will ensure greater bandwidth for users wanting to watch online video without disruption, even during peak online usage times. BT Retail is currently using the wholesale service called Content Connect to supply the company's television customers with the BBC iPlayer.
- Ultimately, publishers are the ones that'll be the most advantaged in a move towards transparency. They have a first party relationship with the end user and a history of doing user data relationships.
- Last year was a transitional year for most of the industry and now the traction of these changes are likely to take hold on the cold hard surface of consumer engagement.
- Smaller advertisers are finally joining the ad recovery, which was originally dominated by the biggest players in automobiles and packaged goods, suggesting more robust and reliable growth ahead.
2011 Digital Advertising Horoscope
Transparency will be the watch word in 2011 and we’ll all be bombarded with links to opt-out screens. I trust that we’ll get better at explaining how and what, if any, data is used. I also suspect we’ll see an emergence of more data validation services.
Let’s see what our Horoscope tells us for New Year’s Day. And I don’t mean that I foresee a murder and you shouldn’t be living in Midsomer at 9pm tonight. No, this is my attempt to better my score from last year and see what’s coming up in the year ahead for digital advertising. Really, there’s not much else to do until the fireworks have stopped rattling in my ears.
Aquarius: Your Campaigns Will Be Better Targeted
I’m still placing bets on increased data usage in advertising targeting. Although highly targeted advertising placements have been around since the first digital ad technologies appeared, such sophisticated targeting was not adopted universally. It will become increasingly important and advertisers will look to target across the data spectrum to incorporate behavioural and declared data alongside localisation and social metrics. Of course, somebody will release a(nother) study to say there’s an over reliance on audience data at the expense of creativity and engagement but you don’t need to read Mystic Meg to know there’ll be an increasing flow of data in 2011. This tidal wave of data is increasingly complex to manage and nobody seems to have developed a widely adopted trading platform for audience data yet. Who will fall foul of the data regulators in 2011? Somebody will. From a publisher’s perspective this will become an area in need of attention: selling media with data, selling standalone data, buying data and guarding against data theft. Somebody needs to keep an eye on all this to and, I imagine, it’ll need more than a board and wetsuit to ride the breaking data waves. Publishers need tools to mange their data and, properly, understand the value of that data.
Pisces: You Will Wear The Cloak Of Transparency
None of this, of course, will happen without full disclosure on data use. Transparency will be the watch word in 2011 and we’ll all be bombarded with links to opt-out screens. I trust that we’ll get better at explaining how and what, if any, data is used. I also suspect we’ll see an emergence of more data validation services. Advertisers, their agencies and publishers can increasingly partner with a wide range of data suppliers across the spectrum but who, if anybody, is validating it? Just as we’ve seen the rise of Better Advertising to combat the disclosure issue, I’m sure an increasing number of parties will offer to validate your data soon. Enough people aren’t asking if the data they are using is actually accurate and, therefore, valuable.
Gemini: The Moon Is In A Customising Orbit
Last year I didn’t need to be Russell Grant to suggest that digital advertising markets will start to grow again. That growth provided confidence to publishers and media owners who will now start to look for an increasing number of ways to differentiate themselves from their competitors. In a growing market, and for large pools of display advertising inventory, standardisation is a good thing but this will be the year more-and-more publishers add something bespoke to their media kits. Unique ad-units, integrated creative and an increasing number of sponsorship opportunities will appear to combat a continued rise of bidding and trading across more standard ad placements. And that approach will cross channels with iAd leading the way with more customised, non standard deliveries to iOS users. There has been a lot of talk about Apple’s iAd platform being either game changing or not but I don’t believe we’ve even scratched the surface. Increased interaction (yes, engagement) facilitated by this platform will pave the way for a change in the way brand-building ads are developed (will we even see them or call them ads anymore? They’ll be far removed from anything we have today). This will apply cross-platform as publishers will start to offer deeper experiences on mobile and on bigger screens. In the UK, Absolute Radio have already started to show what’s possible.
Cancer: A Job In The Financial Sector Awaits
Publishers will continue to embrace trading for part of their media. We’ll see exiles from banks and energy companies, who understand the deepest complexities of traded marketplaces, take roles at both ends of the trading floor. I wonder if Lori Reid can tell us if that will lead to a bonus culture to rival the big financial institutions? Customised ad placements and a growing marketplace will put pressure on the industry to deliver another type of data: the business insight. For publishers this will be about understanding advertising performance on their properties and tying that to financial and sales data. The buy-side of the industry will continue to pursue ad performance metrics but, I imagine, will also, increasingly, analyse the return on those other ads where awareness and interaction are the measurement metrics. We’ll see ourselves learning to better mine our financial data to understand what is, and what is not, working well. And from this insight publishers will start to channel investment into both content that is proven to be working from their, and their advertising partners, perspectives and into technology, an area where they have – recently – been out gunned by network and buy-side companies.
Virgo: Your Digital Ads Will Be Everywhere
Social media will continue its rise and, maybe, Twitter will have another advertising proposition by this time next year. Coupons will remain popular, no doubt leading to big name digital businesses going on a buying spree (without the 20% off offers) pretty soon and money will be spent on crowbaring coupon offerings into the mobile world. There’ll be new places to put all these ads too. I’m sure we’re about to have a raft of technology announcements with ever more tablets, smartphones and even apps on your laptops and desktops, but the one to watch will be YouView, the internet connected digital TV platform, which will enable “if somebody gets round to it” an interactive, engaging, social television experience with a data-driven display advertising marketplace on your telly-box.
Gee, even Jonathan Cainer couldn’t have foreseen that many buzzwords in a single sentence. Of course, as with all horoscopes, these are the easier predictions. It’s the unknown that I’m most excited about. As with last year, follow @curns on Twitter to see if this is all stuff-and nonsense or if it will happen. That, or just see if I can crowbar Claire Petulengro’s name into a tweet (she’s the astrologer in The Sunday People, you know).