April 1, 2009–In some cases, emerging media is still ironing out the analytics issue. However, in most cases, the analytics are sound, and held up to the high bar set by digital. For in-game advertising, the size of the ad on the screen, the duration it appears on the screen, and even the angle at which it’s being viewed can all be tracked.
For digital out-of-home, there are solutions which can use facial analysis to determine how many passersby looked at the display, how long they looked, if they are male or female, and even a general age range. In social media, marketers can know not only how many people interacted with a campaign, but can actually read their minds. With all these capabilities at its fingertips, emerging media can deliver a wealth of accurate, detailed, and accountable information.
Instead of using emerging media to deliver insight, we decided to take a more traditional approach for this edition of the newsletter, and conducted a survey. We carefully selected 11 self-described “technophile consumers” (transhumans were not included in the sample group). While you might say the sample size is small, those surveyed were highly targeted and ultimately, the quality of the respondents is as or more important than the quantity, right?
On to some basic demographics – 64 percent of the respondents were female, and the sample was aged 21 to [redacted]. The survey was designed to give insight into the lives of US adults and how they interacted with the different emerging media landscapes.
For video, nine percent had recently given up their cable, opting instead to get broadcast content via Netflix on the Xbox 360 or hulu.com. A startling 82 percent had watched an online video in the past week, with a full 27 percent having watched “Everything is Amazing and No One is Happy.” Of those, 67% laughed out loud.
In looking at mobile, 36 percent had accessed the mobile web; however, this was likely due to an unusually high penetration of iPhones, at a full 18 percent. Mobile video use had increased slightly compared to other studies which indicate around a five percent mobile video usage. Nine percent of the sample had watched a video on their mobile device in the past month. Just under a fifth of the sample had undergone the controversial operation of fusing their BlackBerry to the skeletal structure of their hand.
Looking at broader behavioral trends, a few interesting points emerge. 45 percent own dogs, and of this population, 20 percent named their dog Jake. 27 percent ate cinnamon flavored oatmeal this morning, with 33 percent of them having bummed their breakfast off of a colleague. Finally, 100 percent of the sample were fans of Tron Guy, though 18 percent admitted he was kind of creepy after they thought about it.
For inquiries about this study, please leave a comment. Though before doing so, consider the title of the piece and the date of publication. For enterprising statisticians, find n.
…Happy April Fools! Affectionately, the Lab.
