Category: General Content

What To Expect From This Year’s Facebook F8 Event

Posted on by Lab Team

What’s Happening
Facebook’s annual developer conference F8 will take place this Tuesday and Wednesday in San Jose, where the company is expected to announce updates and lay out its plan for some of its key initiatives such as messaging, artificial intelligence, and live video. This year’s event will kick off with a keynote from CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday morning, and will presumably cover most of those key areas as before, possibly with some additional discussions on Facebook’s role in combating fake news and promoting global connectivity.

At the F8 event last year, Facebook launched its bot platform for Messenger, demoed a more “social” virtual reality with Oculus, and rolled out a 360-degree video camera, and we expect to see updates in all three areas this year as well. In fact, Facebook has already unveiled several things that will be covered at this year’s event, including bots for Messenger groups, offline Instagram, and a new Camera Effects Platform allowing developers to create more features for the Facebook camera, both in its flagship app and Messenger.

What Brands Need To Do
Facebook and its various properties and apps are still unparalleled in their global reach and utterly dominating in terms of mobile time spent. Facebook Messenger just passed over 1.2 billion monthly active users this week. Its aggressive cloning of Snapchat’s features has apparently started to pay off, with its Instagram Stories surpassing Snapchat in monthly active user earlier this month. The new Camera Effects platform also hints at Facebook’s ambition in pushing deeper into selfie lenses and other mobile AR features. Moreover, Facebook Live also presents a strong area of media growth, as the company announced earlier this month that live video now account for 20% of video on the platform, with the number of broadcasts grown more than four times over the last year.

This year, the Lab has a special team attending F8 to bring us the latest announcements. You can follow us on Twitter @ipglab for live updates. Also, remember to check back for our in-depth take on Facebook’s new products and services and how they would impact the future of brand marketing.

 

Source: TechCrunch

Amazon Lends Alexa’s 7-Mic Voice Processing Tech To Hardware Makers

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Amazon continues to expand Alexa’s footprint by opening up its far-field microphone and voice processing technology to third-party manufacturers to integrate into their own voice-activated devices. The new development kit also includes access to Amazon’s proprietary software for wake word recognition, beamforming, noise reduction, and echo cancellation as well as reference client software for local device control and communication with the Alexa Voice Service. Right now this development kit is by invitation only, which hardware makers can apply for one here.

What Brands Need To Do
With Alexa Voice Services, Amazon is already encouraging other companies to build the Alexa into their own products. Now with this new developer tool, device makers will have an easier and less expensive way to incorporate Amazon’s voice recognition tech into more voice-activated connected devices, potentially expanding Alexa’s reach even further.

A new CIRP report estimates that there are now 8.2 million customers who own an Amazon Echo device, up 60% from the 5.1 million Echo users that CIRP cited in November 2016, making it one of the fastest growing connected home devices in the past few years. Led by Alexa, voice-activated devices are poised to change the way many customers search for information and interact with businesses. Brands seeking to stay ahead of the curve will need to start developing a conversational strategy to figure out an authentic way to establish a brand presence on the conversational devices.

How We Can Help
The Lab has extensive experience in building Alexa Skills to reach consumers on conversational interfaces. So much so that we’ve built a dedicated conversational practice called Dialogue. The “Miller Time” Alexa Skill we developed with Drizly for Miller Lite is a good example of how Dialogue can help brands build a conversational customer experience, supercharged by our stack of technology partners with best-in-class solutions and an insights engine that extracts business intelligence from conversational data.

If you’d like to learn more about how to effectively reach consumers on conversational interfaces, or to leverage the Lab’s expertise to take on related client opportunities within the IPG Mediabrands, please contact our Client Services Director Samantha Barrett ([email protected]) to schedule a visit to the Lab.

 

Source: The Verge

YouTube Lowers Subscriber Requirement For Going Live On Mobile

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
YouTube is rolling out mobile live streaming to more users, lowering the previous 10,000 subscriber requirement to just 1,000 subscribers. This means more micro-influencers and smaller companies will now be able to leverage YouTube’s livestreaming tools to start a mobile broadcast and connect with viewers in real time.

What Brands Need To Do
This allows more brands to use YouTube live streams to showcase a more authentic side of their brand identity and engage with their fans. Live video remains a fast growth area for digital media, with 81% of mobile audiences watched more live video in 2016 than in 2015. Mobile live video is also particularly engaging, with the average time spent on mobile video being 3.5 minutes for livestreams, compared to 2.8 minutes for VOD. Therefore, more brands should be leveraging live video to reach global viewers and amplify their brand messages with live events, influencer takeovers, and behind-the-scene looks.

 

Source: Engadget

Google Aids Fashion Discovery With New “Style Ideas” In Image Search

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Following the addition of “Similar Items” in image search earlier this week, Google is doubling down on surfacing related fashion products with a new “Style Ideas” feature. For fashion search results in the Google Android app and on mobile browsers, this feature will present a set of visually similar items, outfit montages, as well as real-life images featuring that item. The end result is somewhat akin to a Pinterest board created around that specific fashion products. Google says the “Style Idea” images are algorithmically selected without human involvement, using Google’s machine learning capabilities to identify the images featuring the product in question.

What Brands Need To Do
As the follow-up to “Similar Items,” this new feature indicates Google’s ambition in turning image search into a fashion shopping tool. While “Similar Items” only covers fashion accessories and shoes, “Style Ideas” will show up in the image search results for apparels. Together, these two features revitalize image search as a viable product discovery channel that fashion brands will need to pay attention to. While this feature currently runs on machine learning algorithms and is not monetized in any way, it is not hard to imagine how this could easily become a new ad product where fashion retailers selling the same items can bid to appear first.

 

Source: The Verge

 

Now You Can Ask Alexa To Send You A Plumber Thanks To HomeAdvisor

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Home service-booking site HomeAdvisor has launched an Alexa skill to allow Echo users to book a home service professional without lifting a finger. Once a homeowner activates the skill, Alexa will ask for the user’s zip code and phone number. Then HomeAdvisor will match the homeowner up with a home service professional in the local area to give the homeowner a call to confirm a booking. Users can also use the skill to find help for their home improvement or even landscaping projects.

What Brands Need To Do
It is interesting to see that HomeAdvisor beat Amazon to the punch with this Alexa skill, considering the ecommerce giant has launched their own online home service marketplace Home Services last year, which Amazon has yet to integrate with Alexa. As evidenced by Alexa’s dominance at this year’s CES, Amazon’s voice assistant has an early lead in becoming the interface of many a voice-activated home device, making it a valuable platform for brands seeking to reach consumers at home. This HomeAdvisor is but one of the latest addition to Alexa’s growing capabilities, which is ushering in a new type of audio-based discovery and engagement that brands need to adapt to.

How We Can Help
The Lab has extensive experience in building Alexa Skills and chatbots to reach consumers on conversational interfaces. So much so that we’ve built a dedicated conversational practice called Dialogue. The “Miller Time” Alexa Skill we developed with Drizly for Miller Lite is a good example of how Dialogue can help brands build a conversational customer experience, supercharged by our stack of technology partners with best-in-class solutions and an insights engine that extracts business intelligence from conversational data.

If you’d like to learn more about how to effectively reach consumers on conversational interfaces, or to leverage the Lab’s expertise to take on related client opportunities within the IPG Mediabrands, please contact our Client Services Director Samantha Barrett ([email protected]) to schedule a visit to the Lab.

 

Source: GeekWire

You Can Now Remote Control Your Hyundai Via Google Assistant

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
If you happen to be both a Hyundai owner and a Google Home user, now your car is ready for voice command. The South Korean carmaker announced on Thursday that it has officially enabled the Google Assistant integration with its BlueLink connected car system, as promised at this year’s CES. This update allows owners of recent Hyundai models to remotely control several aspects of their vehicles. For example, users can ask Google Assistant to start their vehicles, set climate control, send directions to the on-board navigation, or unlock/lock the vehicle among other functions.

What Brands Need To Do
This is not the first time Hyundai has integrated its connected car system with a voice assistant. In November 2016, the company extended its BlueLink app to support voice command via Amazon’s Alexa. Now with this Google Assistant integration, Hyundai is further committing to make its vehicles useful with voice-activated conversational interfaces, which opens up new possibilities for them to connect with customers at home. As automakers experiment with smart home device connectivity to expand the reach of their services, other brands should take note and start exploring this space to reach customers beyond mobile as well.

How We Can Help
The Lab has extensive experience in building Alexa Skills and chatbots to reach consumers on conversational interfaces. So much so that we’ve built a dedicated conversational practice called Dialogue. The “Miller Time” Alexa Skill we developed with Drizly for Miller Lite is a good example of how Dialogue can help brands build a conversational customer experience, supercharged by our stack of technology partners with best-in-class solutions and an insights engine that extracts business intelligence from conversational data.

If you’d like to learn more about how to effectively reach consumers on conversational interfaces, or to leverage the Lab’s expertise to take on related client opportunities within the IPG Mediabrands, please contact our Client Services Director Samantha Barrett ([email protected]) to schedule a visit to the Lab.

Source: 9to5 Google

Medical Device Maker Taps VR To Showcase Products and Services

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Zimmer Biomet, a company that specializes in manufacturing orthopedic medical devices, used a custom VR experience to showcase their Signature Solutions products at the AAOS Conference (American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons), which is billed as the world’s largest exhibition of orthopedic products. The company set up a VR lounge at its exhibition booth outfitted with six Samsung Gear VR headsets. Each headset was preloaded with a custom application that allows attendees to view the product demo focusing in on the various stages of a surgery experience.

What Brands Need To Do
This is the latest example of the ongoing diversification of use cases as virtual reality continues to gain momentum in marketing. VR’s immersive power makes it a powerful tool for brands to sell prospective customers on the experience they offer. It is particularly a great tool for on-site activations and product demos, and this VR initiative from Zimmer Biomet cleverly combines both to grab the attention of its key industry audience. Previously, beverage brands Peroni and Mountain Dew used virtual reality to create unique on-site experiences and spice up their respective promotional events. As VR technology continues to mature, it is time for brands to start creating VR content to engage the target audience.

How We Can Help
Our dedicated team of VR experts is here to guide marketers through the distribution landscape. We work closely with brands to develop sustainable VR content strategies to promote branded VR and 360 video content across various apps and platforms. With our proprietary technology stack powered by a combination of best-in-class VR partners and backed by the media fire-power of IPG Mediabrands, we offer customized solutions for distributing and measuring branded VR content that truly enhance brand messaging and contribute to the campaign objectives.

If you’d like to learn more about how the Lab can help you tap into the immersive power of VR content to engage with customers, please contact our Client Services Director Samantha Holland ([email protected]) to schedule a visit to the Lab.

 

Source: Groove Jones

 

Snapchat Rolls Out “Snap To Store” Tools For Tracking Offline Attribution

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Snapchat has launched a new location-based ad measurement product that lets brands see if their ad campaigns on Snapchat is successful at driving people to visit their stores in the real world. The way this new measurement product works is by comparing the visits of people who saw a Snapchat ad, which includes things like a Snap that their friends took with a branded Geofilter, to visits of those who didn’t see one but went anyway during a week’s timeframe, therefore determining if there is a lift in foot traffic. Snap has been testing its Snap to Store product since last year with a handful of marketers, including Paramount Pictures and 7-Eleven.

What Brands Need To Do
This ad measurement product comes at a time when Snapchat is starting feel the mounting pressure from Instagram, which just announced that its Snapchat clone feature Instagram Stories have amassed over 200 million daily active users, surpassing the last count of 161 million that Snapchat announced alongside its IPO in February. As Snapchat tries to hold onto its lead in monetizing its messaging platform by updating their ad products and creating original content, brands should be aware of all the options they have and properly utilize the measurement tools available to more effectively measure their campaign performances.

 

Source: AdWeek

 

Burger King’s New TV Ad Intentionally Triggers Google Home To Tell You More

Posted on by Lab Team

Google has yet to officially roll out ad products on Google Home, but that does not stop Burger King to hack the way the voice-activated smart speaker works to co-opt it into its latest marketing campaign. The fast food chain released a new TV spot that features someone in a Burger King uniform ceremonially uttering, “OK Google, what is the Whopper burger?” For any user with a Google Home near their TV, this will trigger Google Assistant to begin reading the Wikipedia entry for the Whopper. Google is reportedly not involved in the ad’s creation.

While this ad is a clever way to grab people’s attention, it is also exploiting the personal assistants to deliver an unwarranted marketing message via a personal home device. Some may find it goofy and write it off as a joke, while others would find it invasive and disruptive.

Ethics aside, this unusual ad highlights not only the increased presence of voice-activated devices at home, but also the weakness of the voice assistants not being able to differentiate the voices of the users. (Google is reportedly working on multi-user support for Home, which should help alleviate this issue.) It would be best for brands to stay clear of such gimmicks and take the growth of voice-activated smart devices seriously by developing branded audio experience to serve customers.

 

Source: The Verge

Hyatt Partners With Sonifi To Update Room Entertainment With Streaming Service

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Hyatt is updating its in-room entertainment choices by offering hotel guests access to a number of OTT streaming services. Partnering with Sonifi, an L.A.-based interactive content and connectivity solutions provider, the global hotel chain will let guests access popular streaming services like Netflix and Hulu for free through the World of Hyatt app and a Chromecast device. Fourteen Hyatt hotels are already equipped with the new streaming capability, and the company says it has plans for a broader rollout.

What Brands Need To Do
This is the latest example of a hospitality brand aiming to modernize their guest experiences with over-the-top streaming services. Previous examples include JetBlue Airlines, which has been providing its passengers with free Amazon Prime Video streaming for in-flight entertainment since late 2015.

While Hyatt is appealable for recognizing the growing popularity of streaming services and shifting viewer behaviors, it fails just short of providing a truly personalized experience for the guests. According to the press release, there is no need for the guests to enter a code or personal credentials on the TV to access the streaming services, which eliminates the hassle of signing in and preempts any privacy concern guests may have. 

 

Source: Sonifi (press release)