Category: Percolate

What You Need To Know From Apple’s WWDC

Posted on by Lab Team

Not free to watch to the full two hour press conference from Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference? Want to skip the developer jargon and get to implications for marketers? We got you covered. Check out the 3 biggest developments from today’s announcement.

Continuity – The new feature lets you toggle between devices seamlessly. It syncs activities so you can pick up an email mid-draft from mobile to your desktop or continue watching a movie on your tablet from Apple TV. For media consumption, this is only going to drive cross platform viewing.

Messages – The Messages app looks a lot like WhatsApp with video and voice sharing, mapping features and more. Apparently the WhatsApp CEO isn’t all too pleased. As more behaviors take place within messaging, marketers will need to see this as a new media channel, not just dark social.

Actionable Notifications – Notifications can now be actionable, like Liking a post within a Facebook notification. It very much falls in line with our Notification Nation trend as glanceable media takes hold. Third party widgets are also available within the Notification Center. Expect user interaction to increase across apps that nail push notifications.

 

Peel Offers New TV Ad Formats

Posted on by Lab Team

Peel, which plays off of the concept of a smart remote control, announced a new type of TV ad, one that allows networks and brands to put their shows on a smart device that syncs with DVR to record, and the device itself to watch the show. Peel has found that users want to use the remote control for the sake of controlling the TV, rather than for anything else, and so the ad formats on the platform allow users to tune in to the show directly, or record it for later. It’s a combination of several trends, but most importantly could spell a big increase in engagement for shows, with over 70 million users on the app. 

Facebook Updates Privacy For All Posts

Posted on by Lab Team

Since the birth of Facebook, public posting has been the default method – until today, that is. In response to continuing calls for user privacy, Facebook is changing the default privacy settings to “Friends Only,” meaning that upon first registering for the network, your post will only be viewable by your friends. It’s a strong message sent by Facebook, a network that’s seen its stock slip lower in recent months relative to “secure” messaging apps like SnapChat. Whether the move increases consumer confidence, however, remains to be seen. 

HBO Comes To Amazon

Posted on by Lab Team

As Amazon announced earlier this year, several HBO shows are now available through Amazon Prime Instant Video. Starting today, if you have an Amazon Prime account, you’ll have access to shows like “The Sopranos,” “Six Feet Under,” “The Wire,” and more. For newer shows, only early seasons are available as HBO looks to maintain its HBO Go exclusivity. Though users won’t have access to the later episodes, it gives Amazon a significant leg up over streaming video competitors Netflix. 

Google Predicts Futuristic Ads

Posted on by Lab Team

As Google quietly continues to purchase technology like Nest, Google wants to push out ads to their newest platforms. To that end, the company has come out in favor of serving ads on refrigerators, car dashboards, glasses, and thermostats – anywhere they have the technology to do so, it seems. It’s unclear if this type of all-fronts, intrusive strategy would be popular with consumers, especially in the age of significantly increased privacy concerns. 

Spotify Hits 10 Million Paid Subscribers

Posted on by Lab Team

Spotify is managing to stay ahead of the pack – that pack including the recently-purchased Beats Music – as it hit its 10 millionth paid subscriber, doubling the number of premium customers it had just a year and a half ago today. It took Spotify four years to land its first five million, so to double its paid subscriber count in just a year and a half represents a massive accomplishment, and evidence of growing support. Though profits still remain hard to come by, 10 million users is nothing to scoff at.

Leap Band Wearable Encourages Child Play

Posted on by Lab Team

Perhaps you’ve heard of iBitz, the wearable tech that aims to get kids exercising. Now, Leap Band aims to break into the space with a Tamagotchi-like pet watch that encourages activity. By unlocking more points via interaction with the animal on their wrists, kids will get more play time thereafter. It’s a pretty common theme running through kids wearables, but it’s clear that young, tech-savvy parents looking to get their children moving are a market that’s ripe for innovation. 

Google In Talks To Acquire Twitch

Posted on by Lab Team

Did you know that some of the most engaged audiences are gamers watching other gamers play games? Yes, you heard correctly. Twitch, the video game streaming network has 45 million monthly uniques who gather around displays, armed with Slim Jims and Cheetos to watch videogame play. Not surprisingly, Google is in talks to acquire the service which outpaces YouTube Live. We’ll have to wait and see how this pans out but there is a larger story around live audiences given the huge market for streaming gameplay, concert series, cooking lessons and more.

AMC Series To Premiere On Tumblr

Posted on by Lab Team

AMC is premiering their new series, Halt and Catch Fire on Tumblr a full two weeks ahead of its TV debut. It’s a TV first for the tech drama but seems to be a fairly strategic move. We reported earlier on Tumblr’s huge social TV presence, garnering more than 2x the chatter of Twitter based on a Pulsar study. By incentivizing that audience to engage upfront, Halt and Catch Fire should be well positioned to drive buzz all season.

Pepsi Readies For World Cup With OOH Campaign

Posted on by Lab Team

Pepsi is looking to get out ahead of the world cup with a new, out of home vending machine that looks to unlock sodas and engage consumers through its interactive display. In brief, it’s going to let users unlock Pepsi Sodas with virtual soccer juggling. The user stands in front of the machine, and if they break a certain score by juggling the ball for a certain amount of time, they get a free soda. It works by leveraging the Xbox Kinect, the now infamous motion tracking camera. It’s a unique take on out of home, but it does verge on gimmicky, as users will likely look a bit foolish juggling an invisible soccer ball in front of a vending machine. That said, unique OOH marketing has worked wonders before, and its likely Pepsi is looking to cash in on the trend.