Category: Uncategorized

“Over-the-top” is the new black

Posted on by Lab Team

(iStock)Recently I attended the TV of Tomorrow Conference which focuses on understanding how the interactive multiplatform television industry is structured. It also looks at the emerging business models in this space, and how user-generated content, social networking and other Web 2.0 phenomena are impacting the television space.  (Check out Tracy Swedlow’s blog for more on the evolving interactive television industry.)

As a speaker and panelist, I took some time to chat with some industry professionals.  Most prominent this year was the universal admission that cable is falling behind in terms of interactive deployments and broadband video or “over-the-top” video services (meaning they ride on top of the broadband bus, but they don’t require any business or technology affiliations with the underlying broadband network) are leading the way with true interactive capabilities.

From Yahoo to Hulu, to the new Boxee…over-the-top is exploding. Continue reading ““Over-the-top” is the new black”

How consumers are changing

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Paco Underhill (Envirosell)Getting into the hearts and minds of consumers and defining core motivators for purchase is more important than ever.  This week in Los Angeles Envirosell presented “The science of Shopping Conference 2009.” Envirosell researchers and consultants from several regions including Brazil, Russia, China and India presented in-depth looks into psyche of customers across the globe and how the economy is affecting the current state of retail.

Paco Underhill, Founder and President of Envirosell (and a superstar in the retail industry), shared his insight into major retail trends, issues, and opportunities of this economy. According to Underhill there has been a fundamental paradigm shift–and the art of consumption is changing.  Continue reading “How consumers are changing”

Emerging media under attack

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(iStock)In the past two months, I’ve heard a fair bit of buzzing along the lines of “when are media no longer emerging, but emerged?”  Or “is xyz technology really ‘new’?”  And to all those asking this question, I have only one thing to say: You’re right.

In many cases, the things we call emerging media are long standing institutions.  Interactive TV has been around in some form or another longer than I have.  I don’t refer to myself as an emerging human, so why should we talk about Interactive TV as emerging media?  Really, we’re just talking about evolving media.

Considering this idea further has some interesting connotations.  If “emerging media” is actually just “evolving media,” then it stands to reason that there is no use in the differentiation of “traditional” when discussing media.
Continue reading “Emerging media under attack”

Digital signage industry reaches out to ad agencies

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dse2009The Digital Signage Expo (DSE) has been an informative resource for insight into the current and future opportunities for marketers in digital out-of-home. This year’s conference in Las Vegas was no exception, but agencies and marketers should take note of these exciting DOOH developments.


Agencies are getting in the game
At last year’s Expo, I felt there was a tremendous missed opportunity in the Digital Signage industry because agencies were not being included in the conversation. This year, however, was quite the opposite. Networks and providers are increasingly reaching out to agencies, or know they need to in order to thrive. While networks are having success making deals directly with brands, they can’t understand why media planners are so reluctant to include digital networks in the media mix (see DOOH guru Rob Gorrie explain the opportunities for agencies in this space). Continue reading “Digital signage industry reaches out to ad agencies”

The role of IT in new media marketing

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techmediaMedia agencies are increasingly engaging their information technology (IT) leaders to assist in new media strategies for their clients. The shift from long-understood media distribution channels to the murkier, more transient ones that comprise new media is forcing media agencies to re-align their core competencies with IT disciplines.

Why IT?

Content is information. Regardless of the form the content may take. With few exceptions, it is created, modified, distributed, displayed and stored as information.

Media is technology. By definition Media is the physical layer supporting the content. The medium by which this information is communicated.

In today’s digital ecosystem, the perception that the two are mutually exclusive is obsolete: Enter IT. Continue reading “The role of IT in new media marketing”

Mobile’s little brother is catching up

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mobiletelematicsThe Mobile World Conference (WMC) took place recently in Barcelona and proved once again that Telematics/Infotainment (T/I) is increasingly sharing its technology infrastructure with Mobile.  DOOH is also connected with Mobile and T/I.  Here are three key points marketers should keep in mind about the telematics-mobile relationship:

1) Location based services (LBS) and mobile social are driving innovation.  As phones increasingly incorporate GPS and become more location-enabled, developers will create more location aware applications.  Social Mobile is the logical offshoot of this technology and offers users, advertisers, and brands unique challenges and opportunities.  Thomas Hallauer writes in Telematics, “by combining location and social networking, the mobile industry will be able to tempt advertisers with reliable profiling from a very extensive and rich source of consumer information, as well as precise targeting at the mobile consumer market.”  There are many large players in this space looking advance this capability in a time when new revenue streams are much needed. Continue reading “Mobile’s little brother is catching up”

Afternoon in the Life of A Battlestar Fan

Posted on by Lab Team

Battlestar Galactica1)    I turn on the Tivo and select the latest episode.  I have saved the Friday night broadcast viewing for Saturday afternoon…when I have time to savor it.

2)    I log on to the Facebook group to  to check out the chatter.  What a bunch of frackin’ geeks.

3)    I watch more of the show.

4)    I pause the show to hit the main fan site,  and watch a webisode that I missed, that feeds nicely into the episode I’m watching.  I do a search on Battlestar webisodes and find them all over. Including veoh.com where some brits complain that they can’t find the webisodes anywhere else due to rights issues and “thank god” for video sharing sites.  I want to tell them that the BBC player needs to be available in the US so I can watch the last few Dr. Who episodes…but why get into a battle.  (I will do a Dr. Who search later tonight to see if I can grab anything.  I yearn for new Dr. Who episodes and don’t understand why David Tenant can’t sacrifice his career goals to continue playing the role forever. He is obviously selfish.  But he’s the doctor and so groovy).

5)    I get a snack

6)    I watch more of the show and pause…sometimes  the lighting is so dark it reminds me of the W hotels, when I bang into everything in the lobby.  I somehow connect Starwood points to Battlestar episodes and wish for a little more brightness in space.   Star Trek was well lit. What the frack!

Continue reading “Afternoon in the Life of A Battlestar Fan”

Four R’s for the green marketer

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greenmarketerGreen initiatives are an important point of differentiation for your customers.  A study by Greenfactor found that “More than 70% of global respondents said they “probably” or “definitely” would increase their preference for a brand’s green products if they were convinced of the positive impact on the environment and business.  Almost 60% said they would expect to pay a premium for green products.”

With this in mind, here are four customer questions that brands need to answer about their company’s green practices: Continue reading “Four R’s for the green marketer”

What’s the new face of viral?

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newfaceofviralIt used to be the word “viral” conjured images of a certain precocious prairie dog. Then, Facebook and Burger King caught our attention this year with the fast food chain’s controversial campaign that allowed Facebook users to “defriend” 10 friends in exchange for a Whopper. These kinds of campaigns are bringing new meaning to the word “viral,” but are there safer ways for brands to tap into viral engagement?

Kraft’s Facebook app took a more positive approach than Burger King’s by offering meals to hungry families for every friend a user gets to post their application. Over a two week period in December, over 25,000 users added the app to their profile. However, enaging customers in non-traditional ways doesn’t have to be limited to a Facebook app either. Viral content can take the form of slideshows, images, blogs, and mock websites. Continue reading “What’s the new face of viral?”

Digital Signage Expo 2009

Posted on by Lab Team

This week I attended the Digital Signage Expo in Las Vegas.

Aside from attending sessions and roaming the floor, I attended TruMedia’s Proactive Marketing (PROM) kick-off, where Suzanne Alecia, OVAB President, Paul Lindstrom, SVP Nielsen OnLocation, and others discussed the value of measurement and how the efficient utilization of audience data will facilitate growth in this media platform. All underscored how accountability and audience measurement will play an important role in the development, growth, and survival of DOOH networks this year.

Mr. Lindstrom pointed out to the audience, consisting mostly of networks and providers, that for place-based networks to be in the buy, they have to be in the plan. Following the presentation I asked him to expand on this thought and explain what Nielsen doing to help agencies include DOOH ad networks into their planning processes and tools.

Find out what Nielsen recommends for DOOH marketers:

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