Tag: branded content

LinkedIn Posts Ad Revenue Growth Thanks To Sponsored Content Pivot

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
In its Q1 financial report released last Thursday, LinkedIn reported that its ad revenue hit $154.1 million in the first quarter of 2016, growth of 29% year over year. This solid performance is mostly attributable to the company’s recent pivot from banner ads to sponsored content, which grew by nearly 80% year over year, whereas its display ad revenue dropped by 30%. The professional social network also reported that sponsored content ads, which allow companies to place posts in news feeds or pin on their own pages, now account for 56% of its overall ad revenue. As part of its ad strategy pivot, LinkedIn shut down its off-site display ad network in February to focus on sponsored content instead.

What Brands Need To Do
LinkedIn’s solid ad revenue growth shows that its ad strategy pivot is paying off. At a time when ad blockers and subscription-based streaming services are enabling millions of consumers to avoid ads, it is important for brands to try out new ways, such as sponsored content and native ads, to engage with their audience. Unlike other social media sites, LinkedIn benefits from its singular focus on professional networking, which can help brands, especially B2B ones, reach the right people in the companies and industries of their choice.  

For more information on how brands should leverage interesting branded content to earn consumer eyeballs, check out the Ad Avoidance section of our Outlook 2016.

 

Source: Marketing Land

Steve Madden’s First App Blends Commerce And Content

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Fashion retailer Steve Madden has launched its first mobile app to reach shoe shoppers on their smartphones as it aims to drive more store visits and improve its digital conversions. Developed by GPShopper and launched on April 16, the app combines generic ecommerce features commonly seen in mobile apps from retailers – such as support for mobile payments – with branded content from Steve Madden’s lifestyle magazine. The company hopes this integration will provide a context for its products and offer customers some extra value with its editorial content rather than just pushing for sales. Moreover, the app can also send opted-in consumers push notifications on deals and promotions when they are close to a Steve Madden store.

What Retailers Need To Do
With more and more consumers choosing the convenience of online shopping over visiting physical stores, retailers are increasingly taking an omnichannel approach to reach shoppers on all platforms, especially on mobile. Steve Madden’s new app is illustrative of an emerging trend where retailers turn to branded content to inform customers of their products and build brand affinity. L’Oreal, for example, is running content site Fab that even covers products from competitors in order to earn the attention of beauty and makeup customers.  Besides the content strategy, retailers can also consider using proximity technology to drive store traffic.

For more information on how retailers can connect with shoppers with an omnichannel approach  throughout the purchase journey, check out the Boundless Retail section in our Outlook 2016.

 

Source: DIgiday

Toyota Sponsors Yahoo’s Livestream Of The Stagecoach Music Festival

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Another brand has jumped on the live-stream bandwagon as Toyota announced it will be sponsoring the livestreams of the country music festival Stagecoach on Yahoo and Tumblr this weekend. The announcement came just one week after T-Mobile sponsored YouTube’s livestream of Coachella. As part of its campaign to promote the music content site “Music Moves You” that the company recently launched, Toyota says it is expecting the livestreams to reach “millions” over the weekend. The sponsorship includes Toyota branding at the top of the live-stream player’s page, as well as 30-second and shorter pre-roll video spots.

What Brands Need To Do
Livestreaming is starting to explode across digital channels with Facebook making a strong push for its Live video feature in the past few months, which creates new opportunities for brands seeking to engage with online audiences in real time. In fact, recent research from Brandlive shows that 44% of companies created live video content in 2015. Therefore, now is the time for brands to start exploring possible sponsorships with live-streaming platforms for events that may appeal to their target audiences.

 

Source: AdWeek

Why New Auto Site DriveTribe Divides Its Readers Into “Tribes”

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Three former hosts of popular auto reality show “Top Gear” are teaming up with tech entrepreneur Ernesto Schmitt to prepare for the launch of DriveTribe, a digital media platform for car enthusiasts. The new site will host a variety of original content that blends editorial, social, and commerce. More interestingly, the site will be structured into different “tribes” for fans of different motoring interests, and each vertical will be hosted by different personalities and content creators to curate specific content targeting their audiences.

What Brands Need To Do
While it is too early to tell whether this new site will take off, the way the creators segment the site into different “tribes” to reflect the varying interests within the car enthusiast community provides an interesting example of how media owners are tailoring their digital content to meet the increasing consumer demand for personalization. As for marketers, especially for auto and lifestyle brands, this sort of tribal divide provides some natural audience segmentation that brands can target against. As the site promises to incorporate commerce elements, there should be some marketing opportunities for brands to reach the site’s audience, which auto brands should be on the lookout for.

 

Source: Variety

How Vox’s Facebook-First Gadget Blog Plans To Earn Revenue

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
On Monday, Vox Media launched a new consumer gadget blog called Circuit Breaker that will be primarily publishing its content on Facebook, making use of the social network’s publishing program Instant Articles and Live video feature to reach its massive audience. Besides the revenue the site can generate from ads in Instant Articles, Vox is also planning to offer brands editorial sponsorships and possible product placement in Facebook live-streams to help monetize the new content vertical.

Why Brands Should Care
Facebook commands a formidable amount of consumer attention as the app that U.S. mobile users spend the most time in. So it makes sense for Vox to experiment with the new site’s content distribution on Facebook’s platform. The plan it has for generating revenue beyond standard display ads in Instant Articles is illustrative of the new reality in brand advertising today, where marketers have to keep up with increasingly tech-savvy and ad-shunning consumers and figure out new ways to reach them, such as native ads and sponsored content.

For more information on why brands should explore new advertising formats, check out the Ad Avoidance section in our Outlook 2016.

 

Source: AdAge

 

SNL To Trade Ads For Branded Content

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
NBC’s longstanding, late-night mainstay Saturday Night Live (SNL) is reportedly looking to cut down the ads it carries by about 30%. In a move to please viewers and offer them more content, the show plans to remove two commercial breaks per episode. Instead, NBC will offer brand advertisers an opportunity to partner with SNL to create original branded content. There are no further details on how the branded content will be produced or distributed, but NBC does state such brand partnerships will be limited to six spots per year.

What Brands Need To Do
This is not the first time NBC has tried to improve the viewing experience by trading commercials for branded content. Earlier this year, the broadcaster partnered with American Express on Leap Day for an initiative that replaced some primetime ads with additional content sponsored by AmEx. Other TV media owners such as Viacom and Turner have also promised to cut down the number of commercials to appeal to ad-shunning consumers.

As more and more consumers opt for the ad-free experiences enabled by subscription-based streaming services and ad blockers, it is imperative that brands and media owners work together to engage audiences in new ways, such as sponsored content and native ads. For more information on how brands should leverage interesting branded content to earn consumer eyeballs, check out the Ad Avoidance section of our Outlook 2016.

 

Source: AdAge

Shazam Ramps Up Ad Efforts With More Data And Branded Content

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Shazam aims to grow its advertising revenue by offering brands more data on music consumption and new sponsorship opportunities. Brands will be able to use the “Shazam Brand Connect” program to identify up-and-coming artists and musical genres they can align themselves with. Until now, Shazam has mostly sold their data to record labels to help them gauge market interests and trends. Moreover, the company also plans to launch its first event highlighting emerging artists later this year, which will provide brands with sponsorship opportunities.

What Brands Need To Do
Previously, Shazam mostly limited their ad efforts to selling in-app banner ads and occasional pop-ups while users wait for search results. Now as it looks to boost ad revenue, it is offering brands more data and new opportunities to connect brands with the music industry. At a time when consumers start to turn away from traditional ads (see more on this in the Ad Avoidance section of our Outlook 2016), it is important for brands to take advantage of Shazam’s diversified ad products and try engaging their audience with branded music content and events.

 

Source: AdAge

Honda Partners With Gannett For Its First VR Content

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Honda is teaming up with media company Gannett to create and distribute its first virtual reality video content. Designed to let viewers experience the thrill of driving a Honda-powered, Dallara race car, the VR experience will be released on May 29 on both Honda’s own digital properties, as well as some major publisher sites in Gannett’s network, including USA Today and 92 local newspaper sites. The branded experience will also be available via USA Today’s VR Stories app.

What Brands Need To Do
While it’s not the first brand to develop a branded VR experience to engage with consumers, Honda’s initiative is notable for its deep collaboration with a major publisher to distribute its content. Previously, brands experimenting with VR content have mostly reserved their work for social channels or special events activations. As mainstream consumers become familiarized with VR and 360-degree content, thanks to the rapid development in both VR software and hardware, we expect more brands to start working closely with media partners to develop and distribute VR content.

 

Source: DIgiday

AOL Offers A Brand-Friendly Live-Streaming Platform

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
AOL acquired photo-editing app Kanvas last August and pivoted it to a live-streaming platform two months later. The live-streaming platform offers brand-friendly features such as animated, branded GIFs, branded filters, and branded live streams. Last December, clothing brand Guess became the first brand to use Kanvas to live-stream a sponsored event to promote its #GuessAllAccess campaign. Kanvas currently boasts around 3.5 million registered users and plans to attract more by expanding its in-house live coverage of popular events and music festivals.

What Brands Need To Do
With Facebook launching the Live API to allow live broadcasting from any device, live-streaming is set to hit full swing as publishers and content creators rush to Facebook and Twitter’s Periscope to try it out. Besides those two leading live-streaming platforms, however, brands should be aware of the other options available such as Kanvas and YouNow. Despite their relatively smaller audience sizes, these platforms seem to be more willing to collaborate with brands and offer customizable support for branded live-streams that is currently absent from Facebook Live and Periscope.

 

Source: DIgiday

How MAC Cosmetics Is Reaching Consumers With Branded Documentaries

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
MAC Cosmetics has been developing documentaries as part of its branded content initiative to reach customers on various social and streaming platforms. Previously, the Estée Lauder-owned company produced a feature-length documentary about three young people living with HIV and released it on both MAC’s own site and Netflix on World AIDS Day. Now, the makeup brand is working on a documentary with Caitlyn Jenner about the lives of transgender and non-conforming individuals, due out this June. MAC will also be circulating short clips of the documentaries across its social channels to encourage sharing and raise awareness.

What Brands Need To Do
MAC is hardly the only brand trying to reach today’s ad-shunning consumers with quality branded content. Companies such as JetBlue and Stella Artois have also funded documentaries and video series to lend an interesting narrative to their brands. With OTT streaming becoming increasingly popular, it makes sense for brands to reach their audiences with branded content that is discoverable on streaming platforms via universal search, instead of traditional video ads which many OTT platforms don’t support.

To learn more about how brands can reach viewers on OTT platforms with branded content, please check out the Appified TV section in our Outlook 2016.

 

Source: DIgiday