Emerging Media
Hulu Puts Some Skin in the Game — and Plays Catch-up to TV
In a video landscape twist, Hulu has made a move whereby its buying model will now more closely resemble that of TV. The platform announced this week that it will now only charge advertisers for video ad views that reach 100 percent completion rate. This is all tied to where the beacon resides on the ad – previously, it was fired at the initial ad play, and now it fires at the end of it. The change impacts both free and subscription (Hulu Plus) offerings.
Hulu ad unit for the Mini Roadster
The significance of this move is twofold:
1. Digital is setting itself up to play in the broadcast sandbox. Digital video companies are taking big leaps to structure their packages in a way that appeals to the broader landscape of “video” buyers. Hulu, and many others, are putting some serious skin in the game. This not only relates to their shift in a more buyer-friendly pricing model, but also in the expansion of content.
On Monday, the New York Times reported on Hulu’s plans to increase investment in original programming – content that will be pitched to the ad community today as part of the Digital Content NewFronts kick-off event in New York (see more coverage over on Adweek). Over the course of 13 days, in the closest resemblance to the broadcast upfronts that we as an industry have experienced to date, the leading powerhouses in the digital content space will showcase their programming line ups. The themes we should expect to see as the digital space tries to compete with its TV counterparts are an emphasis on content, quality and scalability.
2. We still have a long way to go towards standardization. The inconsistencies behind video pricing models and counting methodologies and the slow adoption of commonsense practices (standardized ad players, leveraging the interactivity of digital via ad choice features or charging only for completed ad views, to name a few) pinpoint a hurdle that is yet to be crossed. Google’s TrueView – announced as a test format on YouTube in late 2010 but only recently made official – adopted some of Hulu’s ad features by incorporating viewer choice into the ad experience. However, it also announced a unique “skip-ability” feature (user is permitted to skip an ad, after viewing for five seconds).
[INFOGRAPHIC] The State of Social Commerce
What’s So Great About Farmville, Anyway? Here’s Why Consumers are Flocking to Social Games
People love to play games on Facebook and through mobile apps, but do you know why? To answer the question above, you need to take a small dive into gaming mechanics, which are different tactics on how to make a game enjoyable. There are many theories about what constitutes as a mechanic of a game and whether these theories live outside of the world of gaming. For this post, we looked to what Seth Priebatsch of SCVNGR, a mobile gaming platform, outlined as four basic game dynamics at a 2010 TEDX conference.
What are gaming dynamics?
- Appointment Dynamic – to succeed, one must return at a predefined time to take a predetermined action.
- Ex. “Happy Hour,” Farmville (users must come back within a certain time in order to water their crops)
- Influence & Status – the ability of one player to modify the behavior of another’s actions through social pressure.
- Ex. American Express Black Credit Card, Foursquare badges and report cards
- Progression Dynamic – a dynamic in which success is granularly displayed and measured through the process of completing itemized tasks.
- Ex. LinkedIn (your profile is filled out 80%), World of Warcraft levels, progress bar on SCVNGRa)
- Communal Discovery – a dynamic wherein an entire community is rallied to work together to solve a challenge.
- Ex. Digg Leaderboard, McDonald’s Monopoly, playing on a team
A Mobile Day in the Life, as presented at 360i’s Digital Marketing Summit
360i’s 2011 Digital Marketing Summit ended with a featured presentation on A Mobile Day in the Life, looking at the role mobile devices play in every hour of someone’s day. Marketers have constant opportunities to reach people anytime, anywhere, so it’s important to know the evolving ways people are consuming, interacting with, and creating media.
The slides from SlideShare are below (a few slides are a little fuzzy, but you can get the gist). Links to all the apps featured are included below.
Sleeping / Getting Ready
4am: Sleep Science
5am: WakeMate
6am: Lark
7am: FitFu
8am: Go Try It On
The 9-5 Workday
9am: NeoReader (one of the best mobile barcode readers)
11am: Pinterest
12pm: Foursquare
1pm: Dokobots
2pm: Rosetta Stone
3pm: TaskRabbit
4pm: Google+
Drinks, Dinner and Unwinding
5pm: TabbedOut
6pm: Kraft iFood Assistant, Coupons.com’s GroceryIQ, CheckPoints
7pm: Barcode Hero
10pm: Fashism
11pm: Localmind
Out for the Night
12am: Google Offers
1am: Sonar
2am: Alfred
3am: FoodSpotting
With ‘Cord Cutting’ on the Rise, What Do Shifting TV Viewership Habits Mean for Marketers?
It was just a few months ago when a Forrester research report showed evidence that for the first time ever, the average American spends as much time surfing the web and he or she does surfing channels on TV, at approximately 13 hours per week.
Now a recent Nielsen report is stating that for the first time in 20 years, we are seeing a decline in the number of homes with TV sets.
Nielsen cites three potential causes of this trend: [1] The transition from Analog broadcasting to digital, which has forced people with analog TV’s to either upgrade or buy converter boxes, [2] the recession (no surprise there) and what we consider the most impactful is [3] the growth of multiple platform viewing.
The Time Warner iPad app allows customers to view live television directly from their iPads.
Although Nielsen has yet to say what factor is causing the majority of the decline, it’s interesting to consider that there is a small but growing number of individuals who ditching their TV sets for their laptops, iPads and even phones. The New York Times has ascribed the term “Cord Cutters” to this group, defined as those “who stop paying for cable television – or people who never signed on for cable.”
Insights Reveal Opportunities for Brands to Reach Hispanics via Group Texting
Group texting is having a moment. Apps like GroupMe, Disco and Beluga (recently acquired by Facebook) are exploding in popularity, and brands are quickly following suit. In fact, MTV and Oxygen have already joined the conversation by creating sponsored communities within GroupMe and facilitating fan connections.
Within GroupMe’s new “Featured” tab, users are able to create and join conversations about TV shows, artists and events of sponsors. Through this space, brands like MTV and Oxygen will be able to message users, answer questions and deliver exclusive content (such as chats with cast members).
Screenshots via Mashable
One way to assess these trends is to take a closer look at how group texting platforms might play out among the Hispanic audience. Why? Overall, Hispanic consumers are earlier adopters of technology and digital behaviors than their general market counterparts, especially when it comes to mobile phone usage.
Better Late than Never, YouTube Live Goes Live
Live streaming broadcasts are nothing new, but when the largest purveyor of online video throws its hat in the ring, it’s time to take a fresh look. YouTube announced today that it has officially launched its live streaming video service, called YouTube Live.
GeekBeat.tv streams live via YouTube
Thus far, the live streaming opportunity is limited to a select group of YouTube stars and popular shows including Revision3‘s, The Totally Rad Show, Dan 3.0 and Destructoid. It doesn’t appear as though any brands were invited to participate as part of the program launch, though an EA Sports Shift 2 Test Video was appearing in the upcoming shows list earlier in the day.
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