Programmatic buying – the latest buzzword that you probably hear everywhere. It has been around for a while now, but it has become increasingly more important as marketers test and find value in its ability to engage consumers throughout all phases of the purchase funnel, from broad reach, low-cost tactics to lower funnel retargeting. So what are the key things to know about and where is everyone headed with this? To help answer these questions, I have spoken with Jay Habegger, CEO of OwnerIQ. Check out the interview at ClickZ.com.
Archive for the ‘New Technology’ Category
Programmatic Buying: What We’ve Learned and Where We’re Going
Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013 by lblockThe American Magazine is Dead
Tuesday, December 4th, 2012 by David Gibson
Interactive magazine
Well, maybe not dead but it isn’t feeling very well.
Magazine circulation has been declining for many years which means that magazines are caught in a downward spiral of smaller subscription revenue, rising costs for production, and lowered ad spend as advertisers increasingly move to the digital world. In 2011, the average circulation for the Top 100 US magazines was down by 1.1%. Like all averages, this figure is somewhat misleading. The Ladies Home Journal lost 15.3% of their circulation while Car and Driver lost 7% of theirs. Even AARP, the top magazine in the country dropped more than 5% of their circulation. How this will play out is pretty clear – Newsweek recently announced that they will cease print publication at the end of the year and only offer an online version of their magazine.
So, perhaps digital replicas of magazines are the wave of the future? Probably not since digital replicas of magazines currently account for only 1.7% of the overall circulation for the top 100 US magazines.
Publishers are trying various methods to create interest in their magazines and to boost subscription and advertising revenues. Some publishers have developed websites with both free and gated content that is only available to subscribers. Some magazines publish more interactive versions of their content for tablets or phones while others embed QR codes that lead viewers to rich media advertising. None of these enhanced versions can be declared a clear winner – at least not yet.
But what if you could make the entire magazine interactive? And this interactivity was only available to subscribers? This is the approach taken by a start-up called NetPage. Working with Esquire magazine they have, through the use of their “Digital Twin” technology, made the December issue of the magazine completely interactive.
Want to see more of Bradley Cooper? Point your iPhone (sorry – no Android version yet) at the cover, click, and you get a short video of Mr. Cooper welcoming you to the magazine. In the market for a new car? Click on on the Lexus two page ad spread and you’ll soon be watching the latest Lexus commercial. Need a new football? Click on the football on page 95 and you’re taken to an order page for the item.
But it’s not all about shopping and e-commerce. Suppose you want to send an article to a friend? Unlike other apps where you need to painstakingly screen shot each page of an article, NetPage is able to look at the first page of an article and then send you a nice crisp PDF of the whole article that you can pass along to your friends.
And the platform appears to be very user-friendly. NetPage’s “Digital Twin” technology serves images and videos from the cloud to your smart phone in near real-time. Movement from the app to shopping sites happens quickly and sending out saved articles is seamless as well. All of this presents digital marketers with a new opportunity for integrating and tracking online campaign and print advertising as NetPage doesn’t require digital watermarks or QR codes.
Will this save the American magazine? Hard to tell since there are two barriers to entry: (1) having a valid subscription to a magazine and (2) downloading the app. But this does make magazine content more shareable as well increasing the interactive experience for the user. Since the world seems to be moving to a mobile platform this app is certainly an interesting approach to solving the two problems facing magazines: declining subscriber base and lowered ad revenues.
NetPage says more magazines will be using their technology in 2013 so it will be interesting to watch how quickly they are able to become ubiquitous in the magazine world.
The Battle For The Second Screen
Monday, July 30th, 2012 by Sarah TimmingsThe second screen is not new to consumers. In fact most of us have been switching focus between our television and our phones, tablets, or computers even before the habit was given a name. Although the second screen has been gaining its foothold for years now, marketers and networks are still struggling to figure out the best way to capitalize on the trend.
One way or another, the second screen is here to stay. This is a big deal for marketers and networks alike because we are not as good at doing two things at once as we think we are. Psychology fun fact: multitasking is impossible. It’s true. Our brains our incapable of splitting focus; we are not wired to work that way. We may be getting better at going back and forth between switching our focus in a fraction of a second, but at no point can we truly be focusing on two things at once.
Use of tablet while watching tv
And here is where the second screen comes in. We know that everyone is sitting in front of their televisions with their phone in their hand or their tablet on their lap. As much as we love to call ourselves mutlitaskers, we are only capable of paying attention to one screen at once. The winning screen is increasingly becoming the second screen.
Every major television event – the Super Bowl, the Olympics, the Oscars, and the 2012 election – come with their very own app for second screen viewing. Then there are the network apps (HBO, Showtime, and all the major networks) and even apps for specific shows. All of these apps create a problem for users, marketers, and networks alike.
As Somrat Niyogi points out in “Please Don’t Ruin the Second Screen,” there are simply too many of these apps. It is easy enough to create them, and therefore the space has become more than a little crowded. People are not going to download an app for every show they watch. It is confusing for users, distracting for marketers, and a waste of time for the networks.
One solution is to build a second screen viewing app that aggregates content and provides a central portal for all second screen experiences. But this is tricky because the second screen experience is personal. Is your second screen experience about social interaction, or is it about exclusive content? Or is it about something else entirely? Miso is a good start, but there are still some serious limits. To start with, the user needs to set a lot of the content up themselves which is more work than the average person may care to do at the end of their day. These apps are also combatting other tablet and phone activities such as browsing Facebook, email, Pinterest, and Twitter.
Use of phone while watching tv
If a unified second screen app does appear and gain popularity, the possibilities for marketers are endless. Ads can be served via the app that are specifically tailored towards the user. Networks already try to out the most relevant ads on the air, but by adding the second screen users can learn about deals only in their area or highlight products used in the show a user is watching. If successful, this integration between the television and the second screen can also enable advertisers to link users’ TV watching behavior to their existing online profiles. And of course, the ads users are exposed to will not be limited to the commercial breaks because the app can serve a constant stream of text or display ads at all times. Users may even be permitted to set ad preferences similar to the Hulu model.
What do you think the second screen means for marketing and advertising?
