Roku Teases Its Ad-Centric Future https://ift.tt/2BVpJmY Which companies are the most significant to the future of the video advertising business? The obvious names come from the world of content (Disney, YouTube) or ad tech, but one company has quietly carved out a niche all its own, and is seeing streaming video ad growth that would make many other video companies red with envy: Roku. It was only last year that the company, which launched with a focus on connected TV devices, saw its platform revenue (which includes advertising) overtake its hardware revenue. Now the company has more ambitious plans. For starters, the company doubled its monetized ad inventory last year, and Roku CEO Anthony Wood told investors last week that the company intends to double it again this year. In its latest letter to shareholders, released last week, Roku executives outlined four key areas of investment for the company, and all related to advertising in some way. On the advertising side, Roku plans to bolster its programmatic and self-serve capabilities. The company plans to expand the reach of The Roku Channel, as well as the content available through the channel. advertisement advertisement Roku also plans to expand the licensing of its OS to TV set makers, allowing for wider availability. Finally, the company is planning an international expansion, bringing its products and platform to new countries and territories. Roku’s strength lies in its place as a platform. Even if you only want to watch Netflix, or the ad-free tier of Hulu, Roku can serve you ads on the home screen before you enter the app. The company shares ad revenue with many of its apps (including some streaming bundle providers) and in The Roku Channel it owns its inventory. Roku’s platform chief Scott Rosenberg outlined to investors last week how the company approaches deals with advertisers. He said they begin by outlining what percentage of the people they are trying to reach have cut or trimmed the cord. “Multiple third parties will tell you that well more than 10% of TV viewing is happening in OTT, and yet nowhere near 10% of TV ad budgets are yet spent in OTT,” Rosenberg said. “Said another way, if you are a brand that is still spending 100% of your budget in linear, you're wasting more than 10% of your budget.” Indeed, the current state of OTT video is not that different from the state of mobile just a few years ago. “In the mobile market, viewers shifted to mobile devices from desktop well ahead of advertisers. It took a few years, but advertiser spend on mobile eventually caught up with mobile viewer share,” the Roku investor letter reads. “In the TV streaming world, viewer share is well ahead of TV ad budget share, but the rapid growth of our Platform revenue suggests advertisers are starting to respond. This anticipated spending pattern shift, combined with substantial growth in our ad inventory and audience reach, should drive sustained, rapid advertising growth.” So as the streaming video business evolves and the winners take shape, it seems increasingly likely that content companies, ad-tech firms, and technology giants will be in the winners circle. But don’t bet against the little OTT platform company that could.
Mobile Marketing via MediaPost.com: mobile https://ift.tt/2oB2PsH February 26, 2019 at 08:38AM
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Location Data Platform Puts Money Where Its Mouth Is, Guarantees Campaign Delivery https://ift.tt/2IBcpdi Mobile location data-targeting platform SITO Mobile is so confident campaigns served through its system will deliver on their goals, it’s offering to do them risk-free, unveiling a new 60-day “performance guarantee.” The guarantee is not for cash-back, but will continue running impressions until its agreed upon KPI (key performance indicator) is delivered. SITO said the offer qualifies for any campaigns with budgets of $100,000 or more that run for more than a 60-day period. Terms of the campaign’s deliver must be negotiated and agreed upon up front, and the campaigns must be trafficked through SITO’s DSP (demand-side platform) and ad server, but SITO said it will incorporate a Media Rating Council-accredited, third-party campaign measurement service of the marketer’s choice, at no additional cost, to provide proof-of-performance. advertisement advertisement Mobile Marketing via MediaPost.com: mobile https://ift.tt/2oB2PsH February 26, 2019 at 08:16AM All Aboard! A Cross-Agency Mission Toward Cross-Platform Audience-Based Video https://ift.tt/2Nrlqo2 “The good news is there’s technology and data finally coming to market to put the pieces back together,” Jonathan Steuer, Chief Research Officer, Omnicom Media Group (OMG) told Monday’s audience at MediaPost’s TV & Video Insider Summit in Scottsdale, Ariz. “TV is slowly moving beyond broad demography, evoking how we both target and measure video delivery. “The term impression came from early days of digital media. It was a computer, mobile phone, tablet but now 70% of OTT is delivering to TV sets, co-viewing is a problem. “47% of people in our survey watch no Nielsen measured TV whatever. Not that they asked. Takeaway is that there are people abandoning linear TV but no method of chasing the half that are. “Think about how the same people are watching, not whether they’re gone. “Have a single set of plumbing in your agency to see people across all different phases of media planning and execution. “Two years ago I led an assessment of advanced TV space. Is there a space that could be adopted as part of our plumbing? Network group offerings looked at. None was right solution. Advanced TV platforms? At different levels of technology. Challenge was all of them were focused on delivering to the marketplace as networks.” When Jonathan showed a slide titled “OMG selected VideoAmp as our development partner to implement Omnin Advanced TV,” a lot of people in the audience raised their mobile phones to shoot it. He created mirth among his audience by declaring a few times, “See me after class.” He cuts quite the figure as a teacher. “We’re focused on putting in place a cross-screen measurement combined with household data on the linear side,” said Jonathan. “Allocate their upfront inventory using the more advance targeting data and put together plans that have better focus on being in the right place with the right message at the right time.” About methodology: “I’ve tried for 15 years to make an industry-wide solution. Took this job [at Omnicom] and was both happy about opportunity it created and understood why I had never been able to sell those other solutions because people didn’t understand what I was talking about. I figured at about month seven that everyone was just nodding their heads. I adopted the approach of educating clients is to get them to understand that world has changed, demand industry-wide solution for it.” Mobile Marketing via MediaPost.com: mobile https://ift.tt/2oB2PsH February 25, 2019 at 01:21PM Relevance At Scale: Why Does It Matter? https://ift.tt/2GLHw41 The consumer goods industry continues to experience major shifts. Changing demographics and generational influences are also creating new styles and trends. The way consumers are purchasing products and services has also evolved. Today’s mobile-enabled consumers are constantly evaluating and re-evaluating their purchasing decisions. They will choose the brands most relevant to them at an increasingly rapid pace. And they’ll pay a premium. Consider how craft has become the new premium in the alcoholic beverage category. Consumers are happy to pay more for smaller-batch, more hand-crafted options, rather than those that are mass-produced. The consumer desire for new experiences has also led to more new drink styles and flavors than ever before. And we are already seeing how new and emerging technology can play a key role in delivering these experiences. Look at how the Intelligent Brewing Company invites consumers to provide input on flavor and carbonation levels that is then fed into the brewery’s algorithm to produce new recipes that are refined using real-time consumer feedback. advertisement advertisement In fact, consumers are coming to expect products and services be created just for them, such as food and drinks custom-made for their individual genetic makeup or adapted to their unique anatomy. And brands will soon be able to go even further and tailor a product or an interaction to an individual’s particular mood. That’s personalization on a whole new level,and it won’t just mean matching products with consumers’ tastes, needs, or even their DNA. For consumer goods companies, the implications of this form of precision manufacturing will take companies far beyond mere supply chain and fulfillment challenges. Manufacturing itself will need to change dramatically. Expect to see brands increase their ability to make very late-stage product adjustments, as well as moving manufacturing much closer to consumers. More than ever, we are seeing that today’s digitally enabled consumers are constantly evaluating and re-evaluating their purchasing decisions. Relevance is becoming the key brand differentiator. And consumers are willing to go the extra mile to ensure they get it, by actively participating in all aspects of a brand. However, the reality is that there can be no one-size-fits-all approach, since there is no typical’ consumer and everyone’s needs will vary depending on time and context. And in this new era of digitally born disrupters and consumer control, purchases will increasingly be determined based on a brand’s relevance to the buyer’s needs in the moment. This means consumer goods companies must seek to develop a sophisticated understanding of the specific consumer, geographical, and product opportunities available — and move with new precision-targeted strategies and business models to capture them. To succeed, companies will need to draw on vast amounts of consumer data and unlock the analytics insights to boost sales and strengthen omnichannel capabilities, so consumers receive the same levels of personalized convenience however they choose to shop. < Successful consumer goods companies will be those that focus efforts on building a company with the capabilities to deliver relevance at scale. Mobile Marketing via MediaPost.com: mobile https://ift.tt/2oB2PsH February 25, 2019 at 01:21PM Foldable Phone Shipment Expectations Not High For This Year https://ift.tt/2TeX2LF Foldable phones are arriving, but a new forecast suggests they may evolve before becoming a mass market device. Fewer than 2 million foldable phones will ship in 2019, according to the forecast by Canalys. Foldable phones announced so far are the Samsung Galaxy Fold and Huawei Mate X. The Samsung phone is priced at about $2,000. Canalys suggests that cost is the main factor that will hinder adoption. “The ‘fold-out’ design, with the screen on the outside, as used on the Mate X, will eventually lend itself to cheaper devices, as manufacturers won’t need to include as many cameras, nor a second outside screen, which the Samsung has, and the bend on the flexible screen won’t need to be as tight,” states Canalys senior analyst Ben Stanton However, such devices will arrive too late to market to impact the 2019 shipment forecast. The objective of foldable phone makers for the first year is to build consumer awareness, according to Canalys. advertisement advertisement “Foldable phones are now in mass production, and vendors have set realistic expectations for their sales performance,” stated Canalys senior director Nicole Peng. “Samsung and Huawei will account for the majority of foldable smartphones shipped in 2019, but high shipment numbers are not the priority. The goal is to capture consumer awareness, and each vendor wants to prove it can achieve the greatest technological advances with its new industrial designs.” Mobile Marketing via MediaPost.com: mobile https://ift.tt/2oB2PsH February 25, 2019 at 01:10PM InMobi New Business Unit, TruFactor, To Support Telcos' Data Strategies https://ift.tt/2SZghtj The InMobi Group, known for powering mobile-first experiences for brands, has introduced a business unit focused on supporting the data strategies of telecommunications providers such as AT&T, Sprint and Verizon. TruFactor -- the new business unit, uses technology from the acquisition of Pinsight Media, which InMobi acquired in 2018 from Sprint -- which plans to launch its 5G network in May. Sprint may be the first client to use the platform, but the company is “connecting” with others including AT&T and T-Mobile to “explore how to work with them” to ensure data privacy, said Piyush Shah, co-founder of InMobi Group, and president of Marketing Cloud and TruFactor. Other marketers will likely follow. InMobi initially launched the business unit for telecommunications providers after hearing their concerns about consumer trust issues and requests for help to anonymize and manage data to support privacy and security. advertisement advertisement While it’s clear that TruFactor is focused on data privacy, security and growth for telcos by providing an “opt-in framework,” Shah said the model is adaptable to other markets looking to work with companies other than Google, Facebook and Amazon. Marketers then can leverage the data for advertising and marketing campaigns. “Next year we will likely work with other companies like banks, financial services, entertainment companies, or ecommerce and retailers -- any company that needs to manage data and make it available for use,” he said. TruFactor also announced a partnership with Microsoft to bring its secure data platform to market through Microsoft Azure, a cloud computing service. It will use Azure Data Lake Storage as its foundation to deliver secure services.
Mobile Marketing via MediaPost.com: mobile https://ift.tt/2oB2PsH February 25, 2019 at 12:15PM 'PCMag' Tracks Wireless Carriers' "Race To 5G" https://ift.tt/2U7fQdb
PCMag
has created a new hub to track the top four wireless carriers’ “Race to 5G.” Intel is the launch sponsor. “5G is the next generation of wireless networks. It's not just faster — lower latency and more flexibility mean it could start an era of augmented reality, self-driving vehicles, and other applications we haven't dreamed of yet. It's going to take years to realize 5G's potential,” reads the landing page’s description. According to a post on the "Race to 5G" hub by Sascha Segan, PCMag.com’s lead mobile analyst, the impact of 5G is best understood by looking at how 3G and 4G "transformed society." “3G basically enabled widespread mobile web use. 4G introduced a host of applications that changed America: Instagram, Snapchat, and Uber, for instance," Segan writes. advertisement advertisement Over the next two years, PCMag.com will update the hub monthly with data on the telecoms companies’ move to adopt 5G from the current 4G system, based on coverage, device availability and speed. PCMag is tracking AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon. “There is a ton of misinformation in the 5G space and it is only going to get worse as competition heats up," Dan Costa, editor-in-chief of PCMag and senior vice president of content of parent Ziff Davis, told Publishers Daily. "We wanted a way for consumers and businesses to know how fast 5G is and exactly where it is being rolled out." PCMag will follow the rollout "until the entire nation has 5G coverage," Costa added. PCMag.com will give points to each carrier that makes strides in the move to 5G: One point for each 5 million covered. Three points for each device model launched and points for download speeds and low latency. So far, AT&T and Verizon are tied, with three points in the “devices” category. AT&T is testing a Netgear Nighthawk 5G mobile hotspot with a limited release. Samsung recently announced its Galaxy S10 5G phone will be available for all four US carriers, starting with Verizon, in the second quarter. The hub also offers links to available 5G products, as well as the latest PCMag news and reviews on 5G, such as “Sprint shows the first real 5G coverage maps” and a link to the Netgear Nighthawk 5G. Costa said PCMag's data-driven journalism and testing experience "help our readers make better purchase decisions." Mobile Marketing via MediaPost.com: mobile https://ift.tt/2oB2PsH February 25, 2019 at 12:04PM Electronic Arts: Leveling Up Data Across Screens https://ift.tt/2U7ONhM “There is literally a game for everyone,” said Colleen Nuffer, Global Media Planning and Activation Lead, Americas, Electronic Arts, in opening her keynote speech at Monday’s MediaPost TV and Video Insider Summit in Scottsdale, Ariz. EA’s latest game came out last Friday. “District 9” director Neill Blomkamp created a short film to tell the story behind “Anthem.” Rate T for Teen. Emotional response with over 3 million views on YouTube alone. “We need to take same mindset as we approach media,” she said, noting the connection between science and art. “We understand value of data. We cannot lose sight of the art that goes with the planning.” Data drives deeper player understanding. EA’s CMO decided to combine analytics and marketing teams. Player motivations: study around why people play. Are they part of team? Who is the game made for? Player behavior: who, how, what? What platforms are they playing on? How do they feel when they lose or win? She showed a passionate team player, “Dave.” He enjoys the team aspect, is a fan of BioWare, plays NBA Live. Enjoys comic books. Favorite team is the Warriors. “We start our media planning by understanding our players.” Art in planning: contextual relevance, leaned-in audience. in hour have team of search, social experts going through cross-channel training right now. Truly integrated. Showing “Anthem” in cinemas, aligning when “Captain Marvel” was coming out in order to engage “Dave.” Big NBA strategy, All-Star game. Validated through data-given insights. “For Dave, we assume he’s not into traditional TV. Mobile surpasses TV in time spent. Backing away from TV entirely? No, taking a second look at our TV investment to make sure it is the most impactful.” Hard time reaching human attention span. Line between gaming/entertainment is becoming blurred. Landscape shifts, look at scale, targeting. Shifting to data-driven, addressable or programmatic. Also looking at information for traditional TV. Maximizing impact. Finding times when consumers are truly engaged and receptive. Use our data learning to apply to channels that aren’t as data driven. In the end: 1. Utlize data to validate decisions; 2. Apply learning to traditional linear to maximize impact; 3. Test, test, test. Mobile Marketing via MediaPost.com: mobile https://ift.tt/2oB2PsH February 25, 2019 at 10:47AM Samsung, WarnerMedia, Microsoft Join AT&T 5G Program https://ift.tt/2H6bDCV AT&T has launched a 5G innovation program to jumpstart work with developers, content creators and device makers to push 5G forward. Participating companies include Microsoft, Magic Leap, Intel, Cisco, Ericsson, Infosys, Nokia, Samsung and WarnerMedia, according to AT&T. Applications and use cases are expected to span consumer, enterprise and public sectors focusing on education, entertainment, gaming, history, retail and sports. "What's vital here is to create the right conditions for 5G innovation to flourish," states Andre Fuetsch, president of AT&T Labs and chief technology officer, AT&T Communications. "We believe 5G is the 'yes, you can' network, regardless if you're a global enterprise, small business or consumer.” As one example of the announced collaboration with other companies, AT&T plans to launch a 5G innovation zone on the Magic Leap campus in Florida so developers and creators can test devices and applications on 5G network. advertisement advertisement Mobile Marketing via MediaPost.com: mobile https://ift.tt/2oB2PsH February 25, 2019 at 10:25AM Microsoft's HaloLens 2 Headset Means Business https://ift.tt/2TglAnF With aspirations to change the way work gets done, Microsoft yesterday unveiled its HoloLens 2augmented reality headset at the Mobile World Congress, the telecom industry’s premier trade show, in Barcelona. Available for pre-order, the product will ship later this year. The first iteration of HoloLens “didn’t exactly light the world on fire when it launched four years ago,” writes Caitlin McGarry for Tom’s Guide. “The $5,000 wearable, which marries augmented and virtual realities, was too big. Too expensive. Too limited in what it could do. The technology was compelling -- and still is -- but the actual device needed work. So Microsoft is giving its vision another shot with HoloLens 2, a $3,500 hand-tracking headset designed for work, not home.” advertisement advertisement Indeed, “Microsoft’s Hype Strategy for HoloLens Is to Avoid It,” reads the headline in the Wall Street Journal. “As tech giants race to dominate the field, the company’s plan is to focus on work, not play,” the subhed elaborates. CEO Satya Nadella “introduced HoloLens 2, which is lighter and more comfortable to wear than the first version, and gives users more than twice the field of view on which holograms can be seen, the company said. He didn’t, though, unveil any games or apps people can use in their homes. Those might capture people’s imagination, but Microsoft doesn’t believe they will generate significant sales,” writes Jay Greene in that WSJ piece. “I’m just not hearing that people desperately need another way to be entertained right now. We’re not investing in hype,” Lorraine Bardeen, general manager of engineering for Microsoft’s augmented-reality applications, tells Greene. “The new headset is sleeker-looking, more comfortable, and more powerful than the first generation," writes Raymond Wong for Mashable. “But most importantly, HoloLens 2 has a much wider field of view -- more than double the original HoloLens -- to enable more immersive mixed reality experiences.” CNET’s Scott Stein describes that experience after having been handed a headset at Microsoft’s headquarters and being told he’s going to learn how to fix a bicycle. “The best way I can describe it is like Google Maps' turn-by-turn directions for real world instructions -- or like a floating Lego manual for reality. I move my eyes over each step-by-step card that floats in the air in front of me. I'm told to put the bike into neutral. Now, a floating arrow arcs through 3D space to show me the gearshift on the bike and where I should move it. I do it. I move my eyes to the next step.” And so on. Stein’s lengthy piece ends with some wistful musing about how powerful HaloLens and other 3D devices will be when 5G takes hold (not to mention 6G, whatever that is.) “Perhaps most significantly, Microsoft on Sunday also promised that it was committed to openness in the ‘core principles’ of its mixed reality efforts. Specifically, this means that Microsoft’s hardware would work with the software of other companies and that other developers could create their own app stores for the HoloLens -- stores where Microsoft presumably wouldn’t get a cut of every sale,” writes Aaron Pressman for Fortune. Indeed, you’ll see someone pointing an Apple iPad during the 16:12 demo at the MWC yesterday, which CNET has posted. (Not that the two haven’t gotten along, from time to time, before.) “The company demonstrated a variety of possible workplace uses across a range of industries. One demonstration featured a creative team for a toy company collaborating in real time in a virtual conference room. Other demonstrations showed auto manufacturing, industrial equipment repair and medical procedures that were all aided by the augmented reality technology,” Heather Kelly reports for CNN Business, pointing out that Microsoft is already partnering with a number of large companies including Saab, Airbus and Honeywell. “Microsoft will allow businesses to customize HoloLens 2 before purchasing a fleet of headsets. Trimble, the owner of 3D modeling package SketchUp, has already modified the headset so that it can be worn like a hard hat in construction sites and other potentially dangerous locations, writes Nick Summers for Engadget. It “also teased ‘true collaborative computing’ with a workplace application called Spatial. Anand Agarawala, co-founder and CEO of Spatial, showed off a virtual whiteboard where multiple people could chat and share ideas. It was similar to Oculus Rooms, but more sticky notes and fewer mini-games,” Summers also reports. Now if it could only eliminate office politics and oneupmanship. Mobile Marketing via MediaPost.com: mobile https://ift.tt/2oB2PsH February 25, 2019 at 07:29AM |
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