Brand Central Station

Just received word today that VeohTV is going away.  Of course, this may be old news to some, but not for me.  Maybe my antenna is up on services like Veoh, Hulu and others (including, of course, YouTube).  The online, digital video content stream seems to be more vital than ever before, and Veoh now looks like they’re jumping into it with both feet in a way that will allow viewers to take their online content with them.

Even when they’re not online.

Veoh took the opportunity today (via e-mail) to explain about their switch from VeohTV to a downloadable application that connects to Veoh.com.  By concentrating on the user experience, the team at Veoh came to the conclusion that re-booting their service as a stand alone application was a better choice:

The Veoh Web Player enables you to watch videos of any length right in your browser without launching a separate application. You can download videos for later viewing, even when you’re not connected to the Internet. The Web Player also consumes fewer system resources than VeohTV.

This is all interesting news when you consider that by separating the player from the site, Veoh can now distribute its player on other portable media.  Last week, the company announced it was releasing a version of its player to be included on SanDisk flash drives.

For advertisers and marketers what this means is that ad insertions into streaming content are now portable, as well.  How this plays into possible promotions or creative executions remains to be seen.  But we can no longer assume that if someone sees an ad on a streaming broadcast that they’re sitting in front of a computer screen on a desk in a living room, bedroom, kitchen, office, etc.

A young Peter Arnett when he was a field reporter for the AP in Vietnam

Richard Edelman writes about his recent conversation with Mike Oreskes, the US editor for the Associated Press.  While PR gurus like Steve Rubel write about the end of media as we know it (especially print), Oreskes and the folks at the AP are finding ways to add value to their service and make the digital transformation that will be required of all media at some point or another.

Most interesting part of the entire conversation bewteen the two though (at least to me), was the insight that the AP has more than 800 reporters and editors in the US alone – there to fill in where local media is cutting back.  Oreskes refers to a need for “hyper-local” coverage as part of the reason why the AP is working to establish a national footprint beyond New York and Washington, DC.

Richard has asked us to provide our experiences with AP reporters – if you have one, do him the favor of replying (the “online conversations” Richard has with readers of his blog are sometimes more interesting than the original posts, themselves).  View the blog post here.

Jameson Hsu reports about in-game advertising online on the Adotas blog.  It’s an excellent report on the popularity of online gaming and how to leverage their advertising value.  Web-based games are extremely popular, visted by over 30% of all online users around the world.  As Jameson points out:

“(Online) games appeal to teens, moms and seniors alike who fuel the enormous demand throughout the world to play them. In parallel with this trend, game advertising technology has emerged enabling advertisers to reach the engaged gaming audience with rich, targeted ads that allow independent game developers to make money.”

(more…)

Crain’s New York Business has a concise synopsis covering the disaster that is NBC’s 2008-09 season (so far, at least).  The venerable broadcaster is facing a 17% decline in audience versus last year and the carnage is getting left at the doorstep of NBC Entertainment’s Co-Chairman, Ben Silverman.

Silverman was charged with finding hits and a way to produce them for less – but between the Summer Olympics and a historic presidential election, he hasn’t had much of a chance to make an impact.  We don’t think anyone will cut him any slack, though.  NBCUniversal’s CEO, Jeffrey Zucker, has already called for $500 million in production cuts and cost savings … and if history is any indicator, that means only one thing:

Make way for more “Deal” and “Biggest Loser.”  Ewwww.

There’s other news concerning the broadcast networks that should be garnering more attention than it has, though.  CNN won the ratings battle for viewership during Election Night this past week.  Monday Night Football on ESPN is pulling much bigger numbers than it has in the past (even in some years when it was on ABC).  Here’s my question:

Has the dominance of broadcast television finally “jumped the shark” which means cable’s superior ability to define and target an audience should play a greater role in media planning than ever before?

I’d love to hear from some media buyers on this one.

Welcome to Stage 9.

Disney has just launched their first (?) on-line production studio, Stage 9 Digital Media (summary, article).  And with the launch of their studio, they also introduced their first of twenty made-for-web series.

That’s right, twenty. (more…)

All the marketing pundits are starting to weigh in on the problems businesses are having in converting social media eyeballs into cold, hard dollars and cents.  In his article on the “Inconvenient Truth about Social Media Marketing,” marketing pro Aaron Wall says:

“There’s just one — major — problem with spending so much time and effort on capturing the eyeballs of social media users. Social media is easy to hype because there is a lot of traffic on social media sites. But if you try to do anything with social media traffic to convert it to revenue, you will be hard-pressed — unless you are selling CPM-based advertising.”

But that may, in fact, be just the problem. (more…)

I caught onto this article during my daily scan through blogs and articles.  It seems the effectiveness of ads run in social networking spaces (like Facebook, bebo and MySpace) aren’t as lucrative as originally thought.  But the real news isn’t the statement that Google’s $900 million guaranteed ad deal doesn’t look like it will pan out – the real news is that “the MySpace Generation may be getting annoyed with ads and a bit bored with profile pages.”

Yikes

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The medium you choose can be just as important as the message when making your brand’s appeal to minority markets. Spanish-language media in the United States is continuing to grow – reflective of the dynamic growth of the market domestically. Similar statistics for market and media growth can be found in the Asian-American community.

Staying focused on your own enterprises innovation efforts is important, sure, but how do you keep track of what your competitors are up to? Competitive intelligence is an important facet of any innovation program – and your contacts in the media can help.

Competitive intelligence programs are on-going efforts and are intended to give owners and management an on-going look at the marketplace so they can make decisions regarding new product developments, marketing, customer retention programs and the like. The media can play a big role in these programs – both in terms of what they report and what reporters actually know when contacted.

Here are some ways to do that:

1) Set up competitive clipping protocols. If you use print or online clipping services, set up searches for key competitors or their brands. Be careful when selecting keywords or search terms because you don’t want to have to search through the searches when you get them back at the office.

2) Create a historical view of your competitors’ media presence. Look at where they’ve been running ads and announcements in the trades and then compare those placements to the publications’ editorial calendars. It’s likely you’ll find some patterns. In the B2B space, especially, it’s common for advertisers to try and time their advertising creative with editorial coverage to increase the effectiveness of their ad. Knowing these patterns may help you predict where the competition is likely to strike next.

3) Use Google Alerts and other online search-oriented tools to scan the web. These tools are free and easy to use. There’s no excuse not to.

4) Engage in an active media relations program. The more time you spend with reporters covering your industry, the greater the likelihood you’ll hear about new market developments when they occur. Reporters have a job to do and sources to protect, of course – you’re not going to get them to violate those cardinal tenants. But being on good terms with a reporter can mean that you’re one of the first to be called when a new idea (a.k.a. a trial balloon) gets floated by the competition.

5) Work with the media to establish benchmark research (and follow-ups) on your sector or on key issues related to your sector. This kind of effort takes time and money but is generally very useful. In most cases, if the client pays for it, the results are kept confidential although the media generally gets the rights to publish an overview of the findings.

Remember, it’s the media’s job to uncover and report the news. It’s your job to find a way to stay on top of it (or, ideally, one step ahead). A good overview of competitive intelligence programs can be found here.

Media properties have found that the information they collect about their readers can be a tremendous value to their advertisers. But you have to know when and where to ask.

In the never-ending quest to improve profit margins and steal budget from competitors, media properties – especially trade media – have found new opportunities in the areas of market research and customer knowledge. They’re often in a prime position to gather input, opinions and other critical data from customers. That data, when combined with insights provided by reporters, editors, staff researchers and others, can be turned into useful information advertisers can use to make their messages more relevant, identify new market opportunities and (ideally, in the eyes of the media) justify increased expenditures with the media property to secure a larger share of the market.

There are sources of data available to a media property that may be of some value – and some, if not all of it, is available for purchase. Subscriber and/or reader information is very helpful in determining the qualitative nature of the audience who picks up the magazine. Editors and publishers often use this data (as well as information received from interviews and reader service cards) to determine editorial features and other elements of the annual calendar they assemble each year.

Marketers can use similar data to fine tune the offering they intend to present to the public. When it comes to developing creative and sales messages, information on the buying tendencies of the market receiving a certain publication can help determine both the creative angle. The same data may also prove helpful in determining possible sales promotion opportunities.

There is a difference between subscriber data and reader data, however. Marketers – especially clients – need to understand the difference. If a publication provides subscriber data, the general rule of thumb is that the subscriber data is verifiable (because subscribers pay to receive the magazine, it is assumed the information they provide at the time of subscription is correct). This data is collected (to a small degree) at the time of enrollment in the subscription and to a much greater degree through opt-in surveys (which indicate an interest in the subject matter and a willingness to participate openly and honestly).

Reader data, however, is typically gathered off “free” subscription efforts, reader service cards and a host of other methods. Because the person filling out the card is not paying for the publication, there seems to be less concern over the verifiable quality of the data received. For example, if someone wants to receive a free technology publication, they’ll be more inclined to claim a greater responsibility for technology specification and purchases than if they were paying for a subscription.

Some broadcast medias conduct in-depth market studies (using any one of a number of companies that specialize in this kind of research). These general surveys serve three, main purposes: 1) they provide interesting insights into Top-Of-Mind Awareness for a variety of local brands and in a selection of local business areas; 2) they generally reinforce the idea that television is the strongest media to build TOMA; and 3) they generally solidify the media’s claim that a long-term ad buy on their station is the best way to buy television. Even considering the self-serving nature of the research, there is still some value in reviewing the results of the survey from a market awareness standpoint.

Finally, most media properties can provide some kind of statistical information on the utilization of their web site and, more importantly, the measurement of your ad presence on their web site. To be honest, if you’re talking to a media representative who claims his employer can’t do that – stop talking. There’s no excuse for the absence of web analytics anymore.

As with the broadcast example above, almost all of this research (usually provided for free by the media property) is intended to convince you of the value they bring to your marketing program. If you can get involved with the media property before they conduct their study, however, there is a chance you can create a very worthwhile research partnership.

One last piece of advice about unsolicited research – specifically ratings and rankings. Almost every media entity can present their magazine, newspaper, broadcast station or web site as #1 in their market (usually given a very tight set of conditions). Don’t be fooled. While this information is somewhat useful (if you know what to look for), you’re far better off getting the assistance of an advertising agency or media buying firm to evaluate the audience numbers and ratings, if that’s a big concern for you.

Realize, also, that media reps can be a source of research for you as well. Many representatives from local and regional media participate in tip clubs, community activities and special promotions involving their employer that can generate tidbits of information of value to you. Get to know your local reps and learn what they do and how they get their leads, then see if there’s a way you can work that connection. Reps are used to it and will probably do the same with you.

Welcome to the world of marketing.

It’s ironic, in a way, that while the communications profession is busy trying to find ways to promote collaboration and social interaction through media channels like blogs, wikis, whiteboards and the like, that true collaboration is being taught online everyday in places like Second Life, an online role-playing game developed by Linden Lab of San Francisco.

And what seems to be the greatest skill taught to people so they can collaborate freely? Believe it or not, it’s autonomy. The ability to act on your own.

Hiro Pendragon, writing in Flack Attack, acknowledges the apparent dichotomy of it all:

“It may at first seem ironic to approach the idea of autonomy, when thinking in the scope of a global virtual community such as Second Life. When the whole basis of an online world is to provide a place for to interact in common space …”

Like the real world, every aspect of the virtual world of Second Life is subject to the influence of other people. No player is truly alone. There is a difference between being alone and autonomous. As Hiro writes in his article: “…autonomy is not a state of separation from our environment, but a distinction from it while still existing in it.”

Virtual media environments, like Second Life, are uniquely suited to promote autonomy by teaching collaborative skills.

“Autonomy is an ideal greatly supported by virtual worlds. We have an opportunity to interact with people across the globe. This opportunity creates the greatest set of cooperation that we can currently achieve.”

And the benefit of this collaboration is innovation.

“The bottom line is that collaboration leads to innovation. People together exchange ideas that lead to new thoughts. Larger projects require more than one person. Really large-scale projects require interaction of several organizations.”

“As working relationships become larger and more complex, we need to investigate tools to make it easier…”

We’ve spent a great deal of time talking about the power and importance of a corporate vision. Once you’ve gone through the process of clarifying a vision for your company and you’ve had a chance to share it inside your organization, there’s still something you need to do in order to bring your vision to life.

You need to make a public declaration.

The media – whether it’s a blog, a corporate newsletter, television, local newspaper, whatever – has a way of making promises firm and turning ideas into commitments. And depending how you handle it, vision-related media coverage can be tremendously validating. But don’t do it just for yourself.

Every key constituency group has a relationship with multiple sources of news and information. The time you invest in understanding those people who mean the most to your brand and what matters most to them pays off as you craft and present messages that reflect the values and beliefs represented by your vision and the promises made by your brand.

Don’t consider the publication of your corporate/brand vision to be a one-time effort, however. You need to realize that media messages don’t last long at all (consumers are exposed to millions of commercial messages a year), so in order to build recognition of your brand and its unique attributes you’ll need to reinforce your vision and messages in the media over and over again.

Hey, this brand-building thing isn’t easy.