Marketing May Forget Millennials Next Year

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Millennials remain a crucial audience to reach out to, but it’s find the right way to cater to them is always a challenge, since the wrong way can backfire in big ways. However, a recent study indicates that some companies could be changing the way they think about advertising to this audience next year.

A number of marketing and communications-based companies will stop trying to push towards millennials as a single demographic, and instead cater to younger consumers based on what they’re passionate about or take a liking to. The Communications Trends Report gathered data from over 400 communicators across 22 countries, and concluded that a more “age-agnostic” program could be more effective, zeroing in specifically on certain values depending on their tastes.

Additionally, the report also points out how some companies are scrambling to find a solution to ad-blocking, which has been on the rise over the past few months for both desktop and mobile devices. These solutions include better native advertising, as well as sponsored podcasts and influencer partnerships.

Other takeaways from the report are broken down as follows:

  • While brands will continue to post plenty of content on their channels, there will be more team-ups with distribution services, including LinkedIn Pulse and Medium, to round out the effectiveness of certain marketing campaigns.
  • Digital video is seeing an increase in audience, with more “cord cutters” joining every day. As a result, some marketers could utilize different tools, such as production experts and accounts, to find effective formats for their advertising plans.
  • Brands will still heavily use communications strategies, but value will take more of a focus, particularly with social and political issues that are gaining buzz.
  • Marketing needs to find a way to “give back,” and some companies will launch campaigns that cater more as services to consumers.
  • Singling out smaller pieces of hyper-targeted content won’t be enough for advertisers. The report suggests that they get at least 10 specific messages set up for subset groups within the identified audience.
  • Real-time content should take a larger focus next year, with less time spent on planned editorial calendars. Spontaneity with certain programs could possibly pay off.
  • The consumer will pay a vital part in certain programs, leading more companies to create targeted campaigns and content to encourage them to buy directly from them, instead of e-tailers such as Amazon.
  • Other mediums could play a huge part in programs, including virtual reality, which will get a huge push across the board next year. Look for marketers and advertisers alike to find a way to integrate its content into this medium, among other formats.

Marriott Masters Travel Entertainment

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The prominent hotel chain, Marriott, has taken a decidedly unconventional approach toward catering to customers. Not only has it tried to expand upon visitors’ travel experiences with innovations in virtual reality, but it’s also gone as far as to open up its own content studio to create programming you normally wouldn’t expect from a hotel chain.

ClickZ reports the company’s pick-up in content marketing, which makes full use of the studio and creative partners to help put together memorable features that consumers will remember, including video ads with a distinct cinematic feel.

It’s one example of many revolving around brands shifting away from teaming up with ad agencies, and are taking their own approach to create programmatic advertising. It’s a method that appears to be paying off.

“You can’t argue with the numbers,” said David Beebe, vice president of global creative and content marketing for Marriott. “Consumers are not engaging with traditional marketing anymore. Anything that’s interruptive in nature, we don’t care about, and anything that’s not relevant to us, we ignore, delete, then we move on.”

The team that runs the content studio is a who’s who of talent, working on a number of strengths for programs that cater to consumers with a side of story-telling. This includes a YouTube web series called Do Not Disturb, standout travel articles for the Medium publication, and, best of all, an action-packed short film called Two Bellmen, which focuses on a pair of heroic Marriott employees subduing would-be art thieves. Two Bellmen was such a hit that Marriott has already green-lit a sequel, which has begun filming in Dubai.

It helps to have direction when putting your best foot forward with a studio, though. “One of the biggest mistakes brands make in content marketing is when they build a physical studio and spend $10 million to create it and then go, ‘What the hell are we going to do with this thing ‘” said Beebe.

The company is focusing on what it calls the “three C’s” when it comes to this process: content, community and commerce. With a team of over 65 employees devoted to it (including former journalists and agency representatives), it’s a process that Marriott is taking seriously.

“You’re seeing people associate (our original creative content) with the brand,” continued Beebe. “We’re not trying to trick anyone; they know it’s from a brand, but we’re also not trying to sell them anything. The biggest mistake marketers make is creating content that doesn’t provide value. If it’s all about you, nobody’s going to watch it.”

One other big draw to a process like this is teaming up with an influencer and giving them a majority of creative control. This creates a smooth-flowing process that will make them want to return. “What happens when brands try to create their own content in-house at scale, they often get in their own way and it becomes a commercial and an advertisement,” said Beebe. “You have to partner with the creative community, get out of their way, take some risks and let them do what they do best, which is tell stories.”

Finding the right partners is also key. For instance, Snapchatters have managed to take the company’s account to new heights, along with Jack Harris, a travel vlogger with a huge following, with over four million YouTube subscribers. Harris’ visits Istanbul with a camera attached to his head in one of his videos, providing a first-person “you are there” perspective. He also isn’t too overt with brand placement, by simply making a casual reference to Marriott at the end of the video, putting the focus more on exploration rather than the brand.

Beebe thinks it’s a novel approach. “We’re trying to inspire people to travel, to think about traveling. Hopefully they’ll remember our content and think about us, the next time they go to book,” he said.

Speaking at the recent Contently Summit in New York City, Beebe made a solid point about who the content is reaching out to. “We’re in the hospitality business; we take care of people and have a very intimate relationship with our customers,” he explained. “They sleep with us, after all.”

Teaming with YouTube talents and other web celebrities may be a novel approach for advertisers, especially when it focuses more on creative content and less on obvious messages like “use us!” For instance, Taryn Southern recently teamed up with Moxy Hotels for a special talk show called “Between the Sheets,” which features interviews with others while being filmed, yes, in a Moxy location. Again, the message is presented casually, giving audiences something to be interested in.

In summation, having a strong relationship with talent, trying new things, carefully keeping control of a budget and handling branding with care are all key ingredients that seem to be working for Marriott and others.

‘Dungeons & Dragons’ Rolls Into Virtual Reality, Opening New Spaces

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For decades, the Dungeons & Dragons franchise has been a huge best-seller amongst the tabletop gaming community, and became the basis for the quintessential fantasy video game, TV and movie experience. Now, AltspaceVR is ready to bring it into a whole new dimension virtual reality.

TechCrunch reports that AltSpaceVR, a social company that specializes in VR experiences, has teamed up with publisher Wizards of the Coast on a new game, custom-made for VR. The game, which is available now, includes everything you might expect from a virtual tabletop experience. It provides a strong social angle for players with a special room where participants can watch, chat, gesture and see reactions from players as each battle commences.

Even though Dungeons & Dragons is based around tabletop play, and not a first-person adventure, it does seem like a suitable fit for virtual reality, as players can simply walk up and take part in a game, just as they would in real life.

This is just the latest step by AltStateVR to move forward in VR development, as the company raised $10.3 million earlier this year to increase its chat room and communication platform support. That brings its overall funding to $15.7 million thus far, and the Dungeons & Dragons brand name could certainly drive it to greater success.

“AltSpaceVR bridges the gap between Dungeons & Dragons video games and physically sitting around a table with friends,” Nathan Steward, brand director for the Dungeons project, said in a statement. “You get the same sense of excitement and drama in the AltSpaceVR tavern, from laughing at your buddy’s funny goblin voice to watching the d20 (dice) bounce and finally land on the natural 20 you needed to hit the beholder terrorizing your party.”

Those interested in the experience, and masters of rolling the virtual dice, can sign up at AltSpaceVR’s page.

The introduction of Dungeons & Dragons to the virtual space could be AltSpaceVR’s first step into its business plan in which its fundraising was based upon, involving selling admission to virtual gatherings. While the company hasn’t elaborated on future plans yet, top goals could involve celebrities and world leaders. Should AltSpaceVR or a similar company decide to launch a free ad-supported version of these virtual hubs, the walls or entire rooms could be made to taste.

Projects like AltSpaceVR’s social hub take advantage of how virtual reality can bring people from far-off places around the world to a single interactive location where they can play and socialize. Other ambitious hubs include Landmark Entertainment’s recently revealed plans for a virtual world’s fair, complete with 3D interactive exhibits. Various projects also see recreations of scenarios from popular films, including the upcoming The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 (which releases in theaters this Friday) and the horror film Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension. These, amongst other VR-related projects (like Marriott’s VR experiment) help create the “being there” sort of feel, while keeping users in their current space.

For now, though, this looks to be good news for gamers that want to get together with friends for a little gaming action.

The State of The Digital Shift

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The shift from physical media to digital has been a long time in the making, marked by digital music, video, and book sales. Video games are no different. Although some still prefer the “classic” feel of having a physical game copy, especially if they’re special collectible editions, downloading a game allows consumers don’t have to worry about a store selling out, waiting on line, or finding storage space for the piles of discs.Having a “pre-load” option, where a encrypted version downloads ahead of the game’s release, makes the prospect of buying digitally even more enticing, since fans can start playing the minute a game releases.

Yet, shifting to digital game releases has been relatively slow going, mainly due to their size (ranging anywhere from smaller 1-2GB games to juggernauts like the 60GB Halo 5: Guardians). For years, a number of distributors, including Steam, Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo, have offered games for digital download in favor of purchasing physical copies of games. However, the easily availability and the sheer number of games means that consumers could afford to hold out and wait for a big sale instead of buying them at full price at launch.

Much of that reasoning goes out the window when it comes to Fallout 4. According to SuperData Research, the highly-anticipated sequel set sales records last week to the tune of $750 million, of which 1.87 million units were sold digitally. That’s a small, but still significant, portion of the 12 million units shipped overall, but there’s a reason that number counts so much.

Out of those numbers, 1.2 million digital copies of the game were accounted for on PC (making up a third of total digital sales), while the remainder were purchased for consoles like the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. The report shows that PC gamers don’t “exclusively purchase games at a huge discount and instead prove themselves willing to shell out full price for select titles.”

SuperData CEO Joost van Dreunen, speaking with [a]listdaily, estimates that digital sales of the game account for $100 million, a big number for a title that also released in physical format. As to when digital will become the new normal, he answers In many ways, we re already there,” said van Dreunen regarding the growth of digital sales. “What tends to drive digital sales on console is a wider offering of content. Both Sony and Microsoft are aggressively pursuing digital strategies by exploring, for instance, free-to-play console games. Offering a wider, more diverse selection of games will ultimately drive digital sales on console.

Marketing also plays a key part in advertising for digital versions, as it did for Bethesda’s juggernaut. “Fallout 4 has been a fan favorite since E3. The release of its iOS version [Fallout Shelter] received a warm response, and subsequent revenues, and triggered several months of increasing anticipation for the release of its main title,” said van Dreunen. “At the same time, PC and console audiences have been in the midst of transitioning to purchasing and downloading games digitally rather than through retail. Keep in mind, however, that the various promotional efforts (e.g. the Mini Nuke and Bobbleheads) kept digital sales relatively low in the first few days: around 1 in 6 sold copies for Fallout 4 were digital, compared to an industry average of 1 in 4 or 5.

As for the appeal of digital sales to the point that they could be a big factor in overall game sales, van Dreunen added, “Last year we were watching digital holiday sales very closely, but ultimately retail was the bigger channel. We anticipate that this holiday season the tables will turn for the first time. Keep in mind that throughout the rest of the year retail sales in the US amount to $300-$500M on a monthly basis, compared to $900-$1,100M for digital. But the holiday season is the last bastion for retail-based sales.

Much of the appeal from the publisher’s side of things is being able to cut out the “middle man” in terms of game sales. For physical copies, consumers usually need to go to a location like Best Buy, Gamestop and others in order to take the game home. By selling digitally, Bethesda and others are able to bypass that process, making more money on the product as a result. Thus, why $1.87 million in digital sales is such a significant number, compared to copies shipped.

Other titles sell exclusively online, and with big results. Last year, Yacht Club Games released Shovel Knight on Wii U and other platforms as a digital download. It performed remarkably well for a digital-only indie game, selling over 700,000 units as of July. That prompted the developer to give physical releases a try, which released last month. Although physical editions will always be important, especially when they come with collectibles or are bundled in with consoles, the benefits of digital editions are on the rise. There’s no worry of stores stocking the game on shelves, shipping physical goods, or any of the other issues associated with physical retail.

One possible barrier to for some console users may be the use of virtual currency. Although Steam uses real money, and Microsoft’s Xbox Live service switched to real money transactions for game and media purchases years ago, companies like Sony still require the purchase of virtual currency in order to buy items from the PlayStation Network. Some might not take well to the two-step purchasing.

On the other hand, as players become more comfortable with virtual currency as they become accustomed to digital purchasing, as exemplified by the record-breaking Call of Duty: Black Ops III digital sales on the PS4. Especially around the holiday season, as companies like Nintendo plan to mark down several of its titles by 50 percent during Black Friday week. When looking at Amazon’s recent best seller list, gift cards take up most of the company’s top 20 digital sellers.

It just goes to show that digital video games are slowly but surely finding their place in the market, right alongside the physical release. If marketing can continue to give them a proper push, the only limit to digital sales will be available hard drive space.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=3v9X1vXDE6Q

‘Fallout 4’ Continues Trend of Revitalized Game Marketing

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Video games continue to sell monumentally well leading into the holiday season, and November could be an even bigger month, with games like Fallout 4 leading the charge.

Developer and publisher Bethesda Softworks announced on its official blog that the long-awaited sequel, has had a tremendous launch this week, with 12 million units shipped since the game released on Tuesday, and has generated around $750 million in sales so far. Even though 12 million copies shipped doesn’t equal copies sold, Bethesda has already begun shipping additional units to retailers, “to meet ongoing market demand” in time for the forthcoming holiday rush.

Fallout 4‘s success mainly relied on a lucrative marketing campaign, one that involved a number of factors, including pre-order hype (particularly surrounding the Pip-Boy Edition of the game, which sold out quickly via pre-orders) through various retailers, online advertisements for the game, previews through a number of notable game sites, and, most television spots, including the well-received live-action TV ad.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=3v9X1vXDE6Q

Fallout 4 is just the latest success story for 2015 in terms of both marketing and sales, as other companies have seen big-number launches for its franchises. This includes The Witcher III: Wild Hunt, which is an open-world role-playing game that became one of the biggest success stories of the year. It received a strong following with its advertising and word-of-mouth from avid gamers. The game also got a surge from the introduction of an add-on, Hearts of Stone, which released last month. Another DLC pack, Blood and Wine, is due for release next year, which will shift attention back to the game.

Super Mario Maker, the do-it-yourself adventure featuring the iconic plumber, has sold more than one million units since its release, and has helped bolster sales of Nintendo Wii U consoles. Additionally, Splatoon, a new franchise that was introduced this past May, has become a big breadwinner for the company, with 1.6 million units sold as of July. Both had strong marketing behind them, including television ads, Internet campaigns, promotional events (including one for Splatoon featuring Hollywood star James Marsden) and other advertising, and the push is likely to continue for Nintendo’s holiday line-up, which includes Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival, Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash and Xenoblade Chronicles X. Nintendo also announced a Wii U bundle that includes Splatoon and Super Smash Bros. for $279, which will be available before Black Friday, so that should receive lots of promotional push.

Halo 5: Guardians has become a huge best-seller for Microsoft. The game generated $400 million in global sales over its first week, topping the $300 million record set by Halo 4 three years prior. The game got big attention from its TV campaign and record-breaking online streaming sessions. It played a part in pushing the Xbox One console over PlayStation 4 for the month of October, as part of the “greatest line-up in gaming history.” That line-up also includes Forza Motorsport 6 and the newly-released Rise of the Tomb Raider. It too will receive a push as the holidays go on, especially for those that don’t have an Xbox One, as a special 1TB bundle is available with a custom-designed Halo controller and game system.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=ejMqe1WBtEQ

Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 launch sale figures blew many away, which made its live-action launch trailer, featuring Fantastic Four actor Michael B. Jordan, football player Marshawn Lynch and fashion model Cara Delevingne very fitting. “In its first three days, the blockbuster title exceeded $550 million in sell-through worldwide, according to Activision estimates. The opening weekend haul is the biggest entertainment launch of 2015, including theatrical box office, music and book launches,” said the company in a press release. However, this announcement came before the release of Fallout 4. Regardless of who has the bigger success, Black Ops will continue to see a strong push into the holidays and beyond, not only by Activision, but also by Sony, who has signed an exclusive content deal with the company that will enable PlayStation 4 owners to get access to maps and other downloadable content before Xbox One and PC.

Now, all eyes are on EA, as its heavily hyped Star Wars: Battlefront prepares for release this Tuesday. With the the extensive marketing (like a trailer featuring Anna Kendrick) and much-anticipated Star Wars: The Force Awakens movie releasing next month, Battlefront stands a good chance of using The Force to come out far ahead this holiday season. This will likely continue over the next few months, following the film’s release and with a variety of downloadable content on deck, something that will be right up the alley of its millions of devoted fans. The company is stirring up further excitement using the EA Access program on Xbox One, which lets subscribers play the game five days prior to its official release.

On Facebook, VR Meets Marketing

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Facebook has fully embraced video advertising with tools that help mesh them into News Feeds. Now, it’s ready to take things further with a set of 360-degree virtual reality ads, backed by partners like AT&T, Nestle, Mondelez and Samsung, and others.

Facebook unveiled the new format, providing virtual reality-based ads that show how easily the format can be embraced. This ties in with the company’s video creation tool, which debuted in September, enabling brands to post 360-degree clips to their page with an organic process.

Although previous clips only worked on computer screens and Android devices, these new 360-degree videos can be experienced using iOS devices and the Samsung Gear VR.

The move into virtual reality-friendly waters shouldn’t be a surprise, considering how Facebook poured $2 billion into its purchase of Oculus and its heavily hyped Rift technology. It also stated in the past that VR was likely to be used for more than just games, even though that remains a heavy focus with the tech.

Users can interact with these videos by looking around the screen with touch or gestures and seeing the world around them in real-time. It certainly represents a new level of interaction with ads that hasn’t been seen before, and is likely to get more attention than the typical static ads.

In addition to providing formatting tools for potential business partners, Facebook also launched a microsite that provides would-be video makers with a number of guidelines, FAQs and practice details in terms of helping them make the best one possible.

disney 360

A couple of the samples include an AT&T clip from inside a race car, and a video supplied by Walt Disney that provides a “full experience” from its Disney World resort, along with short videos from Samsung and Nestle.

Videos that take advantage of the 360-degree format will be clearly earmarked, indicating that users can play around with them however they see fit.

How well the ad format will be received has yet to be seen, but it’s gaining big buzz so far, and could tie in with plans Facebook has for the Oculus technology. Considering that eight billion videos are viewed daily on the site, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see it more integrated with additional ads in the future.

NPD October 2015: ‘Halo 5’ Rises To The Top Along With Xbox One Elite Controller

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The NPD Group {link no longer active} has reported video game retail and online sales for the month of October, one of the biggest months leading into the forthcoming holiday season, and the numbers are looking strong.

Industry analyst Liam Callahan reported, “Overall sales across physical software, hardware and accessories experienced a modest two percent growth in October 2015 compared to October 2014. This was driven entirely by accessory sales, which grew by 18 percent, or just under $30MM.”

Callahan further noted that hardware “sales were flat from October 2014 to October 2015, with sales totaling $270.3MM. Cones sales were up three percent as portables declined 27 percent due to difficult comparisons to October 2014 sales.

“Console hardware sales increase by three percent over October 2014. This was due entirely to 8th generation console hardware sales, which rose by 12 percent to offset the 66 percent decrease in hardware sales for 7th generation consoles (like PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360),” he continued.

“Bundles were the primary way consumers were purchasing hardware this month, as bundles represented 96 percent of unit sales in October 2015, up from 53 percent in October 2014.” This includes recently announced bundles like Sony’s custom Call of Duty: Black Ops III and Star Wars: Battlefront packages, as well as Microsoft’s various bundles, ranging from Halo 5: Guardians to a triple pack featuring Ori and the Blind Forest, Rare Replay and Gears of War: Ultimate Edition.

Meanwhile video game sales dropped by three percent over the previous year, but titles like Halo 5: Guardians, managed to thrive, despite a five percent decrease in new title launches. Super Mario Maker, one of Nintendo’s bigger holiday hits for the season, also managed to stay quite relevant, even though it launched in September.

The report also notes how the return of the music & rhythm genre, marked by Rock Band 4 and Guitar Hero Live, made significant impact. “Rock Band 4 ranked 10th, and Guitar Hero Live ranked 11th (based on units sold). However, the ranking changes to 4th and 6th, respectively, when ranking on dollars,” said Callahan.

Accessories also played a big part in sales numbers for October. “Video game accessory sales rose 18 percent in October 2015, with sales driven by point/subscription cards, gamepads and headsets/headphones,” he said. “Video game point/subscription cards had a particularly large increase in sales, up 38 percent from October 2014, making this the best October for video game point/subscription on record.” This indicates that a lot of people are turning to digital purchases on their system, either with specific online-only releases or full titles in digital form.

“Gamepad sales increased by 29 percent year-over-year, which was due to a 163 percent increase in Xbox One sales with the release of the Xbox One Elite Controller,” he noted. The $149-priced controller has been sold out at retailers since its release, making it a hot commodity for the holiday season.

The top ten sellers in physical form for the month break down as follows:

  1. Halo 5: Guardians (Xbox One)
  2. NBA 2K16 (Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)
  3. Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate (Xbox One, PlayStation 4)
  4. Madden NFL 16 (PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)
  5. WWE 2K16 (PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)
  6. FIFA 16 (PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)
  7. Destiny: The Taken King (PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)
  8. Yoshi’s Woolly World (Wii U)
  9. Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection (PlayStation 4)
  10. Rock Band 4 (Xbox One, PlayStation 4)

Sports games are still among the top sellers, but Halo 5 proved to be a dominant champion yet again, based on its record-setting launch numbers, producing the highest numbers for the series to date.

November is likely to tell a different story. Both Activision Blizzard’s Call of Duty: Black Ops III and Bethesda’s Fallout 4 have produced record launch numbers, ranging around $550 million and $750 million, respectively. That could easily put a dent in Halo 5’s numbers, especially considering both titles are multi-platform, where Halo is Xbox One exclusive. There are other titles that could factor in as well, like Nintendo’s Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival, Microsoft’s own Rise of the Tomb Raider and EA’s Star Wars: Battlefront, which is gaining tremendous buzz leading into its release next week.

YouTube Debuts Music Service App

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YouTube continues to add upgrades and options to its service. Earlier this year, it moved forward with its Gaming initiative, complete with dedicated channels and programming. Then there’s its new Red service, which launched a few weeks ago, featuring ad-free and original programming to entice users to become paid subscribers. Now, it’s ready to rock with the official launch of its music service.

The free YouTube Music app is now available for iOS and Android, which includes a 14-day trial access to its premium features, which can also also be had with a YouTube Red subscription.

After spending about a year in beta, the service is launching with over 50 million songs in both audio-only and video formats — 20 million of which consist of emerging artists, according to Sowmya Subramanian, an engineering director for YouTube. Considering that YouTube has become a common place for discovering for various artists (like violinist Lindsey Stirling), it makes sense that there’d be a lot of room for indie performers.

Rather than diversifying with a number of confusing playlists scattered across various artists, YouTube chose to keep it simple with a Daily 40, which breaks down the most important songs and music videos for the day.

“We want the Daily 40 to be the place you go to know what everyone else is watching and talking about and sharing,” said T. Jay Fowler, head of music products for YouTube. “If a song is blowing up on YouTube, this is where you’d find out about it.”

Musical discovery will also play a big part in the app, as there will be automatically generated stations for related songs, in case you’re in a particular mood or want to hear more from a specific artist. More importantly, it also has an offline and audio-only mode, which enables users to save on data while listening.

As with other services like Pandora and Spotify, there is an ad-laden version that comes at no charge, but paying the $9.99 for YouTube Red unlocks additional features, which is an added incentive to stay as a premium user once the 14-day trial period is over. Similarly, a YouTube Red subscription also improves Google Play Music experience, which is another free music app provided by Google. Essentially, a single subscription improves the experience for three different services.

That said, the competition among streaming music apps is fierce. Spotify and Pandora both have large audiences, and let’s not forget the YouTube music video channel and app, Vevo. Even Apple Music has also expanded its reach recently by releasing an app for Android devices. However, YouTube has the advantage of being one of the top sites where artists are seen and discovered.

What really matters now is how YouTube markets its service, pushes it to the public and appeals to those in an effort to draw in more subscribers for Red. More importantly, the Daily 40 needs to remain relevant, relying on diversifying tastes while, at the same time, introducing something dynamically new that will keep fans rockin’.

Considering YouTube’s popularity, that shouldn’t be a tough task. The chart below (via The Verge) shows that YouTube ranked highest for online music use in 2014. It even managed to outperform top music streaming services Pandora and Spotify by nearly two times.

Screen Shot 2015 11 12 at 12.11.01 PM

Why Vertical Video Should Be Taken Seriously

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Despite some debate over how vertical videos don’t make the best use of TVs and monitors,it has still seen an increase in use. Snapchat is even pitching it as a viable format for advertising. There are plenty of reasons why vertical video usage is on the rise, and how it can become a worthwhile resource to marketers moving forward.

First up, a report from AdWeek suggests that, based on findings from the Digital Content NewFronts, vertical video is becoming a higher accepted medium on Snapchat. The site reports that the best-performing shows and ads are ones that are originally shot in a vertical format, are viewed nine times more frequently than horizontal ones, and are more often viewed to completion.

Medium has similar findings, stating that one of the reasons for this is that consumers hold their phones vertically 90 percent of the time anyway, not just due to Snapchat, but also other socially viable applications like Meerkat and Periscope. “This behavior is becoming even more normalized as more and more content is being shot natively in portrait mode,” says the article. “So rather than having to constantly switch between how we naturally hold our phones (vertically) to the way most media has traditionally been formatted (horizontally), users are now able to enjoy content the way they’ve secretly always wanted to — upright, up close and personal.”

Jon Steinberg, CEO at Daily Mail, stated, “The whole notion of turning your phone on its side to watch a video is awkward and a bit of a hassle.”

The report also estimates that over 700 million vertical photos and videos are shared on Snapchat a day  —data that is backed by Business Insider.

Clickz had its own say on the matter. Rob Norman, chief digital officer for GroupM, said: “In order to be successful, all media and all advertising has to have the most comfortable and organic experience. There is an inherent logic that in a portrait-style device, the content would be oriented in a portrait-style way. This comes to the very heart of the real meaning of native, so advertising has always worked best when it’s formatted and native to the device or medium in which it’s presented.”

AT&T is aware of the success of the format, adding the original program SnapperHero to the Snapchat lineup, and using a vertical format all the way through. “Visual elements that artfully play into the functionality of the platform will always perform best, which is why vertical video was an obvious choice for this project,” said Liz Nixon, director of emerging and social media marketing for AT&T Mobility. “Once we set off in that direction, we planned our shots, edges and storylines to depend on every pixel available to us on Snapchat in a way we wouldn’t have for a square or traditionally horizontal film.”

It’s a risk that paid off, with a 73 percent average completion rate for the episodes posted in the program. “When SnapperHero launched, Snapchat still required viewers to press the screen to keep videos playing, so we were impressed not only by the completion rate but also by the fact that so many viewers were willing to remain engaged throughout the episode to keep the story open,” said Nolan. “However, it’s difficult to say whether engagement can be directly attributed to the videos being vertical, but it certainly didn’t seem to have a negative impact.”

Speaking about the format, Norman added, “It’s not exactly the riddle of the sphinx, but what vertical video tells us in a macro sense is that, increasingly, there will be demand for assets that are native to the platforms they run on and the vendors who run on those platforms. This is how a physical format change that just amplifies the need for platform and vendor specific creative.”

DigiDay also commented on the matter, explaining that the time to take vertical video seriously has officially come. “That’s because vertical video delivers better results than standard video in environments where people tend to hold their devices upright,” the article reads. It also noted that having to turn your device to view a particular video comes across as “totally stupid,” when it should be more organic based on how someone holds their phone.

A number of advertisers, aside from AT&T, have managed to create effective vertical video assets for Snapchat, including Burger King with its wildly successful Chicken Fries, as well as brands like Macy’s and Spike.

Steinberg did admit that not everything works in the format, but it’s still successful. “I don’t know if I’d want to watch Avatar vertically. But I’m obsessed with Periscope, and I’ve watched Periscopes for 20 or 30 minutes and not had any problem.”

“It is easier and more comfortable to move the eyes horizontally than vertically, especially up,” said Dr. Eli Peli, a professor of ophthalmology for Harvard Medical School. “However, neither of these facts will have an impact on comfort or safety of using a vertical presentation on a smartphone. The visual field extent of a smartphone held at arm length is very small. The vertical extent of the field is much wider than this, as is the ability to move the eyes and scan vertically.”

Steinberg also added, “We need to be doing vertical video from an editorial standpoint as well. We’re just as responsible.”

ReelSEO has some vertical video statistics, with Meeker breaking down the types of content that people watch. As you can see from the chart below, people are spending several hours a day watching video on their mobile devices, even more than they were back in 2008. That means more opportunities to view vertical video.

ResizedImage600447 Chart

Vertical video advantages, summed up:

  • More comfortable viewing, since it can be easier to scan in vertical than horizontal
  • More supporting apps, like Snapchat and Periscope, are making more use of vertical video
  • More original programming being considered for the format

It’s probably going too far to say that vertical video will soon replace the standard horizontal format, since YouTube doesn’t have vertical viewing support yet, but it’s bound to keep growing in popularity as more people use mobile devices to watch video content.

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