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‘Halo 5’ Podcast ‘HUNT The TRUTH’ Hits 1 Million Listens On Soundcloud

April 13, 2015, 12:00AM

Those who have been talking about the return of podcasts and how brands could potentially leverage them need to pay attention to Halo 5‘s campaign.

Listeners have been tuning in to Hunt the Truth, a weekly podcast released each Sunday on Soundcloud {link no longer active} and iTunes {link no longer active}, paying attention for the next big reveal leading up to the game’s big release on October 27th. And boy, have they been getting psyched to look for clues about the story.

The episodes go in-depth on the lore surrounding Microsoft’s popular sci-fi shooter and is centered around an investigative journalist’s reporting on the character Master Chief.

Along with the trailers, the Halo 5 campaign has seen massive digital reach. Today, the Ayzenberg-produced Hunt the Truth podcast has hit 1 million listens on Soundcloud alone, now 3 episodes in. It is #1 on iTunes for video game podcasts and has been named by VentureBeat as the second most talked-about ad campaign online {link no longer active}. The #HunttheTruth {link no longer active} hashtag has been a popular one, too, as the storyline is ripe for analysis, throwing fans of the game franchise for a loop.

The resurgence of the podcast is indeed here {link no longer active}.

Digital TV Advertising Changing In The Future

BY Robert Workman

April 13, 2015, 12:00AM

Right now, on-demand video seems to be gaining in popularity — but, according to The Diffusion Group, it won’t entirely stay that way.

The report, posted by DigiDay, indicates that digital television will be growing, with programming through “over the top” (OTT) connected devices gaining popularity. Popular shows like SportsCenter and AMC’s The Walking Dead viewed through the likes of Apple TV and Chromecast could lead the charge.

The group reports that legacy TV advertising revenue will drop to $47.5 billion by 2018, while OTT-based TV advertising will increase to $31.5 billion in the same period.

“OTT advertising is still lumped in with YouTube videos and ads on sites that have video,” said Alan Wolk, senior analyst for The Diffusion Group and author of the report, titled Future of OTT TV Advertising. “By 2020, give or take, there will be no distinction between OTT and TV buying. If I’m Kraft, I will buy women 18 to 25 who are watching Scandal and that ad will show up through OTT or set-top boxes. They’ll be bought and sold together.”

As you can see from the chart above, legacy TV advertising is still pretty high at nearly $60 billion. But the 20 percent drop in just three years’ time is too big not to notice.

By comparison, OTT-based advertising will grow nearly five times over where it currently sits now, rising from $8.4 billion for this year all the way to $31.5 billion by 2018.

The proof, as provided in the result, lies in viewership. Last year, OTT viewing by U.S. consumers sat at 3.6 hours a week. However, as you can see, that number will nearly double this year, going up to 6.9 hours a week. And there’s no stopping its growth from there, as by 2020, it’ll nearly get to 20 hours a week.

Part of this consideration isn’t just from on-demand items through devices. YouTube clips also count in OTT viewership, although it seems viewers are more interested in longer content. A report from FreeWheel indicates that 91 percent of OTT ad views occur through content that lasts longer than 20 minutes, or with live broadcasts that last longer than that.

This fourth chart, compiled by FreeWheel, shows what kind of ad views come from content duration. While those with smartphones, tablets and desktops seem to prefer videos that go shorter than 20 minutes, those who have an OTT-enabled device (like Roku or Apple TV) tend to watch content longer than that, either pre-recorded or live. These numbers could change across the board for devices as more companies introduce OTT-related services, like the recently launched HBO Now.

Finally, the last chart shows the rate of annual change in OTT ad revenue for the United States, and although the growth seems to taper off over the coming years (with 2015 being the strongest at 133 percent), it’s still growth nevertheless — which means that on-demand services and Internet-based video could soon overshadow regular TV programming.

The “TV Everywhere” boom is happening, and in just a few years’ time, we’ll see just how substantial it’s going to get.

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Twitch and Old Spice Team For Live-Streaming Promotion

BY Robert Workman

April 13, 2015, 12:00AM

Just over a year ago, Twitch hosted a wildly popular Twitch Plays Pokémon event, in which streamers could control an on-screen character by typing in commands to the user chat. Over 70,000 people took part in that promotion, and though following events haven’t drawn as big an audience, they continue to bring in enough of a collective following to make them worthwhile.

This week, these users will get their chance to test out this system on someone entirely different – a human being.

Twitch has announced that it has teamed up with Old Spice and Procter & Gamble to launch a new promotion that kicks off on April 16. “The Old Spice Nature Adventure” will follow a human male as he ventures into the woods, following certain commands given to him from people in the chat room. Although not everything will be considered, it will allow people the opportunity to go a little nuts. Hidden booby-traps and silly gags will also be thrown in to keep things interesting, according to TechCrunch. This includes talking trees and a bear that isn’t afraid to arm wrestle.

A narrator will recap the events as they happen, following the same style as the popular “Look At Your Man” commercials.

This is an interesting approach for an ad campaign, taking the successful Twitch Plays Pokémon format and applying it to a native ad format. Still, it continues in the trend of Old Spice’s offbeat ad campaigns as of late, ranging from Terry Crews doing a number of things with his muscles (ranging from explosions to playing musical instruments) to strange things happening in nature – like a bear inadvertently delivering Old Spice products on his tongue, as seen in the video below.

Obviously a live stream is a much bigger event than using television ads, allowing a new level of interactivity with a larger audience. Considering that Twitch has over 100 million viewers on a monthly basis, “The Old Spice Nature Adventure” should have no problem smelling like a rose.A brief snippet of what to expect from the live stream can be found below.</p> <p> </p> <div class="videoWrapper"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yZlyL2OXmV4" frameborder="0">

Instagram

Being a current college student, it might come as no surprise to you when I say that Instagram is without a doubt the most frequently used app on my smartphone. According Business Insider, more than half of American 12- to 24-year-olds said they had an Instagram account in 2014, with an even larger number of people prospected to have created an account since the survey was taken. As you can see, this is the demographic I clearly fall under.

There are many appeals to using the platform, most of which come from the app’s most basic purpose and functionality. Instagram has gained its marvel from being a platform that offers the service of social communication along with aesthetic appeal to provide a forum for artistic production for its users.

Personally, I enjoy Instagram more so because of the social component present when scrolling through my feed; however the aesthetics is what keeps me posting and coming back for more. It is very popular amongst my peers, so it is a cool way to check out what everyone is up to or where they are etc.

Venmo

For those not familiar with Venmo, it is an app that makes financial transactions social. The app allows its users to pay and request money from their friends, acting as a virtual wallet to most. Venmo’s demographic consists mainly of users ages 18 to 24, with college kids making up the largest portion of that faction.

It’s safe to say kids aged 18-22 are proactive when it comes to going out and spending money, and a common misfortune that occurs when a group of friends go out is having a few peers that don’t have enough accessible cash to do whatever it is the activity may be. In these circumstances, friends will usually lend money to the person in need. However, the problem that too often occurs with this is that your friend “forgets” to pay you back, or pushes it off long enough that you, yourself, forget. Venmo aims to end this all-too-common mishap. Venmo acts as a safety net that enables kids to be reimbursed immediately after lending a friend, or peer money by sending the appropriate amount through your phone via Venmo. The common lingo among college kids these days is now, “Just Venmo me!” rather than the wretched, “Yeah don’t worry, I’ll pay you back later…”

Additionally Venmo has integrated a social component into the app through use of its memo line. Like a check, the memo line is used for stating what you are paying the allotted amount of money for; however many users tend to use the memo line as a forum for posting witty comments.

Overall, Venmo is a platform whose convenience should appeal to just about anyone living in the ever-growing modern tech age. It is ideal for people who make copious amounts of small transactions, or for people who simply don’t like to carry around cash.

*Venmo works using your credit/debit card. Once the app is installed, you wire your card to the app – allowing all transactions to take place virtually.

Yahoo Mail

As you can guess, as I college student I am constantly having to use my phone to send emails to professors and colleagues either on the go or at times when I don’t have access to a computer. While I also have a Gmail account, a majority of my emails are sent through Yahoo.

Facebook Messenger

I hardly ever go on Facebook nowadays to actually post something or to see what friends are up to – I mean, who has time for that? The only time I do logon is to either chat with friends or to get in touch students or peers whose phone numbers I don’t already have. This is why I love Facebook Messenger. Messenger allows me to utilize all the best parts of Facebook’s chat functionality without having to deal with the constant, annoying and insignificant notifications, wall posts, and ads Facebook also has to offer. The apps interface is extremely simple and can send messages even while other apps are being used. It also allows me to hold several different conversations at once through use of its multi-tab function.

Snapchat

Perhaps a year or two ago you might not have seen Snapchat on my list of most frequently used apps. However about 8 months ago, as I feel is the case with just about all smartphone users in the past 12-24 months, I hopped on the Snapchat bandwagon and haven’t looked back since. I mainly use the app to keep up to date with friends, relatives and, as of late, celebrities via their Snapchat stories. Snapchat has transformed from a dinky app used by middle schoolers and high school kids to take and send silly selfies, to a powerful, influential platform that now employs media from all over the globe, and is now becoming a popular destination for formal, big-name brands.