Mobile Ad Spend To Top Desktop Ad Spend Next Year

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A report from eMarketer predicts that global mobile advertising market will hit two significant milestones in 2016: surpassing $100 billion in spending and accounting for more than 50 percent of all digital ad expenditure for the first time.

eMarketer is predicting is $101.37 billion to be spent on ads served to mobile phones and tablets worldwide next year, which represents a nearly 430 percent increase from 2013.

Moreover, between 2016 and 2019, the last years in the forecast period, mobile ad spending is predicted to nearly double, hitting $195.55 billion to account for 70.1 percent of digital ad spend as well as over one-quarter of total media ad spending globally. Next year, eMarketer estimates that there will be more than 2 billion smartphone users and 1 billion tablet users worldwide.

“The increasing levels of content uploaded and consumed on a daily basis is astronomical. It can be directly attributed to the rise of smartphone and tablet usage making this the dominant platform moving forward to reach your audience,” said Chris Younger, principal and director of strategy at Ayzenberg.

While we know that the European and Asian markets have been strong in mobile broadband adoption and smartphone adoption, the United States will drive mobile ad spending growth over the next few years along with China.

In 2016, US advertisers will spend $40.24 billion to reach consumers on tablets and mobile phones, more than doubling the total from 2014, while those in China will invest $22.14 billion—nearly triple the amount they spent in 2014. Both of these countries will see mobile become a majority of digital ad spending next year.

“Desktop is not dead, but a shift has definitely occurred in the marketplace. Advertisers must adopt a mobile-first strategy into their campaigns which includes mobile optimize site and user funnels that engage users,” said Charles Vasquez, director of digital media, Ayzenberg.

“Millennials are driving the shift from PC to mobile. They represent over 77 million consumers with as many as 90 percent owning smartphones. They are constantly connected to their mobile device on email, social and news sites,” said Vasquez.

 

Three Factors Shaping The Global Content Market

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by Pierre Ziemniak

MIPTV 2015 is just around the corner, and as hard as it is to predict what the biggest trends are going to be in the TV industry for the months to come, here are a few observations based on our program and keynote announcements. What does the year’s biggest gathering of entertainment industry professionals tell us about the industry itself

The Millennial Shift

First and foremost, our theme this year is “The Millennial Shift”: consumer habits are changing faster than ever and the market must adapt to younger, mobile, and multi-connected audiences. This is not a new phenomenon, of course, but millennials are the consumers of tomorrow, and as media users, their habits tell us a lot about the future of TV distribution, content, and formats. Personalization, streaming, and interactivity are the three key words of this major shift, which sees the rise of web platforms — and YouTube is just the tip of the iceberg here, given the high number of many multi-channel networks competing to reach millennials.

This is where a few clarifications are necessary. The “second screen” It’s not as relevant as it used to be: “We seem to have quickly skipped from online devices being the second screen, to them being the first for many generations, especially the all-important millennials,” says Matt Campion, founder/creative director at Spirit Digital Media, the UK-based digital and social-media production agency. “Cord-cutters” “Cord-shavers” may be a more appropriate term for millennials, who have actually reduced the amount of time they spend in front of traditional TV without totally abandoning it.

Read more…

This article was originally posted on VideoInk and is reposted on [a]listdaily via a partnership with the news publication, which is the online video industry’s go-to source for breaking news, features, and industry analysis. Follow VideoInk on Twitter @VideoInkNews, or subscribe via thevideoink.com for the latest news and stories, delivered right to your inbox.

Universal’s Marketing Pushed ‘Furious 7’ the Right Way

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Marketing a movie can be tricky, as it takes finding the right kind of campaign to draw audiences in. Obviously, this isn’t a problem with the Fast and Furious movie franchise, which has generated hundreds of millions of dollars with each new release.

However, the death of co-star Paul Walker in a tragic automobile audience back in November 2013 left the newest chapter in the series, Furious 7, up in the air for several months. Eventually, Universal Studios was able to complete the film, using a combination of CGI and Walker’s siblings to fill in his unfinished shots, and, with the help of writer Chris Morgan, made an ending that sent off Walker in a very emotional style.

Marketing the film became a bit of a challenge, as Universal didn’t want to push too many buttons in terms of Walker’s death. However, this article by Business Insider indicates that many were pleased with the way it was pushed, in a “restrained but effective” manner, according to one industry marketing executive.

“They didn’t lean on it, but they touched on it,” said another insider, referring to Walker’s death in the midst of the film’s production.

As you can see by the poster above from Vin Diesel’s Instagram account, Walker played a big part in the advertising for the film, but the tone in which it sets is more dramatic, leaning less on cars and more on the relationship between “brothers,” namely Walker and Vin Diesel, who had grown more close with the production of each sequel following Fast & Furious.

Over the weekend, Universal was silent when it came to the movie’s marketing, but eventually spoke after it racked up a massive $140 million-plus weekend take. “I can tell you personally that I’m very proud of the way the studio and marketing department walked us through what otherwise would have been a very tricky situation,” said Universal’s president of domestic distribution Nick Carpou, speaking to TheWrap.

“They handled everything that had to do with Paul respectfully and positively, and what emerged is more respect and a celebration for Paul and the franchise to the world. For the production team, Vin (Diesel) and the rest of the cast, this was a matter of personal importance and that shows through.”

The campaign came across as something to excite fans for the film, but without going overboard on being exploitative or disrespectful. “I think from the very moment of Walker’s tragic passing, Universal did a masterful job of honoring his memory and respecting his legacy, while at the same time going about the business of marketing one of the biggest movies on their slate,” said Rentrak senior analyst Paul Dergarabedian. “Furious 7 was shifted from its original August 2014 release date in the wake of his death.

“It takes a tremendous amount of sensitivity and diplomacy to walk the perfect public relations tightrope whenever something unexpectedly tragic like this happens,” he continued. “There was clearly a lot of thought that went into the handling of this and how Walker is portrayed not only in the trailers and imagery of the film, but also how he is represented in a very poignant and respectful way within the film itself.”

Furious 7 drew in audiences not only with a heaping amount of action (including a jailbreak on a moving truck and a car driving through two buildings in Abu Dhabi), but also an emotional farewell to Walker in the conclusion, complete with clips from previous Fast and Furious films he appeared in.

Furious 7 is in movies now, and even if you’re a newcomer to the series, it’s worth checking out.

Meerkat and Periscope (Illegally) Hit The Theaters

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The possibilities with live-streaming applications like Meerkat and Periscope are endless, as users can broadcast themselves doing a number of things almost instantaneously. However, some are using these programs for rather illegal means – like showing quick clips from popular movies, like this past weekend’s release of Furious 7.

Variety reports that a number of users have been using the service to show these movies online, although that hardly reduces the popularity of those movies, as Furious 7 easily cleaned up with a $140 million-plus opening weekend. As a result, movie studios aren’t concerned – at least, not yet.

“We haven’t encountered any issues with (Periscope or Meerkat) yet,” said Patrick Corcoran, National Association of Theater Owners’ vice president and chief communications officer. He also noted that a number of theaters have been cracking down on people in the audience filming movies for piracy means. “The same would be true of devices that live-stream.”

The company already fought back against similar technology, as Google Glass has already been prohibited from certain theaters, as an effort to fight back against piracy.

One Hollywood executive chimed in on the use of said devices, believing the matter isn’t so bothersome with its shorter broadcast time. “Meerkating a full movie in a theater is no particularly practical,” he said. “The experience of watching a live-streamed version on a phone is not going to stand up.”

It should be noted that both Periscope and Meerkat have policies in place that prohibits users from streaming copyrighted material on their networks, and any streams related as such will be removed from their sites.

When it comes to promotion, Meerkat and Periscope can be quite effective, as IMAX used Periscope to live-stream activities from Furious 7‘s Red Carpet event last week. However, when it comes to the products themselves, it’s best for audiences to experience them on the big screen. After all, it’s hard to eat popcorn while trying to view a movie on a cell phone, right

How Brands Are Benefitting From Instagram’s Growth

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Instagram is easily becoming a favorite for those users that love to share photos with others, as eMarketer estimates that it will reach more than 100 million users in the United States by 2018. It’s not too far from that number now, as the site will reach 77.6 million users this year alone. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that many brands are taking advantage of what the site has to offer, and what kind of audience it draws.

A report from Yesmail (reported by eMarketer) indicates that brand adoption will pick up for the site. Currently, 23 percent of brands in the United States have some form of an account on the site, and although that’s lower than most social networks (like Twitter with 82 percent and Facebook with 80 percent), they’re seeing effectiveness from using it.

31.1 percent of those polled by Yesmail indicated that they had an Instagram account that was being put to good use, with pictures of food being the biggest draw. Behind them, in second place, were hotels, which posts pics of dream destinations, locations and more. Retailers and consumer packaged goods were further down the list.

Even with larger numbers on other networks, Instagram has an audience that’s more excited with the photos that are posted. Yesmail reports that the number of followers on the site grew by 278 percent on average over the past year.

That said, companies should proceed with caution, as oversaturation is likely to turn off potential users. A secondary report from last month, posted by L2 Think Tank, believes that “quality over quantity” is a general rule to follow. Companies that posted more than an average of 121 posts over the fourth quarter saw an engagement rate of 1.03 percent — the lowest point for the year. The number rose a little bit in 2015 to 1.15 percent, but posts still counted high, with 110 for the quarter.

Instagram still has a ways to go to catch up with the other networks, but if the brands play their cards right with the way they post photos, there’s no reason their engagement can’t continue to blossom.

Most Consumers Don’t Feel Understood By Brands And Other Must-Know Stats

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With the right marketing campaign, a company or marketing team can easily connect with a consumer, provided it has the right “hook” to bring them in or make them want to invest in their product. However, what happens when a certain brand isn’t in touch with its audience It occurs more often than you might think.

As reported by DigiDay, a series of charts broken down by IBM and Econsultancy explain just how out of touch companies may be when it comes to giving consumers what they want — and we mean consumers in general, not just a specific audience like millennials or Generation Z.

“The biggest takeaway was the disconnect between how marketers perceive the job they’re doing and how consumers perceive that job,” said Jay Henderson, director for product strategy at IBM Commerce.

A number of brands “strongly agree” that they’re going above and beyond with experience, through offline, online and mobile ads. However, the study shows that there’s a disconnection with consumers when it comes to a certain understanding, even with investment in infrastructure and solutions, according to Henderson.

The first chart indicates just how much confidence companies have in their experience both offline and online. However, in mobile, you can see difference in the disagree department, showing that they may have a ways to go.

“We’ve seen this explosion of channels and devices that collect and store that data,” said Henderson. “But there is still a gap in terms of what companies are doing with that data. There’s a gap in terms of interpreting and analyzing that data.”

The second chart shows even more stark difference, as 63 percent of consumers feel that retailers don’t understand them — even their favorites.

Then there are the communication capabilities, with companies feeling that delivering relevant communications is the top priority, followed by relating to consumers and realizing the best time to contact them. However, companies that aren’t considered favorites received even less favoritism, with only 21 percent indicating that messages are “usually relevant,” rather than important.

The next chart shows companies being confident in how they resolve consumer matters, with a whopping amount saying they feel somewhat satisfied with results, and only a minor few showing unsatisfactory results. However, the next chart below indicates a different story from the consumer’s point of view.

This final chart indicates that while some companies “somewhat effectively” know how to resolve a consumer’s issue, there are still large groups that feel that they have performed either “somewhat ineffectively” or “very ineffectively,” showing the stark difference between how some companies’ consumer service is acting, and where it should be.

While some companies obviously won’t change their habits anytime soon, these charts should be real eye-openers for a specific few, especially when it comes to the overall effectiveness of a campaign. After all, if you can’t draw consumers to the product in the first place, how is that effective

Sony Demonstrates Committment To PlayStation Now, Buys OnLive Patents

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For years, the OnLive Game Service has mostly delivered on its promise to bring cloud-based gaming to the world, despite some troubles in 2012 that forced the dismissal of most of its staff. However, this week, the company has confirmed that the cloud gaming party will soon come to an end.

OnLive sent an email out to subscribers yesterday, indicating that Sony has acquired 140 U.S. and international patents  from the OnLive company, as well as other assets. OnLive will be shutting down at the end of the month, bringing its cloud-based gaming service to a halt.

“As the first-ever game streaming service of its kind, everyone who has ever played a game using OnLive has contributed to the technology and its evolution in some way,” said OnLive in its email statement. “We’re immensely proud of what’s been achieved and extend our heartfelt gratitude to you for being a part of the OnLive game service.”

Per the company’s FAQ page, OnLive has no intentions of refunding customers for purchased game equipment before February 2015, and all games that were purchased on the service will also cease operation. Meanwhile, Steam counterparts will continue to run on that service, with no interruption.

While Sony hasn’t stated specifically what it intends to do with OnLive’s tech, it’s likely to be tied in with its cloud-based PlayStation Now service, currently available on PlayStation-based game consoles. Using technology developed by Gaikai (also acquired by Sony), it enables users to play PlayStation 3 titles through the cloud, through either a monthly fee or rental rates for individual games.

“These strategic purchases open up great opportunities for our gamers, and gives Sony a formidable patent portfolio in cloud gaming. It is yet another proof point that demonstrates our commitment to changing the way gamers experience the world of PlayStation,” said Philip Rosenberg, vice president of global business development at Sony Computer Entertainment and senior vice president of business development and publisher relations at Sony Computer Entertainment of America, speaking with Mashable.

In an exclusive follow-up for [a]listdaily, David Perry, founder of Gaikai, added, “No change to anything we are doing, just another demonstration of Sony’s commitment to PlayStation Now. Sony now owns both the Gaikai and Onlive patent portfolios and PlayStation Now continues to grow with over 300 titles available to rent.”

Perhaps Sony will announce its intentions with the OnLive service in a couple of months, during its press conference at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles.

Freemium And In-App Ads Lead Mobile

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Mobile game spending continues to grow, and publishers are getting more effective at generating revenue from their games. IDC and App Annie recently published a report that breaks down the revenue trends in the mobile market, titled “Mobile App Advertising and Monetization Trends 2013-2018: Freemium and In-App Ads Expand Their Lead.”

According to Native Mobile, the report title says it all, indicating that freemium-based apps and ads featured within these apps lead to the most revenue, although it also points out how mobile app revenues have displaced other forms of monetization. This includes mobile browser and PC-based advertising, with more powerful freemium and in-app advertising leading.

“App Annie has tracked the growth of the mobile economy since its infancy, and we’re really starting to see publishers hit their stride with mobile in-app revenue growing 1.7x last year,” said Bertrand Schmitt, the CEO and co-founder of App Annie. “The continued innovation in mobile apps, monetization models and mobile advertising have driven significant growth in freemium and in-app advertising revenues. The space has matured significantly and publishers have the required ‘know-how’ to monetize off the significant app usage they’re generating.”

There were other points revealed in the report, including the following…

– Freemium app revenues grew by over 70 percent, while paid and paidmium app revenues declined by 19 percent and 24 percent, respectively

– Mobile in-app advertising is set to overtake online search advertising: Mobile in-app advertising revenue also grew by 70 percent, outpacing both mobile and PC browser-based ads.

– Geography matters and it’s not one-size-fits-all across countries: Revenue generated through app stores versus in-app ads widely varies across countries – India brings in 70 percent of its app revenues via in-app ads while Japan makes more money via app stores (81 percent). The U.S. and Japan are the largest markets for mobile app revenue.

“Both freemium and in-app advertising will continue to be great opportunities for developers to make money out of their apps,” said Karsten Weide, IDC’s Vice President of Media & Entertainment. “In the ten key markets we looked at, in-app ads will grow by a factor of 3x by 2018, and app store sales by a factor of 2x.”

Those interested in the full report can find it here, on App Annie’s blog page.

Why Dynamic Pricing Could Boost Mobile

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Mobile games are typically monetized via the sale of in-game items (the dominant model), “premium” pricing where you pay up front, or through advertising. Virtual items can be a wide range of things at a variety of prices, from a quick life refill in Candy Crush Soda Saga or new equipment in Clash of Clans. The prices, though, are normally fixed for these items unless the game’s publisher decides to put something on sale.

However, Re/Code reports that a new company is testing a new dynamic pricing plan for developers to use with their releases. Gondola, a company that originally specialized in game development, has since switched gears to become an app analytics firm, and they have a new take on pricing for games. The company has introduced a new “dynamic pricing engine” that allows the same items to have different prices for different buyers, depending on circumstances.

“As opposed to other industries, our merchandise comes with unlimited supply,” said Gondola CEO Niklas Herriger. “There’s no marginal costs. We never have the problem that we can’t sell differently to different people.”

With this structure, virtual items can be strategically placed, so that users won’t be “churning out” so heavily because items that might encourage them to stay are priced too high. As an example, a user might run into difficulty with a level and is asked for a $3 purchase to continue. With an algorithm, Gondola’s program would cut the price to something lower, while making up the difference in additional sales down the road.

“I don’t even remember a time where airline tickets were not dynamically priced,” said Herriger, explaining the dynamics of the algorithm.

A lot of metrics come into play, such as which format users are playing on, how far they’ve progressed in a game, and which market they’re located in. The engine would then price in-game items accordingly, in an effort to keep these players from losing interest due to poorly priced goods.

Herriger also pointed out Uber’s dynamic with pricing, indicating that the car service raises its fees due to higher demand over available drivers. “What you’re asking is, ‘Will my users hate me ‘” said Herriger in regards to the higher prices. “It’s a good concern.”

He doesn’t believe hatred will play a part, though. “The perception is, often times, that dynamic pricing is about squeezing the last dollar from the ‘whales.’ A substantial number of users would churn out before their first purchase might be made. Only real skilled players might see a significant increase in virtual goods prices.”

The apps that have used the engine saw an increase of revenues by 12 percent on average, although Herriger stopped short of mentioning which games were tested. However, the company’s website indicated that Big Blue Bubble, Wooga and Cut the Rope maker ZeptoLab may have been involved.

It’s a good idea for a program, although those who are more “hardcore” players may not see all the benefits from it. At least those who are “stuck” will have no problem moving forward in their game sessions.

Twitch and HBO Team Up To Promote ‘Silicon Valley’

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HBO is set to have a strong month with April. Not only is it the month that it’ll be launching its HBO Now service exclusively on Apple platforms, but it’s also partnering with Twitch in a new promotion for its forthcoming second season of the hit series Silicon Valley.

Next Wednesday, on April 8 at 3:00 p.m. EDT (12:00 p.m. PDT), cast members from the popular show, including Thomas Middleditch, Kumail Nanjiani, Martin Starr and Zach Woods, will take part in a special Twitch broadcast, alongside programming director Jon Carnage. They will answer questions related to the show submitted by attendees in the chat room while playing video games, and share a clip from the second season premiere.

After that, to get gamers oriented with the tech-savvy comedy, Twitch will run a live stream of the show’s pilot episode from Season One – the latest move in programming for the streaming channel, following the airing of various video game-oriented documentaries earlier in the year.

“There is an authentic connection between Silicon Valley and the Twitch audience and this unique event is a great way to build upon that,” states Sabrina Caluori, vice president Digital and Social Media, HBO. “Twitch offers a unique opportunity to provide exclusive content and a highly social experience to this influential community.”

The promotion is a win-win for both sides, as HBO can promote one of its most prosperous new shows before it debuts its second season on April 12, while Twitch can expand its audience with programming from the channel, even if it is just the pilot episode. Don’t be surprised if there’s mention of HBO Now as well, since Silicon‘s second season is debuting so closely to HBO Now’s launch on April 15.

Interested viewers can check out a promotional trailer for the Twitch broadcast in the video below. And you won’t need tech support to enjoy it.