"in a branding world, advertising creative is critical. As Internet advertising seeks to increase its currently meager 6% share of marketers’ spending for branding advertising and to move beyond a reliance on direct response marketing, using the right creative will become critical. This will be compounded by the move to the use of more expensive ad formats such as rich media and video. The cost of being wrong becomes substantial. It will be vital for the Internet to take a page out of television’s playbook and focus more of its research dollars on getting the online ad message right."
It is an interesting article (but - in my opinion - not the complete story), triggering some related questions:
Trend: The end of advertising as we know it
-> What about the impact of the growing importance of branded content on the value of online video versus TV to improve the marketing ROI ?
Trend: 'moment of purchase'-shift from bricks to clicks
-> What about the impact of growing popularity of multi touch tablets - in combination with the impuls-buying-strength-of-online-video - on the value of online video versus TV to improve the marketing ROI ?
In the unfolding marketing eco system, what will become the value of online video versus TV to improve your marketing ROI? What will be the complete story? Time will tell.
David de Boer, Manager Marketing Intelligence Sales, Sanoma
On July, 22th 2010, Sanoma's Dutch mediabrand NU.nl has launched its iPad app. A logical next step in a businessmodel-journey, based on an omnipresence strategy.
The first results: A. Loads of positive feedback B. Impressive growth C. Promising figures
The first iPad-facts of NU.nl, compared to the other formats of NU.nl:
The web is not a destination, its an social operating system. Within a couple of years there will be no social media but social operating systems. We are already seeing the growing popularity of services like Facebook Connect, connecting 60 million people to Facebook outside destination site Facebook.com.
Another example of this trend: half of all Twitter activity is already taking place outside destination site Twitter.com.
The digital world will transform from a set of silos into a marketing eco system of solutions and ideas.
The effort and attention of marketing has always been focused on one aspect of marketing (pushing ads). We have to get used to leave this one dimensional view behind us, when one begins to realize that pushing ads is not a future proof business model. A more data-driven approach can transform - push-driven - advertising into more relevant - pull driven - sparkling (commercial) conversations.
As your mobile device becomes more and more the remote control for your daily live, you provide Sanoma - with your approval - the necessary data to improve our competence to serve you relevant and useful content, services, answers, solutions or utilities at the right time and the right place.
Do you belief in what we - Sanoma - belief in? Will you allow us to master the art of sparkling (commercial) conversations?
David de Boer, Head of Marketing Intelligence Sales, Sanoma
The internet is becoming an operating system that manages access by mobile devices to cloud subsystems ranging from computation, storage, and communications to location, identity, social graph, search, and payment. There are five main competing contenders: Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft. Those 'big five' all have credible platforms with strong developer eco systems.
In the unfolding marketing eco system, the key question is
Will a single company put together a single, vertically-integrated platform? Or will we see services from multiple providers horizontally integrated via open standards?
In the short term, we'll see heightened competition, shifting alliances, and a wave of innovation, as companies fight for advantage in delivering next generation applications, and then use those applications to drive adoption of their respective platforms.
How long will it take before the big five (Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook) will realize that it is in their interest to work together.....and make a start to adopt the horizontal, open strategy? And, last but not least, what will be the unique 'added value role' of the 'other' media companies, on top of the building blocks of the big five?'
David de Boer, Head of Marketing Intelligence Sales, Sanoma
(Source: Tim O'Reilly, State of the internet Operating System, part 1 and part 2)
Today's mass marketing model needs to evolve or marketeers will erode their ability to build brands, which is critical to avoid commodization. Today's media measurement systems needs to evolve to facilitate the marketer building brands while improving the marketing ROI.
Improving the marketing ROI starts with understanding how to improve the personal relevance at receptive key touch points with the consumer; at the moments that most influence their decisions. (Source: Future of Advertising Project, Y. Wind) Which moments most influence purchase decisions? Digital technology is fundamentally transforming (1) consumer purchase behaviour and (2) media consumption habits. Gaining superior insights on media consumption behaviour - from a better understanding of the relationship between changing shopping and media usage - is necessary to improve the marketing ROI.
New technologies are changing consumer purchase behavior Consumers are increasingly adopting new behaviours when it comes to researching and buying products. Traditionally, marketers' view of the purchase process has been based on a "funnel" with five successive stages:
awareness
familiarity
consideration
purchase
loyalty
This model is becoming increasingly outdated, as consumers much more activily reach out to the recommendations of their (online) peers to understand their options. "The real new medium is the voice of the consumer"(Peter ter Kulve, CEO Unilever Benelux).
New technologies are changing media consumption habits Truly understanding the increasingly complex media consumption behavior of consumers allows marketers to more accurately anticipate on the impact and synergistic effects of media; to reach (or better, touch) their target consumers more effectively and efficiently at receptive moments, via relevant content that serves consumers' interests.
Media & Marketing measurement systems must leave their single media silo approaches and accomodate multi-media measurement. Unduplicated reach across different media will become a necessity, engagement and relevance will need to be researched too....to make the next step in improving the marketing ROI.
Only a few TV channels apply sophisticated yield management techniques for the sales of scarce time-slots, similar to the techniques used by airlines when selling airline seats. Most advertising sales forces are managed traditionally, that is they are often organized by B2B customer size and region and selling only one type of media. The sales approach is mostly push, that is sell the available products, with little room left for the advertiser to shape the proposition.
Revision of advertising sales The digital transition will foster traditional media companies to fundamentally revise their approach to advertising sales and implement sophisticated B2B marketing strategies. An aggressive sales force on its own will not suffice. The advertising sales process should be transformed into B2B marketing with a focus on targetability and measurability. For this, media companies will have to develop a much deeper understanding of their B2B customers' needs. With these deeper B2B customer insights, a value-added proposition has to be developed, based not only on strategically designed (crossmedia) advertising products, but also on a service offering along the whole advertising value chain.
(Source: Future of Advertising Project, Y. Wind) Media companies have the unique chance to interact with advertisers in the concept phase, based on their understanding of target groups and storytelling abilities; in the media selection phase, based on their knowledge of media-usage patterns; and finally in the measurement phase, by providing consumer-usage data.
Tying this all together into a coherent approach will make the media company a strategic partner for advertisers/brand marketeers.....rather than suppliers of ad inventory.
Integrating sales forces In many media companies the sales forces for offline and online are still separated. With the growth of online media and the increased need for integrated offerings, this approach will have to be revised.
Traditional media companies will have to manage the transition from price-based to value-based competition in advertising sales. This will entail a fundamental shift in mindset and innovative approaches in creating value for customers. Managing the complexity of more differentiated offerings, ensuring an effective use of resources and securing a constructive cooperation with the media agencies will be the main challenge in implementing this strategy.
As revenues are redistributed across the marketing eco system, the progress of media companies in leveraging customer data analytics - in order to develop deeper customer insight - will be the most important indicator of harnessing future revenue growth.
Deeper customer insight is vital to enable targeted, cross-platform - but platform specific - content offerings that will drive future revenue growth.
Last year, media companies have focused on improving efficiency (due to urgently needed cost cutting). In 2010, the next frontier opens up: mastering the process of analytical management of consumer and operational data, in order to achieve excellence in engaging and interacting with consumers.
The market leading media companies of tomorrow will be the ones that find innovative ways to harness their vast amounts of data to gain competitive advantages; companies that use statistical analysis to map patterns of consumer activity, rather than intuiting it from what they think customers are doing. These media companies conduct trend analysis by forecasting and extrapolating, based on varied assumptions, allowing them to anticipate needed business model, inventory, financing and capacity, so they can provide better, more relevant (mobile digital) services at lower costs.
Digital consumer understanding and analytics - using the data people generate to make smarter decisions, while adhering to concerns over privacy - grow in importance. Be ready to make the fullest possible use of consumer data to drive growth, or risk falling behind.
The marketing eco system needs to become more data driven. Every value constellation within the marketing eco system should be based on data and facts, while respecting consumer privacy, and should be considered a work-in-progress. Organize value constellations with relevant partners and iterate often, based on the data. The marketing eco system is in perpetual beta, and data is our constant companion.
A syndicated stream is the default view in Facebook, meaning that 350 million people are getting used to the paradigm of real-time syndicated streams....with - soon - geolocation data.
Connecting remote data to people and things in real-time will lead to a series of new devices and applications.
A significant step towards this real-time world is the visual search concept Google Goggles. Take a picture of a person's face, and Goggles tells you their name. Snap a picture of a building, and find out who built it, and what companies reside inside.
Behavior and human mindset changes fundamentally when you layer in real-time search overlays onto the real world.
The building blocks of that world will emerge over the next 12 months. This unfolding Marketing Eco System, which has less to do with technology and more to do with psychology, opens up a targeting-opportunity to deliver personal relevant messages based on location, interest, behavior, socio-demographics, time and context....combined with relevant affiliate marketing deals.
The privacy concerns will be huge. The first version won't let you search faces, due to privacy concerns - but in the end this is an ongoing trend that will change our world.
In this unfolding Marketing Eco System all content goes digital AND goes mobile. Everything gets tagged and the walled gardens open up. Lot's of (formerly) bundled content breaks free of old trapped business models and will be further atomized online.
Atomized mobile digital content drive micro-payments, which move from niche to mainstream payment models.
My advise: Don't build pay walls for your readers around the bundle, but activate people to give permission for a micro-payment for each atom that engages them to see, or read, a bit more of it. Monetize the instant gratification need. Find out how to activate people to give as many micropayment-permissions as possible from the moment they jump into the real-time river of branded content and affiliate marketing deals.
David de Boer, Head of Marketing Intelligence Sales, Sanoma
Media companies are building digital magazine prototypes. They intend to make prototypes that will work on a variety of platforms so that they can sell their products on different devices of different sizes from a variety of suppliers. The media companies want to sell their products on smart phones, tablet PCs as well as netbooks, all of them will be as interesting platforms for digital magazines as the much hyped e-readers.
Vision (1): to re-create the visual experience of a high-end glossy lifestyle magazine. In a world dominated by real time chatter, a firehose of information overload, trashy celeb gossip, and fast sloppy news reporting there is a growing market for the opposite niche. There are plenty of people who still enjoy a calm, minimalistic aesthetic experience. A well crafted story, superb command of the written language, reflection, interesting facts, compelling arguments and beautiful photos. We aren't keeping old formats, we are keeping and enhancing experiences. That's not the same thing. The whole point of the prototype is to show how new formats can capture the essence of magazines in a digital environment. We fully recognize that people show their identity in many different arenas - but this isn't trying to replace them. On the contrary, it is running parallel, and branches over when appropriate. The exact formula is yet to be developed of course, but publishing this first prototype is a part of that process.
Bonnier isn't keeping old formats, but is keeping and enhancing experiences. That's not the same thing. The whole point of the prototype is to show how new formats can capture the essence of magazines in a digital environment. Bonnier fully recognizes that people show their identity in many different arenas - but this isn't trying to replace them. On the contrary, it is running parallel, and branches over when appropriate. The exact formula is yet to be developed of course, but publishing this first prototype is a part of that process.
Vision (2): A new kind of media-format where words, images, sound, and possibly video and other output sources work together to tell a story or provide information, rather than being necessarily separate objects embedded next to each other.
The finite nature of magazines: In a magazine, the limit in size and pre-determined format force authors to focus and concentrate. This is good for both quality and creativity, just look at the strict rules in classical poetry or the 140 character limit in Twitter. If the Mag+ is designed with stunning colors and excellent readability it will imbue the magazines you read with a sense of quality and importance that is lost on the web where everything is one click away. The sense of completion is key to getting closer to a magazine experience. People like finishing things.
Will the digital magazine on the tablet be monthly, daily or real time? What does the reader get for his money? This is not an easy question, because you might take a lot of fun away in waiting for the next issue!
This conceptual video is a corporate collaborative research project initiated by Bonnier R&D into the experience of reading magazines on handheld digital devices. It illustrates one possible vision for digital magazines in the near future. The concept aims to capture the essence of magazine reading, which people have been enjoying for decades: an engaging and unique reading experience in which high-quality writing and stunning imagery build up immersive stories.
The concept uses the power of digital media to create a rich and meaningful experience, while maintaining the relaxed and curated features of printed magazines. It has been designed for a world in which interactivity, abundant information and unlimited options could be perceived as intrusive and overwhelming.
The purpose of publishing this concept video is first and foremost to spark a discussion around the digital reading experience in general, and digital reading platforms in particular: the magazine reading experience, digital browsing, text versus images and open versus closed digital reading experiences.
After an initial scepticism readers were happy to consume their digital content in an eMagazine, provided it was no more than a 10 minute experience. The business model is simple that of strong engagement, although advertising does not fit well with eMags - the click through rate is much less than conventional web advertising. This is because the magazine environment provides a more relaxing way of consuming a feature and whilst in this state most readers don't want to interrupt this by being sent to a company's website (away from the page). After trying all the page turning platforms, findings are that the slide/scroll method is by far the most natural to use. No gimmicks, just the easiest possible method to read an article and engage with the multimedia on the page.
Advertising in digital magazines: Ads in digital magazines could be very immersive. Readers value ads in printed magazines much higher than on web sites (less interruptive and a more important part of the magazine content).
This collaboration between The Wonderfactory and Time, Inc. is an excellent example of how tablets will enable the creation of innovative, addictive experiences.
It is not only a promo video. The prototype already works. Watch this demo of Time Inc's digital magazine concept for tablet computers showing an issue of Sports Illustrated .
According to the Sun, the Sports Illustrated format on a multi-touch-screen tablet is a valuable addition, but no substitute for the magazine Sports Illustrated. Magazines and newspapers have been the world's best handheld for many, many years. Top news, sports, photos, gossip and games in an easy-to-share format. No waiting for pages to load, no losing reception.
Even without claiming to be the mayor of Amsterdam, I had the honour to take part in the extraordinary TEDxAmsterdam ‘09. I am still recovering from the overwhelming combination of inspiration (450 talented ‘parents of promising mind childen’) and location (the impressive Royal Tropical Institute).
What happened that day? I have been touched by passionate ‘game changers’- struggling to ’sell’ their sustainable solutions - and I empathized with their persistent drive to realize their ideas.
Every TEDxAmsterdam ‘coffee break’ meant energetic interaction with fascinating people, having three things in common:
A common sense of urgency: Things need to change in a fundamental way to transform from the era of extracting value to the era of genuine value exchange;
A common passionate attitude: Enough spirit, creativity, ideas and energy to ’reset’ our society; to create sustainable ‘eco systems’;
A common belief: The impossible is possible. "If you think you are too small to make a difference...try sleeping in a room with a mosquito"(African proverb).
Making the impossible possible can only happen if every individual acts. I would like to thank Jim Stolze, Marian Spier, Monique van Dusseldorp, Paul Rispens and the team of volunteers for acting; for realizing the TEDxAmsterdam idea.
Let it be a starting point for a new era; an era in which we exchange value instead of extract value. An era in which we have the ability, and should take the opportunity, to optimize our (eco) systems, technology and currency to humans, rather than optimizing humans to them.
The marketing eco system unfolds. Evidence that this transformation is already in full swing is clear. When you consider how this unfolding marketing eco system might look, with, among other things, digitally augmented realities, contextual branding, and the growth of emotional profiling, it is time to determine a strategy to capitalise on these opportunities.
Or better, it WAS time to determine a strategy. Media firms need to act now if they are to survive and prosper as the marketing eco system unfolds. Falling advertising revenues and the widespread availability of free content are eroding the value of traditional value chain based business models.
Understanding of what the unfolding marketing eco system looks like may be uncertain, but a number of priorities can be identified in navigating the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.
Priority 1. The importance of building and maintaining trust. Trust is seen as the key to gaining access to more profitable relationships with B2C individuals and competitive differentiation. B2C individuals have to feel comfortable enough to open up their privacy walls, needed to deepen their relationship for personal - contextualised - experiences;
Priority 2. Preparing for a more complex network of B2B partnerships. In the long run, digitization will be characterised by alliances between specialist providers;
Priority 3. Learn how to be able to - realtime - personalize your branded content to be personal relevant enough to activate the specific targeted B2C individual;
Priority 4. Learn how to be able to - realtime - calculate and apply the most - contextualised - optimal combination of business models for each specific generated consumer touch point, while continuously generating a stream of 1.000.000 consumer touchpoints per second.
Media firms have to do what they've always done (but in a completely different way, in a completely different mindset): build their B2C relationships based on trust, deliver engaging content and ensure they get paid for it.
These 4 priorities are steps that mediamarketleaders need to take today. It is a question of having in place the systems to support these new ways of working. Media firms need to ask themselves whether their current capabilities are suited for the work that is going to be needed.
Customer management strategies are the foundation for developing deeper relationships with B2C and B2B customers and building this - needed - trust. The supporting systems however need to go beyond the simple retention of customer data. In the unfolding marketing eco system, B2C customers will expect a seamless experience across all of their devices and media firms will have to support this expectation, able to track and manage B2C consumer activity irrespective of the channel. Systems need to provide intelligence on the B2C customer bases' habits, preferences and the different segments that exist within it. Only with this intelligence and analysis will the players in the marketing eco system be in a position to begin making the personalised recommendations and offers that build trust and foster deeper B2C customer relationships.
Extending communities of B2B partners brings a whole new level of complexity to operations. Ensuring that the media company and its B2B partners are quickly rewarded for their 'offerings' could mean supporting the transactions of millions of B2C customers and allocating money instantly to the right pots. Media companies will need the control and flexibility to be able to charge for any service or event according to payment type, network or geography.
As flat fee broadband capacity increases and high-end mobile devices become ever smarter and enter the mainstream, the trends identified are only likely to accelerate. Media firms need to decide today where they see their place (their SmartSweetSpot) in the digital future and what they have to do to get there.
The cause of Monaco Media Forum's most essential discussion: Media Value Chain-thinking (as was: value chain/CEO Axel Springer) versus Marketing Eco System-thinking (to be: value constellation/ CEO Huffington Post).
Increasing fluidity of the unfolding Marketing Eco System asks for value constellation based business models instead of traditional value chain based business models:
1. Digitization is damaging the traditional value chain based business model, which worked for advertisers, agencies and publishers
2. Increasing fluidity of the unfolding Marketing Eco System drives development of value constellation business models
3. The tradional value chain business models (which worked for advertisers, agencies and publishers) are not future proof
4. Central question: Which value constellation based business models are future proof in the unfolding Marketing Eco System? Answer: learning by doing
Value Chain thinking versus Value Constellation thinking (Marketing Eco System) is now THE essential mindset-difference which is causing a lot of ' lost in translation' situations in the boardrooms of media firms.
David de Boer, Head of Marketing Intelligence Sales, Sanoma
1.Facebook replaces personal email 2. Open source software starts making proper money, thanks to the cloud 3. Mobile commerce -- The promise that has never delivered, yet 4. Fewer registrations -- one sign-in fits all 5. Disruption vs. continuity -- alternatives to the "big idea" 6. The continuing evolution of web-driven, open source DIY culture 7. Info-art 8. Crowdsourcing 9. More Flash, not less
The fusion of sociology and technology in the Media Eco System has literally transformed the monologue of communication into the instantaneous dialog of a linked community. This linked community quickly and effectively shares profiles, opinions, insights, experiences, perspectives and media itself.
Last 80 years, marketeers were are all into getting attention. You can buy attention (advertising), beg for attention or earn attention.
Last 3 years, the succesfull marketeers are not merely to gain the attention of their (potential) clients, but to gain trust; to create interactive one-on-one trusted relationships with the public at large.
Advertising campaigns can literally succeed or die in the momentous pressing of "send". Two major ad campaigns met their fate in the fall of 2008: Twitter users attacked and killed the new J&J Motrin Mom`s Campaign; and bloggers bombed and destroyed Germany`s Pepsi Max Campaign. Both were squashed immediately: one the first weekend, the other after the first issue of the ad.
Today`s businesses have a real challenge on their hands:
78% of consumers trust peer recommendations more than traditional advertising.
80% of Twitter usage takes place on mobile devices, providing consumers the ability to broadcast news anywhere, anytime. As the number of "followers" and "friends" increases exponentially, it is likely that a business can plummet for poor customer service before the customer pays the bill.
But if a business uses it responsibly and effectively, the media eco system network can catapult a business ahead of its competition.
The media eco system network has the potential of accomplishing what no other medium has in the past: in numbers, message and network-effect. Utilize this potential, not so much for advertising, but to develop trusted relationships within your public niche.
Be not interested in advertising on platforms in the media eco system; be interested in getting in there and interacting with people; within the media eco system. Effective commercial communication is not a campaign, but a commitment. Businesses can, and should, use the media eco system networks in order to grow an active and interactive audience.
Companies need to participate in the media eco system networks, or they will be left behind. In a recent survey of 880 marketeers, nearly 81% admitted that their dialog efforts - their active participation in the media eco system networks - generated business exposure and more than half claimed that their tactics generated leads.
Three reasons why the benefits of online networking seem to hold even greater promise than face-to-face social networking, or conventional marketing: 1. It costs businesses primarily time instead of money. 2. Businesses can reach beyond the limitations of geography in gaining awareness and generating leads. 3. The potential for online referrals is huge.
Online socializing may be a radically different method of marketing-but in the near future, it could very well be the preferred method of marketing, one-on-one, throughout the world.
You earn trust customer by customer. Sanoma aims to construct an environment in which eco systems of trust will emerce; an environment in which privacy will be less important for many, more important voor some.
Why privacy is less important for many:
Mindset: to share is to gain
You have to be open, to have your data shared
More open means less privacy, but more personalization
More personalization means more relevance
Total personalization means total transparancy
If you want total personalization, you have to be total transparent
Trend: Convergence of atoms and digital Result: One media platform, with the same laws of media shared in common:
Copies have no value
Value is in the uncopyable
Personalization
Media want to be liquid
Network effects-rule
Attention is a currency (trust is a currency?)
The 4 stages of the internet:
stage 1: link computers
stage 2: link pages, sharing links
stage 3: link data, sharing an idea somewhere on a page/sharing ideas (XML, RSS, API, RDF, OWL)
As the number of applications available for download through Apple’s App Store continue to swell, the need has grown for a more efficient way to filter through the 100,000+ options across the multitude of categories.
As a result, app discovery tools have become a flourishing segment of the iPhone app market: Chorus, Yappler, AppsFire and Sidebar. In addition, Apple recently unveiled a feature called App Genius that makes recommendations based on past purchases.
Chorus, which is free, allows you to see which apps that your friends have downloaded and rated highly. It then uses algorithms to make recommendations based on those preferences.
The businessmodel of Chorus: the company gets a small kickback each time it sends a purchase request for a paid application to Apple.
1. Social media begins to look less social 2. Corporations look to scale 3. Social business becomes serious play 4. Companies will have a social media policy (might be enforced) 5. Mobile becomes a social media lifeline 6. Sharing no longer means e-mail
Posts
