Planet of the apps - Android strikes back

Update of Sanoma's app development proces by Herman Kienhuis at Amsterdam Mobile Convention, April 20, 2011, Amsterdam

Neuroscience: what’s it good for?

It’s only a matter of time before neuroscience methods become a standard part of what researchers do. As we at Sanoma Media Netherlands learn more about the way people interact with brands and marketing, and about how people make decisions, we realise more that we need to be going beyond the conventional research-tools.

Neuroscience-based research gives us additional insights about how consumers make decisions and therefore will lead us to improve the communications- and business-solutions we offer to our business partners.

Are neuroscience research methods able to predict 'commercial conversation' success with more accuracy than conventional research methods?
A study* considered 24 ads and a measure of increase in sales due to ad-viewing and found that, when amygdala, hippocampus and parietal activation were combined and correlated with sales increase, a correlation value of 0,93 was observed.

Sanoma's advertisers have been receptive to our neuroscience-based research because they see that they’re getting insights that they wouldn’t have got beforehand from a regular survey.

When are which neuroscience research methods helpful?
There are lots of different ways of doing neuroscience-based research, some of which are more suited to some things than others.

A. Eyetracking - allows the computation of:
1. How quickly attention is directed to the brand on a package, or an ad (Attention)
2. How long viewers look to the brand on a package, or an ad. The number of fixations of a specific ad element is correlated with later recall of that specific object (Memory)
3. For static and dynamic stimuli, different analytics techniques need to be used.

B. fMRI - enables us to look at activation in specific brain areas. Studies have indicated that specific areas of the brain are activated during specific types of cognitive and emotional processing. Questions such as 'which one of two ads is more emotionally engaging/memorable/attention grabbing', are best addressed through fMRI. fMRI provides answers to the following questions:

1. Does a specific ad evoke an emotional reaction
2. Are elements from the ad stored in long-term memory?
3. Is an ad processed attentionally?

Emotional processing is indicated by neural activity in a network of areas in the amygdala
Memory processing is indicated by neural activity in a network of areas in the hippocampus
Attentional processing is indicated by neural activity in a network of areas in the occipital, parietal and the frontal cortex

C. EEG - Questions that can be addressed by EEG
1. Which parts of an ad are more alerting
2. Does a particular feature of an ad evoke a more positive, or a more negative reaction to the viewer
3. How does the exact time course of processing differ across different ads?

Conclusion: Investing in neuroscience research in advance of an advertising campaign is usefull to test the likely effectiveness of the material. Insight into neuroscience techniques is necessary to make good research investment choices and to be able to properly understand the outcome of the investment.

* Kennedy, R., Northhover, H. Leighton, J. Bird, G., & Lion, S. (2010). Pre-test advertising - proposing a new validity project. Copenhagen: EMAC Conference Proceedings

(Source1: Silvia Dalvit and Jane Leighton, Admap, februari 2011, pp. 12-14)
(Source2: Robert Bain, "A change of mind", www.research-live.com, april 2011)

Next level of human evolution

Meet the scientific prophets who claim we are on the verge of a next level of human evolution.

It's predicted that by 2029 computer intelligence will equal the power of the human brain. Some believe this will revolutionise humanity - we will be able to download our minds to computers extending our lives indefinitely. Others fear this will lead to oblivion by giving rise to destructive ultra intelligent machines.

One thing they all agree on is that the coming of this moment - and whatever it brings - is inevitable.

Can neuroscience offer more certainty that your advertising pushes the right buttons?

The ability to predict consumer behaviour using neuroscience techniques is much greater than that shown by self-report methods. Neuro research may be useful to test the likely effectiveness of a campaign. But there are caveats.

Neuroscience offers very powerful methodologies, but it cannot answer all advertisers’ questions with any single method. Insight into neuroscience techniques is necessary to make good research investment choices and to be able to properly understand the outcome of the investment. It is worth the effort as neuroscience technologies offer marketers tools for designing effective campaigns and predicting success.

(source: Silvia Dalvit and Jane Leighton, Admap, February 2011, pp. 12-14)

Since October 2010, Sanoma Media Netherlands is using neuroscience techniques to gather - next level - consumer insights (media consumption, effectivity of campaigns, consumer oriëntation- and purchase-proces). More of our 'Mediabrain' project in this video (in Dutch):

"The conscious mind seeks answers to why, the unconscious mind knows why."

Sensorconomy: competing on real-time analytics

Fact
To offer each empowered individual real-time relevance, media companies need be "in the moment" with data insights.

Conclusion
Excellent big data gathering skills and real-time big data analytics are becoming key competences for future proof media companies. It's all about competing on real-time analytics.

Side effects
Real-time analytics is driving in-memory analytics, the hardware race and the evolution of BI and analytics software.

gigaombigdata on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free

Real-time data visualizations with deep implications.

MIT researcher Deb Roy wanted to understand how his infant son learned language, so he wired up his house with videocameras to catch every moment (with exceptions) of his son's life, then parsed 90,000 hours of home video to watch "gaaaa" slowly turn into "water."

Astonishing, data-rich research with deep implications for how we learn.

State of media: time to transcend conventions to productively lose control

It is time for media companies to start the journey of innovation, to DO things again, not just evade things. The story of the frog getting used to the water which is slowly getting boiled is a great metaphor for the state of media companies today.

We can only blame ourselves. Over the last 20 years the Marketing Eco System has gotten more complex, and has gotten more liquid. And we, the 'classical media companies', are cowards. So, as we have faced accountability and liability, we have stepped back and back, and unfortunately, where there is accountability and liability, guess what there is. Power. So, eventually we have found ourselves in a marginalized position in the emerging Marketing Eco System.

So, what do we, the classical media companies, need to do? Using our unique competences, we need to start authoring processes again, instead of authoring products. We need to go back to three key points at the beginning of the process.

The first is, account managers of media companies take core positions with your accounts (marketeers, formerly known as advertisers).

The second position is actually, take positions. Take joint positions with your account. This is the moment in which you as account manager (architect of media-, marketing & business-solutions), and your account (marketeer, formerly known as advertiser) can begin to inject the brandkey and the brand vision, combined with the sales targets. In other words, can begin to inject driving sales, while building brands. But it has to be done together.

And then only after this is done, are you allowed to do this, begin to put forward transmedia concepts (manifestations of the brandkey, 24/7 conversation proof), that manifest those positions.

And both marketeer (formerly known as advertiser) and the accountmanager of the media company alike are empowered to critique those manifestations based on the positions that you've taken.

If you do this, the media company will reach the state of 'productively losing control'. You do not know what the end result is. But, with enough brain power and enough passion and enough commitment, you will arrive at concepts and conclusions that will transcend conventions, and will simply be something that you could not have initially or individually conceived of.

Getting >>gamification<< right

More:
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamification
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_mechanics
* http://gamification.org/wiki/Game_Mechanics
* http://lithosphere.lithium.com/t5/Building-Community-the-Platform/Gamification-from-a-Company-of-Pro-Gamers/ba-p/19258
* http://lithosphere.lithium.com/t5/Building-Community-the-Platform/The-Magic-Potion-of-Game-Dynamics/ba-p/19260* http://gsummit.com/
* http://captology.stanford.edu/

How to manage brand conversations? Gatorade's 'brand stewardship' center

Brand Management (control, scripted dialogue, periodic feedback) transforms into Brand Stewardship (open, 'branded content' conversations, 24/7 feedback).

The beverage brand has made significant investments in brand stewardship tools. Gatorade maintains a 'brand stewardship' center in its Chicago headquarters, featuring a panel of screens. Gatorade tracks a wide variety of conversations through blogs and Twitter conversations, online media performance, sport trends, and social media performance.

The 'brand stewardship' center allows Gatorade to identify conversations in progress and proactively engage in dialogue with consumers.

Learn from Twitter how to be relevant in the real-time era

Figuring out the most optimal real-time relevance algorythm is becoming the main focus of winning media companies. How to give people, real-time, the most valuable information for them, wherever they are? How to optimize for Return on Attention? How to help people pay only attention to stuff that really matters to them, without generating a feeling of missing some important stuff.

There is a lot of iteration around the 'relevance algorythm' by Twitter's scientists and math people, who are figuring out relevance in real-time. The team of Twitter has made impressive progress in figuring out, which of the 100 million tweets per day matter the most for each specific individual.

Twitter aims to generate $100 million from advertising in 2011. Watch this confidential video to learn how Twitter currently is trying to do that; a webinar which walks through everything from pricing to dealing with angry users.



(Source: All Things Digital)

An update of Mary Meeker's mobile trend slides (feb 2011)

Mary Meeker - now working for Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers - presented yesterday (feb,10,2011) an update of her mobile trend slides at Google’s thinkmobile conference.

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What is going to increase:
1. Ubiquitous cloud computing: Real-time connectivity / 24/7 / in palm of hand
2. Affordable: Device & databundle pricing falling
3. Speed: Faster networks and devices (Moore's Law)
4. NFC: Near field communication for payment / offfers / loyalty
5. Real-time personal relevance: Converging local & social / preferences / rewarding behavior
6. Gamification: Social / reward-driven
7. mCommerce: Measurable activation, driving traffic to (physical) stores real-time
8. Apps (vs. HTML5) and monetization: More apps, making more money per app
9. Empowerment: impact of empowering billions of people with real-time connected devices has just begun...

Another interesting presentation give at Google’s thinkmobile conference.

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Case Deloitte using LinkedIn API

Opportunities through increased volume of 'good enough' data and realtime analysis

Mobile populations are increasingly acting as human sensor networks, passively sharing location-related data.
The winning companies of tomorrow transform these data into relevant products/services and connect the 5 webs (social, realtime, programmable, psychic, semantic).

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How to emerge to a sustainable and durable Marketing Eco System? What matters?

In our current Marketing Eco System product sustainability is inverse to economic growth, due to the 'instrinsic obsolescence rule': Nothing produced can be allowed to maintain a lifespan longer than what can be endured in order to continue cyclical consumption.

This rule causes mindless consumption and 'planned obsolescence'; the underlying backbone of most marketing strategies. But isn't the meaning of efficiency "absence of waste"?



“This idea called debt, doesn’t exist in the physical reality. Its only part of a game we have invented.”

Key message of this documentary: A transition is needed from our current 'socioeconomic monetary' paradigm, into a new - sustainable - paradigm called a 'Resource-Based-Economy'.

The docu transcends issues of cultural relativism and traditional ideology and moves to relate the core, empirical “life ground” attributes of human and social survival.



John Lock and Adam Smith caused a system disorder: confusing Money sequences of value and Life sequences of value.
Life sequences of value -> Measures which have to do with the progress of people's life-quality: Fysical well being, trust, state of happyness, or social stability.
Money sequences of value -> Measures which have to do with the money sequence: GDP, Consumer price index, Value of the stock market, rates of inflation.

* and check this

Visualizing the medical data explosion

Medical scans produce thousands of images and terabytes of data for a single patient in mere seconds. How do doctors parse this information and determine what's useful?

Visualization expert Anders Ynnerman shows us sophisticated new tools for analyzing this myriad data, and a glimpse at some sci-fi-sounding medical technologies in development.