MaxxoMedia Digital Media and Entertainment Trends

In what will be called one of the most monumental milestones in TV and broadcast media’s battle with the Internet for content, viewership, and advertising, Pepsi has decided not to join the Super Bowl's massive advertising spectacle this year, instead opting to place its money along strategically placed spots on social media sites and platforms.

This is the first time in 23 years that Pepsi’s high-production spots won't be found in the commercials for the biggest sporting event of the year. Between 1999 and 2009, Pepsi spent over $142 million on Super Bowl ads, but that number won’t be growing anymore come February, according to ABC News.

Instead, Pepsi will put over $20 million into The Pepsi Refresh Project, a social media advertising campaign set to launch in 2010. On January 13, Pepsi will begin accepting requests from the community for project proposals by which Pepsi can “make the world a better place.” The winning project by number of votes (voting starts February 1) will receive up to $20 million to make the project a reality.

Before the rocket launch rise of social media, the Super Bowl’s ability to sit down over 95 million viewers (42% of TV-equipped US homes) seemed like the best possible avenue to reach people. Even a 30-second spot during the commercials would draw in a massive number of potential customers.

On the other hand, 85% of people aged 18-34 use popular social media sites. Facebook is the biggest, with 350 million users worldwide. Just tapping into a percentage of that kind of advertising potential could easily earn Pepsi more viewership than would the Super Bowl.

via VatorNews – Pepsi drops Super Bowl for social media.

Razorfish, one of the largest digital marketing companies in the world, declared in its fifth annual Digital Outlook Report that television has morphed from a mass distribution channel to a collection of interactive and personal experiences. The report,  provides insightful industry commentary on topics such as the future of TV and Social Influence Marketing™ and examines media buying, planning and distribution trends from the past year.

Razorfish publishes the report to help marketers make smarter choices about their digital media spend and investments in digital marketing channels.

“Marketers have been talking over the past few years about the long tail of the Internet, but now we are seeing the development of a long tail of television,” said Terri Walter, vice president of emerging media at Razorfish. “TV is alive and well, but the viewing experience is moving from mass to niche in terms of both audiences and programming as consumers divide their time between computer screens, TV sets, mobile devices, gaming systems and set-top boxes. As viewership fragments, advertisers must find a way to adopt their messages to smaller, but potentially more valuable audiences.”

The US mobile internet now has a large and diverse enough user base to support wide-scale mobile-marketing efforts, and mobile web users are 60% more likely than data users to be open to mobile advertising, according to a report from Nielsen Mobile.

Among the report?s other key findings:

* The US, UK and Italy are leaders in mobile internet penetration, with 15.6% of mobile subscribers in the US, 12.9% of subscribers in the UK and 11.9% in Italy actively using the mobile internet; New Zealand (1.6%) and Indonesia (1%) have the lowest mobile internet penetration rates:

* The number of US subscribers who paid for mobile internet increased 28% between Q1 and Q1 2008 (from 74 million to 95 million). The number of monthly unique visitors increased 73% from May 2006.

* 26% of mobile internet users recall seeing some form of advertising while using the mobile internet.

* Unlimited data packages are growing more popular in the US: 14% of US wireless subscribers have unlimited data packages, and 50% of data users say they would prefer to have them.

* The Motorola RAZR series phones are the most owned devices among mobile internet users in the US, followed by first-generation Apple iPhones, Research In Motion?s BlackBerry Pearl series, the BlackBerry 8700 series and Motorola?s Q series. Nokia phones are the most widely used by mobile internet users internationally.

* US carriers now market bundled data and voice services more often. In Q1 2008, the top carriers shifted a portion of their voice-only and data-only marketing dollars to advertisements that promoted both voice and data services. Advertising promoting both services accounted for 59 % of carrier advertising expenditures in 1Q08 (up from 52% in 1Q07).

* 23% of US mobile data users expect to see more mobile advertising, and 32% are open to it if it helps to lower their wireless bills. Mobile internet users are also 60% more likely than the average data user to find mobile advertising acceptable.

* 3G networks are improving the quality of the mobile web and will help drive up customer satisfaction. 3G networks perform up to six times faster on data throughputs used for mobile internet than 2G and 2.5G networks.

* Yahoo Mail is the most popular mobile website in the US, with 14 million unique visitors per month, as of May 2008.

* Longer battery life (38%), larger screen size (22%) and more memory capacity (21%) and better data inputs (20%) are among the most important features mobile internet users want on their devices.

* Most mobile internet users seek out websites to visit. Some 40% say they find the sites through search engines; 22% say they type in the URL directly; 18% say they find sites through their favorite links; and 17% find the sites they visit through their carrier’s portals.

As of May 2008, the US mobile internet audience (age 13+) is about evenly split between those over the age of 35 (48%) and those under the age of 35 (52%) and is slightly more male than female. There are about as many teens using the mobile internet as there are people over age 55 (5.1 million age 13-17 and 4.4 million 55 and older). In order to fully realize the mobile internet marketing opportunity, agencies and brands need tools to plan targeted ad campaigns and track performance relative to other media channels.

Cell Phones Still Hot; More Mobile Advertising Proposed

Although a new Harris Interactive study reveals that over one-third of consumers say the dire economy will not affect their spending habits,  the 60 percent of consumers who will limit their discretionary spending will curtail going out to restaurants (74 percent) and limit their purchase of electronics (71 percent). 41 percent of consumers, however, have no plans to stop or cut-back on the purchase of cell phones, making it an increasingly viable advertising channel.

To many, it seems the use of mobile phones has become an indispensable part of their lives. People are actually severing ties to land lines with increasing frequency. According to a new study from the National Center for Health Statistics, notes the report, 16 percent of U.S. homes are using wireless phones exclusively

From Kenradio.com 

Spending on alternative media in the US jumped 22% from 2006 levels to reach $73.43 billion in 2007, and that rapid growth is expected to continue in 2008 despite a slowing economy. Alternative media, including 18 digital and non-traditional media segments, accounted for 16.1% of total advertising and marketing spending in 2007, up from only 7.9% in 2002 , according to a new report from PQ Media. By 2012, we anticipate one out of every four dollars spent on advertising and marketing will be earmarked for alternative media. Alternative media spending grew at a compound annual rate of 21.7% from 2002 to 2007.

From Kenradio.com

Video Games have emerged as a main-stream entertainment medium that generates worldwide revenues of about $25 billion in hardware and software sales. Surpassing box office revenues, movie rentals, book and music sales, Video Game revenues reached $12 billion in the US in 2006, according to a study by Interactive Advertising Bureau.

* Over 40% of households have a video game console system
* Over 120 million people play video or computer games in the U.S.
* Personal Computer Gamers are expected to reach 80 million in 2007 and up to 99 million in 2012
* Console/Online gamers is expected to reach 6.9 million in 2007 and up to 18.5 million by 2012

The integration of online games across all hardware platforms has resulted in the emergence of advertising as a significant revenue driver for the games industry. Overall game-related ad spending will grow from $370 million in 2006 to more than $2 billion by 2012. In-game advertising expenditure is widely expected to accelerate the fastest. Predictions show more than $800 million – $970 million in spending by 2012.

* Average brand familiarity increased by 64% due to in-game ads on Massive’s network. The study also found
* Average brand rating increased by 37%,
* Average purchase consideration increased by 41%,
* Average ad recall increased by 41% and
* Average ad rating increased by 69%.

This medium represents an opportunity for advertisers, however it is somewhat fragmented and can be difficult to navigate. Advertising opportunities may vary from platform to platform, and certainly demographics will vary based on platform and game type. A basic understanding of the game platforms and available advertising formats is an important piece of mastering the Interactive landscape.

Generally, advertising opportunities are either in-game or around-game and can be further described as “environment” or “immersive.” Around-Game ads are displayed in conjunction with, or alongside a game while in-game ads are elements of the game itself whether by display or interactive in nature. Typically, web-based games are played within a “traditional” website environment where ad units can be displayed around the game window during game play. On the other hand PC-based downloadable games are typically housed in an HTML environment and are played in full-screen mode. Advertising can be displayed both before and after gameplay, in the launch and exit windows, with digital video ads running while the game is loading. This format also allows for game patching, digital rights management, and commerce.

FROM MEDIAPOST.COM

DEVELOPMENTS IN DIGITAL MARKETING AND media are happening at such breakneck speed that marketers must prepare to navigate them–or be left behind. The same goes for the agencies that advise them. But the consensus among a panel of experts appearing at OMMA Hollywood earlier this week is that they’re not ready, not by a long shot.

“Agencies aren’t prepared for where things are going,” said Tim Hanlon, senior vice president-Ventures Group, at Publicis Groupe’s Denuo. Hanlon was, by far, the most strident of the group. Agency silos, he said, remain the order of the day, referring specifically to the relationship between brand and direct response media.

“Consumers, especially younger ones, if they see something in any form of media, they’re going to want to go further with it,” Hanlon said. “Agencies should be de-siloing to make that TV expression both a branded and DR vehicle,” whether it’s a TiVo vehicle or a telescope unit, “a little TV with a DR component,” adding: “Is that the direct marketing agency’s responsibility or the brand agency’s? I think it’s both, so why do have two separate groups?”

Good question. The role of the agency will need to change, given the rise of online-based ad auctions, hyper-local media planning and buying services, like SpotRunner and Spotzer, and other emerging media planning platforms.

“Google showed us that search and targeted ad messaging is not only a viable business, but a gargantuan business,” Hanlon said. “The holding company model missed it. Now they’re scrambling to be experts or to acquire this skill.” Hanlon noted Publicis’ acquisition of Digitas late last year.

The Indianapolis Star

Fast-food retailer Hardee’s is among the companies testing coupons that are downloaded to customers’ cell phones. The test, which is being conducted in Indianapolis and St. Louis, offers coupons for chicken sandwiches, breakfast biscuits and chili cheese fries.

In order to get the coupons, customers have to go to www.cellfire.com, check the compatibility of their cell phone with Cellfire, and enter their phone numbers and e-mail addresses. They then receive a text message with a link to download the Cellfire application. After launching, they can locate coupons stored under the names of participating companies. After clicking “use now” when the appropriate coupon appears, they show the coupon code to the cashier.

Hardee’s core customers are young and male, since it launched the Thickburger line of sandwiches in 2003. But studies show most people who clip coupons are middle-aged and female. “Guys are lazy,” says Steve Lemley, vice president of marketing for the St. Louis-based chain. – Read the whole story…

Microsoft Casual announced a plan to share a percentage of in-game advertising revenue from its MSN Games with casual game developers. The new Ad-Share Program is designed to spur innovation in the casual games space and provide an additional stream of revenue to developers. The company estimates developers of the top five games could share up to $250,000 annually, based on current in-game advertising revenue rates.

“Casual game developers traditionally operate on a limited revenue model, typically receiving a set fee from downloadable titles or a small royalty associated with game subscriptions,” said studio manager for Chris Early. “Now, by sharing in-game advertising revenue, we’re allowing a more diversified business model that gives our partners more resources to create new, innovative titles for the 13 million people we see every month on MSN Games.”

For more details:
- check out the release

Google is getting ready for a re-entry into video advertising. It’s taking its first steps by joining hands with some of the biggest names in the video industry. Google AdSense ads can now display music clips from Warner Music Group and Sony BMG Music Entertainment.

During the next four weeks, Google will allow users to use AdSense in their websites and choose from a selected playlist of songs to play in their web site. These music videos will be accompanied with advertising.