MTV Touts Innovation

Coming off the announcement of MTV's upfront advertising sales presentation to be held on May 8th, executives from the network spoke to MTV's multi-platform advertising opportunities and its tilt toward innovation.

"We hold a unique position in the marketplace, with connections to nearly every demo on every screen, and we really want to bring that to life for our partners," Judy McGrath, MTVN chairman-CEO, said in a statement. "We've worked hard and smart in developing solutions that really engage both clients and consumers, and this is an opportunity to lift the curtain to spotlight new and innovative work."

Hank Close, MTVN's president-U.S. ad sales, added, "Our commitment to partnership and innovation is stronger than ever and this event will drive home the concept of return on innovation. From new programming to new ad models, platforms and technologies, this will be a unique hour."

MTV's core demographic certainly commands innovation, in programming and the ability to access content across media platforms. With an immense portfolio of content, I would like to think that MTV will step into the digital signage marketplace in the near future. It seems likely that MTV would partner with large digital signage networks catering to the tween, teen, and young adult demographics.

Will we see MTV content on digital signage screens in malls, retail stores, and amusement parks in the near future?

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Retail Goes Digital

In my opinion, it's a foregone conclusion that elements of e-commerce will continue to filter into the world of bricks-and-mortar, thus creating a hybrid shopping experience that connects the best of the digital world with the most attractive attributes of the traditional retail shopping experience.

Imagine bringing together the world's favorite catalogers, e-tailers, brands and specialty retailers into a single, spectacular shopping environment. A collection of merchandise never before seen in a retail setting.

Now imagine a consumer experience integrating the best of online and catalog shopping with superb store retailing. A revolutionary combination of traditional take-home purchasing, and on demand delivery. A seamless blend of single-store and multi-store shopping. A pure convergence of one touch shopping with the real world excitement of a retailing environment.

This is the Epicenter Collection.

The Epicenter Collection is a development of Convergent Retail LLC and the creation of Sheldon Gordon, an innovator in the field of unique retailing venues which has been achieving unparalleled success for its partners and tenants for more than 40 years. This uniqe retail concept promises to offer an unparalleled shopping experience.

Is this the future of retail?

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Branded Entertainment - The Future of Advertising

According to a recent report from PQ Media, branded entertainment grew more than 14% in 2007 to reach $22.3 billion. Branded entertainment is expected to continue this growth rate into 2008, reaching more than $25.4 billion (13% increase).

Content is King, Content Drives Brands, Content Breathes Life into Advertising...No matter the turn-of-phrase, the importance of engaging, enriching, educational, informational, humorous, entertaining, and dynamic content is difficult to argue. From the New York Times to the Des Moines Register, From CBS to KFYR-TV in Bismarck, North Dakota, from Sirius Radio to your local college's radio station, content separates the good from the bad and the successful advertising platforms from the failures.

Given the wealth of choices and power consumers have in today's media environment, it's no surprise that branded entertainment is experiencing rapid and explosive growth.

Over the last five years, branded entertainment has nearly doubled its size as more big brands realize how efficient the ad medium can be in the ever-changing alternative advertising world. With fewer dollars being spent in the television and newspapers ad space, more dollars are being pushed into alternatives like the Internet and mobile space, which engages users differently.

"Americans are spending more time outside their homes, online at work, communicating via wireless devices and multitasking with various media, which has created a generation of elusive consumers for brand marketers to try to reach," Patrick Quinn, President & CEO of PQ Media said. "And these trends have led to increased investment in alternative marketing tactics."

Branded entertainment includes event sponsorship (12% growth in 2007) and product placement (33% growth in 2007) as well as webisodes and advergaming (34% increase).

Through 2012, branded entertainment is expected to show 12% growth CAGR to reach more than $40 billion. (via BizReport)

Digital Signage is an ideal platform for branded entertainment. Connecting individuals to brands through entertaining clips and powerful content stands at the epicenter of what must drive our industry's growth. Digital signage networks can foster rich conversations with consumers through content that speaks to people's senses and leads them to measurable actions.

I theorize that the growth of branded entertainment will foster innovations in traditional and emerging media platforms, such as digital signage and mobile marketing.

Branded entertainment is the future of advertising.

The branded entertainment piece below, entitled "Triangles" was created by Sony. It was used by Sir Howard Stringer to communicate his "vision" of the Sony brand upon his taking the helm as CEO.

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Rolling Rock on the Moon?

Courtesy of the folks over at Trend Hunter, there is a story highlighting an upcoming Rolling Rock marketing effort to project the Company's logo onto the moon. Is this is a gag or a true marketing innovation? Is this even possible?

Rolling Rock, the beer company famous for that mysterious number ‘33’, is trying yet another oddball marketing approach - moonvertising. A clever gag or a scientific marvel? We’ll all find out on March 21, the next full moon, when the company attempts to project their logo on to the face of our favorite orbiting neighbor - the moon. In the mean time, those who are over the age of 21 can check out their web site and put your own message on their virtual moon.

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Focus Media - Falling Digital Signage Stock...Why?

I must commend Bill Gerba for bringing up the topic of Focus Media's falling share price on his blog. For those of you who are not familiar with Focus Media, the China-based Company is one of the largest digital signage network operators in the world. As of March 31, 2007, Focus Media had approximately 90,000 display units in its commercial location network; 40,700 display units in its in-store network; 124,500 advertising poster frames installed throughout China; and 200 outdoor LED displays in Shanghai.

Bill notes in his blog that despite strong earnings and growth, Focus Media's shares have declined in value 25% over the course of the last few days. The Company's shares are currently trading at $33.25, off of a 52-week high of $66.30.

Having previously worked at one of the world's largest financial institutions, I am happy to offer insights as to the reasons behind the precipitous fall of Focus Media's stock price. The truth of the matter is that the recent pull back in Focus Media's share price is in no way the result of poor performance or irresponsible management. Focus Media's share price is just one of many casualties resulting from the downturn in the economy and the financial markets as a whole. Overall, Focus Media is performing strongly and is experiencing fantastic growth.

At its current level, Focus Media's stock is greatly undervalued. This is a terrific example of a stock being battered down by the bad news encompassing financial markets. Downturns in the housing market, the subprime mortgage crisis, rising inflation, billions of dollars worth of write downs on behalf of the world's largest financial institutions (thanks Bear Stearns), the weakening of the US dollar...are all playing a part in the fact that stocks like Focus Media, Apple, Microsoft, and Google, are getting chunks ripped out of them for no good reason.

Twelve of the largest financial institutions that analyze stocks rate Focus Media either a "Buy" or a "Strong Buy," with a year-ending median price target of $73.50 (a 121% increase on the stock's current price).

Furthermore, the Company released earning's last night, and they were out of sight:

The latest quarterly report from China's ad-serving giant, released Tuesday night, was a blowout. Revenue jumped 171% to $184.6 million. Net income climbed 46%, resulting in an EPS of $0.34 a share, or $0.52 after you back out stock-based compensation and acquisition-related items. It is on that adjusted basis that analysts were looking for just $0.48 a share in earnings on $168 million in revenue. (via Motley Fool)

With the Beijing Olympics fast approaching, I rate Focus Media as a Strong Buy.

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Reactrix Looks to Add Purchasing Power to Displays

I am a strong believer in facilitating transactions through digital signage. While some could argue that adding purchasing power to a digital sign would make it a kiosk, I think that the two entities should be thought of separately.

What I'm talking about here is digital signage whose main objective is advertising, entertainment, or education offering the functionality where consumers can make purchases as well. Ultimately, an interactive digital signage system that connects advertising and consumerism. An example would be the ability to purchase an article of clothing from a storefront digital window display in operation after the store has closed for the night.

It seems that the smart folks over at Reactrix share my passion for connecting the worlds of commercial transactions and digital signage.

Mike Ribero, the company's CEO, said Reactrix will add free digital downloads first and then move on to commercial transactions. In his vision, the displays would become the point of purchase.

The displays won’t end up being old-school kiosks, though. According to MediaPost, Ribero predicts a “convergence between media and commerce” in out-of-home digital advertising and that the commercial interactions will be blended seamlessly into the entertaining experience.

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The Decline of Traditional Media

The hard truth is that traditional media doesn't work like it used to. Companies used to throw money at TV, newspapers, and radio thinking that the more money they spent (and the more they advertised during major events like the Super Bowl) the more successful they would be.

In a pre-TiVo and pre-Internet world this worked to some degree. Even though advertisers could never truly pinpoint what part of their advertising was working and what wasn't - insert Wanamaker quote here.

Consumers are no longer passive creatures that companies can incessantly advertise to without consequence. Our society is an amalgam of different media consumption preferences. And the best part is, is that blogs, social networks, YouTube, online magazines and newspapers, and, most evidently, the Internet as whole, cater to the varying needs and desires of each and every one of us.

Advertising is changing. Media is changing. Consumption is changing. WE, as a society, are changing.

The question isn't whether traditional media will live or die. I think we can all agree that the major television networks aren't going anywhere. What we really need to be asking is this:

How will traditional media change? How will newspapers, radio, and television adapt to meet the changing needs and desires of society?

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Engagement Instead of Annoyance

Hulu, an online video portal jointly operated by NBC Universal and News Corp, went out of private beta today and opened its doors to the public. In response to Hulu's public launch, Advertising Age - I think I should starting putting this publication under my pillow at night - published an article describing Hulu's unique advertising platform - whose aim is to engage rather than annoy.

It appears that the execs at Hulu share my viewpoint on valuing consumers and respecting the power they wield in today's media environment.

At launch, consumers will be able to watch commercial-free movies if they pick from a selection of movie-trailers before the show begins, said Jean-Paul Colaco, senior VP-advertising sales and operations for Hulu.

The site also expects to let users choose from an array of commercials from a single advertiser in advance of a video choice -- so someone choosing to see an episode of "Chuck" might be able to pick from among three different Nissan commercials. Because viewers choose the ads they want to see in these instances, Mr. Colaco said, they are apt to have more interest in the product being advertised and might respond to additional promotions for a particular car or movie during their video selection.

A viewer choosing an ad for the Nissan Murano, for instance, might also see overlay ads for the vehicle during their chosen video and could be offered an opportunity to take a test drive at the end of their viewing. Likewise, someone who picked a particular movie trailer might be given the chance to buy tickets for a showing of the film in theaters, Mr. Colaco said.

To view the Advertising Age article in full, click here

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Consumers Deserve Our Respect

I made a comment this morning on Bill Gerba's blog, Digital Signage News, in response to the post he made on the power of content. I gave him a little jab that I beat him to the punch (by two days) in highlighting the Advertising Age story on the 4A Conference and the importance of content.

Following my short comment, a person followed with what I believe to be one of the most ignorant, irrational arguments that I have read in some time. The "Anonymous" - the choice of anonymity is telling in the person's true desire to take ownership of his/her words - commenter remarks that "consumers are sheep" and goes on to say:

Do I care about the content that I push at the consumer? Do I care what the consumer would rather see than my ads or content? In the long run, I only care if the advertiser that is paying me money is happy. Unlike TV, consumers don't get a remote to turn the channel on my stuff. They can look away or just ignore it, but I see that as a numbers game. I will keep pushing it in their face and they can't really do anything about it. The more ads I push at more people, the more those ads will have an effect.

This "anonymous" commenter represents what plagues the digital signage industry. People looking to bastardize our medium for the sake of making a quick buck, and taking advantage of consumers, diminish the true power and value behind digital signage.

I politely request that the "anonymous" person that says "consumers are sheep" identify him or herself. I theorize that they made the comment anonymously because they know deep down that what they said is both wrong and absurd.

Consumers are no more sheep than rocks are flowers. Consumers are powerful, creative, impassioned, educated, etc. and deserve to be treated with respect. Gone are the days of mind-numbing advertising spots that consumers cannot avoid. To belittle the value of consumers is to call out every single person you know in your life and tell them that their opinions don't matter.

Advertising in today's society is a two-way street. Engagement reigns over eyeballs. Consumers are part of the conversation. In order to be successful, Marketers, Brands, and Advertisers must treat consumers with the respect and trust they deserve.

What do you think? Are you as angered by the comments made by"anonymous" as I am?

Join the conversation and show that consumers have the power.

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Measure Media

We have another great story coming out of the 4A Conference courtesy of Advertising Age. The article entitled, "How Do We Measure Up?" confronts the issue of media measurment. The fact is that the old model is broken and a new one has yet to materialize.

Media organizations can't even agree on what components should constitute a new measurement system that integrates the various platforms-TV, radio, newspaper, mobile, out-of-home, online-that encompass today's media environment.

There's plenty of disruption, the various speakers suggested, but not enough progress to offset it. In the digital-media space, "we are reaching a point where the traditional measurements are reaching a breaking point," said Konrad Feldman, the co-founder and CEO of Quantcast, an internet-rating service.

What's needed, said several media buyers attending the conference, is a more comprehensive system for figuring out how ads perform across multiple platforms. Unfortunately, a panacea simply isn't at the ready and may not be for months. "

Models right now don't have the capacity to bring all the touch points together," said Donna Speciale, president-investment and activation at Publicis Groupe's MediaVest USA. As more dollars flow from traditional TV and print to digital venues, she said, "we have to determine what the correlations of all the various metrics are across all the platforms." Ms. Speciale said her agency will focus for the next six months to a year on ways to weave data together to give clients a more comprehensive look at how their ads perform.

The issues brought up in the Advertising Age article are not platform agnostic. Whether or not we're talking about traditional media, such as television, or emerging media, such as digital signage, the crux of the matter is the same: We need new standards for measurement that take into account our changing media landscape.

*Read "How Do we Measure Up?" in full by clicking here.

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Content is King

Digital Signage, mobile marketing, TV, radio, newspapers, online advertising...regardless of the medium, CONTENT IS KING. We must respect consumers and provide them with palpable values in advertising and marketing to them. Whether those values are entertainment, engagement, information, education, or buying power, consumers deserve to be thought of as more than eyeballs. In today's fragmented media world, consumers won't stand for being treated as passive creatures that can be advertised to, to no end.

In her speech at the recent 4A Conference, Anne Sweeney, President of ABC-Disney Television Group, espoused the fact that the one constant in media is the demand for great CONTENT.

With consumers bombarded by thousands of messages each day, creativity is critical, Ms. Sweeney said. "We need to be more creative than ever to break though and stand out."

The last guideline: Marketers, agencies and media companies must be committed to change. "We can't rely on old models or follow old rules," she said. "The choice in the digital age isn't whether to adapt, it's whether to evolve or perish." (via Advertising Age)

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Marketing Engagement and Involvement

The world is changing. The consumer is changing. Marketing is not ... and that's not a good thing, as it so desperately needs to adapt, evolve and conform to the only constant these days, which is change itself.

One of the key principles of the "New Marketing" arena is the idea behind communal activation. In the mainstream world we might refer to this as "engagement," i.e., getting people to care enough to take some kind of action -- inquiring about more information, telling a friend, blogging or, the Shangri-La of marketing: the purchase.

Marketing today is like a spectacular fireworks display. Short-lived and breathtaking. Unforgettably forgettable. The Macy's July 4th fireworks display might as well be the Super Bowl. (Take the test: Can you name 10 brands that advertised in this year's big game?) All our efforts seem to be front-loaded into launching with a bang. In order to break through the prototypical clutter, we have to take over our prospects' lives, leaving no stone unturned, nowhere to to hide.

The excerpt above is from an article entitled, "Marketing's Big Bang Theory," written by acclaimed marketing author Joseph Jaffe. Throughout the piece, Jaffe calls out old marketing as an overly glitzy and glam-ridden exercise. He attacks brands and marketers who use tired advertising tactics as akin to golfers who "attempt to whack the living daylights out of the ball in order to show off to their playing partners. "

I couldn't agree more with Jaffe's thoughts on the Super Bowl. The night's highest-rated commercials, including spots for E-trade and Budweiser, were "flash in the pan" productions. Each played off of cliches (a talking baby and Rocky montage, respectively).

There needs to be a seismic shift from the one-off fireworks display to something that is pervasive, enduring and consistently assuring, including, but not limited to, influencer outreach, blogger activation, conversation monitoring, optimization and response, contingency planning, crisis management and course correction.

Engagement and Involvement are the most important facets of advertising and marketing today. To build lasting relationships with consumers is what all brands should strive for, rather than creating forgetful commercials that explode in the sky and then disappear.

New media platforms, such as digital signage and mobile marketing, offer unparalleled levels of engagement and involvement. We need to recognize the power that consumers hold and gain their permission and respect. Brand conversations and long-term relationships are more powerful than a marketing campaign that is more fireworks than substance.

*To read "Marketing's Big Bang Theory" in full, click here

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More Digital Billboard Love: Courtesy of the LA Times

The steam that the digital billboard industry is riding on is getting a boost from the Los Angeles Times. Illustrating the importance of engaging, relevant content to digital out-of-home media, an article in today's issue of Advertising Age announced that exclusive news content from the Los Angles Times will adorn 10 Clear Channel digital billboards across the city. This makes the LA Times the first major newspaper to use Clear Channel's digital billboards for news alerts and branding.


This is a powerful example of the marriage of great content with digital out-of-home media. The digital signage industry has seen many instances in which major content providers have partnered with network owners. NBC, CBS, and ABC each lend content to a range of networks. The most prominent newspaper / digital signage partnership would have to be the Wall Street Journal and the Office Media Network (screens in commercial office buildings). Let's hope the Los Angeles Times - Clear Channel partnership is more fruitful for consumers than the Journal and Office Media Network content package.

Attached below is an excerpt from the Advertising Age article highlighting the LA Times move into digital out-of-home media:

John O'Loughlin, Los Angeles Times' president-targeted media and senior VP-marketing, said the billboards are designed to reach the casual Times consumer, someone who reads the paper in print or online once or twice a week. "We want to prompt them and remind them and bring them back into the fold," Mr. O'Loughlin said.

The editorial content will be comprised of mostly regional sports, politics and entertainment stories, as well as promotions for local events the paper hosts annually, like next month's Festival of Books. "You're not likely to see a story about some breaking news that happened in Iraq. We're definitely focused more on signature pieces, content elements, blogs, columnists, stories, products and events that are unique to us," Mr. O'Loughlin said.

The billboards' content will rotate roughly every eight seconds, and can be updated at any time from the Times' digital newsroom. Additionally, Clear Channel Outdoor will have its own cameras in place at each of the billboards so the newspaper can perform maintenance and follow traffic in real-time. This is the first time Clear Channel Outdoor has offered such a service to a digital-billboard client.

"The Los Angeles Times stands out as a true innovator in the use of this new advertising medium, which not only expands awareness of the company's brands, but enables it to stay in up-to-the-minute touch with its readers and website visitors over the course of the entire day," Paul Meyer, president-chief operating officer of Clear Channel Outdoor, said in a statement. Although Los Angeles is the first market where the new technology is being deployed, Mr. Meyer hinted at the potential for more rollouts in the future.

An eight-second spot will be displayed on the 10 boards 70,910 times per week, reaching a combined total of 455,300 people per day, according to audited Daily Effective Circulation estimates. Mr. O'Loughlin said the company will be working with Clear Channel over the next 10 weeks to evaluate results and determine return on investment, before tweaking the boards at the end of May to update them for the Olympics and, later, the elections in the fall.

But so far, the internal reaction the billboards has been quite favorable at the Times, ever since the first spots began running on a trial basis Feb. 24 to coincide with the Academy Awards coverage. "It's had a viral effect where everyone was thinking it might be kind of cool, but it's gone far beyond that," Mr. O'Loughlin said. "It's about getting us as an organization in a really crowded media marketplace, best served by making consumers and advertisers aware of the unique content can't find anywhere but with us. We have a lot of it, and we're telling our story much better. Not only for latimes.com but for the L.A. Times print edition." (via Advertising Age)

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Thoughts on the Digital Signage Expo

For some reason or another, I cannot get this comment to stick to Bill Gerba's post covering his views of the recent Digital Signage Expo in Las Vegas. He makes a number of strong points in what the show's governing body must do to improve it for next year. My first vote is: move DSE back to Chicago and get out of Las Vegas. I love Vegas but it provides the wrong backdrop to the show and our industry.

There were positive and negative attributes of the Digital Signage Expo. First of all, Vegas is not the right venue for the show. It provides a distorted view of the state of our industry. Digital signs are everywhere in Las Vegas, leading people to believe that our industry is beyond the stage that it is currently in. Many of the digital signage installations in Vegas are ill-conceived and make poor use of industry technology.

I love the digital signage industry, so any time there is a show devoted to it, I really can't be displeased. But I can be left wanting more. I want forums with network owners so they can tell us the state of their deployments without having to speculate as to whether or not they're successful. I want to see technology that makes me say "WOW!" I want insights on our industry that I wouldn't be able to find anywhere else.

People need palpable reasons to attend, and exhibit, at these shows beyond information that a person could just as easily pull from the Internet. The show needs to exist beyond the blogs and industry news sites that can capture the who, what, where, when, and why of the event. The show needs to include elements that make it a "must attend" rather than a "I'll learn what went on at the show from a few choice blogs and magazines."

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Digital Billboard Love and Acceptance

For a medium that has been met with some resistance, mainly from detractors and municipal government officials who argue that digital billboards affect road safety, the age of digital out-of-home media is gaining a head of steam. Reports of the industry's rapid growth, coupled with studies that highlight the strength of digital billboards in spreading community messages, are hearkening widespread acceptance and deployment of digital billboards across the United States of America.

Digital billboards are beginning to gain public and state support, with two recent developments helping speed acceptance.

First, an Arbitron study found that the public believes the signs to be valuable in making drivers aware of weather and traffic conditions and Amber Alerts for missing kids. The second sign of support came from Texas, which recently approved the use of digital billboards on lone-state state highways.

Media Post reported on the Arbitron findings, which were based on a survey of Cleveland motorists who’ve been exposed to seven digital billboards for the past three years. Of the 402 adults polled, 80 percent of drivers think the signs provide an important community service. As for recall of billboard, 83 percent of viewers say they recalled at least one of the nine ads in the test group and 65 percent recalled two ads.

Arbitron maintains that digital billboards benefit other media, too; 35 percent of respondents were reminded of a local radio station, and 28 percent noted a TV show to watch because of digital billboard ads. (via MediaBuyerPlanner)

The acceptance and deployment of digital billboards across our country directly supports the growth of the digital signage industry. While the costs and display technology utilized are points of difference, roadside digital billboards are just large digital signs optimized for outdoor use. As the number of highway digital billboards grows so to will the number of digital signage installations.

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