MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA–(Marketwire – March 24, 2009) – NeoEdge Networks, Inc., a leading digital media company enhancing the online casual game experience for consumers, publishers and portals through in game advertising, community features and analytics, announced preliminary results from a three month study — Online Video Advertising Effectiveness. Key results found that online gaming provides substantially better performance and consumer perception than traditional TV advertising — a potential milestone in the evolution of advertising. The study, conducted in conjunction with market research firm Frank Magid Associates and in partnership with Zappos.com, began January 5 and is expected to conclude March 31.

Preliminary Findings

Online casual games are well known to attract and appeal to a highly sought after demographic for consumer brands — females between 25-54. Consumers spend an average of 44 minutes per session and play multiple sessions each week. The immersive nature of online casual games creates an active engagement opportunity between the game-playing consumer and the brands. Combining premium brand advertising with lean-forward casual games results in dramatically increased brand awareness and perception.

“The preliminary findings confirm that online video advertising inside casual games is a powerful consumer engagement tool,” said Vicki Cohen, Executive Vice-President at Frank Magid Associates. “Both aided and unaided Zappos.com awareness is dramatically higher after seeing the NeoEdge premium online video advertisements. Compared with traditional TV advertising, the results show more than a 500% increase in unaided brand awareness where a game included a Zappos.com pre, mid and post-roll advertisement.”

Added Cohen, “In addition, over 80% correctly linked Zappos.com as the advertiser who allowed them to play the game for free. And, 56% had a more favorable impression of Zappos.com because of their in-game advertising trade-off for free game play.”

“We knew through other research that the casual game consumer, primarily 25-54 and female, was a lean-forward, engaged audience, but these preliminary results indicate that they see, hear and remember the brands featured at a substantially high level when seen during game play,” said Alex Terry, CEO at NeoEdge Networks. “Traditional TV advertising, due to the medium, just can’t deliver these results.”

Methodology

The research goal was to determine both the value of online video advertising inside of casual games and the most efficient use of video advertising in casual games. In partnership with advertiser Zappos.com, casual game players across the NeoEdge Network were intercepted with a survey request after game play. Consumers saw one of ten different online video advertising scenarios, which varied number of ads seen, frequency of ads and additional ad products. Over 2,000 consumers participated in the research study and over 1 million ad impressions were used to conduct the comprehensive research.

“This is ground-breaking research, not just for online video advertising, but for advertising in online casual games,” said Terry. “The implication for brands is considerable — online casual games trump TV advertising in effectiveness.”

Adults between the ages of 18 and 35 are exposed to as much as 8.5 hours of digital broadcast daily, according to a recently-concluded study by the Council for Research Excellence, a group funded by Nielsen.

The survey conducted by Ball State University’s Centre for Media Design (CMD) and Sequent Partners dispels several popular notions about video media use.

The sweeping study on media habits of people found that Gen-Xers use digital platforms more than previously thought and that consumers under the age of 35 watch more live TV than expected. At the same time, evidence is mounting that traditional TV use is in decline among consumers in advertisers’ favourite age demographic, between 18 and 34.

These figures were a result of $3.5 million (Dh12.8m) year-long video consumer mapping study, in which participants were directly observed throughout the day by CMD researchers.

The recorded consumer exposure to visual content presented on any of four categories of screens: traditional TV, computer, mobile devices and out of home, which include cinema, in-store and even GPS devices.

The study covered more than three-quarters of a million minutes or a total of 952 observed days. The study relied on a core group of 350 participants, but that was supplemented by other groups of candidates.

Overall, live TV usage led all video time by a large margin, followed by consumption of DVDs and then digital-video-recorder usage.

The study emphasised that that younger baby boomers between the ages of 45 and 54 consume the most video media, taking in an average of just above 9.5 hours a day. Of that time, 336 minutes per day, more than five-and-a-half hours, was devoted to live TV. The young boomers also use the web an average of 46 minutes, DVR playback 17 minutes, and e-mail 51 minutes.

Meanwhile, consumers between the ages of 18 and 34 take in an average of eight-and-a-half hours of media overall, with 210 minutes – about three-and-a-half hours – devoted to live TV. The youngest consumers devote an average of 67 minutes to the web, 34 minutes to DVR playback and 20 minutes to email. The findings also established the fact that younger baby boomers (age 45-54) consume the most video media.

The young boomers “adopted the behaviour of two different groups of people – one group that is younger when it comes to digital media and one group that is older when it comes to TV,” Bill Moult, founding partner of Sequent Partners, said during a presentation of the research.

“This landmark research study makes a significant contribution to our understanding of how consumers go about accessing content across all platforms within the context of their daily lives,” said CRE Media Consumption and Engagement Committee Chair, Shari Anne Brill. “It also considerably advances the Council’s thinking regarding audience measurement priorities. Nothing of this magnitude has ever been attempted before and we expect that our entire industry will benefit from this game-changing work for years to come.”

Mike Hess, CRE Chair, added, “The scope of the study was too big and the cost too prohibitive for any one company to undertake on its own. A project of this magnitude clearly required a group effort.”

“Among the things we learned from those experiences is that people generally cannot report accurately how much time they spend with media,” said Mike Bloxham, Director of Insight and Research for Ball State’s CMD. “Some media tend to be over-reported whereas others tend to be under-

reported – sometimes to an alarming extent. Clearly, that kind of variance puts in question one’s ability to draw meaningful conclusions, and it convinced us that the observational method is the only real way to achieve accurate and reliable results.”

Added Paul Donato, Nielsen’s Chief Research Officer, “These new results are consistent with previous Nielsen studies that have found that video consumption has never been higher.”

The study formula

For mapping an accurate survey, observers used handheld smart keyboards equipped with a custom media collector program developed by Ball State.

The observers recorded – in 10-second increments – consumer exposure to visual content presented on any of four categories of screens. They are traditional television (including live TV as well as DVD/VCR and DVR playback); computer (including web use, e-mail, instant messaging and stored or streaming video); mobile devices such as a BlackBerry or iPhone (including web use, text messaging and mobile video); and “all other screens” (including display screens in out-of-home environments, in-cinema movies and other messaging and even GPS navigation units).

The study generated data covering more than three-quarters of a million minutes or a total of 952 observed days. This is the largest and most extensive observational study of media usage ever conducted.

Other findings

The research also found that:

*Contrary to some recent popular media coverage suggesting that more people are rediscovering “free TV” via the internet, computer video tends to be quite small with an average time of just two minutes (a little more than 0.5 per cent) a day.

*Despite the proliferation of computers, video-capable mobile phones and similar devices, TV in the home still commands the greatest amount of viewing, even among those ages 18-24. Thus, in the eyes of the researchers, this appears to dispute a common belief that internet video and mobile phone video exposure among that group were significant in 2008.

*TV users were exposed to 72 minutes per day of TV ads and promos – again dispelling a commonly held belief that modern consumers are channel-hopping or otherwise avoiding most of the advertising in the programming they view.

* Early DVR owners spent much more time with DVR playback than newer DVR owners. At the same time, DVR playback was even more likely than live TV to be the sole medium.

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These guys get consumer generated content… sorta.  Ok, maybe not, but this is funny stuff.

Advertisers are aggressively shifting their spend to even more interactive, measurable formats, as providers struggle to move “beyond advertising” to new forms of communication that combine the ROI characteristics of direct marketing with the brand characteristics of traditional advertising.

To compete in this new era of advertising, media companies and content suppliers will have to fundamentally change the way they deliver information to their audiences. Given the explosive growth in online and digital media formats, and the decline in traditional advertising (such as print, TV and radio), the study suggests that companies are placing their growth strategies at risk if they cannot evolve into more of a marketing services model as they identify and adopt the next generation of digital formats.

“To succeed — especially in the current economic environment — media companies will need to develop a new set of capabilities to support the industry’s evolving demands which include micro targeting, real-time ROI measurement and cross-platform integration,” said Saul Berman, IBM Global Leader for Strategy and Change Consulting Services, and co-author of the new study. “Now is the time for companies to move quickly to become more effective with their assets and build for the future.”

The study titled “Beyond Advertising: Choosing a Strategic Path to the Digital Consumer” was developed by IBM Global Business Services’ Media and Entertainment practice and the IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV: undefined, undefined, undefined%). The results indicate that four important trends are emerging: consumer adoption of new distribution formats, a shift in advertising spend, digital migration of platforms and the emergence of new capabilities due to moves by new entrants and existing players.

Influence of the Digital Savvy Consumer

Consumers are accelerating their adoption of digital content services such as Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook with varying levels of engagement. Between 2007 and 2008, the adoption of social networking tools soared to 60 percent from 33 percent; online/portable music services more than doubled to 46 percent from 22 percent; mobile internet data plans nearly tripled to 41 percent from 15 percent; and access to mobile music and video quadrupled to 35 percent from seven percent.

The study indicates that mass marketing faces many challenges as the audience becomes increasingly harder to target and fund from an integrated marketing perspective. Reaching diverse segments will require niche offerings and contextual search capabilities that are tailored for new platforms, new offerings and by geographic market.

“Media, entertainment and advertising agencies must realize consumers are open to sharing information under the right conditions,” said Bill Battino, Managing Partner, Global Communications Sector, IBM Global Business Services, and co-author of the study. “Our research shows consumers are willing to trade knowledge about their usage and preferences for content and associated targeted marketing offers. Companies that excel in permission-based advertising will take share of marketing dollars.”

Shift in Advertising Spending

Over the last decade, advertisers followed their audience and shifted to more interactive, measurable formats such as the Internet and mobile — which are expected to gain 20 percent share of overall spend, even in this economy. The study indicates that 63 percent of global Chief Marketing Officers expect to increase interactive/online marketing spend while 65 percent expect to decrease traditional advertising.

This shift will come at the expense of traditional marketing as advertisers follow their audience’s migration to new channels. Digital online formats will enable advertisers the ability to more effectively measure and analyze campaign results to prove the value of their spend.

Shift to “Brands-Actional” Advertising

The continued migration to digital platforms blurs the distinction between advertising and marketing and allows advertisers to pursue two format objectives simultaneously. In the past, platforms were aligned with either transaction or brand objectives. For example, phone, direct mail and promotions could address transaction objectives like targeting, ROI, measurement and response. In contrast, platforms like TV, print, outdoor and radio made it easier to address brand objectives. New digital formats — such as social media, online video, mobile, gaming, branded entertainment and advanced TV — can be used to simultaneously address both transaction and brand requirements: a move to what the study calls “brands-actional” advertising. As a result, advertisers that previously focused on delivering either ROI-driven marketing or brand-oriented advertising to the market can now cater to both sets of objectives.

Suppliers Can’t Meet Demand

According to the study, today’s suppliers (agencies, content networks and distributors) are not ready to meet the demands of the digital consumer and advertiser. Eighty percent of advertising industry participants interviewed for the study expect the industry to be at least five years away from being able to deliver true cross-platform advertising (including sales, delivery, measurement and analysis).

The study emphasizes that advertisers must deliver consumer-centric marketing — which involves combining more granular targeting and measurement with cross-platform integration — in order to be successful and meet the growing digital demands of consumers. Granularity is the basis for ROI driven advertising — which implies the ability to micro-target and interact with desired consumers while measuring response and impact. Integration enables the delivery of messaging to consumers in compelling, innovative ways across platforms, and tightly coupled with the emotionality, sensitivity, pace and genre of the content within which it is placed.

IBM Survey Methodology

To continue tracking both end-user consumer behavior and leading industry expert opinions about advertising, the IBM Institute for Business Value used two primary forms of research: an online consumer survey and one-on-one interviews with industry professionals. The online survey was conducted during the third quarter of 2008, generating 2,800 responses from six countries: Australia, Germany, India, Japan, the UK and the U.S. The respondent group was split 50/50 male/female, proportionately reaching demographic and economic groups age 13 years and over.

To assess industry strategies, over 70 one-on-one sessions were conducted with global participants across the advertising value chain, representing the following types of organizations: Content owners, Media distributors, Agencies, Advertisers, Research organizations/analysts, Advertising enablers, Information providers, media networks and advertising.

In the early days of Web shops, when it was common for digital agencies to refer to offline marketers as “dinosaurs” and try to make a case that the digital consumer is somehow a different person from the one who watches TV or drives past a billboard.  I sat in on presentations where I was told (as a then-offline marketer in the late 90′s) that this new consumer was coming and that most agencies would shortly be closing their doors as the Jetsons moved into town.  The new equivalent is “cutting edge” players who will tell you that product integration and measurement for branded content initiatives are the equivalent of putting a square peg in a round hole.  I recently heard a social media practice leader speaking at a huge conference make a plea to her peers to refuse clients’ requests to quantify or ensure performance levels for word of mouth activities.  It’s time for those who intent to survive and mainstream the branded content space to agree on standards, prove out that the brand and valuable content can coexist successfully, and cut short the critics who cast fear and doubt over what we know to be true.  Be relevant and useful to consumers, and they can and will fall in love with your brand.  And we can prove it.

______

Let Newton Ground You in the Bizarro World Of Marketing

The Three Laws of Motion Can Also Guide Us About Engaging Consumers

by Jonathan Salem Baskin

Published:March 09, 2009

Well, we’re a quarter of the way into 2009, and I think it’s all but official: The marketplace has morphed into Bizarro World. Nothing works like it should, so everything is up for grabs, including the fundamentals of marketing and brand strategy. I bet people have told you recently (with straight faces, no less):

• The best way to get consumers to buy things is to avoid selling to them.
• Only content that is apparently worthless possesses any value.
• The more consumers get for free, the more money you’ll make.

Some of the most exquisite nonsense has even appeared in this magazine, suggesting that you can’t measure what’s truly worth measuring.

Now, forget for a moment that the digital experts du jour violate their own rules — they usually provide a service, valued by demand, for which you have to pay — and consider the laws of classical physics that underpin their efforts. Our lives are still guided by Isaac Newton’s three laws of motion, published in 1687. Maybe a quick recap might tell us something important about consumer marketing in the Bizarro World of 2009:

Jonathan Salem Baskin is the author of “Branding Only Works on Cattle” and blogs about marketing atDim Bulb.

Newton’s first law says, “A body persists its state of rest or of uniform motion unless acted upon by an external unbalanced force.” In other words, you can’t change something unless you change it. It doesn’t matter how brilliantly you engage, converse or play to people’s inert biases or predispositions. You have to bring something new to the equation, and it must be relevant and useful enough to change the result.

The second law seems written to describe popular trends: “Force equals mass times acceleration,” or, in marketing terms, “the more people involved, the more powerful the campaign.” This doesn’t describe a friend list on Facebook, or the volume of tweets during any given 10-second span, but rather the development of true, involving and sustainable communities. Get participants to participate on stuff that matters — i.e. talk to customers first, because they have a vested interest in supporting you.

The third law is “To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” So shouldn’t the reactions to your marketing have something to do with your business proposition? If the response you’re driving for is a chuckle, or just a pass-along to another consumer, no wonder the gurus don’t want you to measure it. Given a nanosecond of time to interact with people, the best most of us can do is waste it?

I’m thinking that it makes sense to revisit these basics of physics before you approve that next reality-defying Bizarro World campaign. Let the apple hit you on the noggin first. No, not the brand. The fruit.

Many have praised the Obama campaign as the marketing story of the year — so, we were all ears when the AMA posted this video interview with Larry where he talks about how Team Obama leveraged new marketing channels and engaged young voters, and then goes on to answer some questions submitted by a handful of bloggers.  (you can see those around the 9 minute mark.)

]]> http://frugals.wordpress.com/2009/03/10/interview-with-obama-marketer-larry-grisolano/feed/ 0 avisavar http://frugals.wordpress.com/2009/03/09/today-feels-like-the-future-used-to/ http://frugals.wordpress.com/2009/03/09/today-feels-like-the-future-used-to/#comments Mon, 09 Mar 2009 20:12:50 +0000 avisavar http://frugals.wordpress.com/2009/03/09/today-feels-like-the-future-used-to/ Continue reading →]]> Let’s do an experiment.  Relax your mind and remember, if you can, life in the year 1999.

Google was founded last year but nobody notices, because college kids are researching their midterm papers with AltaVista.  Their parents use e-Trade to invest their college tuition in “companies” that are about to blow like the death star.   CD collections are epic.  There’s a new thing called Napster which allows people to share their CD collections “over the net”.  Bottled water and stuffed y2k “bugs” are selling like hotcakes as the world prepares for their 486 computers to catch fire and destroy the world to the tune of the more-popular-than-ever Prince single “1999″.

Now, for a glimpse at the future, open your eyes and look at this online publication:  h+ magazine

Or, for a little more nostalgia, watch Steve Jobs at Macworld in 1999 introducing the first portable consumer mac — say hello to the iBook: