02.09.10

Thumb Tax: Teens Text Ten Times per Hour

“When not at school or asleep in bed, American youngsters are texting. In fact, according to new research from The Nielsen Company, teens send, on average, one text every six minutes.

It should come as no surprise that teens text a lot, considering they appear permanently transfixed to the tiny screen, heads down, thumbs working ten to the dozen. To get a better idea of just how much, Nielsen analyzed over 40,000 U.S. teen mobile phone bills to determine their texting habits.

The research firm found that American teens send, on average, 10 texts per hour that they’re awake and not in school. That’s an average of 3,146 per month. It seems they can’t even drive without sending and receiving texts – a deadly combination – despite the activity being banned in many places.

Younger mobile users, tweens aged 9-12, send about 4 texts every hour they’re not asleep or at school, or 1,146 per month.”

http://www.bizreport.com/2010/02/us_teens_texting_ten_times_per_hour.html

Source: “U.S. teens texting ten times per hour,” BizReport

Date Published: February 9, 2010

0 UP0 DOWN
READ MORE >>
Posted by Mike at 4:49 pm
 
02.09.10

Academy Awards Get Integrated with Social Media

“Like all things Hollywood, Oscar is getting some work done to keep up a more youthful appearance.

Along with the ballyhoo surrounding the Best Picture category, now with 10 nominees instead of five for this year’s 82nd annual telecast, airing March 7 on ABC, the ceremony is getting its first social-media push to attract younger viewers.

The Academy Awards show has lost a good deal of its golden luster in recent years as the entertainment telecast of the year, sinking to all-time ratings lows in 2008. Viewership increased only 13% last year, making it the third lowest-rated broadcast in Oscar’s televised history. The main culprit? Many of the nominated films in recent years have achieved less-than-blockbuster status at the box office, ultimately appealing to older, more-sophisticated audiences — last year’s median age was 49.5, just enough to age the telecast out of its advertisers’ most-coveted target audience.

But, until last year’s telecast, a lack of social media tie-ins also seems to have kept the Academy from realizing its full potential. Oscar pools and predictions have long been a parlor game that the Academy never harnessed through its online channels, and the ceremony has been notably absent from even its own websites, not to mention the lack of Facebook or Twitter applications to keep viewers engaged online in a real-time basis.

One of the Academy’s first milestones debuted last week, when the nominations were streamed live online for the first time at Oscars.org and on the Academy’s Facebook page, facebook.com/TheAcademy, which was watched by more than 170,000 unique viewers Tuesday morning. Oscar.com, a joint production from the Academy and ABC, is also being revamped this year, hosting more video and exclusive content from nominees, as well as widgets for Oscar pools and predictions for the second year in a row.

Also on deck is — wait for it — an Oscars iPhone app, launching later this month, which fans can use to see how their Oscar predictions stack up against others. The Academy plans to release behind-the-scenes footage from the preparations and rehearsals leading up to this year’s telecast, which is also being syndicated to online video sites and digital out-of-home networks.”

http://adage.com/madisonandvine/article?article_id=141978

Source: “To Regain Luster, Oscars Get a Social-Media Makeover,” AdAge

Date Published: February 8, 2010

0 UP0 DOWN
READ MORE >>
Posted by Mike at 4:26 pm
 
02.09.10

Health Videos Lead to Additional Health Searches

“If there was any doubt, online health video has officially arrived as a means of reaching consumers. Almost half of those researching drug info online include health videos in their search sessions, according to Manhattan Research.

The study also found that nearly three quarters of those watching health videos as part of their searches performed additional research afterwards, suggesting that the videos spur action.

‘The growing health video audience represents a strong opportunity for DTC marketers, particularly because this media format leads to considerable post-visit action,’ said Monique Levy, senior director of research at Manhattan Research. ‘Understanding what kind of health videos to develop, and which websites or online channels to put them on, however, is critical to success.’”

http://www.mmm-online.com/online-video-big-in-health-searches/article/163250/

Source: “Online video big in health searches,” Medical Marketing & Media

Date Published: February 5, 2010

0 UP0 DOWN
READ MORE >>
Posted by Mike at 3:53 pm
 
02.09.10

Google Adds Twitter, Facebook Elements to Gmail

“Google is trying once again to capture some of the momentum surrounding social networking companies like Facebook and Twitter by adding new features to Gmail, its popular e-mail service.

Later this week, Google will introduce add-ons to Gmail that let users post and view messages about their day-to-day activities, according to a person at Google briefed on its plans. This simple tweak to Gmail will allow Google to mimic the status updates that have driven much of the success of Facebook and Twitter, as people return to the services again and again to check out what their friends and co-workers are doing.

To date, Google has allowed users to post only a brief message about their status through its Chat system, which is linked to Gmail. The new features would allow a more vibrant back-and-forth among Gmail users.

It is not clear whether Google will link the new Gmail features to rival social-networking services.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/09/technology/companies/09social.html

Source: “Google to Add Social Features to Gmail,” New York Times

Date Published: February 8, 2010

0 UP0 DOWN
READ MORE >>
Posted by Mike at 3:29 pm
 
02.09.10

Online Gains Made Via Super Bowl TV Ads

“Advertisers that bought spots in this year’s Super Bowl saw a sharp spike in online references relating directly to their brands, according to research conducted by Prophesee, a unit of Interpublic’s Initiative that monitors and analyzes consumer conversations, blogs and other online social-media activity.

Of the 38 brands that ran ads during the game, 75 percent saw the number of blog posts about them double, compared with the average for Sunday evenings over the past six months. And about one-third of those brands realized a threefold rise in the number of blog posts about them, per the Prophesee survey.

Both Kia and Budweiser, to cite two examples, experienced a threefold hike in the number of blog posts mentioning them after their ads ran in the game. And buzz surrounding Doritos jumped by a factor of 13.

Positive sentiment increased 4 percent overall for Super Bowl sponsors across social-media platforms, per Prophesee.

The survey found that the Snickers spot with Betty White and Abe Vigoda was the most blogged about celebrity endorsement ad. A spot for Vizio featuring Beyonce was second and tops in positive sentiment (73 percent).”

http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/custom-reports

Source: “SB TV Advertisers See Online Gains,” Adweek

Date Published: February 8, 2010

0 UP0 DOWN
READ MORE >>
Posted by Mike at 2:53 pm
 
02.08.10

Peyton, Super Bowl Bring Twitter to Its Knees

“The famous Twitter ‘Fail Whale’ appeared during the final moments of the Super Bowl, as viewers apparently crashed Twitter with too many tweets about the game.

‘Super Bowl has crashed Twitter at least 20 times. It’s a whole new world’ wrote Twitter user @Randy_Gage.

‘Stop tweeting about the Super Bowl, twitter keeps going over capacity. ;D’ pleaded @Tham22.

‘the superbowl just killed twitter.’ wrote @mooshinindy.

Readers: did you see the fail whale? Or could you Tweet throughout the game?”

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/02/07/did-the-super-bowl-kill-twitter

Source: “Did the Super Bowl Kill Twitter?,” Wall Street Journal

Date Published: February 7, 2010

0 UP0 DOWN
READ MORE >>
Posted by Mike at 12:21 pm
 
02.08.10

Is Online Video the New DVR?

“The habits of US visitors to online TV sites reveal that online TV-viewing acts as a replacement for DVR (digital video recorder) viewing, according to research from Nielsen.

The broader usage patterns suggest that online video is, for the most part, a replacement of DVR use, or used by those who do not have immediate access to TV. TV network content online is primarily used to catch up with programming, rather than as a replacement for TV viewing, writes MarketingCharts.

When asked for reasons they watch TV shows on the internet, 54% of respondents said because they forgot to watch a specific episode when it aired on TV. Another 47% said they are catching up on a current season of programming, 33% said they are catching up on a previous season, and 32% specifically said they forgot to record a show with their DVR or TiVo. Only the bottom three answers, another household member watching another program at the same time, and watching while at work or traveling, could be considered reasons that replace watching TV in the traditional manner.

When an internet session involves viewing TV, the viewing of TV tends to dominate the session. Overall, 73% of a respondent’s internet session that involves TV viewing consists of TV viewing. That number climbs to 75% of men’s sessions and drops to 69% of women’s sessions. The 2-11 age group has its internet sessions least dominated by TV viewing (50%), with ages 65-plus devoting the second-least amount of time (59%). Respondents ages 25-34 devoted the most of their internet sessions that involved TV viewing to TV viewing (79%), barely ahead of 18-to-24-year-olds (78%).

Online TV viewing is a mostly solitary activity, according to study results. A combined 84% of respondents never or rarely watch TV online with one or more other people.”

http://www.marketingvox.com/online-video-replaces-dvr-046141/

Source: “Online Video Replaces DVR,” MarketingVOX

Date Published: February 5, 2010

0 UP0 DOWN
READ MORE >>
Posted by Mike at 11:53 am
 
02.08.10

Brands Wrangle with E-Retailers Over Prices

“Where’s the price?

On some pages of e-commerce sites selling products like televisions, digital cameras and jewelry, a critical piece of information is conspicuously missing: the price tag.

To see how much these items cost, shoppers must add the merchandise to their shopping carts — in effect, taking it up to the virtual register for a price check.

The missing prices are part of a larger battle sweeping the world of e-commerce. Wary of the Internet’s tendency to relentlessly drive down prices, major brands and manufacturers — and now, book publishers — are striking back, deploying a variety of tactics and tools to control how their products are presented and priced online.

‘You are seeing firms of all types test the waters’ with strategies to control online pricing, said Christopher Sprigman, associate professor of intellectual property at the University of Virginia School of Law and a former antitrust lawyer at the Justice Department. ‘They feel they have more freedom to do it now.’

In many cases that freedom stems from a 2007 Supreme Court ruling in the case of Leegin Creative Leather Products v. PSKS. The ruling gave manufacturers considerably more leeway to dictate retail prices, once considered a violation of antitrust law, and it set a high legal hurdle for retailers to prove that this is bad for consumers.

Ever since that decision, retailers say manufacturers have become increasingly aggressive with one tool in particular: forbidding retailers from advertising their products for anything less than a certain price.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/08/technology/internet/08price.html

Source: “The Fight Over Who Sets Prices at the Online Mall,” New York Times

Date Published: February 7, 2010

0 UP0 DOWN
READ MORE >>
Posted by Mike at 11:25 am
 
02.08.10

Social, Search and Email Spend on the Rise

“Email service provider ExactTarget released a study this week showing marketers plan to boost spending in email, social media and other non-traditional outreach channels this year. Advisory firm Econsultancy conducted the research along with the Indianapolis-based ESP.

The study of 1,000-plus marketers shows 54% of marketers said they will boost budgets for email marketing, and about 66% in social media (even though about 80% of those acknowledged the difficulty in tracking ROI in the medium).

Delving deeper in social media, the research showed the medium is the ‘fastest growing digital marketing channel.’ That includes venues from Facebook pages to blogs.

More than 70% are boosting spending on so-called “off-site” social media offerings such as Facebook and Twitter, and about 65% in “on-site” areas such as ‘blogs or ratings and reviews.’

Fifty-one percent said they plan to increase paid-search budgets, and 56% in mobile marketing.

Also, 13% plan to decrease their overall marketing budget, and 42% to keep it flat.”

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=121930

Source: “Study: Spending On Email, Social And Search Rising,” MediaPost

Date Published: February 4, 2010

0 UP0 DOWN
READ MORE >>
Posted by Mike at 10:51 am
 
02.08.10

5 Signs of Mobile’s Coming Dominance

“Mobile ads might consist of only a tiny portion of digital advertising – but their potential looms large. Analysts such as Morgan Stanley are adopting bullish assumptions about mobile computing’s growing reach.

The industry is not there yet, however. Ad platforms are still very fragmented, making it cumbersome to place ads across multiple devices or OS. Also the mobile ad technology itself is only advancing in fits and starts.

But progress is being made. Following are five important signs that mobile computing is not far away from becoming a dominant access point to the internet, according to JiWire.

Consumers on-the-go lifestyles is having a transformative effect on the media and advertising market, as both traditional and digital media adapt to an increasingly mobile audience that consumes media on a progressively broad range of portable, personal devices such as laptops, smartphones, kindles, gaming devices, netbooks, and so forth.

As technology enables increasing consumer utility and ‘connectedness,’ legacy media distribution channels become less relevant to marketers than audience segmentation. Media channels that reach mobile audiences are mirroring each other to a great extent. Out-of-home advertising is going through drastic changes by becoming more digital and much more interactive. Mobile device-based marketing campaigns have become far more like traditional online campaigns. Digital, mobile, and digital-out-of-home channels will increasingly converge, and keeping these channels separate for ad buying purposes will be more difficult and increasingly irrelevant.

As mobile marketing matures, it will become less about the device and more about the audience. Mobile advertising is following a development path similar to internet advertising: in the early days of the internet, marketers included haphazard online purchases in their marketing mix. While the medium wasn’t understood at the time, it had great potential and marketers made purchases with little direction. Now Internet ad buying is based on audience, much like traditional media purchase, and has become much more effective. In 2010, mobile advertising buys will start to look more like online buys.”

http://www.marketingvox.com/5-signs-of-mobile-advertisings-coming

Source: “5 Signs of Mobile Advertising’s Coming Dominance,” MarketingVOX

Date Published: February 4, 2010

0 UP0 DOWN
READ MORE >>
Posted by Mike at 10:18 am