YouTube Adds Cards, Making Videos More Interactive

Last week, YouTube launched a new Cards feature this week that is seen as the evolution of annotations. Items to note on these new cards are below:

• Allow creators to add interactive, Google-now like pop ups on videos.
• Can inform and link viewers to: merchandise, fundraising, other videos and playlists, websites and fan funding.
• Available on mobile (a big win)

As marketers develop Cards it is essential ensure these cards are truly adding value in the user journey of discovering video content. These cards should not disrupt the viewing experience unless it can provide unique and interesting interactivity—a feature that annotations for the most part have not supplied.

You can learn more here.

Facebook Launches Payment System For Messenger App Users

Facebook is making a very big push in the mobile payment space.

In the upcoming months, Facebook Messenger users will now be able to send money to friends within the app. "Easy, Secure, Free,” says the Facebook announcement.

• Facebook Messenger has over 500 Million monthly active users
• Of these users there are nearly 80 million payment cards already on file, thanks to Facebook being a trusted payments processor for gaming, advertising, and donations since 2007

Facebook Messenger is poised to disrupt the industry, taking market share from P2P payment leaders like Venmo, PayPal, and Google Wallet.

Beyond just payments, Facebook Messenger expects more updates next week during the F8 conference particularly around how it plans to compete with other messaging services. You can find more information here and here.

Early Version of Vessel Launched

If you haven't heard of Vessel yet, you will. Soon.

The newest online video platform started by former Hulu CEO Jason Kilar, competes directly with YouTube, claims exclusive content and has just signed up some new advertisers:

• Users can get exclusive access to videos from some of the biggest content creators in the space.
• Vessel is offering these creators 70% of ad revenue while YouTube takes a majority of that revenue at 55%.
• Videos posted to Vessel can’t be seen anywhere else for 72 hours, hoping to be a big differentiating factor for the company.
• After that 72 hour window, the content then moves to Vessel’s free, ad-supported service along with other platforms like YouTube.
• Advertisers include: Chevy, Corona Extra, Land Rover, Jaguar, Axe, Dove, Suave and St. Ives
• Producers, including Alec Baldwin, signed on to produce custom content for the platform

Vessel launched their early version of the service to video creators last Wednesday. Once Vessel attracts more creator, we can expect "general pop" log in opportunities. In the meantime, you can request an invite here. Plus, see more about the platform here.

Twitter Evolves Advertising Opportunities

During Twitter’s first Analysts Day in mid-November,  Twitter announced and alluded to new updates to the ad platforms that further compete with Facebook and even search giants like Google, particularly with mobile and video solutions.

Some of those updates include:

• Twitter Offers:
• After slowly allowing brands to sell on the platform, Twitter is further showing its devotion to eCommerce via an Offer Card
• Users can add the offer to their credit/debit card in a few taps and redeem in real time via their card
• Attribution will be easy to track directly on Twitter campaigns to further measure ROI for offers
  
• App install tracking
• Answers is now available as a free mobile measurement tool to track promoted and organic app installs driven by Twitter
• Native Video coming to Twitter by Summer 2015
• Beyond native uploading, the platform will allow for record, edit and sharing video directly on the platform
• SEO for Local and Logged Out Users
• Will provide a stronger experience for logged out users when searching content
• Google search keyword data may play a larger role in Twitter content

For more information see below:

Twitter Offers

Answers App Install Tracking

What’s Next: All Inclusive

Top Holiday Retail Stats

Image from AdWeek

Mobile news doesn't end after reports project that mobile will push digital ad dollars past TV by 2019. Mobile continues to lead holiday trends as well.

As we approach the 2014 holiday season, mobile will continue to see an increase in usage and commerce. Previously, mobile (smartphones specifically) were thought of as the utility-based device, but now, commerce can occur just as you're watching TV or in between doing the dishes.

Smartphones and tablets will account for $1.6 billion in sales on Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined, according to Adobe. Some additional stats to note are below, with the full article found here.

• Holiday shopping will lift 10% compared to last year
• 25% of US consumers surveyed will consult Social Media before purchasing gifts
• This increases to 40% of consumers aged 18-34
• There will be 5 times as many out-of-stock messages on Cyber Monday compared to usual
• Cyber Monday sales expecting to be $2.6billion, increase of 15% YoY

Urban Outfitters Launching Beacons In-Store

The millennial focused retailer is loading up 15 stores with beacons, Bluetooth technology that communicates with smartphones,  that will ping messages and notifications to shoppers who have downloaded the UO App.

Image from AdWeek.com

The company is rolling out the beacon technology to Android users first, as they state more of their customers use the Google-powered devices. 

What will the beacons do?

• Plug into the Urban On loyalty program, which delivers shoppers rewards and exclusive access.
• Focus around the checkout line, fitting rooms, and the entrance.
• When a user enters the store they will be prompted to check in via social to unlock an offer.
• By the fitting rooms, users are encouraged to share photos of themselves wearing products with #UOonYou for a chance to be featured on their website.
• While at checkout, they may be prompted to show their loyalty card in-app to earn digital badges.

However, the beacon technology will not aggressively push coupons and offers.

This is a big effort to extend their loyalty and social experiences in-store with mobile. You can learn more about the beacon roll-out here. 

Always Going Viral #LikeAGirl

A new video has us all asking ourselves, “What does it really mean to run, jump, throw Like A Girl?”

This video, similarly to the success of other branded female empowerment campaigns like Dove’s “Real Beauty” ads, has gone viral with over 34 Million YouTube views to date.  As part of a larger #LikeAGirl campaign, Always is looking to empower females by sharing a social experiment caught on tape. Brands alike can learn from this campaign’s initial success in hope of creating future viral success, online.

Some learnings brands can take from this campaign:

• Creating Opportunities to Expand Brand Loyalty

o   While this video is advertising to women and adolescent girls, they are also directly talking to younger girls who may not buy their products for a few years. Without calling out their products, Always does a great job creating an authentic and emotional connection with young girls which is critical to brand awareness and affinity for later in life.

• Work produced from a key consumer insight should be authentic and emotive, so consumers feel connected to the work

o   In a study from Research Now, sponsored by Always, found that more than 1/2 of the girls surveyed claimed to experience a drop in confidence at puberty

• Integrated Media Campaign

o   As a result of using paid search, paid social, YouTube Ads as well as PR and social sharing to help capitalize on the potential for the video to go viral.

• Incorporate a hashtag

o   Using an overarching hashtag, #LikeAGirl, helped generate and aggregate conversations around the campaign

• Using influencers to help spread the word

o   Influencer outreach via earned media played an important role in gaining momentum and exposure around the video being released, including highly viewed publications like The Washington Post.  

When strategically used together, a powerful consumer insight, great work and key influencers, can transform one video into a social movement gaining momentum from consumers who are viewing, sharing and talking about the work.

This culmination of these items can be used together to initially gain exposure and conversation around a creative campaign and increase the potential of going even more viral.

To learn more how this video is making waves, click here.

Pinterest Finally Launches Promoted Pins Beta

After several months of testing, Pinterest launched their promoted pins pilot program last week with a small group of advertisers.
















As demonstrated in the photo, the ads will:

• Functionally act like a native pin
• Appear in users’ search results and category feeds
• The promoted pins will also always appear in the top row of the results
• Contain a “sponsored” tag on the pin

Although commitment costs are high, and targeting functionality appear a bit sub-par, at this time:

• Pilot program runs about $150k/month with a required media investment for 6 months
• Targeting is limited to location, language, gender and device 
• However, this is expected to evolve along with the ad product

Looking forward to see how these perform or turn some brand lifts/ROI.

Facebook Launches Trending

Similar to Twitter’s Trends list, Facebook, too, launched a Trending feed. Located to the right of the News Feed, users will now be able to see trending topics and conversations that are popular across their individual Facebook, at any given time.

Image from Facebook Newsroom.

Features include:

• Personalized, clickable, topics spanning your interests, and top trends across the Facebook platform
• Snackable, at-a-glance headlines providing more information on each trend
• Upon click-through, view of trend-related content by users' friends, pages they follow and public posts 

This aggregate of trending topics aims to enhance the platform’s stance as a source of news and encourages users to share more content publicly.

As this list is engineered to populate with content users are interested in, along with their friends, this may provide ad opportunities, similar to the evolution on Twitter. 

As Facebook rolls out this update, you can learn more about the feature and how it’ll look on your Facebook, here. 

Facebook Like & Share Gets Redesign

According to Facebook, the Like and Share buttons appear on over 7.5 million websites and are seen 22 billion times per day. They are also important drivers for Facebook referral traffic. For the first time since their inception, the Like and Share buttons have a new design.

The new design utilizes the Facebook “F” icon, instead of the thumb. They will automatically updated across the web, meaning no additional work will be needed for website owners. But, a Like and Share combo button is available for embedding on websites.

Further details can be found in the links below:

Introducing new Like and Share buttons

Facebook Like Button Gets a Redesign

Instagram Announces Ads

Instagram finally announced plans to roll-out advertising to US users over the next few months.

The Ads Will:

• Focus on delivering a small number of beautiful, high-quality photos and videos from a handful of brands that are already great members of the Instagram community
• Appear in users’ feeds that do not currently follow that brand on the platform
• Give users will have the option to hide the post as well (similar to Facebook)
• As a user, you will still own your photos and videos (only brands' content can leverage paid promotions)
•  Create the need for brands to develop even more beautiful, compelling custom content that feels consumer-centric

Ads here present a big opportunity for real-time marketing for brands.  It will be interesting to see how the analytics tracking, and user behavior will evolve around this new initiative as well.  Stay tuned!

For More Info

Business Insider Article

Instagram's Official Announcement

Storytelling in the Age of Digital, Mobile and Social

The best stories are the ones that have not yet been told.  And, regardless of how, a great story is always shared.

During Advertising Week’s “Storytelling in the Age of Digital, Mobile & Social,” Buzzfeed uncovers insights into great storytelling that will further compel people to share our content. Below outlines key insights from the keynote.

Think of Advertising Beyond an Ad Message

·         Consumers receive more and more ads and messages each day – consider ways to break through that feel like a part of the customer’s daily activities through telling a story versus sending a message

·         Storytelling is now two-way:  we are just shouting if we aren’t having a conversation

 

Stories are Not Technology Dependent

·         Evaluate the story we as a brand want to tell

·         Then think about the audience of the story – where are they? What is their behavior? How do they share

Stories are Not Platform Dependent

·         Different platforms should continue the same story

·         Each technology and platform serves its own purpose serving a different chapter in the same story

o   Banner ads focus on the quick click and engagement

o   TV can focus more on emotion and visuals

o   Social can be more targeted and personal

3 Principles of Great Brand Stories:

1.       Inspired by Insights

a.       Know the “why” of the brand (see this TedX video for the “Why”) and the audience

b.      Balance the intersection of brand needs and consumer wants

c.       Be authentic and transparent to truly bring out the human insight and brand truth

2.       Social at the Core/Social by Design

a.       Stories are not about You, not about us, and not about the brand.  Stories are about the audience

b.      Maintain an “always on” storytelling strategy (not just on social.. but balancing all mediums) as shareable and shapeable experiences

c.       Surprise and delight

3.       Fearless (they are not reckless)

a.       Keep the story at the heart

b.      Amplify and surround the story

c.       Own it, champion it and stand behind it (knowing it may fail)

                                                               i.      Take risks – the best stories are the ones that haven’t been told

For additional reference,  “Why Agencies and Brands Need to Embrace True Storytelling” . 

How to Make Multi-Screen Campaigns More Interesting

Today, 71% of consumers view content on more than two screens daily.  As this number and trend begins to grow, we must consider how multi-screen campaigns can be more engaging and integrated. 

During Ad Week, Microsoft and MediaVest presented case studies demonstrating successful multi-screen campaigns in a “How to Make Multi-Screen Campaigns More Interesting” keynote.   Below outlines the 3 areas consistent in each case study:

·         Content Strategy

o   From a brand and business perspective, define the story we want to tell

o   The content cannot be static: it must adapt based on engagement wear out and composting evolution

o   All content is not created equal:  we cannot simply take creative from one channel and apply it to the next

§  Each platform has a specific purpose and expectation from the consumer

·         Consumer Journey

o   The customer context must shape the message from the above content

§  Where are your customers?

§  What do they need?

§  What is their mind frame while on multiple platforms?

o   Physically map out the customer experience to identify which screens and platforms belong in your plan

§  If your target is not active on a specific platform there is no need to be there

§  Map out when the target is on these platforms for a dayparting strategy

·         Possibly different channels at different times

·         Or “multi-tasking”/co-viewing while being on multiple screens at a time

·         Culture (of the teams involved)

o   Define the team involved with the campaign process

§  Agree on key decision makers and assign each team a task (data should always be a part of this discussion)

·         Includes agency partners and internal

o   Align on overall marketing goals

§  Define the perception change/business goals

§  Then define the KPIs

·         Do not confuse KPIs and overall goals

§  Ensure data collection and reporting is identified in the upfront

o   Invest in supporting this lasting cultural change and shift to multi-screen marketing

§  Sometimes TV will be the most important screen, but today it can also be others 

Pinterest Launches Promoted Pins

Since Pinterest launched analytics and business pages over the last few months, we’ve been waiting for a more detailed advertising product announcement.  Today, Pinterest made that announcement.

Promoted Pins, the new Pinterest advertising product, will start slow on the platform.  Some initial details on the ads are below:

• No banners or “flashy” ads
• It will be clear which pins are promoted vs. organic
• Pins will be contextually relevant by specific user behavior
• The Promoted Pines should be similar to the items the user currently pins
• Paid ads will only appear in search results and category feeds (for now)

Looking forward to learning more about these ads and how to get our brands on the platform!

For the formal announcement and a bit more information see below:

Pinterest Blog

Mashable Article

Vine & TV: A new Love Affair

Vine, initially meant as a mobile/social platform, is now seeing mass awareness by becoming a part of national TV campaigns.

Specifically, Trident Gum aired the first 6-second spot made from a single Vine video: and Dunkin Donuts (scheduled to air this week during a football game), creatively found a way to be more engaging with a billboard ad unit by using a Vine instead.

With these new creative executions, Trident and Dunkin Donuts are leveraging Vine and TV to:

·         Test Content:

a.       Trident used Vine as a content testing platforms by selecting one of four Vines (created  with “Vine Celebrities”) to appear on TV

                                                               i.      The Vine with the highest engagement was aired

·         Increase Consumer Reach:

a.       Dunkin Donuts plans to integrate other social media platforms during the air of their Vine to increase engagements and awareness

b.      They also plan to integrate other social media platforms during the air of their Vine to increase engagements and awareness

Social Users are Mobile First: We Should Be, Too

Consumers and customers alike no longer see Twitter and Facebook as desktop websites.  They consider these social networks mobile apps.  Because of this user behavior and mind-set, we see Twitter and Facebook leveraging the mobile first strategy.  For reference:

• Over 70% of all Facebook & Twitter activity occurred on mobile
• More than 219M users were mobile only on Facebook
• It is predicted that $4billion will be spent on Facebook advertising with 50% of the spend to occur in streams
•  This means, brands are not only competing with our fans’ friends, but with many other advertisers as well

The content developed and amplified becomes even more important: 

• It must break through the clutter
• Be relatable
• Leverage a “mobile first” philosophy
• Should be succinct, engaging and visual – on both Twitter and Facebook.

Although this isn't "new news" the data is still staggering and changing as we move into Fall 2013.

For more information see the Social Media Today article below:
http://socialmediatoday.com/markozm/1718946/changing-way-you-think-reaching-consumers-social-streams

Gap Shows How Brands Can Adapt on Tumblr

Less than a year ago, Tumblr rolled out sponsored advertising, which positions brand content in key areas on the site to engage with users. 

In an effort to create a “pop culture movement,” the clothing brand Gap purchased all of the site’s mobile advertising opportunities yesterday to promote its new #BackToBlue campaign. Through this, Gap has created unique opportunities that allows the brand to:

•          Get exclusive share of voice to Tumblr’s 54 million daily users
•          Take advantage of the reblog/share culture to spread the Gap’s image/gif heavy content
•          Leverage user generated content submitted to their contest in their mobile advertisements

Gap is not simply retrofitting its TV and print creative into Tumblr, it specially created content that’s perfect for Tumblr—fully embracing the colors, quirky gifs, and quotes that are so attuned to the platform. 

Darn.. maybe I should make a Tumblr too (read: I've created a million and never kept it up).

For more information, please see below for the Tumblr page and Mashable article:

Gap Buys All of Tumblr’s Mobile Ads for a Day

http://gap.tumblr.com/contest

Facebook for Mobile Marketing

As mobile continues to be a primary source of content for customers we as marketers MUST begin thinking about a mobile first strategy - especially those that haven't adopted this mindset. Specifically when establishing Facebook content. 

To better understand why Mobile First should be adopted, read through the  eBook How to Use Facebook for Mobile Marketing. Hubspot explains the importance of the mobile platform and focuses on the use of Facebook for mobile marketing.  Some key takeaways include:

•          Facebook Mobile use is outgrowing desktop use by 2:1.
•          Of the companies on Facebook, 41% of them have gained new customers through Facebook.
•          Facebook is shifting its advertising features from desktop to mobile.
•          Sponsored Stories CTR is 7x greater compared to a post that is not liked by a friend.

In order to continue optimizing content for mobile, we can consider:

•          Maintaining direct and concise status updates versus paragraphs and long posts beyond 20 words.
•          Continue incorporating short links/bit.lys.
•          Incorporating easy-to-understand and simple visuals that are compelling.

For more info and to download to book visit: http://cdn1.hubspot.com/hub/53/How_to_Use_Facebook_for_Mobile_Marketing-2.pdf

Digital Video Ads Help Hit Marketers' Goals

Nearly 75% of marketers plan to increase their budgets on branded video content or video ads in the next year.  This digital video trend is expected to be a major component in driving engagement with consumers.

According to the study:

• More consumers reported having a positive attitude toward ads in original streaming content (25%) than in TV programming (22%)
• 58% of marketers thought digital video ads performed better than TV ads in achieving engagement goals
• 47% of marketers thought digital video ads were better at driving awareness than TV ads
• 87% of marketers said targeting was an important factor when planning a branded digital video campaign

There are opportunities for brands to further leverage video ads by:

• Leveraging existing TV spots as pre-roll and video banners
• Create new advertising especially for digital video (perhaps shorter than the 15s spots), to distribute during related programing on popular streaming sites and major networks sites
• Monitor the user of Instagram Video and Vine in this space

For full results of the study, please see the article link:

For Driving Engagement, Digital Video Ads Beat TV by a Wide Margin