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Folks, it’s officially fall! The sun is beginning to set a bit earlier, the leaves are just starting to change, and the air has that familiar crisp scent to it. Along with all the fall festiveness, the latest edition of our Digital Innovations Awesome List is also here! So grab those pumpkin spiced lattes and curl up on the couch for the latest and greatest in the trade publications. As usual, our Digital Innovations team has compiled a list of articles, reports, and other bits of awesomeness you may have missed, but should definitely read. Please enjoy…your latte and the post!
comScore, Rentrak To Merge, Take On Nielsen
For a cool $732 million, comScore announced that it is buying Rentrak, which will combine two massive measurement service companies to create “the cross-platform measurement systems of the future.” Their goal? To take on Nielsen #MeasuringDisruption.
1 in 5 US Adults Sporting a Wearable
Fitbits, Fuel Bands, and Apple Watches are the top wearable devices amongst U.S. adults. Their growth can be attributed to wearables maturing from simply being a fun gadget to something that provides regular value for the user through helpful data and insights. On a related note, keep your eye on Under Armour as it continues to acquire apps, build tech, and give Nike (and Silicon Valley) a run for their money, as this Forbes article discusses.
Are Marketers Finally Getting the Hang of Location-Based Mobile Ads?
Essence discusses a few lessons from a campaign for Google search that won Adweek’s Media Plan of the Year award for mobile activation. Utilizing location-based mobile ads, over 20 custom data points were utilized to create unique and personalized ad messaging. This is a great lesson in starting small, and optimizing for scale and efficiency.
The Cost of Mobile Ads on 50 News Websites
Anyone who has gotten dinged for data overages on their mobile bill has that moment of reflection. What sucked up so much data? Streaming video without your Wi-Fi turned on? Could it be regular browsing on popular new media properties? The New York Times conducted a study with a side-by-side comparison of estimated ad load time, content load time, volume of data used and cost per usage.
The Ad Blocking Controversy, Explained
Much has been discussed about ad blocking and most of it has either been confusing or wrong. This Vox article provides some background into why ad blocking has become a bigger issue recently, who it affects, and how it can be assuaged.
Facebook Targeting Gets More Robust
Facebook is now able to determine how long a user views an ad on its platform. This adds another layer of data advertisers can leverage to optimize campaigns. Where’s the like button for this update?
How Facebook Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Rating Point
Some critics have argued that digital media companies adopting metrics that look and feel like TV (ex. Facebook’s new TRP) is a step backward in our industry. Their thoughts? Television needs to adopt the precision and addressability of digital. But for marketers, there’s real power in unifying metrics – no matter the unit of measurement.
First comes text, then photos, then videos, and now 360-DEGREE videos! Facebook has been upping its game in the visual content realm and it took its next step last week by accepting videos that have been shot in a 360-degree format. What does this mean? It is very likely that ad creative formats will surely follow. Take a look at the first uploads from SNL, VICE and Star Wars. Will this help make virtual reality go mainstream? Kelloggs is doing its part to ensure that it does in New Zealand.
5 Best Practices for Promoted [Twitter] Video
Is your client looking for video creative best practices? This summer, Twitter partnered with Dentsu and Nielsen to uncover what kinds of promoted video content influences Twitter users at various stages of the purchase funnel. Needless to say, they came away with these five helpful best practices.
Snapchat has scored big with its new content deal with the NFL, who is notoriously tight with where and how its content lives. The year-long deal kicks-off with weekly LIVE stories around games, with the first down story generating over 15 million unique views. This is a good call sign for the platform that likens itself to “a cable network for millennials.”
Off Topic, But Awesome
As you know, we are big fans of ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.’ So much so that we have ten ‘Ferris Bueller’ days to use at Centro where employees can take off from work for practically any reason. You know what else we love? Retro, 8-bit video games. Combine these two together and you have something pretty awesome. Check out this 8-bit Ferris Bueller movie remake for the most fantastic three minutes and thirty seconds of your life.