• Traditional media meets digital media to improve online ad targeting and relevancy, according to a recent AdAge article. A new product released by Datalogix, a data company, aims to let digital ad buyers target ads to people online based on the shows they watch on TV. It matches TV viewing data along with demographic and purchase-behavior data based on TV households, and then matches it up with online cookies. Is this a step forward in integrating traditional and digital media efforts? Read More: Web Ads Target Based On What You Watched On TV
• According to eMarketer, spending on mobile internet advertising in the U.S. will top all other countries for the first time this year. It will grow 96.6% to $2.29 billion in 2012, up from $1.16 billion last year. While mobile marketing is quickly growing, it is still a very young category. This rapid growth further shows the value and need for advertisers to incorporate mobile alongside other marketing efforts. Read More: US on Track to Become Top Mobile Ad Market

The Olympic ceremonies have come and gone; medals have been won, and the live-streamed online content at NBCOlympics.com is up and running. Although the Opening Ceremonies were shown on a tape delay, much to the chagrin of the Twittersphere, they were the most-watched opening ceremonies of any Olympics drawing 40.7 million viewers.

A likely cause of this is the use of multi-screens and social media, particularly while watching television. Television isn’t necessarily being phased out with the outbreak of digital technologies and devices. If anything, it’s being strengthened when leveraged with other media.

While NBC believes that their “strategy of driving people to watch NBC in prime time is working,” I have to wonder if the numbers would have been the same had viewers been given the opportunity to stream the opening ceremonies in real time. Can you really say your strategy is working when you only provided one option for viewing?

There is a place for multiple screen integration alongside television. In the case of the Opening Ceremonies, viewers took control of that opportunity by using their screens simultaneously. But what happens when NBC takes control of all the screens in 2016? How does that change the advertising game?

According to eMarketer, one in three online consumers will have a tablet by 2014. With tablet penetration growing, new opportunities to capitalize on consumer behaviors arise. With 41% of U.S. adults listing “shopping” as a reason to purchase an iPad, and mobile internet accounting for nearly 10% of all online shopping sessions, consumers are becoming increasingly comfortable using tablets as a product research and purchasing tool.

While many would agree that smartphones aren’t the best fit for shopping, due to their limited capacity for engagement and smaller screen size, tablets invite engagement, have longer view times and larger screens. In fact, shopping and banking apps make up 20% of tablet app downloads. A study by The Yankee Group showed that nearly a quarter (24%) of tablet owners clicked on ads while using apps. By utilizing in-app advertisements, advertisers can capitalize upon consumer behavior and target consumers while in a purchase mindset.

What are other ways in which marketers can increase engagement with tablet users?

We’ve been waiting for July 27, 2012 since the closing ceremonies of the 2008 Olympics and it’s finally here. However, today NBC has been met with a certain amount of backlash. In the digital age the expectation for instant satisfaction is prevalent in terms of media, news, and entertainment consumption, and NBC isn’t delivering.

With the time difference from London to the U.S. the games will be happening when most of us are sleeping, but NBC is streaming the games online, just in case you are up to watch them. However, they are not showing the Opening Ceremony live. People are up in arms. The social nature of media today promotes instant consumption and NBC is taking that away. Is this about ad revenue? Probably. But, I think the real issue is that people are consuming media so differently and traditional advertisers and mindsets need to realize this and play catch up. Not to mention, there is a growing population that doesn’t even own traditional TVs as mentioned in a previous post. They rely solely on digital media. In fact, in 2011, about a million people in the U.S. and Canada cut the cord.

More and more people are willing to seek non-traditional outlets to watch TV. A report from Nielson showed that 49 percent of people are watching TV on their iPads, while 42 percent watched on their smartphones. NBC could have streamed this widely anticipated event live and surrounded it with mobile and tablet ads. If this is truly about making money, traditional media could follow consumer trends and move content where a large chunk of viewership is coming from. There are so many opportunities in the mobile and tablet space along with social media; it’s about thinking in a non-traditional way.

What are your thoughts?  Is there a missed media opportunity?

This week, Crain’s Chicago Business published an article titled, “Line between traditional ad agencies, digital upstarts blurs. It highlights the increasing need and demand for digital media. Today, marketers are no longer having one-way conversations with consumers via traditional channels. Instead, marketers and consumers are engaging in two-way conversations, where consumers are becoming active participants and secondary marketers via multiple digital screens. This is the future. Digital media is no longer an added bonus, it’s a requirement for marketers’ success.

With the changing landscape, the article also references the plethora of available data from digital media. This climbing mountain of data has provided marketers with more transparency into campaign performance; however, it’s presented obstacles for marketers as well. In fact, the industry is almost experiencing an over-reliance of data, overshadowing the basics of marketing, particularly creativity. This notion was further emphasized by Shawn Riegsecker, “The other downside of data is that marketers may be focusing on it at the expense of creativity. Advertising has always been about telling a story about a brand that makes consumers want to engage . . . and when it’s just about data and analytics, you miss the creativity and you miss the story.”

What are your thoughts? Do you believe the line is blurring between digital and traditional agencies? Is digital data helping or hindering the industry?

During American Idol’s widely popular Phillip Phillips’ season, Media Post published an article surrounding the success of a social Twitter campaign Flock to Unlock. This prime example of a healthy media mix leveraged traditional television to blow up the Twittersphere and create an earned trending topic around advertiser products. The combination of media channels created a well-rounded experience for engaged viewers, allowing them to easily connect with advertisers. With over one million social comments and a rate of 23,876 tweets per minute, the success of the campaign speaks for itself.

It is important for marketers and advertisers to understand that when a user engages through paid, owned, and earned channels, these different types of media can dynamically work together to create incredibly powerful user touch points. Mashable recently released a video outlining the social media presence and online live coverage of the upcoming London Olympic Games. Since 1964, NBC has exclusively owned the rights to broadcast the Olympics. In the past, the strategy for the broadcast was quite simple: save the big events for the primetime slots to increase viewers. This year NBC wanted to maximize their viewers, add to associated advertising revenue, and increase value for their consumers. Therefore, they added a strong social component to complement their online live feed and primetime coverage of the games.

How have you found success by incorporating social into your campaigns?

• Marketers are finding more value in local, digital environments. According to BIA/Kelsey, advertising revenues from all local interactive and digital will grow 13% in 2012. For this year, top performers will include mobile search (up 77.2%), online video (up 51.6%), and social media (up 26.3%). Additionally, for some media, like newspapers, digital ad revenues will be the only source of growth. The growth in different local media segments will drive an overall increase making digital over 25% of the local ad market. Read More: Digital Ad Revenues for Local Media to Grow 13.1% in 2012, According to BIA/Kelsey
• Engagement is high for mobile devices. According to a recent IAB report, nearly 50% of tablet users and 25% of smartphone users indicated that they engage with ads more than once a week. A large majority (80% or higher) of these users also take action following engagement. Also interesting, 48% of smartphone users and 59 percent of tablet users said that they regularly conduct local searches on mobile devices while at home watching TV. This proves that there is a need for holistic plans that incorporate local environments. Read More: Ads on Tablets: 47% Engage, Says IAB
• Another recent study proves the value of media channels working together vs. separately. One key takeaway is to determine the best way to use each channel within the purchase funnel. For example, the study found that display, specific to retail, works best when the media appears early in the conversion path. Display ads drive a 29% higher AOV than other single-channel paths. Combined with search channels (paid and organic), it drives a 16% higher AOV when at the top of the path, and converts consumers 43% faster than other multichannel paths. Read More: Attribution Requires Marketers To Understand Display Ad Impact