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Trendwatching.com | Innovation Overload

Notable Technology Marketers on MySpace

Below represents three major technology brands that are using social network site MySpace.com to promote their brand and/or products via their own MySpace page.

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Company: Cingular

URL: http://www.myspace.com/cingularsounds

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Company: Dell

URL: http://www.myspace.com/dellditty

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Company: Motorola

URL: http://www.myspace.com/motoq

Trendwatching.com | Youinversal Branding

YouTube Trend Report #1

   Asi Sharabi, of No Man Man's Blog, has conducted a systematic content analysis of the 100 most viewed videos on YouTube to help "get a better grasp of what makes people tick when it comes to viral content".  You may find the results within his post titled "YouTube trends report #1". 

Alternative Media Growth Outpaces Traditional Media

Below is an article that was published today by the Center for Media Research:

"According to exclusive research by PQ Media, spending on alternative media strategies surged 16.4% in the first half of 2006 to an estimated $53.37 billion compared with the same period of 2005. PQ Media estimates that spending on alternative media will accelerate in the second half of 2006, to a full year forecast of growth at 18.5% to $115.77 billion.

Alternative marketing is expected to increase 17.6% for the year, fueled mainly by mobile and interactive marketing, according to the PQ report Alternative Advertising & Marketing Outlook 2006.

All four broad segments of Alternative Media - entertainment and out-of-home advertising, online advertising, branded entertainment marketing, and mobile and interactive marketing - posted double-digit growth for the year. Branded entertainment, including product placement, event marketing, event sponsorships, webisodes and advergaming, is the largest segment of alternative media, and is expected to grow 15.5% to $51.62 billion in 2006. The value of product placements will reach $5.71 billion at year's end, up 27.6% from the 2005 level.

Alternative Media Spending & Growth (Spending $ Millions)
	2000	2005	2006
Alternative Advertising	$23,391	$40,200	$48,189
% Change	-	21.4%	19.9%
Entertainment & Out-of-Home Advertising
	$14,065	$22,647	$25,916
% Change	-	12.8%	14.4%
Online Advertising	$9,326	$17,553	$22,273
% Change	-	34.6%	26.9%
Alternative Marketing	$29,518	$57,455	$67,577
% Change	-	17.0%	17.6%
Branded Entertainment Marketing	$25,066	$44,698	$51,618
% Change	-	16.3%	15.5%
Mobile & Interactive Marketing	$4,452	$12,757	$15,959
% Change	-	19.7%	25.1%
Total	$52,909	$97,655	$115,766
% Change	-	18.8%	18.5%
Source: PQ Media, June 2006

Patrick Quinn, president of PQ Media, said "The data gleaned from our Alternative Media Network indicates that brand marketers are accelerating the shift of media dollars away from conventional to newer media using digital technology to reach youth and influential demographics."

The report notes that, while alternative media spending surged in the first half of the year, expenditures on traditional media increased only 4.5% in the first half of 2006, reflecting the shift in advertising and marketing spending. Traditional media expenditures on various print and broadcast vehicles, and are expected to remain in the single digits for the full year as well.

An executive summary of Alternative Advertising & Marketing Outlook 2006 is available online here."

Machinima Commercials

MIT Advertising Lab and Futurelab's Blog highlight some interesting early attempts at Machinima Commercials.  For those unfamiliar with Machinima, Wikipedia defines the production technique as:

"rendering of computer-generated imagery (CGI) using low-end 3D engines, as opposed to high-end and complex 3D engines used by professionals. Engines from first person shooter video games are typically used."

Consumers, armed with nothing more then a massively multiplayer game or 3D virtual world environment (such as World of Warcraft  or Second Life) are producing their own 30-60 second commercials and posting them on the likes of YouTube or Google Video.

MIT Advertising Lab and Futurelab Blog highlight the following examples:

• Beautiful (pictured above, a must-see), The Motel, and Video Camping for Nylon camera in Second Life (more info).
• An entry for Converse Gallery made in World of Warcraft.
• A spoof of the Bravia spot done in Battlefield 2 and a piece of MasterCard's "Priceless" theme in Halo.

One to One Interactive & IU School of Informatics Explore Research Opportunities

Last week, I traveled to Bloomington, IN to begin talks with the Indiana University School of Informatics regarding establishing a formal research partnership.  Former One to One Interactive staffer, Christian Briggs, brokered the introduction.  He is currently one of a handful of PHD candidates who will be the first to matriculate from the school.

My full day on campus was spent in the company of Christan and Martin Siegel (Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Research).  I met with faculty from Complex Systems and Human Computer Interface (HCI)respectively.  The conversation with the Complex Systems group (mainly mathematicians and physicists who focus on the science of networks) centered around One to One's interest in research associated with advanced measurement and analytic models.  This is to assist with digital marketing accountability, predicting word-of-mouth campaign results, and measuring the impact that social media is having on algorithmic search results, among other things.  Conversation with the faculty from HCI mainly focused on issues of consumer privacy and enhancements in interfaces that allow individuals to opt-in and customize/control digital advertising.

Founded in 2000, Indiana University was the first in the nation to launch a School of Informatics.  One of the central tenants of the School's vision is to support and enhance interdisciplinary research projects in the field of Informatics, focusing on distributed systems technology, information theory and information management, human factors and human computer interaction, and the study of social impacts of information technology. 

In my opinion, our first meeting went extremely well.  There is a great deal of interest on both sides to further explore Informatics within the evolving digital media landscape and its impact on marketing and advertising.  This also supports a strategic goal for One to One in 2006 to strengthen it's ties with academia.  Too date, the firm has established a formal partnership with the Design and Usability Center at Bentley College, and engaged both MIT Media Lab and the Harvard Berkman Center for Internet and Society to participate in panel moderation for the MITX Digital Marketing Track the agency is managing.  Stay tuned for more developments to come.

Jeremi Karnell-President, One to One Interactive

Trendwatching.com | Customer Made

Blogs, Podcast, & RSS Advertising on the Rise

According to the Center for Media Research and the PQ Media's Alternative Media Research Series, ad spending withing blogs, podcasts and RSS feeds grew to $20.4 million by the end or 2005, a 198.4% increase over the 2004 level. Spending on blog, podcast and RSS advertising is projected to climb another 144.9% in 2006 to $49.8 million.

The executive summary of the report goes on to highlight the following key findings:

• User-generated media remains primarily national in scope with 98.1%, or $20.0 million, of all advertising spending coming from the broader market in 2005
• Advertising networks and click-throughs are the largest ad insertion methods, generating $8.0 million and $7.8 million, respectively
• Blog advertising accounted for 81.4%, or $16.6 million, of total spending on user-generated online media in 2005, but blog ads will comprise only 39.7%, or $300.4 million, of overall spending in 2010
• Podcast advertising totaled only $3.1 million in 2005, but is projected to reach $327.0 million in 2010, when it will account for 43.2% of all user-generated media advertising
• Spending on RSS (Really Simple Syndication) advertising totaled $650,000 in 2005 and will grow to $129.6 million in 2010
• Total spending on user-generated online media is forecast to grow at a compound annual rate of 106.1% from 2005 to 2010, reaching $757.0 million in 2010
• Technology was the largest single category at $4.0 million in 2005, due primarily to the technology-savvy early adopters of user-generated media
• Auto was the second largest marketing category, generating $3.9 million in 2005, as car manufacturers utilized user-generated media to market their higher-end models to the "influential" demographic
• The media industry spent $3.2 million to advertise in user-generated media in 2005, as the industry tried to capitalize on its advanced knowledge of the consumer shift away from traditional media

Top drivers of the above trend include continued media fragmentation, perceived ineffectiveness of traditional advertising, and the desire to more effectively reach the 18-34 year old market.

Trendwatching.com | Infolust