People keep on posting images on Instagram, and these need classification. There is a method of nomenclature and and taxanomy for the the photographs on social media. If the Gateway of India photo is reflected in the rainwater, it is a #puddlegram. A shadow of yourself in a garden is #shadowselfie. Airplanes flying across the skies are #planespotting. There are #travelgrams, #hotelview, #airportlife hashtags. Porn is used in the classification as a ubiquitons suffix, e.g. #foodporn, #natureporn, #cloudporn. A city can be photographed, e.g. #Paris but if you want to see illuminated Paris at night, you can go to #Parisbynight.
Month: December 2015
Hashtags in Advertising
There is a new found love for hashtags, not only in social media but in advertising too. Copywriters use their creative faculties to write good baselines and slogans. The hashtags seems to be replacing this. #ProgressIs ( Audi ), OpenHappiness ( Coke ), #RealStrength ( Dove Men ), #youdrive ( Mercedez-Benz), #makeitcount ( Nike ) are some of the hashtags that communicate the essence of the brand and its promise. Hashtags have become mainstream, are active and powerful. It’s a year of #newbeginnings.
Media Industry Changes
Media witnessed democratisation. It means the ability of consumers to choose ( or reject and redo ) what they want to read, listen, and watch whenever they want it. In the last 15 years, this is the major change seen in the media industry.
Internet converted even ordinary persons into critics and journalists. Through different forums, they are able to express their views. This is the disaggregaton which is good for consumers but has not benefited much the media companies. The offline revenues of media companies are in fact funding this disaggregation which is good for consumers but has not benefited much the media companies. The offline revenues of media companies are in fact funding this disaggregated content online.
Though amateurs and novices contribute, the bulk of traffic online is generated from professional content. More than 3/5th of YouTube’s traffic comes from the videos put up by the large studios.
The sites which has the largest audience fetch greater revenues and best advertising rates. Online media in this respect is similiar to offline media. However, the big four companies — Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple — walk away with the bulk of revenues and profits that this medium generates globally. Is this democratic? Not as far as the financials are concerned.
4G Era for Media
With better speeds of 4G or LTE, there is going to be more video consumption. It will expand market of films and newspapers and TV shows. Telecom and broadband operaters will enter the media market. Apart from M & E, 4G will affect health care, education and banking. In JiO play, there are 160 standard definition TV channels and 40 high definition ones. All print media are being signed up. Network 18 channels owned by Relience will be avaiable. There are apps for other channels. Apart from one or two TV screen homes, India can have many more TV screens on digital devices. Film viewing is data heavy viewing. A standard definition film takes anything from 0.3 to 0.7 gigabytes of data and a high definition one up to 1.5. If 4G removes bandwidth and price constraints, the opportunities are huge. Most 4G services are available between Rs. 80 to Rs. 125 per gigabyte of data. These prices under competitive pressure could drop further to Rs. 10 to Rs. 50 per gigabyte. This fall will drive content consumption of films and TV shows.
Many are skeptical about the higher consumption of video on wireless. Abroad, only 7 per cent of Nefflix consumption is on wireless. The real consumption remains wireless and traditional. Users, whenever possible, prefer a big screen, rather the biggest screen to see video and TV. As signal quality goes up, the large screen experience matters more. It means an operator with a fixed line into the home, Wi-Fi and 4G could be a big winner.
There are issues for which we will get answers when the big five networks continue their operations for a couple of years. These operators are JiO, Airtel, Vodafone, Aircel and Idea. The 3G story has not unfolded satisfactorily. Networks are congested. Instead of the promised 50 Mbps speed, the real speed is just 25 Mbpas. When on move, it reduces to 10 Mbps. In travel, it is just 5 Mbps.The same should not be repeated with 4G, with talks of 5G sometime later. Is it correct for India to depen wholly on wireless ? Elsewhere, the connections are wired.
Programmatic Space
In 2015, programmatic was adopted extensively. Over 30 per cent of digital inventory was available for purchase programmatically. All of a sudden the machines took over, and it was considered a welcome change. India is slow in moving into programmatic. Other markets such as North America, Australia and Europe have moved into this space faster. India is catching up, but considering the speed at which India is moving,we shall be on par with the world by 2016. There is hectic collection of audience profiles. New programmatic platforms are being launched. Perhaps, by 2016, around 70-75 per cent of digital inventory will be bought programmatically. TV inventory will sure be falling into programmatic space.
Storytelling : New Dimension of Advertising
Roser Reeves talked about the Unique Selling Proposition ( USP ). Ogilvy talked about the brand image. Bill Bernarch talked about advertising with a lighter touch. Jack Trout put forward a brand in the minds of the customers and prospects. All this has changed in the competitive and digital environment of the 21st century.
By definition, advertising tom tommed the advantages of a product so as to increase the sales. As we watch the videos today on our mobiles, do they satisfy the criteria laid down by the definition? Very few do. Mostly, we have to figure out what is being advertised. Advertising has to entertain so as to keep the audience engaged. Instead of product qualities and advantages, the content is full of smiles and music, and resemble movies, rather than traditional advertising.
Social media have made things more complicated. On TV the programmes were interupted by the ad breaks. People do not like their phones and computer screen messed up by advertising. After all ads will have to go beyond entertaining people. They will have to boost up sales.
Advertising as a word is being replaced by storytelling. Marketing is now geared to storytelling. A product must have a good story, as compared to its competitors. Drama to some extent is necessary to make the story memorable. Creativity has come to mean dramatization.
And all this must be integrated — both the traditional and social media. A story has to be integrated across the media, which is not an easy task. Thus integrated storytelling should be used to improve the sales.
Multiscreening
With a TV set on, the housewife keeps doing the household chores. These distractions always affect TV viewing. Ultimately when she settles down to see her favourite show, and the ads come on the TV, she starts using her smart phone either to catch up the news feed on Facebook or see the ads. Advertisers see this as an opportunity to be on the smart phone. Multiscreening is a trend. TV has a great reach, but what if you miss the right people? Facebook provides an opportunity to reach the precise audience. Several campaigns these days are running as mobile-first-campaign. Platforms such as Facebook and Instagram are used by business to reach out to their audiences. Using video advertising on multiple platforms has emerged as a highly effective and successful approach in recent times.
Pay for Video
Video content is available in the US as streaming services such as Netflix. Customers routinely buy movies and shows on iTunes-and Amazon.com. In India, the norm is free video. YouTube is free, and the content providers earn a bit of money when YouTube shares the advertising revenue. Ad rates are low — from about $ 1 to $ 4 per 1000 viewers reached, or roughly one-tenth the rate in the US.
Local and foreign companies expect to persuade Indians to pay for online video. In India full-length movies and TV episodes are legally available free. Cable and satellite subscriptions cost so less — $ 2 or $ 3 a month. It means a payment of 50 cents just for a movie is asking too much. Even when people are ready to buy, the payment for digital purchases become cumbersome. In India, the data plans of telecom operators add extra cost of video viewing.
Rajshree has an inventory of 1 lac online videos, and it relies on ads. Eros now offers free videos supported by ads, but is tinkering with premium options for paying audience — Rs. 50 to Rs.100 a month or about 75 cents to $ 1.50. The content will be ad free. Overseas, customers pay $ 8 for a premium version. 21st Centuary Fox through its app Hotstar offers free video.
HITS Platform
The Hindujas have launched this platform. HITS stands for Headend in the sky. It is launched in mid-September, 2015. It is aptly called NXT Digital. Essentially, it involves creation of a centre for receiving, processing, and re-transmitting TV signals from broadcasters such as STAR, Zee, Sony, SAB, Colors etc. to local cable operators in a digital mode.
This platform replaces the traditional cable television headend, where many satellite dishes and antennas are required to capture broadcasters’ signals from a host of satellites beaming the content.
HITS does the same operation with a fewer dishes. The TV signals of different broadcasters are combined into multiplex services, which are re-transmitted from another satellite. HITS transmits signals to local low cost headends of cable operators for forward digital distribution to the ultimate subscribers’ homes.
Hinduja Ventures LTD ( HVL ) will operate NXT Digital as a subsidiary.
Merry X’Mas 2015
Wishing all of you a Merry Christmas, and a happy and prosperous New Year. — Shabbir Chunawalla, 25th Dec, 2015.