Category: Media

Alphabet’s YouTube currently is ad supported service, which has more than 1 billion viewers around the world. They are launching in October 2015 in the US a service that will allow viewers to watch videos without interruption from advertisements. The service will be available on a subscription of $ 10-a-month. It will be called YouTube Red. The effort offers a new source of revenue for YouTube and its video creators. YouTube is negotiating with the content creators to bring them on board. Users who sign up for YouTube Red through Apple’s app store will pay $ 13 a month. Majority of revenue will go to video creators. Currently, the ad supported YouTube keeps 45 per cent of  revenue. YouTube Music app is now available with ads, but for YouTube Red subscribers it will be without ads.

A research agency eMarketer works in this area. It expects mobile app advertising to reach $ 100 billion worldwide in market spend by 2016. By 2019, it may reach $ 200 billion. By 2018, in India mobile app ads are likely to reach $ 1 billion. Marketers have to focus on the effectiveness of such ads. In digital and later mobile advertising, various technique have been put forward as per the advances of technology.

To begin with ads were purchased by their placemats on a weekly basis. This was not efficient and transparent. It was difficult to measure ROI. Later, digital advertising was judged on the basis of impression basis, or cost per mille ( CPM ). It was judging ads on the basis of performance. Later, a still more refined method on cost per click method ( CPC ) was adopted.

Thus the payment flow to the publishers of advertising, was on the basis of the number of impressions/ views or clicks on the website. Even this method was not considered efficient as there were issues of conversions.

On mobile now the latest method is mobile cost per install ( CPI ). Advertisers here pay for the installs they receive, and there is no conversion risk. What is the guarantee that these installed apps will be used ? A user may not use it at all. It is what happens after the install that is crucial. It is a challenging task.

These days post- install activity is tracked, to determine whether the traffic is useful for the advertiser. The actual purchases can be counted. Advertisers track the proxy events too  to get the clues about the quality of the traffic. Proxies could be retention of 3 days, engagement or vitality, say Facebook shares. Post-install user engagement is emphasized.

The future of mobile advertising is its focus on real time. Apps are seen on the basis of the location, action and search. It is the use of algorithm that makes this possible.

Advertising on mobile is considered intrusive, but if you want free media, there is going to monetization through advertising. In China, a consumer can exercise choice by clicking on a banner/sticker that he wants to opt out of this type of advertising. Media owners too would learn what the likes and dislikes of the traffic are . It can be applied to videos too.

Marketing and advertising strategy on mobiles is planned on the basis of consumer behavior. We rather consider mobile as an additional screen, and neglect consumer behavior. Soon the mobile screen may dictate the TV screen, e.g. Chromecast and other such devices.

These days the applications such as Snapchat and WhatsApp have made SMSs outdated. However, organizations engaged in trade and commerce still use the cloud messaging platform. E-commerce companies use messages right from the acquisition of the customer to the completion of the transaction. There are players in the market who offer cloud messaging services, e.g. Google, mGape, Value first and Webaroo( Gup-  shup ). Industry in India spends Rs.75-100 crore per month on messaging. Cloud messages are extensively used in promotion too. The offers are targeted to the relevant customers. Webaroos Gunshup is used by e-commerce companies and banks. Apart from SMS, there are other services such as voice, email messaging, promotional messaging, two-way messaging, 10-digit missed call number, toll free number and call forwarding facilities.

There are one issues here — data security and the customer’s willingness to receive the messages. They use encrypting to ensure data safety. Customers are given the option of DND — do not disturb which restrict promotional messaging.

Facebook intends to test six new emotional icons to express a different emotion. A thumbs-up icon has already been made famous. Various expressions such as an open mouth to express surprise to a scowling  red face for anger — this is the way the icons would be designed. Other four emotions are love, laughter, sadness and a supportive cheer. By the mid-October, 2015, new icons would be available to Facebook users in Spain and Ireland. The reactions would be assessed. They would be refined in the light of the feedback  before they are rolled out worldwide. Angry and sad buttons express negative emotions. Facebook users would like to have a quick way to express opinion about a post beyond liking it. The reaction buttons are also handy for smart phone users. Facebook has been guided in the design of theses buttons by observing the use of stickers.

Twitter is too confusing. Moments, a new feature attempts to alter Twitter’s chaotic timeline into a series of narratives. These are easy to navigate. Moments would be seen alongside the timeline. On tapping it, you reach prominent headlines highlighting big events. Tap on any one such event, and a ‘moment’ would open — it is a story  in full screen arranged by the editors. This story is a selection of tweets. Each moment can be shared and viewed by any user. Moments tab listing several daily moments is now exclusively for the US users; and will be rolled out later elsewere. It establishes Twitter’s utility even for a non-celebrity user. It gives Twitter its purpose — a reason for being. Here you can find out what is happing in the world. It is a timelier and broader view of the world. In comparison, Facebook is hyper-personalized and friend-based. Twitter gives an expansive view.

Moments may fetch casual users. Twitter’s main timeline shows tweets in reverse chronological order. There is no filtering keeping in mind the user’s interests. Moments, by contrast, is a curated view. Here the editorial judgment counts. Within each moment tweets are arranged in such a way that they make sense as a story. It is not the chronological typing order. It contextualizes the main timeline. It is in a sense a newspaper — comprehensible to all.

Facebook user filters and filters out stuff in which you are not interested. Twitter does not use filters  on main timeline. If you follow someone, you see all the tweets. It is a bigger commitment as a follower than that of a friend on Facebook. Moments will select followable content.

Moments are laidback. On Twitter timeline older things disappear as there is a flood of new tweets. Moments in comparison is slow. You are likely to see a headline of an event lasting 3-4 hours . In the regular Twitter, this is a huge time gap.

Editorial  selection  may raise the question of bias. Twitter will have to shield the editors from the marketing influence. Editors will avoid Moments that smack of marketing.

The BARC wants to make the measurement of  viewership transparent. If a broadcaster claims leadership position in a particular genre, time-slot or geographical territory, the BARC guidelines must be followed. A leader is not created overnight. At a given moment, or in a given day someone might be ahead or behind. This temporary phase cannot constitute leadership. It is a momentary blip, and is a weak foundation on which a leadership claim can be built.

The Council has specified that there should be comparision which must cover at least four consecutive weeks of data and at least four consecutive hours of data.

The Council expects that only data from e-direct outputs of BMW or Broadcast Media Work station should be used. If there is extrapolation or interpolation such outputs should not be used in the public domain.

BMW is the rating software which the subscribers to BARC ratings get for analysis. This software takes care while churning out data that the sample size is not less than 200.

Marketers these days consider both the social media and the digital media in their marketing and promotional strategy. When Maggi noodles are being re-launched, they have designed a campaign for the digital and social media. Six short films are being shown. They reflect the spontaneous engagement with and affection for the product. The campaign has already garnered 7 million views on digital and social media platforms. Social media can make or mar a product. When Maggi was assaulted on the social media, it disappeared within days. Social media is considered highly suitable for Gen Next brands, say a smart watch or radio cab service. These are the millennial brands run by the millennials and catering  to the millennials  — such brands are created with the digital consumer in the mind.

Brands which use social media use them for building reputation, acquiring new business and creating buzz and advocacy. Customers can give feedback and can have their grievances redressed directly. Social media thus can be used for customer relations. New customers are acquired by inducing free trials. Interesting content is made to generate interest in the existing as well as new customers.

FMCG financial brands in banking, insurance and credit and automobiles too are turning to social media and are making applications that integrate with such platforms.

Established organisations continue their traditional marketing, and are making further forays into social media by creating compelling stories.

Bankers have created applications such as Ping Pay ( Axis ), icici bankpay ( ICICI ), Kay Pay (Kotak), Pockets (ICICI). Insurance brands like HDFC Life asked people to participate in world cup #My Team-MyPride campaign to identify Sar Utha Ke Jiyo moments. Pepsi asked contestants to make a 30-second commercial for IPL matches. The best commercials were to be aired during the matches. YouTube users and content creators were motivated to spread the word. Sonam Kapoor advises people on relationships and the break ups. Actually these break ups are related to styling products. After such break ups, you can think of L’Oréal, since you are worth it. It is an attempt to sync the message beautifully.

Advertising campaigns these days are comprehensive — they include social media. Agencies design the message accordingly. The elements in the message are rearranged. Gillette Women against Lazy  Stubble used this strategy.

Social media have sheer power of reach. To begin with, communities were built, but they just complained about their grievances. The relationships were transactional. There was no attempt to build on emotions. YouTube broadcast long and boring commercials. All this made Internet a passive broadcasting entity.

All this was bound to change. Since 2014, Internet has emerged as a powerful media. Facebook promoted Xiaomi, which has become the fastest growing brand. Vodafone and Airtel too used social media. Reliance used Twitter. This is because our understanding of the social media and the behavior of people there has improved.

Instead of brand stories, social media circulated stories of the people. All stories must be woven around people. How to do this? Here you have got to be selfless. That then satisfies your selfish motives. Brands have to identify common values, which can be shared with people. Social media is live story-telling, and not the recorded version of a TV commercial. Certain Facebook pages command millions of likes, thus demonstrating the power of Facebook presence. Brands have to make people heroes.

The flow of information in pre-Internet days was unidirectional — from the  company to the consumers. These days it is from consumers to consumers, and from consumers to companies. Most consumers do their buying search online, and they buy the product offline ( this is called RoBo ). Yaa, certain transactions are closed online also. Brands generate leads through various efforts, e.g. QR codes. This leads to online promotions.

Digital advertising must be explored in all its dimensions — search engine optimization ( SEO ), search engine marketing, emailers, display advertising across portals, verticals, in-mail boxes, ad networks and social platforms. Each must be evaluated separately to learn about the response generation.

A company must support the online efforts by setting up retail and direct sales structure offline.

There are 800-plus channels already jostling for viewers attention. Indian TV industry has been estimated to be Rs.543.2 billion. Of late, the English channels too have made appearance. These channels garner just a little over 1 per cent of the total viewership pie. We have colors Infinity, Star Movies  Select HD, and MN+.

The viewership share by genre is given below in the table

Genre                                                          Share ( per cent )

English News                                             0.1

News ( other )                                            9.4

Hindi GECs                                               31.2

Regional GECs                                          17.9

Kids                                                               7.3

Regional News                                            3.7

Regional Music                                            1.8

Music                                                              3.2

Hindi Movies                                               13.6

Regional Movies                                           3.7

English Entertainment                                0.9

Infotainment                                                 1.3

Sports                                                              2.4

As digital TV is rapidly emerging as a new medium, 20-25 per cent of marketing budget is diverted to the new media.

Hologram is an amazing technology but it seems to be out or reach in day to day life, too futuristic to be seen outside sci-fi movies and video games. It has been applied now to every day happenings. In this technology, a laser is used to imprint an image on to a recording surface. Here one can copy or reconstruct almost anything. Later a camera is used to project this image in 3D form. Hologram USA is a company that creates holograms.

Even the dead celebrities can be resurrected by using hologram technology. Michael Jackson was made to return to the stage ( he died in 2009 ) at the Billboard Music Awards, 2014. His hologram performed Slave to the Rhythm from his posthumous album Xscape, alongside both real and virtual dancers. In 2007, Elvis Prisley was resurrected to perform his 1968 hit If I can Dream  alongside Celine Dione.

Whitney Houston who expired in 2012 will be brought from the dead to do a tour of the world and sing again I will always love you. Billy Holiday, the famous jazz singer who died in 1959 will perform at Apollo, New York.

Some do question the application of this technology to resurrect dead celebrities. In 2014, this technology was used in India by a political party to make its leader to talk to audiences across different cities at the same time.