Controversial new FCC rule requires TV stations to post political ad rates

Along with the headache of making sure TV ads that get bumped by politicals are quickly rescheduled, advertising agencies also will have to cope with the Federal Communications Commission’s controversial new rule requiring TV stations to post online the rates charged for each political ad.

“Rates for the political season could show up in databases and on buyers’ desktops, and other buys would be measured by this,” said John Shelton, the CEO of Strata, a provider of software-based buying tools. “This is more likely to impact the business outside politics rather than the business inside politics.”

Broadcasters warned that having ad-rate data readily available online would put stations at a marked disadvantage as they compete with other local media outlets. It was a concern FCC commissioner Mignon Clyburn, a former newspaper publisher, acknowledged even as she voted for the rule.

The move could leave both buyer and seller with a lot to explain during the hectic advertising season. The concern is that advertisers would demand the same ad rate as others without regard to the specific factors that drove their campaign. “I don’t want this to create more questions about local markets in our clients’ minds that might discourage them not to buy local,” said Maribeth Papuga, an evp and director of local investment for MediaVest.

However, Tony Sweeney, svp, media director at Philadelphia-based LevLane, said there may be an upside in terms of transparency, noting “that level of detail doesn’t typically get discussed.”

As reported by AdWeek

Nielsen Data Says Cable Grew Ad Take During Recession

Ad spending on cable is now on par with that allocated to broadcast TV, according to data from Nielsen.

Ad spending on English-language cable-TV networks came to about $21 billion in 2011, roughly even with ad spending on English-language broadcast networks’ $21.1 billion, according to Nielsen.

The figures mark the first time, according to the market-research company, that cable has achieved parity of a sort with its longtime rival. Spending on cable TV has increased steadily over the last few years, up 42% since 2007.

How did cable achieve its growth? The medium has matured, developing more original, quality programming, and winning greater share of audience. As marketers winnowed down their spend on English-language broadcast TV during the recession of 2008 and 2009, cable continued to increase its ad revenue — a testament, perhaps, to the fact that its programming aimed at niche audiences is typically significantly cheaper than what airs on broadcast.

Nielsen

Nielsen said its figures show that cable has essentially caught up with broadcast.

To be sure, broadcast is still bigger than cable. After all, it takes dozens of cable outlets, large and small, to match the earning power of the five big English-language networks. A prime-time ad on NBC, CW, ABC, CBS and Fox is also, in nearly all cases, likely to cost more than a similar promotional berth on a cable outlet.

Nielsen’s data also shows that spot TV has yet to return to its recent 2008 high point of $25 billion in ad revenue. In 2011, the medium took in approximately $23 billion, according to Nielsen. Meanwhile, Spanish-language cable and network TV saw double-digit growth in ad spend, up 24% and 16%, respectively, from 2010.

Twitter now has the power to drive a politician’s message and news coverage.

For those seeking an example of the breakneck pace of the mounting political “call and response” attack cycle, 84 minutes may very well be a new benchmark.

It took a mere one hour and 24 minutes for Mitt Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstrom to mount a Twitter offensive against Hilary Rosen after the Democratic strategist’s incendiary remarks on CNN last month about Romney’s wife Ann never having worked “a day in her life.”

And the most salient point of all: as responses go, Fehrnstrom’s was slow.

Welcome to the digital democracy, where Twitter has become a veritable particle accelerator for news cycles and political battles. The social media platform has given way to a ceaseless torrent of inside-baseball minutiae and partisan nitpickery. It is the home of meaningless scooplets and high-profile dustups. It is, for better or worse, the center of the political conversation, and it is transforming the way political campaigns and those who cover them do business.

“What happens on Twitter does not stay on Twitter—it is not Las Vegas,” says Peter Greenberger, Twitter’s director of political ad sales in Washington, D.C. And if anyone in Washington has reason to smile these days, it’s him.

“It’s amazing. Rosen’s initial comment was on CNN, but within seconds it exploded on Twitter and you can watch as it grew and grew until it bounced off Twitter and landed on the morning shows, evening news and the front pages of newspapers across the country,” Greenberger recounts.

Part of the reason for Twitter’s accelerated importance in the zeitgeist of political coverage stems from its stunning growth over the past three years. Last March, the company announced that it had achieved 140 million active users, up from 100 million last fall. Every day, Twitter hosts roughly 340 million new tweets.

To put that in perspective, it took Twitter three years, two months and one day to serve up 1 billion tweets; it now does that volume every three days. The New York Times’ David Carr likened Twitter to “a river of data.” Still others compare it to a violent gusher. Call it what you will: The tweets will flow with or without you.

This year’s presidential contest has already been pitched as the first truly digital election, despite the fact that politicos dubbed both the 2004 and 2008 elections as such. With each new election cycle comes proclamations about the latest technology’s impact. In 2004, it was the rise of the blogs. In 2008, CNN and many others asked whether that election would be won or lost on Facebook. This year, Twitter is home base to the political discourse, and journalists have set up shop to make sure they don’t miss a moment.

Read more in AdWeek

Metrics Like ‘Hover’ and ‘View’ Found Better Indicators of Intent to Buy

We already know that click-through rates on online display ads are abysmal. Now a study from the startup Pretarget and ComScore revealed that even when a user clicks on an ad, the correlation between that click and a conversion is virtually nonexistent.

Over nine months, Pretarget analyzed more than 260 million ad impressions across the campaigns of 18 advertisers, the company said, and tracked conversions ranging from filling out an online form to downloading software. In the analysis, Pretarget found that the Pearson correlation (a common correlation methodology) between clicks and a conversion was 0.01, the lowest correlation rate among metrics tracked in the study (a 0 result would mean there is absolutely no correlation, while 1.0 would signify the strongest possible correlation.)

At the high end of the correlation spectrum for the metrics tracked was what the companies referred to as “ad hover/interaction,” or when a web user moves his or her cursor over an ad, thus “engaging” with it. That interaction registered a correlation of 0.49.

The study found a slightly weaker but still significant correlation between viewable impressions and conversion, coming in with a Pearson result of 0.35. Gross impressions served registered a modest correlation of 0.17.

The findings lend credence to those who have long said it’s time that the industry makes a serious move away from measuring campaign success based on click-throughs, the foundation of online display advertising that’s looking more flawed by the day.

“My key takeaway,” said Pretarget founder and CEO Keith Pieper, “is that optimizing to viewable impressions or hover time is a better proxy for a brand advertiser than a click-through rate.”

Pretarget used ComScore’s validated Campaign Essentials product to gather data on viewability and “ad hovering.” Pretarget, which helps advertisers target web users who have searched online for a specific keyword, used a demand-side platform to collect data on clicks as well conversion data based on cookies.

Kirby Winfield, senior VP-corporate development at Comscore, said the findings could push direct-response marketers to focus on metrics that have largely been the domain of brand advertising.

“Metrics like ‘hover’ and ‘view’ that have typically been thought of as more brand-focused metrics actually can end up being superappropriate for direct marketers,” he said.

ComScore did not underwrite the study.

As reported in AdAge

When a week’s vacation can leave us behind on social media trends, early adoption becomes more about pattern recognition than bandwagon jumping.

Mediaphiles dismissed Foursquare as a toy, until it suddenly owned the geo layer. Internet junkies took afternoon naps and missed Pinterest’s leap to #3 in social networking. Mom couldn’t log into Hotmail; now she owns Farmville. All of these trends were forecast well before their big breaks, largely due to the astute eyes of early adopters who are ready to add new and fresh tools to their media-consuming arsenal.

Here are eight media trends we’re tracking right now. Some are right on the cusp of becoming mainstream and others still have a bit to cook before breaking the surface. What patterns are you observing in the media world and what do you think will be the next big thing?

1. Targeted, Geo-Mobile Coupons

When Foursquare started garnering press coverage in 2009, co-founder Dennis Crowley confessed his dream was to one day know users well enough to target smart coupons on the fly. He wanted to send push notifications that essentially said, “We know you like pizza, and it’s dinner time right now. Pizza Place X, two blocks away, has a special.”

That day has finally come. With 1.5 billion check-ins, 750 thousand merchants, 20 million users and millions of geo-tagged tips, Foursquare now has the ability to deliver hyper-relevant coupons to its users. I just started getting them and they’ve been surprisingly accurate.

LevelUp and other mobile services are digifying the in-person coupon space as well. We expect this field to mature rapidly now that geodata infrastructure is in place and half of all U.S. mobile phones are smartphones.

2. Audio Watermarking

Technology for embedding subliminal signals in audio — digital sound waves humans cannot consciously detect — is being used to track data and connect digital devices in increasingly clever ways. New York-based startup Sonic Notify, for example, built technology that allows television shows such as Bravo’s Top Chef to invisibly activate a viewer’s smartphone or tablet with related content while watching.

As audio watermarking becomes more mainstream (and consumers acclimate to the idea), opportunities for mobile content integration at events and retail stores will arise faster than you can play a Beatles record backwards.

3. Passive Location-Based Networking

According to social media data collected by Tracx, the top 3 buzziest startups at SXSW 2012 were all in-person networking apps: Highlight, Glancee, and Sonar.

Highlight was the most popular by far, gaining 300% more buzz than any of its peers. Its hook is that it’s completely passive: Users allow the app to track their locations throughout the day, then when other Highlight users (friends, potential connections) are nearby, it shows both parties the nearby user’s info.

Though buzz was high, the big question around this trend is whether the utility of such apps will outweigh the privacy concerns (and battery drain). There’s certainly competition in the space, so we’re likely to see a lot of movement around this concept this year.

4. Motion Tracking and Facial Recognition for Intention Data

CBS‘s hit series Person of Interest called this one last September. As facial recognition and motion tracking tech becomes more accurate and less expensive, the ability to digitally divine real-world intent is coming into our grasp.

Interpublic Group, for example, has a laboratory in Manhattan where Xbox Kinects, flatscreens and fake grocery aisles come together for some serious spying. When you pick up a box of Pop Tarts, the motion sensors track your face to see if you’re smiling or frowning about what you see. Screens then output data on how long you’ve lingered in front of a particular product, and ads trigger based on your gender (which cameras infer) and what objects you’re touching.

All this will help product marketers deliver better experiences. Once we get past the “creep-out phase,” consumers will likely start expecting — and appreciating — such personalization in their everyday shopping ventures.

5. Automatic Social Media-Activated Discounts

Handing a coupon to the waiter after a meal can be embarrassing for customers and time-consuming for employees. American Express has figured out how to bypass both challenges using social media.

The credit card company recently launched Twitter and Foursquare integrations that allow cardholders to sync their plastic with a social account, then take advantage of in-store coupons with no more effort than a tweet or check-in.

For example, many Foursquare locations have “$5 Off” AmEx specials. If a user checks into a location with the special and uses an AmEx card, the store’s credit card machine pings AmEx, which verifies check-in with Foursquare and then credits $5 to the user’s card.

6. Brands Building Publications and Entertainment Channels

“We’re all publishers” is a trite phrase by now, but big brands are starting to take the mantra seriously. With budgets behind them and no advertising to worry about, companies are building media properties meant to compete with TV stations and magazines.

Red Bull’s homepage, for example, looks like an action-sports news site. The company pumps out professional-grade news articles, feature stories and videos each day, pushing them to social marketing channels such as Facebook and Twitter. This fuels the company’s social media accounts with content and points followers back to Red Bull’s site, rather than elsewhere on the Internet.

Fashion companies are especially keen on building publications to compete with traditional media. Several have even reported that building entire publications is no more expensive than advertising. A look at the sites ofTory Burch and Kate Spade show where these brands are investing their efforts.

7. TV on the Internet

The Thursday Night TV lineup’s days are numbered.

Barry Diller, the media mogul who greenlit The Simpsons while running Fox in the ’80s, thinks broadcast television is the next big disruption in media. As we’ve seen with music, Internet users want to consume individual pieces of content — tracks, not albums; episodes, not box sets. They want to pick and choose, and they want their content online, not attached to a cable TV plan.

Diller’s latest project, Aereo, puts live broadcast TV on the Internet. It’s the next step to cutting the coaxial cable entirely.

8. Mobile, Immersive Reality

Digital technology allows us to be in one place while experiencing another. Skype and FaceTime connect people across the world, in person. The next evolution of this is immersive video and augmented reality.

Google is developing augmented reality glasses, which would enable wearers to view data layered over real life. A startup called Condition One makes iPad video apps that let the tablet holder move around a faraway scene, like a battlefield. There’s even R&D happening to create video-enabled contact lenses.

Tron, The Terminator and The Matrix, here we come.

As reported by Mashable

In an age of fat data plans and broadband access, Pinterest has a message for the media: a picture is worth a thousand words. That’s about seven Twitter posts.

Magazines like Real Simple and Better Homes and Gardens and marketers like Whole Foods and West Elm have been quick to embrace Pinterest, the social media start-up firm that allows its users to share images by “pinning” them.

Andrew Lipsman, the vice president for industry analysis at the research firm comScore, called the site’s popularity among brands one more example of “the rise of the visual Web,” along with Instagram (which was recently acquired by Facebook) and Facebook’s timeline feature, which is heavily driven by images instead of text.

“Pinterest is creating sort of a meritocracy of what’s visually appealing,” Mr. Lipsman said. “Brands are scrambling and trying to figure it out. They know it’s going to be big, but they don’t necessarily know the best way to use it.”

Better Homes and Gardens, published by Meredith, has 73 pin boards, where images can be posted, including “Lovely Laundry Rooms,” “Smart Storage Solutions” and “We Love Baking.” It has 47,854 people who follow all of the brand’s boards and about 350,000 who follow individual boards. The laundry room board alone has just over 58,000 followers. Material from the Better Homes boards was “re-pinned” (another feature of the site) on other boards 448,022 times in January.

“To me, it’s an ideal platform for brands like ours that are really visually driven in many ways,” said Gayle Butler, the editor in chief of Better Homes and Gardens.

Pinterest may be considered the third- most popular social media platform after Twitter and Facebook, but it does not share much of its own information.

In response to a request for an interview, the company only allowed questions to be fielded by an external public relations firm. Nor does the company provide any user data to publishers or brands.

Pinterest does not have ads on the site, but publishers and brands can use the images to link to their own Web sites.

Kaelin Zawilinski, the digital editorial manager for Better Homes, says Pinterest has helped the magazine gain a new audience, especially with younger women. She said the profiles of many visitors and re-pinners “appear to be younger than our typical readers.”

Pinterest would not say how many users it has, but according to comScore, the site had 18.7 million unique visitors in March, compared with about 418,000 in May. Women account for 85 percent of total page views on the site, Mr. Lipsman said.

While the company would not answer questions about its strategy, it published a blog post in February advising brands on best practices. The post encouraged companies to pin from various sources and to create pin boards for different types of material.

Brides magazine, published by Condé Nast, has created 58 boards with topics like hair styles, fashion dresses, bouquets and wedding cakes. “It’s a great opportunity to push some of the images that are on our site across the Internet and to drive traffic back to the site,” said Lisa Harman Gooder, the digital content director for Brides. “We don’t view this as a walled garden anymore.” Ms. Harman Gooder noted that many of the photos on the board for Bridal Fashion Week had been taken with a cellphone and posted to the site with Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram.

A variety of other brands, including Gilt Home and L. L. Bean, are using the site. Even the National Pork Board is using Pinterest to share recipes, and yes, photos, of pork.

Blake Cahill of Banyan Branch, a digital media advertising agency that works with the Gilt Groupe and manages the company’s Gilt Home page, said pictures were replacing words when it comes to social media.

“Everyone is a voyeur,” Mr. Cahill said. “A beautiful dress or a pillow. Those are types of things that people like to share.”

Laurie Brooks, a spokeswoman for L. L. Bean, said the company had been experimenting with different boards on the site to see which ones users engaged with the most.

“When we enter a new space, we have to figure out if it’s right for the brand and if it’s right for our customers,” Ms. Brooks said. “We didn’t want it to be about selling. We wanted it to be about creating that brand awareness.” The company has boards dedicated to its catalog covers, camping scenes and photos of woodland creatures it has culled from its own site and from the Web.

Food and food-related brands are also popular on the site. “People eat with their eyes first,” said Cathy Lee Fredrickson, the online content manager for the National Pork Board. She said the board had “a really passionate and engaged community fan base.”

“People love bacon,” she said.

Another way that images make their way across the Web to Pinterest is through the “Pin It” button that is slowly making its way alongside the ubiquitous Facebook and Twitter share buttons that live near most digital material.

“Pin It is elbowing its way into that mix,” Mr. Lipsman of comScore said. The Spanish language network Univision plans to add a “Pin It” button to its online material so users can pin articles and clips to their boards.

Despite their embrace of Pinterest, some brands expressed the hope that the company would be more forthcoming about user data, would upgrade the search tool and even allow some boards to be private.

As reported in The New York Times

Not that long ago, media used to get the last 10 minutes of the meeting.

The big TV idea, the provocative headline or the right choice of talent was the key to unlocking brand fame in a world where advertising was first and foremost about interrupting an audience. But for many marketers that playbook is being tossed aside. The conventional order putting distribution strategy at the end of the process is being flipped. Answering where and how we should communicate is preceding what we should say. Here’s why:

1. We’ve Moved From a World of Mad Men to Math Men (and Women)
Advertising has become a numbers game. The pressing questions from the C-Suite today are: How much should we ideally spend? Which brands should be supported? What is the return on investment? And which channels will best pay out? Before developing the right messaging, the right business case needs to be established. One of the biggest factors for marketing failure is not matching the right budget to the goals or getting the right plan. Our business planning team helped one of our clients sell the case for a three-fold increase in ad budget to its board. Its business is thriving as a result of having the right level of investment.

2. The Big TV Idea Has Lost Ground to Small, Smartly Placed, Relevant Ideas
In the agency world, we live to sell clients the big idea, such as Nike’s ”Just Do It” or the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty. “I doubt if more than one campaign in a hundred contains a big idea,” David Ogilvy wrote back in 1983, something I think is still very much the case today. Larry Light introduced Brand Journalism, a breakthrough strategy for McDonald’s that debunked the idea of a universal message and argued for using many stories to speak to different audiences. The Big Idea just isn’t a scalable proposition in advertising. To me, relevance is one of the most important currencies in communications. Smart, tactical use of custom messages in different media at relevant times, locations and environments is what creates engagement. Axe has done this brilliantly over the years, deploying an array of channels to talk to young men. This includes branded video series of men trying to win over women, mating-game toolkits, spritzes from attractive female models wandering the aisles of retail stores and nightclub sponsorships.

3. Right Media, Right Message 
When I worked on a new-business pitch with Rob Feakins, chief creative officer at Publicis New York, he charged several teams in his creative department to come up with pitch ideas. But before the teams presented their ideas to him, he called me and asked if I could talk him through the media plan. I was intrigued; rarely have I found a creative to express much interest in media. He said the relative importance of different media would help him judge the potential campaign concepts better. Knowing whether out-of-home or print or TV advertising was going to be the principal channel would help him decide which idea to back.

4. Content is Still Very Much King, But Which Kind of Content? 
In a broadcast world, the 30-second ad ruled. But in a multi-platform digital landscape, content can and needs to take many forms. A media plan could include a long-form video series, custom sponsored programing, short-form video pre-rolls, interactive creative, mobile apps and curated branded content, alongside the more traditional ad units. Each media form brings a different mix of engagement, share-ability and branding. Defaulting to a creative brief that starts with the more predictable advertising units at the outset will likely stymie innovation. This is an issue when research suggests that more and more of consumers’ brand decisions are being influenced by sources beyond advertising. My advice: Develop the media plan first, then determine what mix of creative assets need to be developed.

5. Adaptive Marketing
I wrote about this idea a couple months back. Adaptive Marketing involves adapting and personalizing campaigns in real time by responding to data collected on the audience via their web behavior or social graph. A favorite example of this is Intel’s Museum of Me, which takes content collected from your Facebook Timeline to create a personalized, animated film.

6. Media is More Than a Venue for Your Ads
The Super Bowl, the Academy Awards, the Grammys, TV premieres and an “American Idol” finale have become media events. Social media and tablets have turned them into live, interactive marketing bonanzas. TV networks and brands can deliver not just big audiences but access to content, and help drive the conversation in social media. Customizing ads and marketing programs to make the most of these events is becoming a powerful strategy. But to leverage these opportunities fully, media partners need to be a brought in much earlier in the marketing planning process.

To be clear, this is not a media vs. creative discussion. All stakeholders need to be part of a media discussion: the brand, account management, account planning, creative, digital and media teams. But maybe it is now time for the creative to be the last 10 minutes in the meeting!

As reported in AdAge

Ross Martin, 37, is a published poet and a former drummer in an alternative rock band. Wearing Nike high tops and loosefitting jeans, he is the kind of figure who wouldn’t attract a second glance on the streets of Brooklyn, where he lives.

Celebrity and Conflict Are Trump Cards In Social. So, What’s A Brand to Do?

Nike , Starbucks, Disney and Whole Foods. These are four category-leading brands that all represent quality and leadership. They are four brands that are committed to properly cultivating and maintaining well-respected images. As such, would it surprise you to hear that these four brands COMBINED have fewer Twitter followers than singer Chris Brown’s 8.2 million total? Yes, we’re talking about the same Chris Brown who, in 2009, pled guilty to felony assault of then girlfriend, Grammy Award-winning singer Rihanna.

Suspend for a second your personal feelings for Brown and consider what has to have occurred to enable him and his “Team Breezy” base to grow to such a staggering number. In spring of 2011, in support of his fourth studio album, “FAME,” Brown and his management group set out to create buzz around the project with the establishment of a digital-age fan club. Team Breezy was given a producer credit on his album, but more importantly was given access to Brown and his music through private listening parties orchestrated by more than 80 street teams across the globe.

Brown, the artist, delivered premium content in the form of a single available only through a more expensive digital version of his FAME album while including an opportunity to view an exclusive video of the song as a subscriber. But Team Breezy has extended beyond Brown’s produced/owned content to also include the lifestyle site mechanicaldummy.com, which serves as an earned media culture gateway for fans.

TV host and journalist Toure’ recently sparked a heated Twitter confrontation with Team Breezy supporters by commenting on the release of a new Rihanna and Chris Brown music collaboration. The unwavering support and defense of Brown’s past actions were eye-opening, but they also demonstrated the “us against the world” mentality that has been bred inside Team Breezy. This “conflict” between protagonists seems to be a key piece of the Brown digital success. From Team Aniston to Team Jolie of today, to past faux-battles such as the Nike Dan and Dave Olympics campaign, the ability to pick a side seems essential for viral growth.

Twitter, in particular, seems to be a medium that enables individuals to gravitate towards celebrity over company. Twitter is not alone in this as Facebook also shows similar tendencies. Consider that Vin Diesel, the action star from the “Fast & the Furious” movie franchise, has more Facebook Likes (30 million plus) than Starbucks (28 million).

It is awkward to suggest Chris Brown as a guide for corporate success. Organizations that eat, sleep and breathe image would rightfully be challenged to accept a role model with such dubious public relations and brand exposure. But, nonetheless, the following takeaways remain:

• Social media remains a medium that rewards premium and exclusivity.
• Conflict, whether real or created, can be a growth strategy.
• Social media fans/followers gravitate in much larger numbers to people over companies. No matter how human a company may be, it cannot compete consistently with celebrities on a scale basis.

Andre Agassi, tennis hall of famer and one-time bad boy, once opined for Canon that “Image is Everything.” In today’s social media space, brands must consider how to craft their images differently to better position themselves (the brands) as celebrities. Brands need a real face and voice, not a logo or caricature, for consumers to engage with and to activate the loyalty and behavior that human celebrities motivate. That, married with an on-going, meaningful content strategy that brings together both brand owned and community earned elements is required for the volume of success that celebrities are able to generate today.

As reported in AdAge

Digital marketing is a discipline in flux. We face an onslaught of shiny new technologies and platforms that promise to “change everything.” Marketers are creating similarly breathless headlines, proclaiming the next revolutionary devices/apps/social networks.

Yet, even smart marketers don’t know what changes the future will bring; but they do need to be aware that their industry is changing every day. For instance, to reach consumers marketers need to be increasingly mobile, engaging, relevant and aware of the contexts in which we currently operate.

I don’t pretend to know the future. But the decisions and products of Apple, Amazon and other innovators will affect how we live in the years to come. As we anticipate our connected, Minority Report-style future, here are five big marketing ideas to embrace now to get ahead of the curve.

1. Location Services

Consumers are out there and many want you to find them. Location features of social apps such asFoursquare, Ban.jo and Path are potential goldmines of important consumer data. The near field communication (NFC) technology in products like Google Wallet is just starting to show its potential. And while privacy issues surrounding location services will need to be resolved, consumers are still demanding that marketers understand all of their daily contexts and find ways to make their lives easier. If the rumors are true and the iPhone 5 has NFC embedded, expect these features to go from leading edge to mainstream.

2. New Ad Formats

While new online video and mobile platforms are — unsurprisingly — attracting a lot of heat, their marketing spend is still way out of whack, compared to the amount of time consumers spend there.

Don’t just throw money at these new channels. Instead of pre-roll video ads and other “forced view” options, look to user-initiated solutions that respect the user’s time and interests. Research new ad formats that help brands look beyond clutter and “banner blindness,” such as in-image ads, which integrate brand messages elegantly within relevant content.

3. User-Generated Curation

User-generated curation (UGC) is powered by content discovery apps such as Pulse, Flipboard, Fancy andFoodspotting. Content producers and merchants provide the feeds, and consumers tweak them to suit their interests and contexts, filtering data and curating personalized information platforms.

These models can help brands become relevant to consumers and provide the next great opportunities for marketers. For instance, Pinterest has received applause from consumers and marketers alike, and has demonstrated the power that personal curation and relevance can have for engagement.

4. Advertise by Format

Everyone is excited about mobile’s potential, and tablets present appealing platforms or consumer engagement. If you’ve decided to advertise on mobile apps, what are you going to do with the user after you get him or her to tap? Will you use the platform to its full potential? Or will you roll out the same old display strategy you’ve been using online, praying that users will choose to interact with your ad?

It’s time to get creative and imagine the new possibilities. Media industry guru Ken Doctor points to innovative advertisers who take advantage of the iPad’s unique format. “What’s better for an insurance company like Liberty Mutual than threatening you with disaster (tornado, earthquake, flood) and then, by simply tilting your iPad see the damage magically disappear,” he poses.

5. Integrated Marketing

Being relevant to your customer in every context improves brand recall and enhances engagement. Ditch the silos in your advertising strategy (e.g. this is what consumers watch on TV vs. on their phones) and focus on the most important thing — your customer.

In this increasingly interconnected world, consumers are not necessarily thinking in terms of silos. Researchshows that 72% of consumers want to be engaged with an integrated marketing approach, but only 39% are receiving that. Google found that consumers had 74% brand recall when the advertiser’s integrated strategy carried across mobile, TV and online.

While the world is not yet seamless, QR codes and “bridging” apps like Viggle deliver second screen relevance, and can help marketers unleash multiplatform, integrated relevance.

Today’s profound advancement in tech and media is changing how we interact with and filter our world. Smart marketers can succeed by engaging with the trends that are resonating most with the emerging consumer of today.

As reported by Mashable