ONLINE COMPANY ROO AND LONELY Planet, a leading independent travel guidebook publisher, Web site and television production company, are launching a dedicated Lonely Planet channel on ROO's online video network. The focus is city-based destinations, narrated by authors of the Lonely Planet guidebooks.
Après afoir demandé aux consommatrices US de produire leur futur spot Dove, un groupe décidément très web 2.0 ...- THE MERGER OF DIGITAS WITH Publicis’ interactive media assets creates a new digital media powerhouse, the likes of which has not been seen on Madison Avenue before. The resulting organization will have the global resources of Publicis’ multinational marketing services network, as well as the media-buying scale to compete in a sector where the power has been steadily shifting to the major portals and search players.
- “This allows us to work with Yahoo, Google and Microsoft in a different way, because we are clearly the biggest player in digital media now,” boasts David Kenny, chairman-CEO of Digitas, who emerges from the deal with responsibility for leading Publicis’ overall digital media strategy.
- “We can really scale up with the portals in a way that has not been done yet. Nobody has the media scale and the global reach we have now. Those are the two main structural things we gain from this.”Kenny says Digitas had already been developing the means of leveraging its estimated $1 billion in annual digital media billings on its own–but coupled with the digital media-buying clout of Publicis’ shops, will triple or quadruple its market presence virtually overnight.
Everybody is betting on online video advertising and the prospect of taking a big bite out of the $67 billion TV ad market. The key ingredient here is the creative. Anyone can pick up a video camera, but creating compelling video ad content is not as easy as creating compelling text ad content. And Madison Avenue is starting to wake up to the fact that they can’t just bring TV ads online.
Here’s an excerpt from an interview with Jamie Tedford of Arnold Worldwide, whose clients include brands like Volkswagen, Fidelity Investments, Timberland, and RadioShack:
The whole notion of viral video “advertising” is disruptive even to the disruptors like Google — Google ads still need to ride along with content, which is why they bought YouTube. But when ads become fully fledged entertainment, they don’t need to ride along with content. They don’t need to be in Google’s ad system — you can just post the ad content on YouTube for free:- Advertisers think, `We’ll just put our existing TV spot up, and it’ll become viral.’ A lot of marketers are learning quickly that the rules for what makes something viral are a totally different set of rules.
- Video also gets passed on because it’s surprising, funny, new, comical, sexy, or provocative. People want the currency of having found something first.
- Many clients have a more traditional view: `Here’s the product message I want to come through, and if you can get some entertainment in there, great.’ Now, you’re asking someone to discover this on their own, and figuring out what would make a consumer forward it to a friend.
The big structural issue to be resolved is the separation of “creative” from “media buying” that has taken place on Madison Avenue over the past decade or so. With online media completely changing the game, some ad agencies are recombining these functions, even as Google and others in Silicon Valley position themselves to disintermediate the agencies. It may be that media buying agencies are more vulnerable than the creative agencies, because Google has sent the ball rolling downhill towards the commoditization of media buying, with national advertisers developing their own platform with eBay. If that happens, the power may resides in the hands of the “creatives” — somebody is going to have to create all of these online video ads.
The credit rating service Fitch issued a fascinating report this week on the evolution of Madison Avenue in a digital media worldThe report, which focuses on the market trends and financial issues facing the industry's big agency holding companies - Interpublic, Omnicom, Publicis and WPP - indicates that the majors are moving quickly to adapt to these changes, and are effectively reengineering there services and product offerings to deal with a rapidly changing marketplace.
One of the biggest organizational developments, Fitch says, is the reintegration of media and creative services. Citing Interpublic's recent realignment of media shops (Initiative and Universal McCann) with brand agency networks (Draft FCB and McCann WorldGroup, respectively), and Publicis' integration of Arc Worldwide with Leo Burnett, the credit agency said it believes that agency holding companies, "that fail to develop tighter coordination are at risk of client defections to other [holding companies] or upstart agencies that can deliver integrated solutions to clients."
The report also predicts that big agencies will continue to be challenged by shifts in the media marketplace, especially the attrition of the traditional TV advertising markets, but says media services operations are actually better positioned than their creative department/agency counterparts to adapt.
"Media planning and buying may be somewhat less affected by these shifts in the short run, but the creative arms of agencies have historically generated meaningful profits from television advertising are more exposed," Fitch cautioned. "If the 2006-07 [network TV advertising] upfront did signal a long-term decline in the importance of the upfront, then companies that have already aggressively shifted their business mix toward marketing services will be best positioned. Omnicom and WPP have been the most aggressive in driving this shift as marketing services make up well over 50% of their revenue stream, while Publicis and Interpublic still derive a larger proportion of their revenue from advertising."
But the biggest potential challenge faced by Madison Avenue ultimately may be its fastest growing form of new business: digital media, especially the Internet.
"In 2006, several major advertisers announced they were forming a consortium to experiment with auctioning television advertising inventory in the U.S. Another potential threat is from the key internet players such as Google, Yahoo and MSN," Fitch says, noting that such players so far have focused on expanding advertising services to the "long tail" of smaller advertisers that might not otherwise employ traditional advertising agencies. That was a strong reason for both Interpublic and WPP Group to invest in automated online advertising and media services provider Spot Runner, WPP chief Martin Sorrell said during the recent UBS media conference in New York.
"So far, major advertisers typically buy their Internet advertising with one of the [holding companies'] buying operations acting as intermediary. There is the potential for the Internet companies to try to move up the value chain to deal directly with advertisers," warns Fitch. "These developments, and others described previously, continue expose agencies to potential to the risk that certain functions may get commoditized or that agencies themselves could be disintermediated in this broad media transition toward more consumer and advertiser control."
(Publishing 2.0, MediaDailyNews)
The move follows a deal between the commercial arm of the organisation, BBC Worldwide, and technology firm Azureus.
The agreement means that users of Azureus' Zudeo software in the US can download titles such as Little Britain.
Until now, most BBC programmes found on peer-to-peer file-sharing networks have been illegal copies.
Beth Clearfield, vice president of program management and digital media at BBC Worldwide, said that the agreement was part of a drive to reach the largest audience possible.
"We are very excited to partner with Azureus and make our content available through this revolutionary distribution model," she said.
High definition
Azureus is best known for developing a BitTorrent client, or program, that allows large media files to be easily shared over the internet. The program has been downloaded more than 130 million times.
Earlier this month the company launched a video sharing site similar to YouTube, codenamed Zudeo. The site allows users to upload and view content.
However, in contrast to most video sharing sites, Zudeo offers high definition videos. Users must also download a program to access and upload content.
The new deal means that users of the software will be able to download high-quality versions of BBC programmes, including Red Dwarf, Doctor Who and the League of Gentleman. Classic series such as Fawlty Towers will also be available through a BBC "channel".
The titles will be protected by digital rights management software to prevent the programmes being traded illegally on the internet.
"This will be a very different experience from traditional file-sharing networks," said Gilles BianRosa, CEO of Azureus.
Users will also be able to link to programmes from blogs, social networks and fansites.
"If you have Zudeo running it will take you to that programme; and if you don't, it will suggest you install it, like the first time you download a flash movie," said Mr BianRosa.
"Once you have watched a show, you can rate it, comment on it and recommend it to a friend."
Mr BianRosa believes the cult status of many BBC programmes will make these features appealing to Zudeo users.
Legal services
File-sharing is often associated with illegal distribution of copyrighted content. But in recent months a number of networks have tried to shake off this old image.
BitTorrent, the company behind the original file-sharing software of the same name, has recently signed a number of deals with content providers, such as 20th Century Fox, in a bid to become a legitimate download service.
Earlier this year, Sharman Networks, the owners of Kazaa, did similar deals. Kazaa uses advertising to provide content for free.
No pricing structure for the BBC content on Zudeo has been revealed.
Azureus is expected to announce other partnerships in the New Year.
(BBC.co.uk)
Cela fait un moment qu'on en entend parler... En attendant 2007...
L’union fait la force et devant la puissance de YouTube conforté par Google, aucun des groupes de médias ne pouvait faire faire face seul. Même, semble-t-il News Corp avec MySpace. Cette « association » un peu contre nature regrouperait NBC, News Corp, Viacom et probablement CBS.
Le concept est de proposer un site d’hébergement vidéo financé par la publicité qui serve de relai aux différents contenus de ces médias. Un peu à l’instar de ce qu’à fait CBS avec YouTube et qui a bien fonctionné.
Le site encouragera également les internautes à mettre en ligne des contenus auto générés. Le projet n’est pas gagné car réunir autour d’un site aussi stratégique des acteurs concurrents tant dans la diffusion que la production de contenus. Les enjeux ne sont également pas les mêmes pour tous les acteurs : News Corp dispose déjà de MySpace, CBS a un accord avec YouTube… L’enjeu est pourtant de taille car il est peu probable qu’aucun d’entre eux ne puisse seul concurrencer YouTube. Cela pourrait faire le bonheur de DailyMotion, Metacafe et autre Bebo… qui pourraient être rachetés par ce groupement. Ce serait même la seule possibilité si ces médias veulent pérenniser leur opération d’investir en commun massivement dans un acteur déjà existant (l’arrêt du projet n’en serait que plus difficile). De plus cela éviterait d’avoir à redévelopper une technologie éprouvée.
(StrategieMedia Telecom Internet / Edgeminded.over-blog.com)
Au conditionnel donc...Il semblerait que le géant du câble américain et la société de production européenne soit en négociation pour concevoir des contenus de divertissement qui serait diffusés exclusivement sur le site Ziddio. Ce concurrent, modeste, de YouTube est la propriété de Comcast. Les internautes sont sollicités pour soumettre des idées dans un épisode pilot d’un budget de 50 000 $. Si le projet est un succès, cela pourrait déboucher sur une série complète d’émissions.
Quand on vous dit que les diffuseurs traditionnels sont menacés…
(Strategie Media Telecom Internet / Edgeminded.over-blog.com)
Yes, you. You control the Information Age. Welcome to your world.To be sure, there are individuals we could blame for the many painful and disturbing things that happened in 2006. The conflict in Iraq only got bloodier and more entrenched. A vicious skirmish erupted between Israel and Lebanon. A war dragged on in Sudan. A tin-pot dictator in North Korea got the Bomb, and the President of Iran wants to go nuclear too. Meanwhile nobody fixed global warming, and Sony didn't make enough PlayStation3s.
But look at 2006 through a different lens and you'll see another story, one that isn't about conflict or great men. It's a story about community and collaboration on a scale never seen before. It's about the cosmic compendium of knowledge Wikipedia and the million-channel people's network YouTube and the online metropolis MySpace. It's about the many wresting power from the few and helping one another for nothing and how that will not only change the world, but also change the way the world changes.
The tool that makes this possible is the World Wide Web. Not the Web that Tim Berners-Lee hacked together (15 years ago, according to Wikipedia) as a way for scientists to share research. It's not even the overhyped dotcom Web of the late 1990s. The new Web is a very different thing. It's a tool for bringing together the small contributions of millions of people and making them matter. Silicon Valley consultants call it Web 2.0, as if it were a new version of some old software. But it's really a revolution.
And we are so ready for it. We're ready to balance our diet of predigested news with raw feeds from Baghdad and Boston and Beijing. You can learn more about how Americans live just by looking at the backgrounds of YouTube videos—those rumpled bedrooms and toy-strewn basement rec rooms—than you could from 1,000 hours of network television.
And we didn't just watch, we also worked. Like crazy. We made Facebook profiles and Second Life avatars and reviewed books at Amazon and recorded podcasts. We blogged about our candidates losing and wrote songs about getting dumped. We camcordered bombing runs and built open-source software.
America loves its solitary geniuses—its Einsteins, its Edisons, its Jobses—but those lonely dreamers may have to learn to play with others. Car companies are running open design contests. Reuters is carrying blog postings alongside its regular news feed. Microsoft is working overtime to fend off user-created Linux. We're looking at an explosion of productivity and innovation, and it's just getting started, as millions of minds that would otherwise have drowned in obscurity get backhauled into the global intellectual economy.
Who are these people? Seriously, who actually sits down after a long day at work and says, I'm not going to watch Lost tonight. I'm going to turn on my computer and make a movie starring my pet iguana? I'm going to mash up 50 Cent's vocals with Queen's instrumentals? I'm going to blog about my state of mind or the state of the nation or the steak-frites at the new bistro down the street? Who has that time and that energy and that passion?
The answer is, you do. And for seizing the reins of the global media, for founding and framing the new digital democracy, for working for nothing and beating the pros at their own game, TIME's Person of the Year for 2006 is you.
Sure, it's a mistake to romanticize all this any more than is strictly necessary. Web 2.0 harnesses the stupidity of crowds as well as its wisdom. Some of the comments on YouTube make you weep for the future of humanity just for the spelling alone, never mind the obscenity and the naked hatred.
But that's what makes all this interesting. Web 2.0 is a massive social experiment, and like any experiment worth trying, it could fail. There's no road map for how an organism that's not a bacterium lives and works together on this planet in numbers in excess of 6 billion. But 2006 gave us some ideas. This is an opportunity to build a new kind of international understanding, not politician to politician, great man to great man, but citizen to citizen, person to person. It's a chance for people to look at a computer screen and really, genuinely wonder who's out there looking back at them. Go on. Tell us you're not just a little bit curious
Mobile TV viewers in Norway will be served personalised adverts as part of a two-month trial.
Banner adverts will be sent to mobile phones and tailored to the individual user under the trial by broadcaster NRK, a mobile TV pioneer.
"Advertisers see value in people being interested in certain products in a given context," said Gunnar Garfors, director of development at NRK.
Two TV channels and four radio stations are taking part in the trial.
"Most people who watch mobile TV in Norway do so because
they are bored somewhere, on transport, or waiting," said Mr Garfors.
"You can assume they are near a shop or service which may be relevant."
The TV and radio stations are streamed to the phones over a 3G phone network and are "near-live with a few seconds' delay.
Mobile TV is a growing market that is yet to hit the mainstream partly because of cost and partly because of competing mobile TV standards.
Unlike other "live TV services" on the market, the NRK trial is streaming video rather than broadcasting it.
According to research firm eMarketer there are 44.5 million 3G subscribers worldwide who watch mobile TV on their phone. Their report predicts the number will double each year, reaching 520.9 million by 2009.
The number of subscribers who pay for premium video services and watch them on their phone will go from six million worldwide to 121.5 million by 2009, it predicts.
Adverts from 20 different companies are targeted to the viewers, depending on the information given to NRK when they signed up for the trial.
Mr Garfors said: "We know lots about the viewers; we have their phone numbers, their name, sex and where they live.
"We can also determine their presumed interests when we see what they watch or listen to and what times they do it.
And we know where they are geographically because of positioning technology.
"When we put this all together we have a fair amount of relevant information which can give them more relevant advertising material."
While the trial is a "proof of concept", Mr Garfors said future developments could see adverts sent to phones dependent on the precise location of the viewer.
Target demographic
For example, companies could have adverts sent to viewers matching their target demographic who happen to be waiting for a bus close to shops where their products are on sale.
People taking part in the trial download a small computer program - a Java application - onto their phones.
The application is also used to change channels on the phone as well as to give viewers the chance to vote interactively during programmes, and send audio and video messages.
"You can also watch or listen to on demand programmes."
Norway is pioneering mobile TV and radio, said Mr Garfors.
"It's beyond the early adopters. Most phones are 3G and they all have built in video players. It's quite popular."
Cost continues to be a barrier for many people, however, as mobile operators charge customers for the data - in this case video or audio - that is downloaded on to their phones.
Mr Garfors said: "One of the problems is that the operators have different price systems. It's still assumed to be quite expensive."
But the introduction of flat rate subscription services - for about £3 a month - could open the floodgates to more viewers.
Mr Garfors said NRK was pioneering mobile TV because of changing viewing habits among the younger generation.
He said: "We are losing out on younger viewers and listeners when it comes to traditional TV and radio.
"On the mobile platform they are big users. If we are just going to continue to do traditional TV and radio, who knows who long we will be in business?"
(BBCNews)
Industry's Been Slow to Come Online but Finds Promise in Narrowcasting
Unilever's Dove is joining the growing ranks of brands enlisting consumers to do the work their ad agencies once did. It's asking "real women" to create TV ads to run during the Academy Awards on ABC Feb. 25.
Voilà un exemple intéressant qui devrait inspirer la communauté des journalistes qui s'inquiète ou pire, ne verrait rien venir...Mike Allen, a reporter who covers the White House for Time magazine, and Roger Simon, the chief political correspondent for Bloomberg News, are joining the new multimedia political news venture being overseen by two former Washington Post journalists.
That new enterprise now has a name — The Politico, which is its newspaper, and thepolitico.com, its Web site. The name supplants The Capitol Leader, which had been its working title until it broadened in scope.
Both the newspaper and Web site are to begin publication on Jan. 23, the date of the president’s State of the Union address, one of the most-covered rituals on the Washington political calendar. In addition to writing about Congress, The Politico will focus on the 2008 presidential campaign.
The moves by Mr. Allen, 42, and Mr. Simon, 58, mark another step by traditional “old media” journalists toward a “new media” venture that is largely online, although both are writing or have written for the Web, and Mr. Allen will stay in Time magazine’s print version with a new column about the White House. The Politico is being financed by the deep pockets of Allbritton Communications and overseen by John Harris, the former political editor of The Washington Post, and Jim VandeHei, a former national political reporter for The Post.
Mr. VandeHei said that although The Politico is entering a field crowded with sources of political news, it will try to distinguish itself by hiring a half-dozen reporters who have established reputations, as well as about 15 or 20 energetic journalists in their 20s and 30s who are building their careers and are eager to break news.
“What we can add is fact-based content, and that’s what people on opinion pages and blogs feed off of,” he said. He said Politico reporters would travel on campaign planes, write with a conversational tone, send back video and tell readers things that traditional reporters tend to talk about but not to write about. The staff will also make appearances on CBS News.
Mr. VandeHei said that Mr. Allen was essentially the “prototype” for the sort of journalist The Politico is seeking. “He’s embraced the Web, he’s embraced technology, he goes on television and he breaks news,” Mr. VandeHei said. “That’s where journalism is headed.”
Mr. Allen is leaving a magazine whose print circulation is declining, but which still has more than 3.2 million paying weekly subscribers and a total weekly readership — including passed-along copies — of more than 19 million. The magazine has also invested heavily in its Web site, time.com, which has 3.9 million unique monthly users.
Mr. Allen, who joined Time in August 2005 from The Washington Post, will become The Politico’s chief political correspondent. He said in an e-mail that Time was “the world’s most essential magazine” but that The Politico was the first time that “a political newspaper and Web site will have the same DNA.”
Mr. Simon, chief political correspondent for Bloomberg, the financial news service, will become a political columnist. He said that he perceived Allbritton as having a good business plan, and while there was some risk involved in a startup, “this venture is as secure as any media venture out there and more secure than some.” He also said that life should not be only about avoiding risk but having fun. “We won’t re-invent the wheel,” he said, “we’ll just do it better.”
(NewYorkTimes)
Vous m'excuserez, mais comme vous l'avez constaté, il y a un problème de post que je n'arrive pas à résoudre pour le moment : un monstrueux carré gris vient parasiter le texte ...je continue tant bien que mal, et ça disparaîtra, inch 'allah !
Jouer plus, plus longtemps
Les joueurs interrogés jouent souvent à des titres mobiles, une écrasante majorité (80 %) déclarant jouer au moins une fois par semaine et 34 % quotidiennement. La durée moyenne d'une session est de 28 minutes, avec un temps de jeu supérieur à la moyenne en Inde (39 minutes), aux États-Unis (31 minutes) et en Thaïlande (29 minutes).
Les jeux sur téléphone mobile sont pratiquement autant joués en déplacement (61 %) qu'à domicile (62 %). De même, les joueurs sur téléphone mobile occupent ainsi leurs périodes d'inactivité, 56 % préférant jouer pendant les temps d'attente.
L'appel de la prochaine génération
Près des deux tiers (63 %) des personnes interrogées ont préféré l'expérience plus riche offerte par la gamme de jeux mobiles de prochaine génération Nokia par rapport aux produits Java 2D et Java 3D existants, surtout après avoir essayé les jeux.
La bonne jouabilité (83 %), la possibilité de rejouer (79 %) et le style de jeu (78 %) sont des facteurs déterminants lors de l'achat de jeux mobiles. La qualité graphique (84 %) et la possibilité d'utiliser le téléphone à d'autres fins pendant le téléchargement (78 %) se distinguent comme les principaux avantages des jeux mobiles de prochaine génération Nokia.
Essayez avant d'acheter
Lorsqu'ils ont la possibilité d'essayer un jeu avant de l'acheter, la plupart (43 %) préfèrerait essayer deux à trois jeux par semaine plutôt qu'un seul (21 %). Au terme de l'essai, la majorité (65 %) préfèrerait payer directement la version complète du jeu plutôt qu'un abonnement (27 %).
Lorsqu'il s'agit de se procurer les jeux, la distribution via Internet (ou OTI, over-the-internet) est presque aussi populaire (34 %) que la distribution par liaison radio (ou OTA, over-the-air) (45 %).
Connecter, se défier et partager
La généralisation des jeux à l'échelle planétaire témoigne du fait que les clients souhaitent voir la connexion des personnes, au sein d'une équipe ou en tant qu'adversaires, occuper une place plus forte dans leur expérience de jeu mobile. Dans le monde, 45 % définissent le mode multijoueur sur leur téléphone mobile au moins une fois par mois. Ce phénomène est particulièrement fort en Inde, où plus de la moitié (56 %) jouent au moins une fois par semaine et un quart chaque jour.
Les joueurs ne cherchent pas seulement à vaincre leurs adversaires ; ils souhaitent également partager des démos avec leurs amis (62 %). Par ailleurs, une vaste majorité (79 %) essaierait des jeux envoyés par des amis.
Selon Jaakko Kaidesoja, Directeur de la division Jeux et multimédia chez Nokia, « les conclusions de cette enquête confirment le fait que les clients sont à la recherche d'une expérience de jeu mobile de prochaine génération répondant à leurs besoins dans ce domaine. Ils exigent des graphismes d'exception, un contenu d'exception et une jouabilité d'exception... nous les avons entendus. L'an prochain, nous avons l'intention de leur offrir des expériences de jeu mobile de pointe incluant des jeux esthétiques, passionnants et interconnectés, faciles à trouver, à gérer et à jouer. »
« La solution Web 2.0 a vu le développement d'une nouvelle utilisation d'Internet, plus investie ; avec la prochaine génération de jeu mobile, nous sommes sur le point de provoquer la même évolution », ajoute Kaidesoja. « Depuis les débuts de N-Gage Arena, Nokia a pris en compte l'importance des communautés et du jeu en tant que lien social aux yeux des clients. Nous développons nos stratégies de communautés en ligne pour faire bénéficier des millions d'utilisateurs d'appareils mobiles dans le monde d'une expérience de jeu interconnectée et conviviale. »
Méthodologie : Nokia a chargé Nielsen Entertainment de réaliser cette enquête dans six pays. 1 800 participants ont été interrogés pendant une heure en Allemagne, en Chine, en Espagne, aux États-Unis, en Inde et en Thaïlande.
(InternetActu, Agence Française pour le Jeu Vidéo)
Fin d'année, l'heure des bilans et perspectives, comme indiqué ci-dessous. Vu que ce monde bouge à la vitesse de l'éclair, plutôt salutaire de se poser quelques minutes pour faire le point !
Ce blog (ReadWriteWeb) propose aux bloggers de contribuer à compléter cette analyse; voici le lien pour en prendre connaissance en même temps que les plus petites tendances
It's December already and so it's about that time to reflect on what has happened in Web Technology during 2006 - and ponder what 2007 may bring. Over the next few weeks Read/WriteWeb is going to publish some in-depth posts analyzing the trends and new products we've seen in 2006, as well as musing on some specific things we'll probably see in 2007.
To kick this series off, here is an overview of some high level trends from 2006.
- Undoubtedly 2006 has been the year of the social network. MySpace, YouTube, Facebook have been the three outstanding success stories - but also impressive was Bebo (in the UK particularly) and there was strong growth in existing web 2.0 networks like Flickr and del.icio.us. The zenith of this social networking craze was probably Google buying YouTube for $1.65 B.
- RSS continues to inch towards the mainstream - Yahoo integrated it into Y! Mail Beta, Microsoft is utilizing it more (e.g. integrated into IE7), Google came out with Google Base and the GData format (which is based on the RSS variant, ATOM). While 2006 can't be seen as the breakthrough year for RSS in the mainstream, we will probably see RSS bloom in 2007 as a result of the groundwork done in '06 by the big Internet companies. Note that there have been recent murmurs that Yahoo is scaling back RSS, but I think this is a short-term trend only.
- 2006 was also the year that Web 2.0 got overhyped and the term is now generally accepted as just a marketing term, akin to Dot Com. But whatever you call it - I prefer to use the term 'Social Web' or even 'read/write Web' nowadays - this current era of the Web is making a big impact. Mainstream media is taking on board many read/write philosophies. This is evidenced in many ways - e.g. News Corp acquiring MySpace and seeing enormous growth; blogs are now accepted by mainstream media and businesses; etc. Also the overwhelming presence of media people at the 2006 Web 2.0 Summit was evidence that Social Web trends are influencing a broader cross-spectrum of people now.
- In 2006 Amazon came out with some startling new web technologies - Mechanical Turk, S3 (online storage) and EC2. Their push to be a major web services infrastructure platform was one of the more intriguing strategies from an Internet bigco this year.
- On the other big companies... Google dominated the news and buzz this year, Microsoft pushed ahead with its Windows Live strategy (its Web-based suite of products and services), and Yahoo had a steady product year (but ending with organizational issues). Apple continued to dominate the online music market (forcing Microsoft to compete head-on) and has also entered the video space with gusto.
- Lots of bigco partnering. Allow me to quote directly from Mark Evans here, as he captured this trend very nicely: "Ebay and Yahoo have snuggled up together, announcing in May that Yahoo would serve display ads to Ebay’s US users and promote Paypal – Ebay’s payment service – to Yahoo users. In August, Ebay signed Google to serve ads to international Ebay users. A dollar each way, perhaps?"
- 2006 also saw the return of the VC money (see web 2.0 hype above!). Although VC money this time round seems to be much more circumspect and generally lower valuations than in the dot com boom. Indeed an associated trend is that web startups are increasingly going it alone and bootstrapping, thanks to open source technologies (e.g. the LAMP platform) and ability to work anywhere anytime. On the flip side (pardon the pun), it still pays to be located in Silicon Valley - as that is where the key networking and fundraising activity still takes place.
- Localization really matters in Web space - for example TradeMe dominates New Zealand traffic and similar local products often outrank the likes of Yahoo and Google in their local markets. The larger trend here is that cultural and language differences mean that big US companies don't always dominate in international markets. Having said that, there is also a lot of overseas cloning of successful Silicon Valley apps (e.g. digg, flickr). See Read/WriteWeb's continuing coverage of international markets for individual country drill-downs.
- The consumerization of the enterprise has been an emerging trend all year. More and more social web apps are coming into the enterprise (e.g. Skype, IM), and organizations are adopting read/write Web philosophies. Corporate blogging got popular in 2006 and blogs are usually part of the mix now in marketing plans.
- In particular, I've been tracking the trend of Web Office. As well as lots of startup action (Zoho, Zimbra, ThinkFree, et al), late this year saw a flurry of action from Google in this space - Google Apps For Your Domain, the acquisitions of Writely and JotSpot, the launch of Google Docs & Spreadsheets, and more. In 2007 a major area of focus will be the increasing competition in office software between Google and Microsoft.
- Widgets (mini web apps) were all the rage this year, culminating in its own conference. Related to this, 'personalized start pages' (live.com, netvibes, pageflakes, etc) ramped up, enabling users to collect their widgets together on the one site.
- Online video was hot, hot, hot this year! There are currently a host of YouTube wannabes on the market. The best chance for success for all these startups vying for attention, is to either come out with a next-generation product that takes online video functionality to the next level and/or target a specific niche market.
- VoIP space showed signs of hotting up. Skype now has a bunch of new competitors, all aiming to disrupt the existing telecoms industry.
- Hybrid web/desktop apps (or as Read/WriteWeb termed it "webified desktop apps") came into play a lot more this year. For example the Times Reader, built using Microsoft WPF technology. Also noteworthy is Adobe's Apollo platform and Laszlo's rich internet apps platform.
- Browser Wars 2.0. Firefox enjoyed strong growth this year and released its 2.0 browser in October. 2006 was also (not coincidentally) the year that Microsoft finally upgraded its Internet Explorer browser, to 7.0.
- From a blog perspective, Techcrunch established itself as the blog at the center of all the web 2.0 action - attracting aspiring startups like moths around a flame. Other tech blogs like Gigaom, VentureBeat and Read/WriteWeb itself, have also experienced excellent growth this year.
- Ajax had strong growth this year and according to some reports is not that far behind Flash now.
- World Internet Penetration is 16% and growing - Asia in particular is ramping up fast! Also noteworthy is that 3/4 of traffic to top websites is international.
(ReadWriteWeb.com)
Advertisers have long been drawn to Times Square as a valuable place to reach consumers, paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for space on billboards and blazing video screens.But recently they have discovered that down on the ground, new technology has given low cost, face-to-face marketing campaigns something of a cutting edge as consumers spread their messages on the Internet.
Take the recent display of public toilets set up by Charmin bathroom tissue: Used by thousands in Times Square and viewed by 7,400 Web users on one site alone. Or Nascar’s recent display of racecars; videos of the event have been viewed on YouTube more than 1,800 times. More than 60 people wrote about the event on their blogs and 60 more spread the word — and pictures — on the Flickr Web site.
“The great thing about the digital world is you can capture these events,” said Christian McMahan, brand director for Smirnoff Ice, owned by Diageo. “People can see them whether they were there that day or 3,000 miles away.”
As a result of the growing popularity of consumer-generated pictures, videos and e-mail messages on Internet sites like YouTube and Myspace, advertisers are getting consumers to essentially do their jobs for them.
When Target, the discount store operator, suspended the magician David Blaine above Times Square for two days during the week of Thanksgiving, videos shot by viewers were posted on YouTube and viewed more than 19,300 times.
“Times Square is becoming, in a way, a publishing platform,” said Peter Stabler, director of communication strategy for Goodby, Silverstein and Partners, an advertising agency that is part of the Omnicom Group. “What happens in Times Square is no longer strictly the province of location. You can experience things that are happening there, even if you’re not there.”
On sites like YouTube, Flickr and MySpace, an army of tourists and residents are spreading advertisers’ messages well beyond Manhattan, using their cell phones and video cameras as they walk through the marketing crossroads of the world.
Consumer brand companies are taking advantage of that by hosting elaborate events, fully aware that those events are great fodder for footage. Hosting events in Times Square, advertisers said, is like buying product placement in a TV show or a movie — except the cameras are held by consumers and the placement is on the Internet.
Experiential marketing, as the ad industry calls such campaigns, is intended to give people something they can tryout and photograph. Companies are holding such events in cities around the world, but advertisers said Times Square was unparalleled in its reach. People around the world recognize Times Square in photos and videos online and are more likely to view them, marketers said.
Charmin’s bathrooms, which opened on Broadway near West 46th Street on Nov. 20, generated traditional coverage with more than 100 articles published about the fancy toilets. But consumer videos posted on YouTube alone have been viewed more than 7,400 times.
Hundreds of other people each week post photos and videos on their blogs and MySpace pages. One blog post last week, “Der New York Trip Part II”, written in German, shows a young couple posing with the Charmin bear. Charmin is a brand of Procter & Gamble.
Another post about the Charmin toilets last week on a Web design blog wondered, “Could this be too much marketing?” Christian Montoya, the site’s author, videotaped the bathrooms when he visited Times Square on Thanksgiving so that he could post the footage online for his roughly 700 daily readers. Though Mr. Montoya, a senior at Cornell University, said he was skeptical of marketing but thought the Charmin bathrooms were effective.
“It was more than a billboard because you could actually try the product,” Mr. Montoya said.
It is difficult to count exactly how many people pass through Times Square each day, but foot traffic by some measures has nearly doubled. In 1997, the Times Square Business Improvement District counted 8,702 people an hour passing through the most crowded parts of Times Square during the busiest times of year. This year, the Times Square Alliance found that nearly double that amount — about 15,000 people — passed the Virgin Megastore on Broadway during busy hours.
But, advocates of experiential marketing say headcounts in Times Square underestimate the district’s impact. Face-to-face interaction with customers is more powerful than traditional ads, they say.
“What people do is geometrically more powerful than what they are told,” said Brian Collins, chief creative officer of Ogilvy and Mather Brand Innovation Group, a part of the WPP Group. “Feeling something, picking it up in your hands, walking into an environment is a far more powerful brand promise than anything you are simply told through traditional media alone.”
On the day after Thanksgiving, Diageo’s Smirnoff Ice brand held a tongue-in-cheek rally featuring about 30 paid actors as “core protestors.” The theme was “save the mistletoe,” a slogan for a holiday campaign for Smirnoff Ice. Smirnoff estimates that 60,000 people passed by its four-hour rally.
“When you go into an arena that is so iconic like Times Square, people are looking to be entertained,” said Christian McMahan, brand director for Smirnoff Ice. “And they’re looking to be part of it.”
In April, General Electric rented nine digital billboards in Times Square and displayed photos of people passing by. People on the street photographed themselves standing below the billboards when their images appeared. Soon, those images were circulating online.
“It’s much more interactive,” said Judy Hu, the global executive director for advertising and branding at G.E. “You’ve got people who are e-mailing, sending messages, they’re involved with your brand personally as opposed to just viewing it.”
G.E. and other companies that hosted recent events would not divulge their costs, but they said the total came out surprisingly low compared with other forms of marketing.
The mayor’s office said permits to use Times Square areas started at $25,000 but often cost $50,000 or more for a day, and that 112 marketers had paid for permits this year.
The amount of marketers in Times Square has soared this year in large part because three traffic islands there were made available on a regular basis this year for the first time as part of Mayor Bloomberg’s broader initiative to attract more tourists to New York City.
In February, Walt Disney World sent Hans Florine, the X-games gold medal climber, scaling up a billboard to promote Expedition Everest, a new Animal Kingdom park ride. Mickey Mouse was also there, but he stayed on the ground.
In early December, MasterCard carolers sang holiday songs and passed out hot chocolate; street vendors sold coffee in Ann Taylor Loft paper cups; and a Sovereign Bank team rode red Segways passing out shopping bags and subway maps.
But some advertising executives wonder if it might be reaching the saturation point.
“It is now getting to the point,” said Lori Robinson, senior vice president of Hill and Knowlton, the WPP Group agency that helped produce one event, “where there just might be a little too much going on in Times Square.”
(NewYorkTimes)
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