One to Watch for 2012: The Social TV Convergence
There was a time, a long long time ago before the internet, The X Factor and Pringles existed, when the phase ‘water-cooler moment’ was coined. This was a moment of community and shared experience, where the tele-visual event of last night was watched by the majority so they could be involved in the conversation. Then, as time passed, the number of channels grew and digital recorders such as Sky Plus and online catch-up sites like 4oD and iPlayer evolved, and the relevance of the event diminished to a point where advertisers withdrew and ratings dropped.
Now, however, an online revolution is changing all that, it’s no longer the water cooler but the social media moment, and it happens live, as the programme is broadcast. Suddenly a two screen revolution is under-way as internet access and multi-platform applications such as Twitter and Facebook are used in unison with the television to analyse, discuss and ridicule the exploits of soap characters, reality ‘stars’ and world events. No longer does it take any great effort to access the social media platforms for the average viewer, of a certain demographic, has mobile phones, tablets and laptops at their sides while they watch TV. There are even services like Zeebox springing up that embrace this trend and give users a one stop social media stop.
This is a sign of the future where all forms of media channel (YouTube, ITVPlayer and Sky TV) are viewed within a web environment that is not confined to the window of that company. So what does this mean? Well, for the consumer it means more feedback which could lead to better programming but also more power to those who air their views. For the businesses involved, the broadcasters lose control over image but have more metrics by which to show value to advertisers and these advertisers will no doubt be the target of the social media platforms collecting opinions.
Google+ for Business: Exploring the opportunities
Google+ now offers a social networking service for brands prompting thousands of businesses to set up profiles. However, to optimise brand exposure, businesses need to understand what differentiates Google+ from its competitors and tap into its full potential.
Although it looks quite similar to Facebook, there are some features which really set Google+ apart. One of the greatest advantages of the new social networking service is its integration with Google Search. Google Search provides brands with exposure to a search base allowing access to reportedly 50% of global websites. Furthermore Google+ enables brands to streamline social media content easily across multiple platforms including Android, Google Chrome and YouTube. This could offer exciting opportunities to businesses to improve audience engagement and explore innovative ways to create and distribute marketing content.
To make its service more appealing to brands, Google+ launched its Direct Connect feature, which makes it simple for users to find and follow brands on Google+ by just typing a “+” sign in front of the name of the brand on Google Search. Another step towards strengthening the integration with Google’s search engine is the brand verification procedure at the initial registration stage. As Google+ permits the registration of multiple users with one brand name, it allows organisations to appear at the top of the search results by verifying their brand identity and linking their profiles to the company website.
As Google+ is looking to further integrate with the rest of Google’s products, the appearance of the website and its features are going to change. At the CrushIQ conference this week, Google’s spokespeople announced that they were planning to integrate Google+ with AdWords and enable multiple administrators to handle the brand pages on the website.
A further integration with products like Google Shopping and Places could open exciting opportunities for brands and advertisers to deliver micro targeted campaigns based on users’ interests, location and shopping habits. This has huge potential for brands. Furthermore they will be able to tap into Google+ features such as Circles and Hangouts to segment their Google+ followers and create targeted campaigns for engagement.
However, as social networking websites emerge almost on daily basis, a question is beckoning of how many social media profiles users can tolerate? With 40 million users worldwide Google+ is still far behind Facebook and Twitter in terms of popularity among brands and consumers.
To expand its reach, Google+ have to differentiate itself from its competitors and get the most of its integration with Google’s products to create an innovative, intelligent and pervasive social media product.
Multitasking UK: What will advertisers do next?
The UK has been named a nation of ‘multitaskers’ thanks to social networks and increasingly sophisticated mobile phones, according to new research from Ofcom.
The research reveals that a fifth of all media is consumed at the same time as another form of communication with people spending almost half of their waking hours glued to a screen, on the phone to friends or listening to the radio.
Although TV is as popular as ever, almost one-fifth of the time spent watching TV is now accompanied by laptop or mobile activity. A finding supported by YouGov this week which found that that more than half of UK respondents (58%) are regularly consuming at least one other type of media while watching television.
With television being seen as one of the staples of the advertising industry it will be interesting to see how they react and engage with their target markets moving forward. Brands could sponsor online elements of shows that incorporate your social network, for example real-time quizzes and voting amongst friends. Alternatively, e-commerce professionals as it could offer the unique opportunity to directly link products shown on TV to internet retailers.
Whatever the next generation of advertising will look like we know that the picture below will no longer represent the typical television viewers today.
Wake up Murdoch it’s the Internet Age!
It seems that everyman and his dog has announced a new music service over the past few weeks, with rumours of a deal between 3 UK and Spotify, BT and Sky getting in on the act and Orange teaming up with Universal and Channel4 to launch Monkey, so what does that have to do with the title of today’s blog?
As you are probably aware, Rupert Murdoch announced earlier this week that he plans to shake up the newspaper industry by introducing a pay-per-view model to all his news websites, including the Times, the Sun and the News of the World, by next summer. This has resulted in strong reactions from both the media industry and general public, with a flood of online and print articles, blog postings, tweets and even Facebook groups being created to rally like-minded folks.
My personal stance on the situation and one that I strongly believe will be the response of the masses, is that I will just go somewhere else for my content. This may include alternative traditional news sites, but also Twitter, which continues to break stories, and a selection of blogs and forums that cater to my interests. The fact is that Rupert doesn’t have a monopoly on news and intelligence, so why pay when I can get it for free elsewhere?
So what does this have to do with music services, or was it simply a way to drive traffic to the blog? Well dear reader, the launch of these freemium music services is an attempt to create a way, for music lovers, service providers and music labels, to mutually benefit from and enjoy this content rather than use unscrupulous file sharing sites.
Murdoch however seems blissfully unaware of the fact that the masses have never paid for his content, online news, and even less are paying for the physical copies on the newsstands. Why would we start paying now when there are so many alternative sources available, for example Twitter and Google News? Is this a sign that Murdoch is out of touch with what’s actually happening? MySpace anyone?
The content industry, be it film, music or the written word, is changing to where consumers are no longer willing to pay, especially when it’s available for free. This is a conundrum, as we don’t want to pay but we also want access to more quality content, so what’s the solution?
As always, answers on a postcard and the best will be read out in front of the class.
