You may have heard about Quibi, a new mobile video option. The platform launched on April 6th, and offers streaming content in small packages – 10 minutes or less. While Quibi has a great premise – good for people on-the-go, those looking for quick breaks between work meetings, etc. – it remains to be seen how launching during the COVID-19 pandemic, with fewer people commuting and many looking for longer content to fill their time, will affect their results.

Quibi founder Jeffrey Katzenberg and CEO Meg Whitman have marketed the app as a service that provides “quick bites” and “big stories” to subscribers ($4.99/month with ads or $7.99/month without). According to an article by Mediaite, with many people not leaving the house at the moment, the mobile-only feature may be a deal-breaker.

Initial reports showed that Quibi had about 300,000 downloads by the end of the first day. That made it the #3 app in the Apple App Store, but was also just 7.5% the volume of Disney+’s first day installs. The total also included a number of pre-orders.

So how does the advertising work? Well, Quibi has already sold out its entire first year in ads ($150 million in revenue with ad agreements from 10 national companies) and is not accepting any more partnerships. The ad units were sold in sets of 6, 10- or 15-second pre-roll increments that run immediately before Quibi programming. Quibi has also said they will experiment with a number of new ad formats in the time to come.

While you may not be able to advertise on Quibi (at least not yet), and it remains to be seen how fast it takes off, there are a number of other online video options available. We’d be happy to talk with you more about your goals and how online video could help put your message out there.

Disruptors create a product, service, or way of doing things which displaces the existing market. They challenge current habits and work to find positive alternatives. Brands of all sizes can make a Goliath-sized impact. Here’s a look at a few companies that are breaking rules and setting new precedents, and what we can learn from them.

Build connections with the right customers

Brands build intimate customer relationships through digital marketing, using audience cues and personalization to inform their creative and media. One example is Rothy’s, the footwear brand. They have resisted the urge to push their products out to as many people as possible, and instead focused on context. Where are its target customers? What do they need? By asking these questions, Rothy’s realized that stylish, eco-conscious shoppers who happen to be in the market for a new pair of flats aren’t just searching for “shoes.” In a recent Google campaign, Rothy’s experimented with unbranded search terms like “recycled plastic bottles.” The approach paid off, with a 200% increase in brand growth in just a few months.

Solve a problem, and make that your messaging cornerstone

By understanding your customers and their needs, you can create products that solve real problems. For example, as recently as 2017, few makeup brands catered to all skin tones. That was until Rihanna and Fenty Beauty came along, with 40 shades of foundation – a first in the makeup space. The company made the solution to this problem the basis of their marketing story. The slogan – “Beauty For All” – acted as the focal point for every piece of campaign creative, showcasing authentic stories rooted in culture that resonated with their audience. Their “solution story” carried over to their media, as well – Fenty launched in 17 countries on the same day at the same time.

Master the art of paid plus social

To supercharge a campaign, it’s important to approach paid and social media holistically. One example is the mattress company Purple. From the beginning, the company focused on a smart digital strategy that helped them reach the right people while fueling social buzz with personality-infused creative. The paid strategy focused on audiences going through life moments – starting college, moving, getting married – associated with the purchase of a new mattress. The playful ads featured creative like the “Human Egg Drop Test”, which dropped a mano with raw eggs attached to his back onto a Purple mattress. As people were engaging with Purple videos, the company continued paid promotion to make sure its core audience received the message. Regardless of size, category, industry, or access to resources, all brands can take a cue from the disruptors that are breaking through today.

Source: Think With Google

With the first quarter of 2020 nearly behind us, here’s some pearls of wisdom to help inspire your work throughout the rest of this year.

1) We all have a lot to learn from pirates (yes, really)

Though pirates are infamous as lawbreakers, it’s also important to consider their status as agents of change. They rewrote the rules, reinvented society, and their innovation, social leadership, and rule-breaking ways were a powerful challenge to the status quo.

2) Inclusive storytelling isn’t just the right thing to do – it gets more attention

Audiences respond to inclusive storytelling. Think With Google found that YouTube ads featuring as many female characters as male ones yielded 30% more views than other videos. This shows that when creative is more inclusive, people pay attention.

3) Measuring effectiveness deserves more attention during the briefing stage

Discussions about effectiveness often come when evaluating campaigns and ads. It’s important to understand and communicate your business goals more specifically during earlier meetings, then add metrics, then add world-class creative. These three steps are key.

4) Allocate time & money to take calculated risks with new approaches & technologies

Taking a leap of faith with new technology can be daunting. But allocating even a small portion of your budget to a riskier approach can make a world of difference. You’ll never discover more effective or efficient approaches if you don’t set aside the time and money to find them.

5) Context & relevance are what keep ads from being an interruption

The nature of advertising can still sometimes be an interruption. It’s important to acknowledge that and make it worth the intrusion. Create with care, remember who is watching and engaging, and make sure it’s relevant and contextual to ensure the interruption is meaningful.

Sources: Think with Google

2020 is an interesting year for the U.S. media landscape, with significant projected growth across multiple mediums. With significant events like the Tokyo Olympics and the presidential election, overall ad spend is projected to increase 3.8% this year as clients look to capitalize on large audiences.

The biggest beneficiary will be digital which is set to grow at a double-digit rate (11.2%). This will be fueled by massive spending in mobile. In fact, ¾ of digital ad dollars are predicted to be spent on mobile search and display in 2020. At the same time, U.S. digital video spend is expected to grow (15.8%) due to more advertisers looking to invest more dollars into social video.

Traditional channels will see a boost, as well. TV is expected to grow by 1.3%, driven by the Tokyo Olympics and the presidential election. With the expectation of a heated presidential election, driven by spending of two billionaires, along with primaries and state-wide races, political spending is forecasted to be unprecedented in the local marketplace. Radio is projected to grow 2.3% this year, and out-of-home advertising is also expected to grow 2.4%.

With an increase in ways to reach your target audience – from TV and radio to mobile geofence and Over-The-Top, there’s many powerful ways to win, keep and grow your best customers. We’re here to help develop a strategy that fits for you.

Sources AAAA.org

Geofence display advertising has been around for years and uses latitude and longitude data to target specific geographic areas. With technology advancements, addressable geofence is now available as well. Addressable geofence is a powerful, efficient, and accurate way to target specific households with your message.

How Does Addressable Geofencing Work?

You provide a list of current customers you want to reach, or we can curate a list for you using demographic and psychographic qualifiers like age, household income, number of children, job title, interests, etc. The addresses are then matched against plat line data to collect the exact physical location, size and shape of the individually matched addresses.

The system then geofences each matched address to collect and target users specific only to that distinct address location. It can also target any devices that enter that household – for example, if they are hosting guests. We can target other devices in the house such as desktops, laptops and tablets through cross-device matching. Addressable geofence campaigns can use display ads (either static ads or animated ads like .gifs) or can also use video files (.mov or .mp4).

What Are Some of the Benefits?

Addressable geofence is highly precise and scalable – up to 1 million physical addresses can be targeted per campaign. Addressable geofence has also improved reach and accuracy over IP-based solutions. Audiences are updated on a daily basis, and once a device in the household ‘fence’ has been tagged, we can serve ads to users when they use those devices both inside and outside the geofence for up to 30 days.

How Addressable Geofencing Could Work for You

Addressable geofencing is helpful for several businesses in a wide range of industries. Here are just a few examples of how addressable geofencing could work:

– Utility Providers: These industries typically have a robust customer database, so we can remind existing customers of your other services, special offers, etc.
– Politics: If you’re looking to reach a specific neighborhood or remind voters of your campaign, addressable geofence may be a great solution.
– Healthcare: A lot of practices use direct mail to blanket entire neighborhoods. With addressable geofence, you could have multiple messages delivered over the course of the month with different offers or practice branding messaging that grabs their attention.

It’s the start of a new year, and as usual, there’s no shortage of resolutions, advice and suggestions to help you look ahead or reconsider your marketing strategy. But if you’re looking for some ideas you can get a jump on right now, here are a few tips!

1) Do Less, Achieve More

Research shows that our brains are not nearly as good at multitasking as we think they are. It can take an average of 25 minutes to resume a task after being interrupted. Interrupting one task to work on another can actually make it take longer to complete both jobs.

To combat this, start each day by picking one important thing to focus on first – like the most difficult item on your to-do list. That way, you begin with the hardest tasks and then progress to simpler work, giving a boost to your energy and creating momentum for the rest of your day.

2) Build a Culture of Innovation

Consider incorporating design thinking. Design thinking builds people’s capacity to innovate by having them adopt and practice a certain mindset. This develops skills that can be applied in different ways. The next time you need to solve a problem, have your team focus on three core design thinking principles – Empathy, Expansive Thinking, and Experimentation. Your customers should always be your Number 1 Focus. Empathizing with them and taking inspiration from their needs and feelings can help your team create meaningful solutions.

Spending can sometimes be slow in January, after the rush of the holidays. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box to engage with your customers. Did you know January is National Hobby Month? Perhaps you can encourage people to focus on getting back to what they love to do and enjoying life!

The new year provides new opportunities to better yourself – both personally and professionally. As author Vern McLellan once said: “What the new year brings to you will depend a great deal on what you bring to the new year.”

Sources: https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/marketing-resources/organizational-culture/2020-marketing-skills-tools-/

Connected TV (CTV) advertising is a rapidly growing portion of digital advertising, and it’s a competitive player in the ad space. Between 2019 and 2023, US advertisers are expected to more than double their spending on CTV. It’s projected that by 2020, CTV will account for nearly 4% of total media ad spend, and 6.3% of total digital ad spend.

Nielsen estimates that internet users 18+ spent an average of 54 minutes per day using connected TV devices in Q1 2019. This was an increase of approximately 17% from Q1 2018.

“When looking at ad revenues, YouTube, Hulu and Roku are the leaders in this market,” eMarketer forecasting analyst Eric Haggstrom said. “Users of these platforms are likely either cord-cutters or cord-shavers. That means some ad buyers are willing to pay a premium to reach users who are difficult to reach via traditional TV ads.” The amount of CTV inventory is also growing quickly, due to users cord-cutting and people spending more time with internet-enabled TVs and devices. CTV campaigns require patience and adaptability, but there is enormous opportunity as the reach of these campaigns continues to grow and evolve.

Sources: EMarketer

The holiday season is one of the most important – and most competitive – times of year for many companies. And thanks to a shorter shopping window after Thanksgiving, the pressure may feel even greater.
The silver lining? Overall retail spending is higher than ever, in both brick-and-mortar stores as well as e-commerce. With so many brands and products competing for customers, it’s important to reach and engage shoppers in key decision-making moments.

Here’s a look at three key behaviors of this year’s shoppers, to help you exceed expectations and start the new year on the right foot.

1) They’re begging to be inspired.

– 34% of people say that discovering new products and getting ideas are aspects they enjoy most about shopping. And shoppers aren’t just looking for inspiration during the holiday season – they’re searching all the time. If you’re hoping to reach these always-on consumers, you might need to redefine your holiday timelines and extend your marketing efforts beyond the standard peak shopping season.

2) They’re thrill seekers.

– For 52% of shoppers, finding a great deal is the most enjoyable thing about shopping – even better than getting the lowest price. While some may get a head start on research, many shoppers hold off hitting the “Buy Now” button until they know they’ve got the best deal.

3) Time is their most valuable asset.

– 13% of shoppers don’t want to do research. They either don’t enjoy, or don’t have time for this process. When they want to buy, they want to do so now and in the easiest and quickest way possible. But shoppers have other parameters that affect their decision-making. 47% factor in the type of return policy offered, and 55% say they like it when companies make it easy for them to do what they want without having to talk to anyone. Highlighting seamless shopping experiences like easy returns, fast and/or free shipping, or in-store pickup can help you beat the competition.

There is one constant across these three unique shopping trends – the way people shop around the holiday period is evolving. You may need to broaden marketing strategies to incorporate these new behaviors so you don’t miss out on valuable customers — both within and outside peak holiday shopping times.

Sources: Think With Google

Email may be the most traditional of digital marketing tactics, and it’s still going strong due to mass consumer usage, flexibility and utility. With many users accessing email from their smartphones, it’s now both a desktop and mobile marketing channel. Advances in marketing technology adoption have made email more sophisticated, and it’s often a central part of any cross-channel strategy.

It’s estimated that 90% of US internet users send email, making it one of the leading digital activities. Data shows that checking email is the most common activity on PCs as well as mobile. Email was one of the first tactics to use marketing automation, and with more sophisticated technology, it’s evolved to become more personalized and customizable.

Consumer use of email is thriving. According to a 2019 poll, 2/3 of US internet users reported communicating with organizations via email in 2018 – ahead of phone communication. A November 2018 study found that more than half of US internet users subscribed to retailer emails. Along with regularly browsing the website, that was the leading way respondents reported engaging with specialty retailers.

The same November 2018 study showed the vast majority of US internet users – nearly 70% – wanted to control the frequency with which they received branded email. Due to variables such as promotional windows, relevant creative, etc., there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to frequency; businesses must test what works best for their audience and programs.

As we look ahead to 2020 and beyond, we expect to see personalization remain a leading trend. Because email is a permissioned channel – consumers must opt-in – email marketers are used to working under regulations like the CAN-SPAM Act. Recent consumer data privacy regulations may make personalization more complex, but as it becomes a bigger topic, connecting those pieces is highly desirable and companies of all sizes are moving toward segmenting and targeting their email audiences.
With email still a leading digital activity, we’re here to help you effectively reach your target audience through email communication.

Sources: ViewContent

As consumers interact with your brand across a growing number of screens and channels, it becomes increasingly difficult to know which parts of your marketing strategy are working. Did you know that only 17% of advertisers say they are looking at the performance of all their digital channels together?

There are many reasons why a multi-channel approach can benefit your business, such as brand awareness beyond initial interest, the ability to reach more people, and the chance to catch your prospect at the best moment and in the best way. 72% of consumers say they prefer to connect with brands through multiple channels before purchasing. Since your potential customers could be anywhere, your brand needs to be anywhere they are.

Data-driven attribution can help you optimize the performance of a single channel, like search or display, but to see the biggest impact you’ll need to look at how multiple marketing channels work together. For example, did you know that advertising on Facebook can increase the number of branded searches (on Google, Yahoo, etc) by up to 34%?

Keeping a consistent message and brand across all your marketing channels will help each medium complement each other. Defining success, connecting attribution results to your marketing tactics, and aligning incentives can help paint a clearer picture of your effectiveness overall.

We’re here to help monitor and review your ad performance, and can help develop a strategy to reach your goals.