Category results for "Industry-Research"

Industry Research

Do the UK’s public service broadcasters effectively serve the people?

July 20, 2016 DCN

The convenience and flexibility of watching television continues to grow with the ability to time shift and stream programming. These patterns hold true for viewers of public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom; Channel 3 services, Channel 4, Channel 5, S4C and BBC. According to their mandate, public service broadcasters must offer quality programming which informs an understanding of the world, stimulates knowledge and learning, reflects the strength of the UK’s culture and represents diversified viewpoints.

PSB channels are committed to the practice of fulfilling the programming criteria. The Office of Communications (Ofcom), the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting and telecommunications, assesses public services channels’ yearly performance in its report, PSB Annual Research Report. The report evaluates three key areas to gauge effectiveness of the of public service channels: 1) audience opinion 2) viewership and 3) programming and spending.

According to its most recent report, a full 73% of those who have ever watched a PSB channel reported being satisfied with the programming. Viewers reported strong levels of importance and delivery correlating to the objectives of PSB channels. The highest rated in terms of importance were “it provides a wide range of quality and UK made programming for children (88%)” and “its news programs are trustworthy (86%).” Viewers highest scores for delivery were “it provides a wide range of quality and UK made programming for children (85%)” and “its programs help me understand what’s going on in the world today (74%).”

The report also looks at time spent watching broadcast television, with demographic breakdowns, as well as the quantity and quality of public broadcast content. In all, viewers watched 3 hours 36 minutes of measured broadcast TV in an average day in 2015, almost a half hour less per day than in 2010. As we have also seen in the U.S., viewership declined notably for adults 25-34 (19%) and adults 35-44 (17%) during this same time period. These declines were attributed to adult usage of on-demand services such as BBC iPlayer, All 4, Netflix or Amazon, especially among those aged 15-24s and 25-34.

Further, according to the BARB data, viewing of national and international news on broadcast TV increased year-to-year to 96 hours per person 4+ after a three-year decline. Total viewing hours to broadcast TV news also increased (approximately 3 hours) among adults 35+ to 142.5 hours per person in 2015 in contrast to the declines among Persons 16-34 (32.4 hours in 2015 from 33.5 hours in 2014). Where are the younger viewers going for their news? Six in ten Persons 16-24 reported using the internet or apps for news compared to 51% who cited using television.

In 2015, the PSB channels broadcast 31,974 hours of first-run UK originated network programming, an 8% decrease from 34,689 hours ten years ago. A shift in genre production from big-budget dramas to relatively low-cost original programs allowed for a decreased spending with sacrificing too many programming hours.

Importantly, public service channels must support six core characteristics:

high quality
original
innovative
challenging
widely available
distinctive

These values act as important guidelines in delivering effective programming. Adhering to these characteristics, as well as, noting the changes and differences between younger and older adult viewership, will allow PSB channels to meet the expectations of its viewers.

Industry-Research | Marketing

CMOs: Do You Know Where Your Ads Are? New research proves why it matters.

July 14, 2016 DCN

Editor's note: The comScore study “The Halo Effect: How Advertising on Premium Publishers Drives Higher Ad Effectiveness” was not commissioned by Digital Content Next (DCN) or any of its member companies. While the results were shared with DCN prior to publication, DCN did not have any influence over the design of the research or its findings.

Programmatic advertising and its aggregation of inventory are often viewed as the key forces behind the commoditization of digital ad impressions. The shift to audience-centric media buying from earlier practices emphasizing context has left many questioning whether or not the environment surrounding advertising really matters. It is important that we examine what extent does quality drives advertising effectiveness.

Today’s release of comScore’s independent research, “The Halo Effect: How Advertising on Premium Publishers Drives Higher Ad Effectiveness” presents empirical findings that Digital Content Next member sites delivered significantly higher branding effectiveness results than other sites.* Importantly, the research finds that the primary driving force for the brand lift is the positive impact of the “halo effect” of the contextual environment in which an ad is seen. In other words: A good environment drives better ad campaign effectiveness. In fact, while some of the positive effect can be contributed to higher ad viewability and less invalid traffic on premium sites, comScore found that the most significant driver of increased effectiveness is the halo effect of appearing on premium sites. This “premium” designation is one that our own research has borne out as a distinguishing factor in other areas, such as the quality of ad inventory and the significantly lower bot traffic on DCN member sites.

What value does the halo factor have for marketers? Used properly, it can help a brand cut through the clutter and save money on marketing by using this momentum to operate effectively and efficiently throughout the marketing funnel, particularly in the brand consideration stage where the “halo” lift was 3x.

This is demonstrated by the research, which first compared the overall brand lift effectiveness of ads delivered on DCN members’ sites versus non-DCN premium publishers sites. DCN premium publisher sites significantly outperformed those on non-DCN sites—by 67% (0.89 brand lift vs. 0.53). Measuring brand lift answers some of the biggest questions marketers have such as are my ads influencing consumer behavior, are they influencing sales and to what degree. Knowing a campaign is 67% more effective in influencing consumer behavior and intent to purchase is a win-win situation giving marketers a lead in the marketplace.

comScore also identified ad effectiveness metrics in other parts of the marketing funnel. DCN publisher sites performed 32% better on top funnel metrics, which includes awareness, recall and message association (.56 brand lift vs. .42). The mid-funnel—where consumers have the potential to develop a stronger interest in your brand—performed more than three times as effective for DCN publisher sites with a 1.87 brand lift vs. 0.51. Premium publisher sites can influence the mid-funnel by 255% more effectiveness, a potential accelerator of brand sales. The lower and final part of the funnel includes purchase intent and share of consumer choice metrics. DCN premium publishers performed 9% better on the bottom-funnel metrics (.38 brand lift vs. .35).

We know that the quality of ad inventory and the substantially lower bot traffic on DCN member sites is a positive driving force but the comScore research determined how much of a factor this is in driving higher ad effectiveness. To arrive at the pure value of the “halo effect,” comScore factored these elements out of the equation deriving that DCN publisher sites drive a “halo effect” of 51% higher ad effectiveness.

comScore’s independent research provides a clear message that brands benefit from advertising on premium publisher sites. While the research found that premium publishers perform better across all phases of the marketing funnel, the value in driving mid-funnel metrics is especially important to convert awareness into positive brand consideration. So, while digital continues to create opportunities for targeting and increase opportunities for efficiencies, it is clear that placement within the context of quality environments provides a “halo effect” that drives ad effectiveness.

*This study was not commissioned by Digital Content Next (DCN) or any of its member companies. While the results were shared with DCN prior to publication, DCN did not have any influence over the design of the research or its findings.

Industry-Research

Consumers crave news, but what satisfies their appetite?

July 13, 2016 DCN

Both the immediacy and the mobility of news has anchored it as an important part of today’s life. In fact, more than seven in ten adults follow national and local news somewhat or very closely and 65% follow international news with similar regularity. Digital access appears to fuel American’s hunger for news, according to a new report from Pew Research Center, which conducted a study in association with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. For example, at least a full 81% get at least some news through websites, apps or social networking sites.

Some key Findings:

Friends and family are important sources for news, even though consumers still rely on news organizations as their primary source. Trust in news reporting is an overarching problem however today’s online news consumers tend to place as much trust in the information they get from news organizations as they do in information coming from family and friends. Still, online news organizations play the larger role: 36% of online news consumers often get news from news organizations compared with about half as many who do so from people with whom they are close (15%).

Consumers are more cautious about news coming through social media. Close to two-thirds of U.S adults (62%) get news on these social platforms, however just more than one-third (34%) trust the information a lot/some.

Just as many consumers are loyal as are not loyal to their news sources. Just over three-quarter of respondents (76%) reported turning to the same sources over and over again. Importantly, consumers do pay attention to their digital sources. Among those who got their news three or more times from a link in a given week, at least 70% remembered the source half the time.

Consumer believe strong media bias exists in news reporting. Close to three-quarters of consumers (74%) feel that the news media favors one side. Another 75% of consumers credit the news organization for keeping leaders accountable and honest.

The majority of consumers prefer to watch news on TV. When asked where consumers get their news, 57% reported TV, 38% stated online and only 20% said they get their news from newspapers. As one would expect, only 5% of younger consumers, ages 18-29s, often got news from a print newspaper in contrast to close to half (48%) of adults, age 65.

News remains an important part of public life with digital news consumption becoming increasingly mobile. As more people get their news online, it’s important to distinguish between those who seek out the news online versus those who stumble upon it. This is an important consumer distinction as news sites look to market to the news consumer.

Industry-Research | Revenue

Video is a big ad opportunity, but it is not without challenges

July 12, 2016 Research Team

When asked to name the biggest trend in digital, publishers responded with one word: video. According to The State of Digital Advertising for Publishers, a new report from Mixpo, this clearly presents both challenges and opportunities. The gap between advertiser demand for video ads and publisher supply of video inventory is notable. This seller’s market has made video a valuable ad product for publishers, but it has also created pressure to find new ways to deliver video and take full advantage of 2016’s video boom.

In April of 2016, Mixpo surveyed over 250 digital advertising professionals employed by U.S. publishers, and conducted personal interviews with 30 digital advertising executives in a variety of functions from eight of America’s leading media companies. The State of Digital Advertising for Publishers highlights the top ten trends that emerged from Mixpo’s research along with insights on how publishers can think about, and tackle, the most pressing issues in digital advertising.

While video is front of mind for respondents, Mixpo also found that programmatic has evolved from threat to revenue opportunity. In fact, for the majority of publishers interviewed, programmatically-powered audience extension is their fastest growing revenue source.

Attribution and measurement, along with viewability, top the list of publisher concerns followed by ad fraud and bots, the increase of mobile consumption and ad blocking.

Other key findings of their research include:

More than a third (36%) of publishers use or plan on using Facebook video ads, with 13.6% using or planning to use Instant Articles.
Publishers ranked pre-roll, interactive pre-roll and in-banner video as the digital ad formats with the highest perceived ROI.
Facebook Dominates: 50.2% of those surveyed have run video ad campaigns on Facebook, compared to only 31.1% on YouTube, 17% on Twitter, 13.2% on Instagram, and 1.7% on Snapchat.
Video Growing Beyond O&Os: In the past year, 61% of publishers have sold video ads as a part of their audience extension packages.
Mobile is still a challenge, but for new reasons: 48% of publishers are ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ concerned with the increase in mobile consumption, while device fragmentation was among the least disconcerting issues.
Ad blocking is a threat, but publishers are unsure of what to do: Nearly half of publishers (46%) said ad blocking is either “extremely” or “very”concerning, but on the long list of publisher concerns, ad blocking isn’t at the top.
In the age of rich data, publishers stick to basic metrics: Nearly 54% of publishers surveyed work with at least four ad tech vendors, and 5% work with more than 16, making consolidated metrics difficult.

Industry-Research | Marketing

What makes ads great? An emotional connection.

July 11, 2016 DCN

In today’s ad environment, where consumers can skip, block, dodge, and flee ads to their heart’s content, we are seeing a flight to quality. In other words, since people don’t have to pay attention to ads anymore, brands are cranking up quality to get people to choose to watch their ads. Speaking to Ad Age at Cannes last month, Procter & Gamble Global Brand Officer Marc Pritchard said of their advertising, “We’re trying to turn down the noise and turn up the quality, which gives you a better chance of success.”

This movement was highly evident during the second quarter, in which our top Breakthrough ads were voluntarily watched on YouTube to the combined tune of 45 million views.

We saw highly emotional ads centered on moms and dads, with a dash of Olympic passion, rise to the top of our list of ads with the greatest Breakthrough capacity. Within our broad set of metrics, the components of Likeabilty and Attention form the Breakthrough dimension. Though Breakthrough is not always the primary objective of an ad, in today’s ad blocking environment, it’s crucial for brands to deliver engaging content that people will watch and share.

Top Breakthrough Ads of Q2, 2016

Out of nearly 1,950 television and digital ads tested by Ace Metrix this quarter, Gillette’s “This Father’s Day, Go Ask Dad” demonstrated the highest Breakthrough, which is remarkable considering the ad is 2:36 long (read more about this ad here.) With nearly 6.3 million YouTube views since early June, the success of Gillette’s ad, created by Grey New York, drives home the point that people will choose to watch high-quality branded content that makes them feel something.

Gillette parent company, Procter & Gamble, is next on the list with their inspirational tribute to the moms behind Olympic athletes, “Thank You, Mom – Strong” (read more about this ad, created by Wieden + Kennedy, here.) Similar to Gillette’s ad, “Strong” received high scores in Relevance, as well as Attention and Likeability. Unilever brand Dove also delivered a relatable ad with their annual heartfelt tribute to Dads, “Caring Makes My Dad, My Hero.” The minute-long spot, created by The Marketing Arm, showcases real father-child moments taken from online footage. Both of these CPG brands are leading the charge in connecting with consumers through intensely emotional ads.

The Emotional Word Clouds (or Emo Clouds) below help gauge the level of emotional connection respondents have with the top four Breakthrough ads by using words directly from their comments. These word clouds demonstrate that it is intense emotion that can truly connect and be relevant to consumers. Words like “touching”, “heartwarming”, and “moving” are seen in high doses. Emo Clouds, a key piece of the puzzle for understanding how to produce predictably great creative, will be launching in the Ace Metrix UI later this month.

We’ve also seen brands have great success connecting through the use of humor. Apple’s “Time – Behind the Scenes” broke through delighting viewers with humorous Cookie Monster and Siri interaction (read more about this TBWA\Media Arts Lab created ad here.) Similarly, Johnsonville broke through with their employee-created, with help from agency Droga5, spot “Jeff and His Forest Friends by Jeff” (read more about Johnsonville’s campaign here.) The Emo Clouds below show how well using humor as a vehicle worked for both brands.

A common theme represented by three of the top 10 ads was that of home and all that homes symbolize. Lowe’s (#6 on the Top 10 list) three-minute ad “House Love”, created by BBDO New York, tells the story of two homes and their young residents falling in love (read more here.) In Zappos’ (#7 on the list) tearjerker ad “Box Home” a boy builds a home for a homeless man with various materials, including Zappos boxes. Viewers used words including “beautiful”, “sad”, and “powerful” to describe the story. Zappos collaborated with creative collective Variable to develop the 1:49 ad. Coldwell Banker’s “This is Home” uses a catchy song set to user-generated content depicting scenes of happy moments big and small that make a house a home. The upbeat minute-long spot, created by Siltanen & Partners, evoked words like “sentimental”, “uplifting”, and “adorable.”

Half of the ads on the top ten list were digital-only ads, with nine out of ten 60 seconds or longer, giving brands enough time to fully tell a story and connect with viewers. It’s clear that this is one recommended path to success, and that more brands should seek emotional means to break through and create a memorable bond that consumers will enjoy and share.

Congratulations to all of the brands and their creative agencies on our list, as well as to those who produced outstanding Breakthrough ads this quarter that fell outside of our Top 10.

Miriam Tremelling serves as senior marketing manager at Ace Metrix where she is responsible for developing compelling stories that articulate Ace Metrix’s value proposition. Prior to joining Ace Metrix, Miriam worked at Conversant, Twelvefold Media and CBS Interactive.

Check out Ace Metrix’s complete list of Breakthrough ads for Q2, with links to watch them in their entirety.

Industry-Research

Positive viewing experience and ad-recall correlate to screen size

July 6, 2016 DCN

Consumers pay more attention to advertising on televisions than advertising viewed across other screens according to a new report Evaluating Engagement & Recall by Platform. Nielsen and the Council of Research Excellence hired independent researcher Hub Entertainment Research to measure how people watch television.

In the study, consumers viewed the same five shows “Bones,” “Family Guy,” “The Big Bang Theory,” “Survivor” and “Family Feud” with identical ad loads across TV, computers, smartphones and tablets. Interestingly, 62% of TV viewers reported they were able to recall half or more advertisers compared to viewers of tablet (47%), smartphone (46%) and computer (45%). In contrast, program engagement did not register notable differences by platform.

Viewers also reported that TV (89%) offered the most positive viewing experience, followed by tablet (63%), computer (54%) and phone (43%). Further, viewers paid the most attention to advertising on television (29%) compared to 23% for smartphones, 20% for computers and 17% for tablets.

Additionally, the study found that multi-tasking negatively impacts ad recall but not program plot recall. Importantly marketers need to understand drivers of engagement across platforms as well as those specific to their targeted demo. Identifying drivers and assigning value to each platform will better align expectations with campaign effectiveness.

Industry-Research

Half of all viewers subscribe to SVOD

June 29, 2016 DCN

Subscription VOD (SVOD) penetration now equals DVR penetration in the United States. In fact, half of all viewers now have a subscription based service such as Netflix, Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime, according to Nielsen’s 1Q16 Total Audience Report. Interestingly, close to 30% of households have both an SVOD service and a DVR. Nielsen also noted that DVR penetration has flattened while SVOD is on a strong growth path. So while consumers are still obtaining most of their content on television, live TV consumption is declining as smartphone and tablet viewing is increasing.

The older the consumer, the more time spent watching television. Among adults 18-34, 39% of media consumption occurs on digital (e.g. smartphones, tablets and desktops), 15% on connected TVs (e.g. Apple TV, Roku, Google Chrome) versus 29% on live-TV and 17% on radio. In contrast, Adults 50+ spend 53% of their time on live-TV, 21% on digital, 17% on radio and 8% on connected-TVs. It’s no wonder traditional TV networks are clamoring to remain relevant and shifting to digital options such as HBO to go, CBS’ All Access and MTV’s Snapchat Channel.

Nielsen also found that the heaviest users drove a disproportionate amount of overall time spent consuming media. Just over half of the total minutes viewed (52%) on TV came from the top quintile of TV users. In addition, 83% of smartphone video viewing, 87% of home PC streaming and 71% of connected device usage came from the top 20% of users.

Consumer behavior is responding to the growth of technologies and services and therefore reducing consumer usage on older devices. Shifts and usage of new technologies are anticipated. More media choices lead to more competition. Content providers must think about multi-platform strategies and distribution in an exceedingly connected media environment.

Industry-Research | Marketing | Perspectives

Content marketers still struggling, opportunities for publishers abound

June 24, 2016 DCN

The 2016 State of Content Marketing Survey Summary Report from Ascend2 is out, and it confirms what many of us already know: content marketers are still struggling in a variety of ways.

They are mostly concerned with lead generation (58%) and improving customer engagement (55%). Lack of an effective content strategy (48%) and lack of content creation resources (48%) are the biggest barriers to their success—and most of them are still reporting limited success. Half of them say they are “somewhat successful” and 29% claim to be “somewhat unsuccessful.” Only 16% consider themselves be “very successful.”

If you’ve been following the content marketing world, you’ve probably heard some version of all of this before. It’s easy to wonder why content marketing success still eludes so many. But there is some good news. Most companies (89%) say the effectiveness of their content marketing program is increasing. Another 35% say it is “increasing significantly.”

Low down on the list of barriers to success hides “lack of compelling content ideas” with just 25% of respondents listing it as a concern. The mere fact that it ranks so low on marketers list of concerns is worrisome—and perhaps part of the reason they continue to struggle.

Research reports are apparently most effective when it comes to meeting content marketing goals, and it’s easy to see why. Research reports are often downloaded in exchange for information, which inherently produces the leads marketers are looking for. Unfortunately, research reports are the second hardest (62%) type of content to create, right behind videos/podcasts (64%). Research is labor intensive, and time consuming. And it can also be kind of boring.

Content marketing experts are always prevailing on their audience to tell a story. Connect with your potential clients on an emotional level and you’ve got them! But it’s hard to do that with a survey.

The researchers found that blog posts and videos/podcasts are the second and third most effective types of content. Now, those are storytelling devices! Take, for instance, Frank and the Tower, a short film by REI that tells the story of Franks Sanders, a rock climbing guide who has ascended Devil’s Tower thousands of times over his long career. Sanders is a character in his own right. But for someone like me, who not only recently took up indoor rock climbing, but who also stood at the base of Devil’s Tower as a kid with binoculars in hand, the film really struck a chord. Who knows? Maybe one of the people I saw climbing the tower through my binoculars was Sanders. I think about this video all the time, especially when I’m thinking about which store I’m going to in order to buy more chalk for climbing.

Creating this kind of content is not easy. The production value is top notch, and REI has the kind of subject matter at its disposal that the average brand just doesn’t. That’s why brands need publishers. Videos and podcasts are, in fact, labor intensive. Not only do you need an idea, but you need the storytelling and technical expertise to pull it off. Publishers and their staff have all of those things in spades.

In my book, Inside Content Marketing, I spend the final section trying to convince publishers and content marketers that they need each other and this report only reinforces my belief in the promise of this partnership.

According to The 2016 State of Content Marketing Survey Summary Report, 11% of respondents are outsourcing their content needs entirely. Another 61% are using a combination of outside and in-house resources. Publishers need to make sure they aren’t handing over the content creation business to freelancers and agencies. And if content marketers want to finally break through the wall and join the ranks of the “very successful,” they need to make sure they have the right content—created by the right people—and the means to deliver it to as wide an audience as possible.

With a little team work, publishers can use their content creating expertise to help close the revenue gap they are experiencing in the digital age, and marketers can finally find the success they are looking for.

By day, I am the editor of EContent, where I cover the world of digital media and marketing. By night I am a reader and writer of books, NPR addict, and avid gardener. Find out more at TheresaCramer.com or @TheresaCramer on Twitter.

Industry-Research

News sites face strong market challenges

June 22, 2016 DCN

Digital publishers face three market challenges today that are triggering the re-examination of business strategies: 1) an increase in consumption of distributed content, 2) a surge in mobile traffic, and 3) growth in adoption of of ad blocking software. In order to better understand these market shifts and their impact on news consumption the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism commissioned a multi-country study, the Reuters Institute Digital News Report, in February 2016.

Digital news publishers, in particular, are rethinking business models as social platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, are now viewed as major news resources for consumers, especially among millennials. In fact, half (51%) reported they use social media as a source of news each week. Around one in ten (12%) stated it is their main source. Further, the percentage of U.S. consumers subscribing to online news outlets has declined from 11% in 2015 vs. 9% in 2016. Many companies are thinking about taking down their paywalls in an effort to attract more users.

While personalization is often a positive experience, consumers are concerned with the personalization of their news content. Personalized content and social media applications often select news stories built on algorithms which are based on a consumer’s reading history, what his/her friends are reading and the sharing, the popularity and recency of an article. Respondents raised concerns with the algorithms selecting their news stories. In fact, six in 10 worry that personalized news applications change the nature of story selection and that they miss challenging viewpoints (60% and 59%, respectively). And half (49%) are concerned their privacy may be compromised.

In addition, the shift to mobile directly attributed to the increased use of smartphones to access news and the decreased use of desktops. Demographically, younger consumers prefer mobile for news access while older consumers look to desktop and tablet. Across multiple countries, over half (53%) reported that they use a smartphone to access news. Interestingly, consumers who report mainly using their smartphones to access news stories, do so by entering social media sites versus a branded website or app. Apps have become an impactful tool to send alerts and notifications to attract consumers and to bring them more regularly to the branded website.

The consumer adoption of ad blocking software is a most challenging problem for digital publishers, especially for those heavily dependent on advertising revenue. Of those that currently use an ad-blocker, the majority do so on a desktop with only about 8% do so on mobile. In addition, about one-third of consumers in Germany, UK, and the U.S. plan to install an ad-blocker on their smartphones in the next 12 months.

In the U.S. the key reasons for consumers using ad blocking software included:

I was fed up with the volume and distracting nature of advertisements in general, 68%
I dislike ads that follow me around from one site to another (privacy concerns, 55%
To improve the speed at which pages load, 50%
To save battery life, 13%
So I don’t use as much data on my mobile phone plan, 10%

As digital news publishers adapt to the changing marketplace, it’s important to note that consumers still want and value traditional news brands. The Reuters Institute Digital News Report speaks to digital news brands needing to clearly brand their high-quality content and provide a positive audience experience. Further, news brands need to find a balance between destination and distribution and continue to build their brand equity in order to evolve and continue to monetize their content.

Industry-Research

Premium context impacts mobile ad performance

June 17, 2016 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

Teads has released new eye-tracking insights that show the impact of various content environments on the performance of mobile advertising. The study found that advertising placed in premium editorial articles increases consumers’ purchase intent by 27%. They also found that when users are on premium publisher sites, their scroll rate slows down, thus building a slower, more concentrated experience, driving a higher chance of attracting attention to engaging advertising.

Key takeaways:

Premium content drives highest engagement.
Native video ads within premium content are more likely to be viewed.
Longer exposure on skippable pre-roll doesn’t guarantee stronger ad impact.
In-article native video ads put the user first and drive the most campaign impact.
In-article native video ads resonate even more with millennials.

Teads also made recommendations for mobile video ad optimization:

Advertise within premium content to drive increased viewership and to extend average dwell time.
Leverage in-article native video to drive increases purchase intent.
Consider using formats outside of pre-roll, which doesn’t guarantee a quality view.
Use in-article native video to impact younger consumers.

Industry-Research

Entertainment and media revenues continue to grow

June 15, 2016 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

The media environment still presents numerous growth opportunities despite the competitive marketplace and the struggle for consumer attention. Importantly, PwC’s Annual Global Entertainment and Media Outlook Report projects the U.S. media and entertainment revenue will increase and account for $632 billion, or 29.4% of the worldwide total of over $2.1 trillion. Further, the entertainment and media revenues are expected to grow at a compound rate (CAGR) of 4.4% from $1.7 trillion in 2015 to $2.1 trillion in 2020. In order to provide this forecast for 2016 to 2020, PwC analyzed historical and projection data for advertising and consumer spending in 13 major industry segments across 54 countries.

U.S. highlights:

Internet advertising in the U.S. continues as the largest market in internet advertising revenue, projected to grow from $59.6 billion in 2015 to $93.5 billion by 2020 with a 9.4% CAGR. Important to note, internet advertising ($75.3 billion) is expected to surpass broadcast TV advertising ($70.4 billion) in 2017.
Mobile has been a key driver of digital advertising revenue comprising 34.7% or $20.7 billion in 2015 of U.S. total internet revenue. PwC projects mobile video advertising revenue will grow from $3.5 billion in 2015 to $13.3 billion in 2020 for an increase of 30.3% CAGR.
Video on Demand (VOD) and over-the-top services (OTT) will drive TV and video revenue from $121.4 billion to $124.2 billion in 2020 (0.5% CAGR). In addition, TV advertising revenue is expected to rise from $69.9 billion to $81.7 billion in 2020 (3.2%CAGR).
Continued declines are anticipated for newspaper publishing, declines of 2.9% CAGR by 2020. Further publisher consolidations are expected. As well, magazine publishing revenue is not expected to decline but register a fractional increase, from $30.5 billion in 2015 to $30.7 billion in 2020. In addition, radio is predicted to increase from $21.4 billion to $23.1 billion in 2020 (1.6% CAGR).

Virtual reality devices and games will be the impetus for rising video games revenue from $17.0 billion to $20.3 billion by 2020 (3.6% CAGR). Virtual reality devices and games will be the impetus for rising video games revenue from $17.0 billion to $20.3 billion by 2020 (3.6% CAGR).

Overall, PwC projects that consumers will look for less expensive content bundles, streaming offers and less commercial interruptions. As a result, consumers’ share of time for ad-supported media will not increase. For advertisers and content providers, this means a detailed examination of the consumer experience to identify drivers of engagement and understand their impact on time spent and their influence on advertising effectiveness.

Industry-Research

Mobile ad blocking on the rise. What’s that mean for digital publishers?

June 14, 2016 Michelle Manafy, Editorial Director – DCN

Ad blocking on desktop has been a thorn in the side of publishers for years, but it’s the advance of ad blocking on mobile and built into browsers – and the stunning growth trajectory of ad blocking usage across markets including China and India – that poses the greatest threat to digital media companies that depend on advertising for revenue.

This is the key takeaway of Adblocking Goes Mobile, a recent report published by Page Fair, a company working to mitigate ad blocking with the help of technology it claims addresses the speed, privacy, and UX issues that cause ad blocking in the first place. Drawing from research and analysis of ad blocking browsers and capabilities conducted in collaboration with app intelligence firm Priori Data, the report sheds important light on the factors driving the meteoric growth ad blocking around the globe.

To date the report points out that “at least 419 million people are blocking ads on smartphones.” That’s nearly twice the number of consumers blocking ads on desktops and PCs. Do the math, and 22% of the world’s 1.9 billion smartphone users are blocking ads on the mobile Web.

While mobile ad blocking browsers have become a mainstream technology, there are important differences in how and where consumers block ads in their content and news.

In fact, mobile ad blocking usage and mobile data infrastructure appear to be inextricably linked, with consumers in Asia-Pacific adopting ad blocking browsers as a way to curb bandwidth-eating ads, improve page load speeds and ultimately keep a lid on mobile data costs. Overall, over one-third (33%) of smartphone users in the region are blocking ads with the help of an ad blocking browser. The report estimates that as of March 2016, the region contained a whopping 55% of global smartphone users, but “93% of ad blocking browser usage.”

The mass adoption of ad blocking browsers in markets including China, India, Indonesia and Pakistan means massive problems for digital media serving those markets. As the report puts it: “Mobile ad is a serious threat to the future of media and journalism in emerging markets, where people are coming online

for the first time via relatively expensive or slow mobile connections.”

Ad blocking usage in North America and Europe is not as widespread, thanks to developed mobile data infrastructure and affordable data plans. But there are also distinct differences. Ad blocking browsers are popular in Europe, while content blocking apps (apps that block ads in web pages viewed via a Safari browser on Apple’s iOS 9 Apple devices, for example) are 3x more popular in North America than in Europe.

In total (as of March 2016) the report reckons there were 14 million monthly active users of ad blocking browsers in Europe and North America. In total, 4.9 million content blocking and in-app ad blocking apps were downloaded from app stores in Europe and North America since September 2014.

The mature mobile markets of North America and Europe are marked by slow, but steady adoption of ad blocking browsers and content blocking apps. It’s the calm before the storm as the range of ad blocking tech continues on an impressive growth trajectory. The report identified an incredible 229 different content blocking apps on Apple iOS alone. Expect the numbers to skyrocket now that Samsung will make good on its promise that the default browser on its Android devices will support its version of content blocking. Growth of ad blocking tech will also see a huge boost as more browsers (not just operating systems) add ad blocking support and make it easier for consumers to configure their preferences.

It’s important to have a report that draws from empirical data, not user surveys, to understand the increasingly complex landscape of mobile ad blocking technology. Now it’s up to the media and publishing industry to use this report as a starting point to address the root causes and issues that are convincing consumer to use adblockers in the first place.

Fortunately, the report takes the first steps, inviting industry leaders and associations – including Digital Content Next – to weigh in with their opinions on the rise of ad blocking technology and why a focus on delivering a better user/reader advertising experience should be top of mind with all digital media companies and brands.

But the elephant in the room is not the quality of ads but the disconnect between how the industry approaches monetization and what they should really value. Perhaps David Chavern, CEO, Newspaper Association of America, sums it up best: “We [also] measure digital ads by a metric — “impressions” — that has no real meaning or value. If we don’t fix these problems, and we allow ad blockers to take over, then we will be left with small, subscription models that will exclude large portions of the public. Not being able to afford HBO is one thing. Not being able to afford quality news would be a much more serious problem.”