The Tablet Affect & Streaming TV to Mobile

By On · Add Comment

According to this story from @GAbramovich at @Digiday, when there’s a tablet laying around, people are unlikely to pay attention to your TV ad. However  when watching TV programming on a tablet, they’re glued to it. Why? I actually like the psychological analysis here — people have to hold their tablet, so they’re engaged physically;  they focus on their show and don’t engage in apps or games in the background, like they do when they watch using the TV set; and they know exactly what they’re going to watch — there’s intention and engagement here, vs channel surfing on the TV set.

Outstanding, true observation… we are glued to our tablets watching TV shows and ads.

This is obviously why the networks, cable companies and advertisers are flocking to mobile. What’s interesting to us is that there’s a lot of movement on the back end to address the ability to deliver the same quality TV experiences we expect on the first screen (Television) to other connected devices — set top boxes, tablets, phones, cars, you name it — over the Internet.

Dynamic Internet TV delivery across any connected device is a hot topic in the media and a hot commodity for advertisers. Cable companies, network operators and advertisers are all interested in monetizing IPTV and video for mobile. A company called SeaWell Networks is a linchpin in this movement, providing a software platform to help cable companies and other network operators deliver Connected TV and video experiences across mobile devices for our viewing pleasure, while providing dynamic ad insertion capabilities to help personalize engagement with viewers.

All in all — the IPTV and Connected TV markets are heating up – for service providers and advertisers alike. All because of consumer behavior, demands and expectations.

Disclosure: SeaWell Networks is a client.

— Jennifer Schenberg, PenVine

Will Google Get Its Grooveshark Back On?

By On · Add Comment

According to the Wall Street Journal’s blog Digits, Google quietly reinstated Grooveshark, the controversial music streaming app. It’s $6.00-$9.00 a month or free ad-supported, and lets you listen to copies of songs uploaded by other users.

The problem: is Grooveshark legal? At the end of the day, who’s ultimately responsible for infringing on music label copyrights? Grooveshark, the aggregator — or the people uploading the songs?

What do you think? Will you use Grooveshark?

— Jennifer Schenberg, PenVine

The Social Disconnect Between Brand and Consumer

By On · Add Comment

We wrote about the importance and impact of social media on sales. Today we’re writing about how brands do (or do not effectively) use social media to learn about their customers. When businesses listen to and respond to customers — they learn about their likes, wants and needs. But according to data from Pivot, only 34% of businesses have even asked their customers. Highlights from Pivot include:

  • 76% of marketers feel they know what their customers want yet only 34% have asked customers.
  • 83% of consumers seek deals, but only 53% of businesses think that’s what customers really want.
  • 45% of marketers feel that rewards programs are important to customers and 70% of social consumers thought otherwise.
  • 59% and 58% of social customers wish to engage businesses to share feedback and to also receive customers service respectively; on the contrary only 37% of marketers believe that these services are in demand by their customers.

Helping Businesses Listen and Learn about Customer Needs

Companies are clamoring to be the one to provide businesses with the right tool or platform to manage customer relationships via social media. In fact, the social advertising and social media management markets are exploding with several recent high-profile acquisitions: Gannett Co. bought BLiNQ, Google bought Wildfire, Microsoft bought Yammer and Salesforce bought Buddy Media and Radian6. According to a recent report by @jowyang at Altimeter Group, Sprinklr has the most capable social media management system to serve the needs of large organizations.

While some providers offer scalable solutions for only large global enterprises, there are many other providers that focus on delivering social media management solutions for specific platforms like Facebook or Twitter, or on the needs of smaller businesses. That said, there are solutions out there for every business, whether they want to better understand, market to, support or problem solve with their customers.

— Jennifer Schenberg, PenVine

Social Media vs Email: What Makes Us Buy?

By On · Add Comment

Social media may not be a channel for the “hard sell” but it impacts sales just as much as email. There’s a huge difference between influencing and motivating vs activating via discounts. Today’s consumer is on the look out for coupons and deals — but what makes them pull the trigger? Word-of-mouth, social recommendation or a ping from GroupOn? What motivates you to buy?

PR Daily writes that email surpasses social media for sales impact (http://www.prdaily.com/marketing/Articles/12468.aspx). It’s an interesting read, but I don’t necessarily agree — it’s more complicated than that.

After all, 3 out of 4 CMOs say social media impacts sales (via Business Insider:http://www.businessinsider.com/three-of-four-cmos-say-social-media-impacts-sales-2012-8).

— Jennifer Schenberg, PenVine

 

image