Slimming Down Your Space

Steve Jobs did it again. Not suprising to most avid Mac insiders and followers, Apple announced the launch of its MacBook Air today at the annual Macworld Expo in San Francisco. However, contrary to what Apple may say (you shouldn't believe everything you hear anyways, at least not from the media), the Sony X505 was actually the first ever world's thinnest notebook which released back in 2003. Other new Apple releases included iPhone software upgrades, iTunes movie rentals (giving Netflix a run for their money) and last but not least, the time capsule wireless hard drive. Still anticipate shelling out big bucks for these new toys.

Upcoming Ad Fads

A new eMarketer article was published today focusing on the 3 hidden media advertising trends in 2008. In fact, CEO and co-founder Geoff Ramsey quoted eMarketer's prediction of U.S's total online spending share to be 9.3% for 2008 compared to last year's 7.4%.



So what does 9.3% translate into? How about $27.5 billion just for internet advertising. Most of the spend will be contributed to social network and online video advertising which are projected to be in the double-digit rates this year. Thanks to eMarketer, they've demonstrated this in easy-to-see charts.





Even though these two arenas are hot spots right now, they will probably only generate about 10% of total online advertising spend ($2.9 billion).

Geoff Ramsey thinks the three main trends for this year will relate to media fragmentation, the continual growth of the internet's reach and the emphasis on the consumer's content.

Media Fragmentation: On our way to closing the gap
Ad networks such as Google and Yahoo are still growing strong and becoming more mature and sophisticated in their ability to target specific consumer groups. We've been learning how to harness media fragmentation to cater to the needs of advertisers and consumers. In this way, advertisers have a bigger reach to audiences who share similar interests across endless, different websites.

Continual Growth of the Internet's Reach: Web is King
According to the article, "the Internet is becoming the central hub of most media and marketing campaigns-and for good reason. Not only is the Internet now used extensively by every major demographic group, and for a variety of purposes including information, communication and entertainment, but it also allows for a two-way interaction between consumers and marketers that is not found in any other medium". Along with the evolution comes various tools and measurement metrics that will help marketers optimize and support their media strategies.

Emphasis on the Consumer's Content: The Consumer is in Control
Media power is shifting from the interruption-disruption model towards the trend where consumers are more in control of their media content and ad intake. The internet audience is creating content on their own in the form of blogs, on social networks, wikis and other digital-communication platforms. Advertisers will have to follow suit in these formats if they want to keep up with the Joneses. The most successful and top-performing ad campaigns integrate entertainment, relevance and enough wow-factor that they will cause a buzz among consumers who will seek it out and share it. Create it and they will come.

The Eyes Have It

One interesting element to keep in mind this year for all digital marketers is making eye contact with your consumer. With the growth of visual marketing stimuli at every turn, it is getting harder to catch the general audience's attention with online and print campaigns.
Researchers have been reporting the science of tracking eye movements for years now and this little nugget is not a new discovery to the marketer's strategies in ad placements and targeting. However, with the technological winds of change comes the evolution of how people view and take in this material. Understanding the data from eye tracking trends is a valuable tool to customer behavior insight and measuring your marketing effectiveness.
Here is an exerpt from a report from Corbis on Eye Tracking Trends in Media Advertising:

“For many years the most consistent way users viewed pages, according to eye tracking tests, was in an “F” pattern (also known as the “golden triangle”). This means that viewers first looked at the upper left corner, then scanned down and over in a consistent pattern. But there’s evidence that this model is changing as more advertising is shifted online.
Gord Hotchkiss, president of Enquiro and a columnist for MediaPost.com’s Search Insider*, conducted some research recently on eye tracking and made some interesting and unexpected discoveries that run counter to the classic “F” conclusion. Hotchkiss’ research revealed that more people are viewing online content in an “E” pattern. They start by looking at graphics in the middle of the page first and then follow the copy up and down from there. And though bigger images were better at grabbing attention, this rule was still true even when small thumbprint images were used”.

So how can a marketer apply this knowledge? Here a few tips released from the Corbis corporation:

Headline or images? Yes! There is conflicting data on whether viewers spot headlines or graphics first, so best to hedge your bets and integrate the two smoothly by merging the headline and image. And keep in mind the “E” pattern when doing so.

Keep it simple. Online images that are too conceptual or vague are often passed over because they’re confusing. Make sure the image is directly relevant to the copy, especially in the headline, as noted above.

Keep it real. Viewers are instinctively drawn to human faces in ads and there’s growing evidence that “real people” rather than professional models are more likely to keep their attention.

More is not necessarily better. Though people gravitate towards imagery, too many pictures in one ad can confuse and clutter the message.

Don’t get too colorful. Eye tracking research has shown that black, white, red, yellow, blue and green are the most likely to get noticed online. This doesn’t mean you should ignore the rest of the rainbow, but it’s best to highlight your key message with one of these six shades.

Ad Growth Goes to TV & Web in 2008

2008 is certainly a happy new year for advertising and marketing agencies.
U.S. media advertising spending is estimated to go up 4% (about $479 billion) in '08 compared with 2007's 3%. Spending worldwide is expected to be 7%.












According to the report and GroupM's Futures Director Adam Smith, the global ad growth will primarily go to televison (50%) and internet (30%) marketing. Smith says spending on sponsorships and public relations is growing faster than for traditional advertising. He also predicts that "5% of global ad investment will shift from developed to emerging economies in 2008, the largest such shift ever recorded". China will lead with 21% of all new money and the U.S. next in line with 20%. What is bringing this shift? The forecasted spendings are influenced by the 2008 Olympics being held in China and the U.S. presidential election.

Some other highlights to look forward to in the new year:

~ Internet ad spending is expected to exceed 10% of global ad investment in 2008 for the first time ever
~Search will comprise 65-70% of measured online advertising in 2008, up from 50% in 2005
~Online advertising is expected to be the largest single medium for Sweden for the first time ever
~Advertising spending in newspapers and classified advertising in traditional sources is expected to continue to suffer

Facebook Going Far (Out There)

Forget Beacon. Gay polling, med checking and puberty tracking are only a few of the anticipated, hot new application concepts from Facebook for 2008. Is there any one else left in the world who doesn't think this is just a bit creepy and too much? According to the new article in AdAge this week, Facebook followers are sure to love these new applications. Personally, this makes me nervous about my privacy and makes 1984 look like a children's book. It feels a little too close for my comfort. This surely is the "All About Me" century.

The Halo Effect

Lifesavers candy has recently broadcasted ads that portray their perspective on the morality of being good.

Ford Can Be Funny

Here's a new and fun tv ad sent out by the makers of Ford for their new EcoSport SUV.

Man-Snake & a Tripple Whopper

The Now Corporation is responsible for this slinky spin on Burger King.

http://thenowcorporation.com/BIGsnake.html

Cyber Monday

Unbeknownst to many, today is the unofficial start of the online shopping season. The term "Cyber Monday" was coined by retail group Shop.org in 2005 after online retailers noticed a trend of increased shopping online the Monday after Thanksgiving. The group also cites that despite the continual growth of high-speed broadband connections in homes, Americans are still likely to shop at work: "54.5% of office workers with Internet access--or 68.5 million people--will shop at work today, up significantly from the 50.7 percent in 2006 and the 44.7% in 2005".

Special promotions are usually tied to Cyber Monday with retailers racing to get their email marketing a head start for the Christmas season. Black Friday sales and retail special deals from early last week will likely carry over today. However, the hype of Cyber Monday may be dying down. Experts predict a decrease in online spending due to future forecasts of declining economic conditions during the fourth quarter and into 2008. Regardless, a study by BizRate Research and commissioned by Shop.org found that "72.2 percent of online retailers planned a special promotion for Cyber Monday this year--up from 47.2 percent two years ago".

Sharing & Caring

A new social networking site called Caring.com launched this week. This site is targeted and dedicated to those who are taking care of their elderly parents. The founder Andy Cohen who hails from Quicken, states that "there are 34 million adults in the U.S. providing care for someone 50 or older, and a third of those are long-distance caregivers". To add to the noble idea, Mr. Cohen's inspiration came from caring for his own mother who had developed lung cancer.

This unique concept sets itself apart from the stereotypes of social networking whereins the information shared is related to healthcare, elderly care and family values. It seems to fill the void in the market outside the usual digital realm of entertainment and consumer spending.


* summary of article: http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=122051