Enabling Multi Platform Advertising

Last week I was invited to present at the 2010 Media and Broadcasting Congress. Here's what I had to say:

Enabling multi platform advertising

• What ad models work on what platform?
• Streamlining the advertising model to maximize results
• Uncovering the barriers to multi platform advertising
• The advertisers’ perspective on the evolution of platforms and ad spend

Introduction:

Multi platform advertising is nothing new to marketers, in days gone by it was more often referred to as a “multi media campaign”. The impact of digital technology has however shifted the goal posts. It’s no secret that today’s consumer has many more choices in how and when they interact with content; and subsequently shorter attention spans. And that it has subsequently become increasingly important for marketing communications to be more relevant, integrated, layered and interactive than they’ve ever been before. In essence, today a great comms idea must be bigger than the platform!

Inspired by the level of digital accountability, it’s also not enough to measure all of these efforts by channel. How we prepare for multi platform measurement is fundamental to increasing our ability to enable it.

So, who am I and why should you listen to me?

I’ve worked in the Australian media agency arena for some 20 years, half of which have been at Starcom. In that time, I’ve spent 17 years managing, strategising, planning and buying across all media channels, however, for the past three years I’ve been focused on digital specifically. I’ve experienced every medium from both a planning and a buying point of view and in particular the different nuances from trading approaches to trafficking.

Back to multi platform advertising….so what is it?

Actually, let’s start with the even simpler but also now more complex…. what is advertising?
One thing is for sure, it’s no longer just the ads made by the advertising agency. It’s any brand centric creative content. It’s the ads on TV and the video created by the teenager in your street. It’s the conversation you had with your mother about your new computer. Or the text message you got from the beautician. It can be paid, earned or/and owned. All of these connections are in essence message ‘platforms’.

So, in the face of all of this change, I believe the industry’s biggest challenge is to better understand the true value of all of these platforms and their relative impact on results. To do so time and cost effectively, we need new ways of measuring value. And even more challenging, (particularly for publishers), this will require a complete overhaul of how we trade including currency.

Our future goal should be management and measurement systems, where we are able to leverage and trade audiences across multiple technologies and touch points to measure and optimise impact and results.

What Ad models work on what platform

Up until recently the Australian industry almost exclusively worked on a “pay for total impact” model. Basically, you pay a price for media space (be that TV, outdoor, or a radio spot) no matter who/how many people end up seeing/hearing it.

With the advent of online, whilst the model sounded different – pay for the number of people (ie CPM), it was in essence a similar model. Multiply the estimated impression number by the CPM and once again you are paying a price for the space no matter who is impacted. The slight change in buying model to CPM did give us more control over the number of people (impressions bought), however, ‘the who’ remained the ‘whoever’. Ad exchanges are changing this but the main game remains the TPPL CPM.

Of course, it has been the responsibility of the media agency, to research and forecast target audience impact for the space and a more relevant measure of value for the individual client/product. Depending on quality of research by medium, this can be relatively accurate (TV) or quite weak (outdoor).

So in essence, we are trading across multiple data points, buying space across multiple mediums with no real visibility into audiences across mediums. It’s a silo-ed approach.

Enter Google, affiliate and performance networks.

In the past 5 years, however, due to the much more accountable nature of digital, we have seen a rapid increase in a move towards paying for a result. At the softer end we have the cost per click model, excellent for driving traffic to a site (and hopefully more experience of the brand /product), and even better for those with a strong e-commerce model the CPA – where ROI is relatively straight forward to demonstrate. Cue joy and delight from clients who have the ability to show their CEO an accurate cost per acquisition!

The ability to buy a result*, across multi platform is without question the future of our industry. The ability to transact in this way online has awakened the natural desire of marketeers to do so. But I think you’ll agree when it comes to a solution we’ve got a long way to go.

*Result – not simply sales, but could be awareness, engagement, consideration, intention

Streamlining ad models to maximise results

We all recognise that we are moving to a data driven future. One where we have the ability (and often the desire) to communicate “one to one” rather than “one to many”; efficiently and at scale. Consumers expect more personalisation – and are more influenced by it. Buying space is becoming less and less relevant.

I’m sure you’ll agree, as a result, it’s time for the industry to start re-thinking sales models. We need a new currency and we need to be talking the same language.

My thoughts are that it would make more sense for us to buy an audience rather than a space. Why? The way I see it is that if you think about a continuum, with paying for space by media at one end, and paying for a result across multiple media at the other, paying for an audience, is moving in the right direction.

With the increasing ability for publishers to create more valuable audiences through improved audience data, this is a model that makes sense for all parties.

In the meantime, Starcom (and some of our competitors) will continue to do what we can to consolidate data – or build our own to improve multi platform accountability.

We currently have a research study - Intentrak in market every week, which measures awareness, consideration, purchase, sales and after sale behaviour – across all touch points. It is helping us attribute value far better than ever before.

This is important in improving demonstrable ROI. It’s a step in the right direction. A step, publishers need to begin to embrace and plan for in terms of ad models of the future.

Uncovering the barriers to multi platform advertising

There are many barriers to multi platform advertising. But perhaps the biggest is our natural tendency as humans to resist change.

Critical barriers include:
* Slow moving big organisations with enormous legacy in infrastructure and internal barriers to overcome (if we are to see any innovation in currency)
* Multiple measurement systems and approaches across channels and contact points – siloed
* Understanding and attribution of the value of communication assets beyond paid media (earned and owned)
* Creative costing models not currently set up to create more content and maximise its personalisation and distribution
* Vested interest of ‘multi platform’ publishers in achieving multi platform within their own pool is limiting
* Lack of prioritisation of investment into research and data management at the client end
* Limited ability to interface data sets between clients, agencies and publishers

The Advertisers perspective on the evolution of platforms and ad spend

Surprise, surprise, the industry uses too much jargon!

On the surface, Marketers, feel comfortable with CPMs as they are used to this language.
When pressed, however, it is a different story. Comfortable and confident are two very different things.

Adding in new media has further complicated matters. In the online space there are literally thousands of CPMs spanning environments, formats and types of creative. Additionally, where in offline media the language is more often audience related, the CPMs on their digital plans are against all people. CPC/CPA models are preferred but not always relevant – eg when their goals are more relationship/awareness focussed. Back to the same old problems; inconsistent language and currency.

Some of our clients are attempting to address the new landscape through setting aside trial budgets with tangible metrics in place. Others are heavily data centric. The majority are risk adverse and more interested in advertising than research.

Overall, however, the general sentiment is that they welcome a day when all of their marketing efforts are more quantifiable and agree that digital is certainly putting pressure on them to deliver more transparent ROI back to the business.

To End

What we’re doing:

At Starcom, we are moving towards content management systems. Systems that can house all of the clients content assets (from social to PR) and allow us to micro segment and communicate with audiences. We believe this will allow us to improve interactions through more personalisation, leading to more influential connections.

But we can’t do this alone. We need all of you. At the moment our content systems manage primarily online data and assets. We look forward to a future when we can extend this to facilitate connections across multiple platforms. As I’m sure do all of our clients and customers – and hopefully you.

It’s time to get ready to measure and trade in the future.

To the clients reading this – I urge you to invest in research and data and to focus on measurable results.

To the creative agencies - It’s time to stop making ads and start focusing on ideas. Big ideas that live and breathe in multiple formats – and pricing so that clients can afford them. I know you feel pressured by the rise of content solution providers and publishers taking production in house. It’s time to change.

And to the publishers - I hope I haven’t offended. You are my peers and partners. But you need to get ready to change, and you need to do it together.

We Cannes create more Space for Ideas

Written by John Sintras in Cannes

It’s was huge privilege to be in Cannes for the Advertising Festival last week, an extraordinary experience on so many levels.

Human inspiration and ideas are the oxygen of our industry. As the world continues to move ahead at breakneck pace, and as the digital age pushes us further towards a 24/7 working mentality, it is critical that we all create more space for thinking, inspiration and ideas. To immerse ourselves in what it means to be human, and how we can create more meaningful brand experiences for our clients in the context of their world. More time to breathe in a little essential oxygen.

It’s a shame the Cannes festival is so far way from Australia as there is no better place to get an intense dose of oxygen than here. Cannes provides the opportunity to stop and think at the highest level. To examine not just the advertising world, but the whole world from many different perspectives. To meet and hear from extraordinary people within and outside our industry. To touch and feel global best practice in marketing and advertising communications. To be inspired by new thinking and ideas. And to be reminded that we work in an amazing industry that allows us to be immersed in and connected with humanity like no other job can.

The highlight of the week for me was the TED@Cannes seminar, the first time that this amazing format has been brought to the festival, facilitated by Starcom and Microsoft. While the majority of the festival provides a deep dive into the industry, TED@Cannes provided a “30,000 foot view of the ideas and trends that are shaping the future, and creating the context for the work we do”. We heard from eight extraordinary world thinkers on “global shifts in population and economics, new technologies that will redefine how we work and play, new models for collaboration and innovation, new insight into how ideas spread, and a new understanding of who we are, how we work, and why we do what we do”.

As I have listened to speakers and reviewed the work recognised at the festival, it continues to reinforce the appropriateness of our company’s focus on best understanding the human experience, and designing brand experiences that add value and meaning to people’s lives. Gimmicky, short term, technologically-led work does not cut it.

This year’s Media Grand Prix winner by Leo Burnett Sydney for Canon echoes this. Here is a campaign that humanises technology and recognises the interconnectedness of humanity – people inspiring other people, empowered by the client’s product and technology. It is interesting that this campaign came from the social media category. There is much debate on how to leverage social, with many clients unsure how to take advantage of this phenomenon. It’s work like this that recognises the role that technology plays in fulfilling human needs and desires that will pay the biggest dividend.

It was a great thrill to see our campaign for the Pedigree Dog Adoption Drive recognised with 2 Silver Media Lions. Again, here is a campaign that took a very human approach to the plight of shelter dogs. By telling real dog stories and integrating them into people’s lives in surprising and engaging ways, we were able to create a result that had never been achieved previously using more ‘traditional’ communications approaches.

This year’s results are again fuelling the debate about what is a creative versus media idea, and who should best drive strategic thinking. This really is an old-fashioned and limited argument. Media and creative thinking are both essential, one can’t be effective without the other. Great communications work today requires many smart people looking at the business from many different perspectives and levels. They don’t need to sit in one agency, and indeed it’s probably healthier if they don’t. But they do need to be aligned behind the same piece of human inspiration and work collaboratively. And who owns the idea? What a ridiculous question. Ultimately we hope the idea is owned by the people who embrace it into their lives, and the client for whom it creates a business result.

It was a great week. While we can’t all afford to be in Cannes every year, we can all afford to create a culture and workplace that makes the effort to create the space for ideas. A culture that lives the spirit of the Cannes festival every day.

Out –Of-Home Ad Firms Get Their Act Together

Out of home advertising has been around since the cave man. In a world gone crazy with digital options, we might wonder whether its efficacy is being challenged? Certainly it has never achieved the share of advertising in Australia that it commands in other developed markets, ironic given we spend more time outdoors than most other nations. Is there a chance out of home can grow its share given the inevitable launch of more competitors in the media sector?

Last week I had the privilege of chairing an out of home panel at the Media Federation of Australia’s NGen conference, attended by the younger members of our media industry. The panel included four CEOs from the sector. During the course of the hour, I was struck by many things, but mostly by how much had changed since the early ‘80s when I began my media career.

The industry is far more professional and formidable today than it was then. Ooh! Media’s Brendon Cook spoke to the huge consolidation of operators we’ve seen, and how that has made it easier and more efficient to buy national coverage. APN’s Richard Herring talked about the dramatic improvement in real estate use, better site presentation and the introduction of video formats. AdShel’s Steve McCarthy spoke about the exciting move away from static sites to ‘consumer dialogue’ using mobile technology. Eyecorp’s Mike Tyquin discussed the move from a largely roadside broadcast medium, to one that now offers a breadth of options in more engaged environments such as transit, retail precincts, office towers and universities. We have also seen the introduction of shorter length campaign options, and much faster copy changes.

All of the operators are excited by the digital age and keen to keep embracing new opportunities. Importantly though, Cook referenced the challenge of video formats in roadside inventory. A major study is currently being undertaken to assess the safety impact on drivers and pedestrians, which hopes to influence government legislation around this very tricky issue. This is less of a problem in retail and pedestrian environments, where we can expect more video options over time as panels become increasingly affordable. Herring was excited about the increased flexibility this will provide advertisers in potentially being able to schedule time sensitive advertising in different day parts. Tyquin however cautioned that video formats will need to do more than just allow copy changes every eight seconds to justify the investment in screens, consumer interactivity is key.

And most recently with the launch of MOVE (measurement of outdoor visibility and exposure) we have seen the industry tackle its biggest issue, the lack of a measurement currency. This is a huge step that has taken years of lobbying to achieve, and a massive investment from the OOH companies. It’s early days, but McCarthy was encouraged that the integrity of the data was not being questioned given the considerable industry consultation during the system’s development. All of the panel agreed the data is starting to change the types of briefs and conversations being had about OOH. But will it increase OOH’s share of advertising? Cook felt an increase from 4 per cent to 6 per cent was not unrealistic in the shorter term, with growth coming from increased investment in all formats as well as new technologies.

Herring made an important observation though. While the MOVE data is a breakthrough, ultimately advertisers are most interested in the results that OOH can deliver. To that end, Starcom’s ongoing IntenTrack study is helping us to quantify the effect that OOH options are having on influencing behaviours, particular in conjunction with the newer digital media options.

The good news is that OOH options are still very effective across every product category we measure, and are helping to stimulate behaviour in other digital media channels as well as influencing intention to buy and direct sales. In any given month, an average of 27 per cent of all people recall seeing OOH advertising in specific advertising categories. This is lowest for skincare at 21 per cent and highest for fast food at 38 per cent.

If we drill into the beer category, exposure to OOH beers ads dramatically increases claimed brand behaviour on every metric. Consumers are 55 per cent more likely to purchase, five time more likely to talk about and recommend the brand, twice as likely to look for the brand in store or on-premise, nine times more likely to attend a beer event, and nine times more likely to search online or visit the brand website. The results are similarly impressive in other categories.

It’s amazing to see how far the OOH industry has come, and its future is looking bright. Only six years ago, it was impossible to get these guys to co-operate on industry wide initiatives. Now Herring quotes their biggest recent achievement as the industry’s coming together to jointly promote effectiveness and launch the OOH currency, without “the knives coming out and blood on the floor”. I couldn’t agree more. Whether the sector can achieve its lofty goal of doubling advertising share remains to be seen. But I really hope they do, because here is a group of fierce competitors who are investing in their future and have finally realised they are much stronger together than apart.

Written by John Sintras for afr.com 06.05.10.

Starcom iPad experience

After great anticipation we received delivery of the first Starcom Australia iPad this week. Whilst Australian release is some time away yet, we decided that it would be beneficial for our staff and clients to experience this technology in advance of in market availability.

So far the Sydney office and Melbourne office have had the opportunity to test drive it, with the following general feedback:

• More love it than like it, few were unimpressed
  
• Happy with size and weight
• Increased understanding of where it could/will fit into current device repertoire
  
• Frustration over lack of connectivity in office (we don't have wifi)
• Recognition of need to access at high speeds to get full benefit
• Disappointed with lack of webcam
• Strong belief that 3G model is more desirable but unconvinced desirable enough to add to the monthly bill line up

From an advertising perspective, we will be leading the way in terms of understanding how consumers experience it more broadly. For two key reasons:

• We have a local client participating in a major press titles iPad application at launch
• Our Global network have launched a research initiative, titled iPanel, which is now in market investigating human experience and consumer behaviors around the technology

The iPanel went live at release of iPad in the US and has already been tracking how the iPad has become a must have 'plaything' for users as they figure out what exactly the iPad is, how they can use it and what it might replace in their technology and media 'diet'. Early findings are really interesting.

For more information on more detailed study findings, feel free to get in touch.

One more thing. I love it myself, and can't wait for my own (3G one) which I will be buying as soon as it's available here!

Yvette

The rise of geo based marketing (and how to get free jimmy choo shoes)

Geographic based marketing has often been thrown around as mobile's big jump into the advertising space, but it's never really become a reality due to privacy factors as well as a number of technical hurdles.

The strong uptake of smartphones (think Blackberries, iPhones etc) with GPS capabilities have given rise to a number of applications that allow you to 'check in' to the various places you visit. You can also see where all your friends are which makes it easy to organise impromptu get-togethers or make recommendations on restaurants/read tips on what to do when you travel. There are a number of these apps, with the main two being Foursquare (see screenshots below) and Gowalla.

The rise of these applications have led to some interesting marketing promotions:

Jimmy Choo Trainer Hunt:

This is a really fun way of using Foursquare.

Jimmy Choo have set up a Foursquare account, Twitter account and Facebook page for 'CatchaChoo'. They regularly move around London, checking in to Foursquare, and placing a pair of trainers nearby and posting pictures on twitter.

If anyone can find the trainers and the representative while they're still there, and confront them with the phrase "I've been following you", they get to win a pair of trainers. I really like this because it's very straightforward, very low tech, and doesn't really need much planning or coordination. & it's fun!

This is similar to something done by Host for Levi's in Australia last year - only Levi's coordinated through twitter, and the Levi's reps had to hand over the jeans that they were wearing! Unfortunately this didn't have the level of promotion behind it for it to really take off. It did have a lot of potential though.

Pepsi Loot:

"PepsiCo is looking to match consumers with its foodservice partners (i.e., companies and restaurants that serve Pepsi products in their establishments) with a marketing program that combines a mobile application and a loyalty program.

'It's all about how you engage with consumers, and it's all about how consumers are living their lives,' Margery Schelling, chief marketing officer for PepsiCo Foodservice, tells Marketing Daily . 'I don't know any consumers who aren't travelling around with their phones.'
In mid-May, PepsiCo will launch Pepsi Loot, an iPhone app that uses geotargeting for people to find nearby restaurants that serve Pepsi beverages, ranging from chains Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Arby's and Panda Express to individual restaurants that have Pepsi contracts, Schelling says. 'It's a big equalizer,' she says. 'It's bringing a lot of awareness to some of our smaller partners.'"

You can read more on this at Mediapost.

How do you think you might be able to apply this technology to your clients? There's some great opportunity here for retailers/food based clients.

Festival of Media Award success

Overnight at the Festival of Media Awards held in Valencia, Spain, Starcom Australia has once again cleaned up!

The Festival of Media awards are dedicated to rewarding media excellence, sourcing entrants from a global pool of full service agencies, specialist digital agencies, advertisers, social network developers, mobile agencies, content creators, production companies and more. Within this extremely competitive field we have achieved great results.

On the Global front, our very own Jack Klues was nominated Media Professional of the Year, and Starcom Australia was short listed for agency of the year - a truly amazing result.

The Festival will be a highlight in the careers of a couple of our own team - Peter Toone and Laura Bartal who have led the development of several highly awarded campaigns and have continually produced excellent work. They have earned the opportunity to attend the festival, this was just as well, as we have won:

Best Use of Content for Strauchanie: Sponsoring a legend campaign. Congratulations to Peter and his team for this award.

Consumer Benefit Award for Pedigree Dog Adoption. Congratulations to Laura and her team for this award.

Our client Mars has also won advertiser of the year for Pedigree, Mars and Snickers. This is excellent recognition of our role in achieving delighted clients.

Thanks also must go to the Australian Product Committee for continuing to champion great work throughout our agency.

Congratulations to our winners and lets ensure these results provide inspiration to us all in continuing our focus on delivery of great work for our clients.

As Screens Abound, Monitoring is Critical

Don’t believe the hype that TV is in decline. Recent research reiterates people’s engagement with TV content is stronger than ever, and many homes claim they watch more content than ever before. Why? Because they can.

Technology continues to make more content available with more flexibility. PVR penetration continues to increase, and this will accelerate with the launch this week of Internet-based FetchTV. ninemsn’s FIXPlay video player has also launched and Internet enabled TV’s are here too.

More platforms will launch increasing people’s ability to engage with TV content. And that’s a key issue for our industry – how are we going to meaningfully capture this new viewing behavior? Yes, the traditional free-to-air TV bucket is leaking eyeballs, but they aren’t going down the drain, they’re leaking into different buckets that we need to identify and capture, soon.

The measurement of TV viewing took a giant leap forward this year with the measurement of time shifted viewing and the FTA digital channels. The panel is now more representative of homes with PVR technology. But it’s not enough.

Our industry needs to figure out how we are going to capture in-home and portable viewing across all three screens (TV, computer and mobile) with a meaningful and consistent currency. And we’ll probably have a fourth screen to deal with soon as Apple’s iPad and its clones take hold.

If you think this type of viewing is too small to worry about in the short term, think again. In a recent TV viewing study that Starcom conducted with Network Ten in November, one third of 16-54 year olds said they watched TV programs accessed over the internet. More specifically, 20% of 16-54s stream TV programs over the internet, 15% download and save the programs, and 11% watch programs downloaded by others.

In terms of the three screens, 87% of people who downloaded are watching or streaming on computers, 23% are watching on TV and 7% are watching or streaming on mobile phones. Sixteen per cent of these people are watching on more than one device.

That’s a lot of viewing not currently being captured. And it’s only going to increase as more content becomes available and download speeds increase. It’s time to start evolving our TV and digital measurement currencies now. We need a people-centric or content-centric approach that captures all viewers as TV content is remediated through different platforms. And we need to understand the varying impact and engagement of viewing on different platforms – does a smaller screen necessarily result in lower engagement, and if so what impact should that have on pricing? Yes, it’s a complex issue, and it will most likely require a hybrid approach, but that’s no excuse for not starting to test potential solutions now.

It makes sense for TV ratings supplier OzTAM to take the lead on this issue. OzTAM CEO Kate Inglis-Clarke agreed this week that this was the next major issue being investigated, and that preliminary work was being done by its ratings supplier AGB/NMR on how this viewing might be captured and when the viewing was sufficient enough to justify the costs associated.

The issue is a priority for both the Media Federation of Australia and the Australian Association of National Advertisers, and both will commit the necessary resources to work with the media companies and research providers to address it. But it’s going to take time. The sooner we get started the sooner we can better understand what’s really happening with all types of viewing. There may be an additional cost, but it’s a cost we can’t afford to ignore.

Written for Fairfax, published in SMH April 16