Mobile Users Want Relevant Messages From Brands
Marketing Daily News

Believe it or not, people are craving communications from brands—but they want those communications to be relevant and on their terms.

According to new research from consumer insights agency Communispace, people want more personalized brand communications through their mobile devices, and they want tools that help them manage and filter the flow of content.

"The general U.S. consumer is connected fairly continually and it's generally throughout their lives," Katie Adams, senior consultant with the IdeaGroup within Communispace, tells Marketing Daily. "What we found was that these connected consumers have a generally high awareness of interaction with brands on their mobile devices."

Despite this high interaction, there are still a set of rules people expect brands to follow as they communicate through mobile devices—the first one being to avoid unsolicited contact. According to the research, people still value their privacy and don't want to engage in brand interactions that they have not approved.

"A very specific [good] example would be having a mobile app that, whenever [a certain] product is on sale, it sends me an alert," says Julie Wittes Schlack, senior vice president of innovation and design at Communispace. "I, as the consumer, have indicated what I'm interested in and I've opted in. And the message you're giving me is information that I want."

ANA Study Finds Branded Entertainment Widespread
Marketing Daily News

In the age of less commercial viewing, and more lip-service being given to building a relationship with people, nearly two-thirds of client-side marketers are planning branded entertainment projects in 2012, although many of them aren't sure what they're getting out of the deal.

More than mere product placement, branded entertainment refers to integrating and linking a product within an entertainment source. According to the Association of National Advertisers, clients said they're interested in the platform because it: can create a stronger emotional bond with consumers (according to 78%); can align a brand with relevant content (75%) and can build brand affinity with a target group or demographic (73%).

Yet many marketers don't believe measurement of branded entertainment's effectiveness has improved over the past five years. In 2006, 64% of marketers said they were dissatisfied with the quality of effectiveness research available to them, comparable with 65% who said the same thing this year. (Eighty-three percent of marketers measured the impact of their branded entertainment initiatives, although 63% said they found such measurement difficult.

"When you're unsure of the potential impact via measurement, then you have a tough time making the cost value case for it," Bob Liodice, president and CEO of the ANA, tells Marketing Daily. "That being said, those who have done it—they've noticed a higher level of emotional connection than traditional advertising."

Marketers Tread Carefully Into Sept 11th Anniversary
AdAge

Ever since the major broadcast and cable-news networks went ad-free following the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, the day has continued to carry a stigma for the marketing community, which has largely tried to avoid 9/11-themed specials and documentaries.

Nearly 10 years after the fact, however, a sense has begun to emerge that the event is no longer off-limits, and that advertising and 9/11 memorials and discussion can co-exist. Case in point: AT&T has since July been sponsoring a weekly segment on News Corp.'s Fox News Channel in which anchor Shepard Smith examines the rebuilding and construction of the new World Trade Center site. General Motors' Chevrolet is "presenting" a series about the rebuilding of Ground Zero set to air on Discovery Channel (in the days leading up to 9/11) and Science Channel (in a marathon on 9/11) without traditional commercials.

TV viewers may even see abrupt shifts from 9/11 tributes to rah-rah sports talk. This year, Sept. 11 marks the first Sunday of afternoon games from the National Football League (see related story, right).

"There is a different tone than in years past," said Harry Keeshan, exec VP-director of investment at Omnicom Group's PHD. "More so than in anniversaries of the past 10 years, there is more of a sentiment to support it or pay tribute to the anniversary than there is to avoid it."

Finally, A Better Way to Measure Impressions?
AdAge

Ad impression numbers are about to go down—that is, at least, if RealVu has anything to do with it. The Salt Lake City-based ad tech startup has, with the blessing of IAB and accreditation from the Media Rating Council, developed technology that measures exactly when an ad has been really, truly actually viewed. Traditionally ad impressions have been tallied from the publisher side, meaning that all instances in which an ad had merely been called up were counted, even if the ad never even loaded. But RealVu is taking reporting to the client side, along the lines of the “viewable impression” rule that IAB introduced last month as a pillar of its guiding principles for digital measurement. “We feel like we invented the viewable impression,” says Troy Tribe, president and COO of RealVu.

The result of this client-side measurement is an astounding 30 percent to 40 percent drop in ad impressions, Tribe says. (If counting “viewable impressions” takes off, the effect on ad pricing could also astound.)

On Monday, Horizon Media announced a deal to become the first media buyer using RealVu’s new tool for its digital clients. “With this technology we can do our own analytics and provide the most complete, true performance data picture for our advertisers,” Horizon CEO Bill Koenigsberg said.

Initiative To Marketers: Wake Up, Optimize Brand Content Online
Marketing Daily News

The Internet has become so embedded in the consumer purchase consideration process that more than 40% of customers now say they will not buy a brand if they can't find the right information about it online.

And for big-ticket items like cars, TVs, computers and mobile devices, that percentage climbs to more than half of all customers. But online research by consumers also influences the purchase decisions for everyday products like shampoo and fast foods, where over 20% of customers say they will not touch a brand without first seeing the required online information about it.

That's according to a new consumer survey by Initiative, the Interpublic Group media agency. The shop surveyed over 4,000 consumers in five markets, including the U.S., Australia, China, Germany and Spain. The agency also conducted interviews with consumers in China, Colombia, Thailand, Italy, the U.S. and the U.K.

"Brand consideration has become a key pastime for over half of the population—52% of our interviewees said they enjoy searching online for a wide range of brands and products," the survey reports.

One lesson for marketers, per the study: "Consumer involvement with brand communication is a key to unlocking growth. The more we can get consumers to participate with our brands in paid, earned and owned media the more a brand will grow."

Mashable

Mobile barcodes are turning up everywhere—buses, magazines, television, bar coasters. According to recent research from comScore, 14 million U.S. mobile phone users scanned QR or barcodes in June alone, mostly via newspapers, magazines and product packaging, both at home and in-store. My company’s own data reveals that barcodes that offer access to a discount or coupon or that allow the consumer to learn more about a product or service are the most popular.

Given that mobile barcodes are finally cracking the mainstream, they have enormous potential to present brands with brilliant results. Here are five mobile barcode best practices to help ensure a successful campaign.