Changes in promotion and advertising–driven by fragmenting audiences and new developments such as PVRs, VOD and PDAs–were addressed during numerous sessions last week (6/21-23) at the PROMAX & BDA confab in New York.
These discussions included an in-depth look at emerging promotional opportunities using the “third screen”–mobile devices such as cell phones and PDAs.
There are over 190 million cell phones in use in the U.S., with 64 percent of U.S. households holding a mobile subscription and over 100 million using text messaging, according to Nihal Mehta, CEO of Ipsh, a San Francisco-based technology company that develops mobile marketing opportunities for clients.
“American Idol showed us that we like to use our cell phones for entertainment,” Mehta said, noting that over 40 million text messages were sent in conjunction with the show last season. “[Mobile phones] are the device you don’t leave home without and that you respond to when it rings.”
His overview also included a brief vocabulary lesson for the uninitiated: SMS is the short message service, or the main delivery channel for text messages; MMS stands for multimedia messaging services, which may include mobile games and short commercials; and shortcode is branded phone numbers that companies ask you to call and that Mehta likened to a mobile URL. He said a random shortcode goes for $500 per month, and a personalized number for $1000.
Mehta then pointed to the current and future opportunities available to marketers and advertisers. First, mobile marketing offers a way to do voting or polling, which can also be used to measure direct response. Second, a company could offer branded MMS wallpapers and ringtones, which are becoming increasingly popular. Or, one could create an online promotion that includes a mobile element; this might be used for sweepstakes and contests.
Of course, more traditional content delivery options also exist, including news, sponsored-content or commercials.
With this new palette, Mehta encouraged creativity. He cited numerous examples of how advertisers are already using mobile opportunities. For example, he said that Budweiser created a “Text a Bud” promotion, where a user could quickly text message a friend with a meeting place and time to meet for a beer.
CONTENT, HD
Examples of branded content and product placement were prevalent in sessions that focused on the proliferation of PVRs, VOD, and the like. Here, speakers emphasized that with increasing viewing choices, it is critical to create promotions that are entertaining content in order to hold your audience.
Addressing the commercial skipping capabilities of PVRs such as Tivo, Mike Benson, executive VP of marketing, advertising and promotion for ABC Television Network, warned the PROMAX & BDA audience, “We have the same problems as advertisers. We have to market our shows–Our marketing has to be viewed as content.” He showed a clip from the series The World According to Jim where Red Lobster is a vital part of the story line, demonstrating how to effectively merge entertainment and advertising.
Other speakers shared similar thoughts and examples of branded content and product placement.
For HD enthusiasts, another session provided an overview of MoovLab, a unit of Philadelphia-based Concrete Pictures, which provides six hours of HD content per week to Lab HD, a Voom HD original channel. The mission is to reach out to artists to provide
“virtual gallery space”, as Lab HD essentially displays non-narrative, ambient content. Jeff Boortz, found of Moovlab and Concrete, explained that his company currently produces about 75 percent of the HD content in-house; the remaining 25 percent is (non-exclusive) licensed content. “We are encouraging outside artists to create original work,” he said, adding that artists may submit content for consideration.
Of course, many have been following the swell of rumors about the future of Voom. Addressing the rumors, Ali Hoosani, who heads Lab HD, reported that there are currently 10 available Voom channels on Dish Network, and the plan is to reach 21 in ’06.
AWARDS
The New York confab also was highlighted by the 2005 PROMAX Awards, 2005 BDA Awards, and 2005 PROMAX&BDA World Gold Awards in a combined ceremony. The BDA Awards included a category for television commercials; this year, this category garnered three Gold, three Silver, and three Bronze award winners.
New York-based Psyop was awarded a Gold on the strength of its “Shoxploitation” done direct for Nike, and the Silver for Air Canada’s Aeroplan “Francois” via Deisel Marketing in Montreal.
Gold awards for commercials were also presented to bicoastal Stardust for Bombay Sapphire’s “Step into Blue” via Margeotes, New York, and to Toronto-based Hear Gear Animation for Excel Mints’ “Spokesgorilla” via Leo Burnett Toronto
New York-based Version 2’s visual effects and design unit collected a pair of Bronze awards for commercials: one for a Puma campaign done client direct (“Koi/Butterfly” and “Mouse/Bee” and “Ant/Deer”), and the other for “Questions” direct for University Hospital.
Toronto’s Cuppa Coffee Studios swam away with Silver for Mini Ritz’s “Scuba” via JWT Toronto, and Trace Pictures collected a Silver for AJC’s “A Picture is Worth a Thousand Characters.” M&M’s “River Rock” ran off with a Bronze; the animated spot was produced by New York-based Charlex for BBDO New York.