Maria V.

[mavaldivia1]

Ad-Supported Streaming Services Are Having A Moment

While subscription-based services are still preferred by consumers, ad-supported streaming services are gathering a following.

While most of this week’s news centered around the upcoming media giant, the Super Bowl, there’s also been growing attention in the the marketing and media industry about ad-supported streaming services.

While streaming services have had most success recently as subscriptions services like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu, more and more companies are investing in the form of streaming that resembles the traditional way of getting entertainment – that is, with ads.  

Sahil Patel from DigiDay wrote this article: The anti-Netflix: Free, ad-supported video streaming services are growing, which credits the growth in ad-supported streaming services to a combination of an increase in consumers using web-connected entertainment devices and the limit that people are reaching for how many streaming services they are willing to pay for.  

This is good news for both consumers and advertisers since the streaming will allow for more targeted advertising content. So far the leaders in the game are Youtube, Roku and Crackle according to Intelivideo.  

IMDB also released their version of a streaming service that is offered at no cost to the viewer but does come with ads before the content is played. IMDB Freedive currently has a collection of movies and television shows that can be watched entirely with just an IMDB account and sitting through a couple of commercials.        

AdAge is a global media brand that focuses on analyzing and reporting marketing data and industry news.  

Contact:   @mavaldivia1  

[mavaldivia1]

A story told with Adobe Spark

[mavaldivia1]

The Repurpose Project Email Newsletter and Blog

https://spark.adobe.com/post/RicdGfTPc6FG7/ 

https://spark.adobe.com/page/4PvOMsMdGDvTH/

[mavaldivia1]

Disney Continues To Take Over Our Screens

The acquisition of 21st Century Fox by the Walt Disney Company leaves the entertainment world with many questions.

PRESS RELEASE 3/29/19   

GAINESVILLE, Fla., March 29,2019 (swampstratcomm-sp19.tumblr.com) The week in the news included Facebook as per usual, Mcdonald’s debuting a new marketing plan and Disney setting up upfront sale plans after the acquisition of Fox that it made less than a week ago reported Jeanine Poggi yesterday. The Walt Disney’s company acquisition of Fox finished at $71.3 billion. And now that the mouse owns the Fox, Disney continues to be the largest network in the country.  

Not only is there a lot of concern internally with layoffs and the operational side of the acquisition which is highlighted in this video: Disney Fox Deal's Devastating Aftermath | Massive Layoffs but there is a lot of concern from the public and communication professionals. There is a growing whisper that Disney is slowly taking all of our entertainment media; as can be seen in the image above, they already own a large percentage of the networks. Disney’s account now in complete charge of ABC, FX Networks, National Geographic and much more.

And it begs the question, will Disney ever find a stop to acquiring the rest of the entertainment companies or does our future have mouse behind every screen? It’s unrealistic to think that the Walt Disney company is the only one that is looking to continue merging themselves with other large media and entertainment companies. But does that eventually leave us with a monopoly on entertainment? And What's The Trickle-Down Effect For Consumers?

AdAge is a global media brand that focuses on analyzing and reporting marketing data and industry news.  

Contact: @mavaldivia1

[mavaldivia1]

Facebook Faces Yet Another Hurdle

Around the world, Facebook users were unable to login and use the platform throughout Wednesday.

PRESS RELEASE 3/15/19   

GAINESVILLE, Fla., March 15, 2019(swampstratcomm-sp19.tumblr.com)

This week was heavy in media-related news. Some of the top stories included a social media influencer being found in the middle of a college admissions scandal and Reddit raising 300 million dollars but the story that stuck out the by far and impacted the most people was Facebook and Instagram going down. Not only did this affect lives of everyday people who need the platform to communicate with others, but it was also a huge blow in the marketing industry.  Over the past few years, Facebook has gathered their fair share of news-worthy headlines like the Cambridge Analytica scandal and most recently, their Chief Product Officer, Chris Cox, has left the company due to Facebook’s new direction towards incorporating more encryption. 

On one side, there is the personal use of the platforms that affected many around the world, but Facebook took the biggest hit with marketers. Media planners were unable to access the site and could not see the site’s ad manager which is where advertisements can be viewed, edited, published and schedules for marketing campaigns. This inability to run campaigns on schedule completely disrupts the business of advertising agencies and the brands that are relying on consumers receiving their message.

According to “Advertiser Say Yesterday’s Facebook Outage Led to ‘Chaos’ in Buying” by Garett Sloane, another chaotic event that occurred while the 12-hour Facebook shutdown occurred was that there was an “erratic activity in the ad auctions”. This caused advertisers to be charged for ads that were running at an excess rate after the shutdown to catch up to marketing goals.

Facebook collapsing on Wednesday was not only a shock, but it made people realize how dependent the marketing industry is on the platform. As Facebook moves onto its new era which CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, has explained to be moving the platform to private messaging, brands and individuals are reassessing their trust to the company. 

AdAge is a global media brand that focuses on analyzing and reporting marketing data and industry news.

Contact:  @mavaldivia1  

[mavaldivia1]

YouTube Under Fire

The popular site has brands refusing to advertise with the current policy.  PRESS RELEASE 2/22/19   

GAINESVILLE, Fla., February 22, 2019(swampstratcomm-sp19.tumblr.com) While most of the media and entertainment world has been focused on predicting what film will be winning Best Picture this Sunday at the Oscars, the 91st Academy Awards ceremony has been overshadowed in the marketing world by a scandal. 

YouTube has had their share of problems. Recently, the issue has been regarding the ability of inappropriate content being to be shared in the site. Back in 2017 the problem was that extremist videos were being recommended to people. Now the problem is that pedophiles are making inappropriate comments on videos that feature children and linking to other inappropriate content.

YouTube has been put on blast before like in this Ted Talk titled “The nightmare videos of children’s' YouTube — and what's wrong with the internet today” given by James Bird. This Ted Talk goes over the issue of YouTube’s algorithm whose main purpose is to keep consumers on the site. While this may sound innocent in theory, in practice it can be very far from that. Bird explains that children who are watching videos on the site that are targeted at them, like cartoons or kids television programs, can be directed to more inappropriate content as the algorithm suggests videos.  

This might not seem like something that directly affects the marketing and advertising world but the brands that choose to run commercials and ads on YouTube are lashing out. Many brands like AT&T and Hasbro have pulled their ads(therefore their money) from the site; this leaves the site with a need to take action.

AdAge is a global media brand that focuses on analyzing and reporting marketing data and industry news.  

Contact:  @mavaldivia1  

[mavaldivia1]

Super Bowl Still A Hit

While the game may not be the best, the Super Bowl is still a powerful event for advertisers. 

PRESS RELEASE 2/8/19 

GAINESVILLE, Fla., February 8, 2019(swampstratcomm-sp19.tumblr.com) While this year’s Super Bowl was the lowest-rated game in 10 years, the fans were still there for the sport. And most importantly for the commercials.  For more and more Americans, the Super Bowl has less to do with football and more to do ads. AdAge’s focus this week was on recapping the event and analyzing the effectiveness of the platform as marketing tool.  This past Sunday, February 3rd, the Super Bowl audience improved to an overall viewership of 112.7 million people which made this the third most watched event in American television history. This supports the event’s extraordinary price tag for advertisers to feature their commercials between the game. While the viewership is high, it’s also complicated. The increase in consumers tuning in through streaming services and the addition of tracking viewership in out-of-home locations like bar and restaurants, has added a new layer to calculating impressions.  Throughout the week there were insights to be gathered regarding the Big Game. The first being that while the world is exponentially moving to digital, there is still success to be found on traditional media like television. This past Sunday proved that not only does the Super Bowl space work to introduce or remind consumers about products, but it also helps increase the social media following of many brands. The brands that had the top increase in social media following directly following the Super Bowl were Turbo Tax, Audi, Google and Version. For advertisers planning on including a commercial next year, there are times that are better than others. It is best to features TV spots towards the second half of the Super Bowl viewership increases as the game progresses. And finally, while there are many positives to advertising during the game, television continues to be a complicated medium to calculate total viewership for. 

AdAge is a global media brand that focuses on analyzing and reporting marketing data and industry news.  Contact:  @mavaldivia1

[mavaldivia1]

Uber: Doors Are Always Opening

Uber’s Doors Are Always Opening campaign is a stark change for the brand’s former advertising strategy. Before, Uber wanted to differentiate itself from other forms of transportation and to appear as luxurious alternative for higher end experience. With the Uber’s Doors Are Always Opening campaign there is a very clear shift to appealing to more working people and positioning Uber as not only for weekend night outs but also for every day trips and adventures.