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77 Percent of TV Viewers Use Second Screens

April 10, 2013 By Leave a Comment

social tvWe all know social TV is here to stay. Well, a new online study from Accenture’s Media & Entertainment industry group, shows exactly how people’s viewing habits are changing.

The online poll of 3,501 consumers in France, Brazil, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States revealed:

  • 90 percent of viewers watch some video content over the Internet, with the tablet seeing the biggest increase.
  • 77 percent regularly use a computer while watching television, an increase of 16 points from just a year ago.
  • But people also said their simultaneous computer usage is mostly unrelated to the programs they are watching. An exception was the use of tablets, which correlated more closely with what consumers were watching compared to laptops or smartphones.
  • Only 17 percent of people using tablets during TV time said their activity was unrelated to the TV content they were viewing.
  • Tablet use during television viewing also saw the biggest increase in the past year, soaring from 11 percent to 44 percent, despite fewer people owning them compared to computers or smartphones.
  • The survey also found that consumers are increasingly using local online video service providers, an increase from 37 to 40 percent, a similar amount to the decrease in use by global providers like Netflix and YouTube.
  • And a majority of respondents identified traditional TV broadcasters as the providers they trusted most to offer video over the Internet on their TV screen.

Filed Under: Consumer Habits, Content Marketing, Digital Media, Marketing, Social Media, Social TV, Youth Marketing Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

SyFy Sync Takes Social TV to the Next Level

August 25, 2012 By 2 Comments

Anyone who knows me knows I am the world’s biggest movie nerd. As such, I am a big fan of the SyFy Channel’s show “Face Off” in which make-up artists compete to create the most stunning SFX characters in just two days.

And, if that isn’t cool enough for you, the way the network is leveraging social media could set the stage for all future programs.

They call it SyFy sync and the idea is simple enough. As you watch tv with your iPad, Droid tablet or other digital device … which let’s face it, we all do … the app will automatically detect where you are in the show and deliver exclusive content, contests, trivia, videos and chats. And, the best part is, it doesn’t limit the conversation to the SyFy Channel’s web site. With key plug-ins, you can easily see feeds from Facebook, Twitter and GetGlue so you can engage with fans where they are.

This second-screen content was created by Syfy producers, using the the related-content syndication specialist, WatchWith (formerly RCDb). Using the Mac-based program Showrunner, a time-based metadata editor for creating and syncing a metadata layer with video assets, the screen looks like a simple version of Final Cut Pro that allows you to add an event to the show’s timeline. The next version of Gloto’s Apple/Android app will use audio from the program to trigger content recognition, allowing use during re-broadcasts, or when playing back from a DVR.

“From the beginning, we were clear about our creative goals for the sync experience: the content needed to be additive and not duplicative. No simple re-use of assets across screens was allowed,” said Matthew Chiavelli, SyFy’s Digital VP of emerging platforms. “This approach drove us to create fresh, fun, interactive content and deliver an application that is truly enhancing the experience for viewers. This is the kind of creative commitment needed to produce a great sync-to-broadcast experience, and something our close relationship with show production allowed us to create.”

As a viewer and a social media marketer, I can say the approach works. I’ve said before that the future of Facebook is social TV, but with truly integrated content like this, that so easily lets you leverage the communities on other key SM channels, I may revise that sentiment to state the future is superb content that is seamlessly synced to Facebook, Twitter and other sites.

Of course, Syfy already has a history of interacting with its audience, with shows like “Ghost Hunters” employing concurrent web playout offering camera feeds that show viewers wouldn’t see on the live broadcast. So, it will be interesting to see if Sync is added to this year’s live Halloween show.

Either way, well done, Syfy! I can’t wait to see what you think of next!

Filed Under: Consumer Habits, Content Marketing, Digital Media, Marketing, Mobile Marketing, Social Media, Social TV, Youth Marketing Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Americans Tune In, Log On and Talk A Lot: Social TV Impact

June 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

In a recent telephone survey by Edison Research and Arbitron, 2,020 Americans age 12 or older answered questions about their social, mobile, and television habits.

Social media activity has never been higher with 58 million Americans using social sites multiple times per day, and many of those via several devices and networks. Here are some of the trends uncovered by the survey:

Consumers are creating

Social awareness has reached ubiquity in the US: 93% and 90% of Americans have heard of Facebook and Twitter respectively, even though only 85% of Americans have internet access. While the number of Americans using social keeps growing – 56% now have a social profile – the rate of growth is slowing. Frequency of use, however, is only increasing.

About one in four Facebook users check their account at least five times daily. And four in 10 Twitter users check the site every day, with 29% using it several times daily – up 11% since 2011. Twitter users are also becoming more active. In 2010, only 47% of users actually tweeted, but today, 76% post updates.

Social Americans tailor TV experience to fit their preferences

Social media is permanently changing the way we interact with television. The tube may still be the “first screen” for Americans, but social users are more likely than the general population to watch TV in non-traditional ways like online and via mobile or tablet. Forty-seven percent watch TV on computers, compared to just 27% of non-social viewers. Social networkers with DVRs bring the control they have over social content to their TV experience – 36% say they use DVR almost every time they watch TV. And 83% say they skip commercials nearly every time.

Mass media’s embrace of social (especially Twitter) may be helping to boost our social TV habits, as more programs display fan tweets and adopt official hashtags. Eighty percent of Americans have seen tweets in other forms of media, and 43% say they hear about Twitter almost every day.

Social users access their networks everywhere via mobile

Social let Americans connect with anyone, and theoretically, anywhere. It seems once we get a taste of this hyper-connectivity, we want to bring it with us everywhere we go. Social users are far more likely to own smartphones, tablets, and e-readers than general Americans; 61% own smartphones. Over half (51%) use mobile devices to check social networks, and a third (31%) check social via mobile several times a day. A third (31%) of Facebook users actually access the network primarily by phone.

Social use also correlates to the way we prefer to communicate. When they can’t communicate in-person, social Americans prefer texting (45%) to calling (36%). The general population, on the other hand, greatly prefers phone calls (64%) to texts (21%).

More Americans connect with brands, especially on Facebook

The share of Americans following brands on social sites has more than doubled since 2010, from 16% to 33%. As Americans connect with more brands, privacy concerns have increased as well – 29% say they’re at least somewhat concerned, a big increase since 2011.

Facebook rules social brand connections – 79% say they use the social network most often to connect with brands. Nearly half (47%) say Facebook is the social site that influences their buying decisions most. And the number of respondents who said no social site influences their purchases fell from 68% in 2011 to just 36% today. Over half (56%) of people following brands on social networks say they’re following for sales and coupons, but the strongest brands in social tend to have higher percentages who say they’re following for content and ideas.

Social media has changed the way we interact with brands, the media we consumer and each other and this impact is only going to grow as we continue to tune on, log in and talk a lot.

Filed Under: Consumer Habits, Content Marketing, Digital Media, Marketing, Mobile Marketing, Public Relations, Social Media, Social TV, Youth Marketing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

SocialTV Twist Jaguar Responds to Mad Men

June 5, 2012 By Leave a Comment

If you know me at all, you know I am a huge fan of Mad Men. Last night’s episode included the shocking departure of one of the more loved characters, Lane Pryce. Now, if you didn’t see last night’s episode, then please stop reading right now!

Good. Okay, for the rest of us … Oh. My. God. Was that not the best episode ever?!

As you know, these past two episodes have involved the auto brand Jaguar who had to come face to face with the not-always flattering portrayal of their executives and cars on the show.

On May 28th’s episode, after many of the guys at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce mocked Jags as lemons that never start, a sleazy Jaguar executive demanded sexual favors from the voluptuous Joan before signing with the agency. Joan finagled a partnership out of the tryst and the client win was beautifully paralleled with the agency’s campaign which portrayed the car much like a mistress, using the tag line: ”At last, something beautiful you can truly own.”

Fortunately, the real-life execs at Jaguar took the prostitution portion of the show in stride, Tweeting: “Loved the pitch, didn’t love the process. We applaud Peggy leaving SCDP.”  (The latter comment was in response to the character Peggy Olsen finally leaving the agency to strike out on her own with the competition.)

Well, last night’s episode upped the Jaguar ante as the financially troubled Lane Pryce’s embezzlement scheme was outed. Although Don magnanimously offered to keep the thievery quiet and let him resign with dignity, Lane had different plans, which began with an attempted suicide by C02 in the beautiful Jaguar his wife just purchased.

Oh the irony! Lane is the one who brought the auto brand to the agency and here is about to off himself in the very car that will save SCDP!

But, the writers had one more jab at Jag: the car wouldn’t start.

Lane, of course, ended up doing the deed in the office with a rope in what was one of the most dramatic and shocking reveals of the entire series.

And, in real-life, the car company responded with: Well, at least it didn’t happen in the #ETType.

Kudos to Jaguar for having a sense of humor, humility and fun with their portrayal in the show!

As David Pryor, VP of Marketing and Stuart Schorr, VP of Communications for Jaguar North America wrote in a guest post for Jalopnik about their brand’s interaction with SCDP, they vacillated between being elated by how sexy and cool the Jags looked in the show, “Perversely proud when Don Draper says a man getting out of a Jaguar needs a cold shower…The Jaguar XKE is pornographic” … and the potshots repeatedly being taken at the car’s lemonness, “We try to pretend didn’t hear shots taken at Jaguar’s reliability in the 1960s.”

And, as the sleazy prostitution request came into play, “For the first time, we go into a Mad Men episode with a Jaguar storyline, prepared for action. Our team of Tweeters is on call to discuss how to react. Excitement quickly turns to revulsion when Jaguar dealer has his own sordid extra-curricular interests for the account-hungry agency to entertain. Prostitution? Cleopatra? Ugg…”

As you might imagine, Jaguar did not pay for this product placement and the marketing team received a combination of applause and indignation from colleagues, “Everyone wants to know did we know what was going to happen (no), did we pay for placement (no). Others are indignant. “This is awful, What are you going to do about how Jaguar executive was portrayed?” This is going to be complicated. But our job is to promote the desirability of our cars, not the morality of our fictional executives.”

And, then, of course, last night’s episode brought things to a head with Lane’s untimely suicide: Going into second to last episode of season, we’re truly ready for ANYTHING to happen. As soon as we see the tailpipe with cloth in it, we know this is going to be bad. “It won’t START. The car won’t start!” We have never been so happy to see our car not start. How weird is this? Maybe he doesn’t know how to use the choke? We’re sad about the character’s death as it was Lane who first brought Jaguar to SCDP. Mantra for the day: “It’s a TV SHOW People!” We’re waiting for season finale with excitement and trepidation. This is must watch TV, for us at least.

Once again, I congratulate Jaguar for having a sense of humor about the brand’s portrayal. And, for the record, Jags are my absolute most favorite car on the planet because one does, indeed, need a cold shower after driving it.

Filed Under: Consumer Products, Crisis Communications, Marketing, Product Placement, Public Relations, Social TV Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Leap Motion Leads The Way of the Future

May 22, 2012 By 3 Comments

Some of the best advice I ever received was from a friend who said the gaming industry is the place to discover what’s next in the digital engagement space. When he told me this, we were discussing how Xbox’s Kinect will lead the way, taking consumer and technology interaction to Avatar-like levels.

Well, today, Leap Motion has unveiled its eagerly-anticipated first product offering: It’s called the Leap, it’s the size of a thumb drive, and for just $70, it will enable you to completely control your computer by waving your hands around like Tom Cruise in Minority Report.

Unlike the Xbox Kinect and Nintendo Wii sensors bars that perch atop your screens, the Leap plugs into your USB port and loads gesture control software onto your device; after calibrating the system, the Leap tracks your every movement, recreating those movements on screen. A simple thumb drive, the Leap sensor is much smaller than the Kinect bar. It is also 200 times more accurate and able to follow your movements to the 1/100th of a millimeter, according to Leap Motion’s website.

I gotta say, this is pretty awesome and once again, makes me glad to be alive in this amazing technological time.

Filed Under: Consumer Habits, Digital Media, Marketing, Mobile Marketing, Public Relations, Social Media, Social TV, Youth Marketing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,
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