The first was a report from Forrester projecting interactive marketing spend in 2016, which they estimate will reach $77 billion. While the headline focused on the fact that interactive media will catch-up to television media spend by that date, an equally interesting set of figures provide a glimpse into a very different digital media world in 4 years. The report predicts that search’s share of digital media spend will shrink, as marketers disproportionately increase their investments in more sophisticated display media and really rev up their mobile media spend.

The second was an AdAge Digital piece on how veteran digital shops (most of which started in the late 90′s) were changing (and expanding) their business models. The article focused on the big search agencies – iCrossing, 360i, and iProspect – and how they’re diversifying into other areas of digital advertising. Obviously they’re looking at the same data as Forrester, and as they look to grow, they are seeing greener pastures in areas such as digital content, display advertising, and online video.

The article also talks about how shops like AKQA are expanding their focus from digital design and development into digital media (search, display, etc).

Two trends I see for the future:

• Less room for and a resulting fewer number of specialist digital shops (i.e. the search marketing agencies, or the digital content shops)
• The growing prominence of a new breed of large, integrated digital agencies, accentuated by an increased difficulty for big traditional agencies to keep up with the pace of change in digital

FastCompany.com has a nice story on the new platform coming out next week called Online Campaign Ratings, or OCR for short.

In one sense, OCR sounds like a major improvement over the Nielsen box, a measurement tool I have always questioned (BTW, how many people do you know with a Nielsen box? How about people using Facebook?). There is no doubt that adding demographic data to digital media planning and tracking tools will be extremely valuable. And yes, translating the Web measurement into a metric that “old school” media planners understand will likely help move some small amount of large branding media budgets from TV to the Web (specifically digital video).

However, the folks over at Digiday are asking if applying a traditional media measurement tool is actually a good thing for the world of digital media? This is a very valid question, and one I think about a lot. Specifically, is the GRP the best way to measure media reach, or the best available tool to measure traditional media at the time it was developed?

The question we need to be asking is whether the online GRP, or OCR in this case, will make digital media planning more effective for advertisers and improve the business of digital publishing?

The Sensis Take: We have been arguing that Digital shops will be the lead agencies in the future.  While this exclusively digital media plan is this is certainly the most extreme example so far of ad dollars shifting to digital, it won’t be the last.

The keys to managing your Twitter talent

Key findings:

• Your Twitter team needs a firm grasp on corporate brand guides, social media strategy, and the ability to promote interesting content
• Try using your team’s initials when they post, to humanize your brand
• Develop a plan that makes it easy to change management of the account

MTV Networks: Which video ads work best

Key findings:

“The MTV survey, found that a five-second-long “pre-roll” ad in advance of the clip, combined with ten seconds of a semi-transparent ad unit that takes up the lower third of the video (and starts about ten seconds in), makes up “both the most effective and the most audience-friendly ad product for short-form online video,” according to a release.”

10 Stunning (and useful) Stats about Twitter

The Sensis Take: While Twitter seems to be the hottest thing around, it is still in its infancy.  Other social media platforms are still dominant for eyeballs.  We are not suggesting that you neglect Twitter, but know where your real returns are going to come from.

Key findings:

• 21% of Twitter accounts are empty placeholders
• Half of all Twitter users are not active, with active meaning having posted a tweet within the last 7 days.
• English still dominates Twitter
• Tuesday is the most active Twitter day, followed by Wednesday and Friday.

The Power and Value of a Fan

The Sensis Take: If content creation and social media are a part of your promotional strategy, this article gives offers some helpful benchmarks for how to calculate the value of your followers.  There is only so much you can extrapolate with a sample size of one, but it is still a worthwhile exercise.

Key Findings:

• One active fan is worth the equivalent of 445 people.
• You need to reach 14,000 people to acquire one active fan

~Blair Goldberg, Associate Digital Strategist

A recent Nielsen study has substantiated what most of us digital marketers knew reflexisively – kids are online more than ever before.

According to Nielsen, as of May 2009, the kids ages 2-11 now represent an online audience of over 16 million, or 9.5%of the active online universe.

Not only are kids going online in larger and larger numbers, but they are spending tons of time online.

According to Nielsen, kids 2-11 spent nearly seven hours online per month five years ago vs. 11 hours a month in 2009, with boys spending slightly more time on average than girls. That disparity is perhaps most evident in online video viewing, as boys accounted for 61 percent of video streams among kids on the Web.

Jose Villa

The question arises, is this a sign of a trend away from online advertising to other media or is it just the result of the overall ad spend pie decreasing so much that online was unable to escape it’s effects?

I say the latter.

More than anything, it was the result of one of the most irrational pull-backs in media ad spend in advertising history, more a result of an overwhelming sense of uncertainty and anxiety than a concern about the ROI of digital advertising. 

Check out this LA Times piece discussing the news and my quotes on the news.

If you own an HDTV, you may be noticing (and enjoying – like me!) the growing number of channels being broadcast in 1080i. As TV quickly moves more and more towards high definition, so too, is the online space.

You may not be aware, but there is already a great deal of HD content available online, including video games and movies. A good example of this can be found at the Apple trailers website (http://www.apple.com/trailers) where most, if not all trailers are offered in HD formats (420p, 720p, 1080p).

Most computers that have a 1280×720 or higher display resolution are already capable of displaying HD content. For the typical internet user and TV viewer, the quality difference is virtually (pardon the pun) indistinguishable. Additionally, the internet obviously offers more interactivity than television — compensating for the slight disadvantage the internet has in broadcast quality.

Roy Kim, Creative Director