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Archives for 2013

Brand Video Buffering Equates to $2.16 Billion in Lost Revenue

video camera hdBrand video is an important part of a content marketing plan, but the opportunity that brand video presents is significantly reduced if the quality of those videos is low or the viewer experience is damaged from buffering and slow load times. Specifically, video buffering or low resolution video lead to $2.16 billion in lost revenue for online video publishers in 2012.

That figure comes from the Conviva Viewer Experience Report, but the $2.16 billion loss is just a drop in the bucket compared to how much revenue will be lost due to video buffering and low quality in the next five years. By 2017, the revenue loss is expected to reach $20 billion.

Conviva studied 22.6 billion video streams in 2012 from 150 broadcasters which were seen in 190 countries around the world to create its Viewer Experience Report. From its research, Conviva found that 124.8 billion minutes were spent in video buffering. Nearly four out of ten views experienced buffering and nearly two out of three views were impacted by low-resolution in 2012.

All of that buffering and low quality is having a direct effect on consumers. In 2012, the 1% increase in buffering led to an eight minute loss of viewing time per view of long form video content. For short form video content, approximately one out of two viewers abandoned videos between two and three seconds. On the opposite end of the spectrum, viewers who didn’t experience buffering or low quality in the videos they watched were found to watch 250% more video content.

The infographic from Conviva shown below provides many of the highlights from the study.

Video Experience Report Infographic

Botton-line, brand video is a great marketing tool, but if the quality isn’t excellent, you won’t get the results you want and need.

Image: Julien Boulanger

EBay Unleashes a Goldmine of Data to Brand Advertisers

ebay trade showCan EBay join the ranks of digital advertising success that Google, Facebook, and Amazon have dominated in recent years? It certainly looks like the company expects to answer that question with a resounding, “Yes,” in the near future based on Stephen Howard-Sarin’s (head of eBay digital display in North America) announcement to the audience at AdExchanger’s Programmatic I/O conference yesterday.

Tim Peterson of AdWeek reports that eBay will enable advertisers to use the data about how visitors browse the site, what they buy, and more, which the company kept as proprietary until now, to target ads and increase return on investment. It is expected that big brands will be more than willing to pay for access to this new data, and it’s not hard to understand why.

Even though personally identifiable information won’t be provided to advertisers, eBay visitors’ search and purchase data alone could be a goldmine to consumer product brands. Suddenly, brands have an exponentially greater ability to get the right ads in front of the right audiences.

In other words, eBay (like Amazon before it) is monetizing its customer data by allowing advertisers to retarget the eBay audience. Ads must be purchased through eBay in order for brands to access this customer data, and eBay will handle its own ad buying as well as the ad buying for all of the third-party marketers accessing its data.

For customers, this isn’t a new concept. Most are already part of ad retargeting even though they might not know it. When someone looks for a product on Amazon or in a Google search and later sees ads for that product or competitor products on other websites, they’re probably seeing a retargeted ad. Since the content of these ads is usually relevant to the consumer, these ads are typically welcomed (or at the very least, they’re tolerated).

For eBay and advertisers, the announcement is absolutely welcomed. In fact, the only surprising thing is that eBay waited so long to do it.

What do you think? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

Image: Karlis Dambrans

UK Teens Go Online to Look up Products and Compare Brand Prices

teen iphoneBrands that want to connect with U.K. teens online need to understand that teens use the internet differently from other age groups. While 9 out of 10 teens go online to use search engines like Google, just like older adult internet users, teens’ preferred online activities diverge from adults’ preferences after that. This is according to a survey of 12- to 17-year old internet users in the U.K. by ResearchNow and K&A BrandResearch (as reported by eMarketer)

The second most common online activity for U.K. teens is using online communities like Facebook (79.5%) followed by listening to music (71.4%) and playing games (69.0%). Popular activities for older adults like browsing and looking things up and writing and reading emails are only mentioned by 66.1% and 65.5% of U.K. teens, respectively. For brands, the news isn’t great, but it’s not terrible either. Just 44.7% of U.K. teens visit websites of specific brands based on these survey results.

A few statistics from this survey might surprise you. For example, 91.3% of respondents access the internet using a computer or laptop. Just 44.5% access the internet using a smartphone and 17.9% use a tablet device. Furthermore, when asked whether they prefer to do certain activities online or offline, U.K. teens have some surprises in store again.

Following are the activities that U.K. teens who responded to this survey prefer to do online:

  • Looking up new things they’d like to have: 89% prefer online
  • Comparing brand prices: 74% prefer online
  • Playing games: 73% prefer online
  • Listening to music: 61% prefer online

Now, take a look at the activities that U.K. teens who responded to this survey prefer to do offline:

  • Talking with friends: 56% prefer offline
  • Watching videos: 57% prefer offline
  • Looking at or reading information and news from newspapers or magazines: 60% prefer offline
  • Shopping: 65% prefer offline
  • Watching or reading news from TV stations: 66% prefer online
  • Listening to the radio: 72% prefer offline
  • Meeting or playing with friends: 75% prefer offline
  • Watching TV series: 79% prefer offline
  • Making telephone calls: 84% prefer offline
  • Watching sports: 88% prefer offline

Based on these research results, the U.K. teen audience likes to listen to music online but prefers to watch videos, sports, and television offline. U.K. teens also prefer to play games online, but they’d rather talk with friends offline.

For brands, the key statistics are how U.K. teens use the internet for shopping and product research. Nearly 9 out of 10 prefer to look for products they want online and nearly 3 out of 4 prefer to compare prices online. However, when it comes time to shop, nearly 2 out of 3 prefer to shop offline. Of course, most U.K. teens probably don’t have credit cards, so shopping online is more challenging. However, the data is important to brands who must tailor messages to pique the attention of teens online in such a way that they’ll use the information to comparison shop, talk to friends on Facebook, and bring their interest in a brand or product offline where they can shop for it.

Is your brand speaking to teens online in the right ways and in the right places? They might not be doing what you think they’re doing online. Make sure your marketing efforts are targeted to their actual online behaviors and preferences, not your assumptions.

Image: Tyler Adams

Stewardship and the Supply Chain

chain

The Chief Executive of Tesco, Philip Clarke is on a mission to reinvent the supermarket experience. The ambitious venture comes after Tesco was rocked, like many supermarkets around Britain, by the horse-meat scandal.

In response to the wave of criticism Tesco have been doing its best to clean up their image. And as part of this damage limitation exercise, Tesco have used their website to great effect. Through a video and a blog the CEO Philip Clarke has articulated a message of genuine remorse and made very real pledges to right the wrong.

At the core of all of this has been Tesco’s vow that they have a “responsibility to lead on the issue.”

And a clear lead they have taken. Through the video and blog we have seen that the Tesco response to the horse-meat debacle has been threefold.

tesco-horsemeatFirstly, the supermarket chain has gone back to the drawing board and completely redrawn how the food supply chain should be managed. CEO, Philip Clarke has said that Tesco will go right back up the supplier chain to re-establish trust and ensure visibility and transparency. As part of this drive Tesco will also create a world class traceability and DNA testing system.

Secondly, Tesco have pledged to create a new website that will give real meaning to the first pledge to guarantee trust and transparency throughout the supply chain. The goal is to take Tesco website users right into the farm and factories and up close and personal with farmers and factory workers.

By giving customers a window into the supply chain process Tesco has set off into virgin territory. The idea is both exciting and revolutionary and really sets a new water mark for the supermarket industry.

Thirdly, Tesco has promised that if they ever have to remove products again they will ensure that there will be suitable substitute products available at no extra cost.

These have been difficult times for everyone involved in the food industry. Not just Tesco. Mistakes were made and regulatory gaps were exploited. And so lessons must be learnt and changes must be made.

To bring about change, the food industry needs one thing: leadership. And that’s where Tesco has come in. By taking a robust and imaginative lead, Tesco has reimagined the way that food goes from the farm gate to plate, and demonstrated stewardship.

What is Innovation Governance?

Previous posts explained the growing importance of innovation governance and that it is not getting enough attention by Boards and C-Suite executives. Now let’s take a closer look at just what it is.

I think a good start is perhaps the world expert on the subject, Emeritus Professor Jean-Philippe Deschamps at the IMD Business School. He states:

Innovation governance provides a frame that defines the mission, focus and implementation of innovation in the company. It starts with establishing a set of policies regarding the scope of innovation and addressing a number of questions dealing with both ‘content’ (i.e. projects) and ‘process’ (i.e. approaches and responsibilities).

Seems similar to corporate governance? Yes it is. Some describe innovation governance as a subset of corporate governance. Perhaps, but I believe that since innovation transcends all corporate departments and directly impacts risk and performance, it should be embedded within corporate governance. In my eBook Everything You Need to Know About Business Creativity and Innovation, I outline a typical corporate innovation process and now indicate which components have corporate governance implications–

Innovation Process ComponentsCorporate Governance Implications
To create a safe space for innovation, CEOs must invest in creating an environment that allows innovation to thrive while encouraging employees to feel comfortable taking calculated risksYES
Teach senior management and project team members the mind-sets and behaviors that foster disruptive growthYES
Provide employees with a process manual, a step-by-step guide to creating ideas and innovation. The manual includes overarching principles as well as detailed procedures and templates to help teams describe opportunities, identify requirements for success, monitor progress, make go/no go decisions, and work with integrityYES
Offer employee creativity training
Create an innovation strategy: innovation activities should be focused around achieving corporate goals and that identifies how innovation will build on current success to achieve corporate goalsYES
Stimulate ideas: innovation opportunities are everywhere, sometimes hiding just below the surface
Create programs to trigger employees, customers and partners to contribute innovation ideas that align with the innovation strategy goals
Identify the best opportunities: the benefits of innovation are increased by focusing on the best opportunities. Develop criteria to evaluate innovation opportunities and create an open selection process to decide which to implement. Ensure that the few projects selected are properly resourced and implemented in a timely fashion with results communicated to stakeholdersYES
Implement with speed: innovations only provide value when they are implemented. Failure to implement good ideas promptly is one of the biggest barriers to building an innovation culture
Provide incentives and rewards: show employees that their contribution is valued, both for good ideas and successful implementation. Make sure that failures are seen as learning opportunities, not causes for punishment. Recognizing innovators sends other employees a powerful signal that innovation is something that the company greatly valuesYES
C-level managers must walk the talk: a corporate push to innovate loses its momentum quickly if the inspirational words are not backed up with action
Measure the performance of the innovation process itself and look for opportunities to refine and improve itYES

This indicates that innovation should be an important component of corporate governance.

Back to Professor Deschamps who recommends the following responsibility elements for innovation governance:

  • Defining roles and ways of working around the innovation process
  • Defining decision power lines and commitments on innovation
  • Defining key responsibilities of the main players
  • Establishing the set of values underpinning all innovation efforts
  • Making decisions that define expectations
  • Defining how to measure innovation
  • Making decisions on innovation budgets
  • Orchestrating, balancing and prioritizing innovation activities across divisions
  • Establishing management routines regarding communications and decisions.

Next we will look at the vital leadership role of the Board and the C-Suite in advancing innovation governance in the enterprise.

Mozilla Celebrates Brand Promise with 15 Years of a Better Web

Mozilla Firefox browser iconsOn March 31, 1998, the Mozilla Project launched at Netscape with a mission to, “offer choice to users and drive innovation on the web.” That’s according to Mozilla’s list of 15 facts about what the organization has been doing over the past 15 years to achieve its goals of promoting “openness, opportunity, and opportunity on the internet.”

Mozilla is a non-profit that relies on volunteers and open innovation to deliver products like Firefox. Contributors and donors are located on every continent and have helped to translate Firefox into 89 languages. That means more than 95% of the world’s population can use Firefox. Clearly, Mozilla’s mission is working.

Ten years after The Mozilla Project launched, Mozilla set a Guinness World Record for the most downloads of a software program in a single day. On June 7, 2008, which was promoted as Firefox 3 Download Day, 8,002,530 downloads of Firefox 3 were recorded establishing Firefox’s popularity and strength as a relationship brand.

Here are some highlights from the list of facts about Mozilla to show you how far this organization and its efforts have grown since 1998:

  • More than 10,000 contributors supported Mozilla when it launched Firefox 1.0 in 2004 by paying for a full-page ad in The New York Times.
  • Over 3 million Firefox Add-ons have been downloaded by users so far.
  • More than 2 million visitors use the Mozilla Developer Network community each month to access online documentation, tutorials, tools, and more.
  • Firefox OS will launch in 2013 for smartphone users.

Mozilla and its Firefox product grew because the company set brand expectations and consistently met those expectations again and again. Today, Firefox is still the second most popular web browser based on market share (behind Internet Explorer 10 and ahead of Google Chrome).

It’s been 15 years since The Mozilla Project launched, and the organization’s mission to keep the web open and accessible to all is just as relevant today as it was in 1998. As long as the brand continues to consistently meet consumers’ expectations based on its first 15 years of shaping consumer perceptions, the organization should continue to grow and thrive. With all of those thousands of volunteers, contributors, and donors, combined with millions of users around the world, the future is bright for Mozilla.

Image: Philippe Ramakers