2016-07-22

In this week’s Week in Review: Vevo relaunches its mobile app, Google targets mobile with AMP Ads and programmatic native and MPs criticise BT’s investment in Openreach. To receive a weekly summary of industry news and other VAN interviews and videos, sign up to the weekly Video Round-Up.

Vevo Relaunches Mobile App to Take on YouTube

Vevo has launched a new mobile app in a bid to offer users a reason to watch its music videos somewhere other than YouTube. The new mobile app includes curated playlists and host created original snippets of video. It also introduces a video player that will play full-screen videos while a phone is upright instead of sideways, and provides a personalised feed of recommended videos featuring moving image previews.

CEO Erik Huggers said the revamp is the “first step on the journey” toward moving audiences from the “one size fits all” YouTube platform to an app dedicated solely to music.



Amazon Tests Personalised Video Ads

Amazon has revealed it is experimenting with personalised video ads. The clips feature images and text about products the online retailer has detected its users has shown interest in.

Google Targets Mobile with AMP Ads and Programmatic Native

Google has unveiled a suite of solutions to speed up the mobile ad experience and decrease reliance on desktop ad formats. Google VP Paul Muret introduced the moves at the company’s DoubleClick Leadership Summit this week including extending the AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) Project to faster ads, extending DoubleClick Bid Manager’s offer to programmatic native units anywhere on mobile (web and app) and supporting outstream video.

MPs Criticise BT Openreach

A cross-party group of MPs says BT is “significantly under-investing” in Openreach, its infrastructure subsidiary. Based on a report, ‘Establishing World-class Connectivity Throughout the UK’, the Culture, Media and Sport Committee concluded the shortfall in investment could potentially be hundreds of millions of pounds a year. The news comes as research from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech reveals BT has doubled its share of the pay TV market.

Instagram’s Ad Business Growing Faster than Predicted

UBS analyst Eric Sheridan informed investors this week that “Instagram ad loads are rising faster than our initial expectations.”  UBS has subsequently raised its estimate to $550 million in Instagram revenue for Q2, with Business Insider estimating that $330 million of Facebook’s revenue last quarter came from the photo-sharing app. The estimates are still higher than those from SunTrust who pegged its revenue at about $1.5 billion in 2016 and  $3 billion in 2017.

Netflix Customer Growth Slows Amid Price Hike

Netflix added fewer video streaming subscribers than expected from April through June as price increases caused customers to cancel the service. The company’s shares fell 16 per cent as a result and it forecast slower-than-expected growth in U.S. and international markets in the current quarter. Netflix signed up 1.7 million new customers in the quarter ending in June, where it had projected 2.5 million.

Record $2bn AR/VR Investment in Last 12 Months

Early stage VCs and corporates invested a record $2 billion (€1.8bn) into AR/VR startups in the last 12 months, despite the market still being in its earliest stages. Companies are making significant bets on companies with the potential to survive the early stage market and dominate in the long term, according to Digi-Capital’s AR/VR Report Q2 2016.



Virtual Reality Gives Brands the Edge

Over two thirds of consumers (71 per cent) feel that VR makes brands seem “forward-thinking and modern” and over half (53 per cent) would be more likely to purchase from a brand that used VR, according to research from Greenlight VR.

Mobile Video Jumps 39 Per Cent to Become Dominant Viewing Platform

Time spent viewing online videos on smartphones and tablet computers has leaped 39 per cent in the past year according to the Zenith Online Video Forecasts 2016.  Consumers will spend an average of 19.7 minutes a day viewing on mobile devices compared to 16 minutes on fixed devices. Fixed video consumption will be static overall this year as viewing lost from desktops to mobile devices counteracts gains from smart TV viewing. Zenith expect mobile devices to account for 64% of all online video consumption in 2018.

UK Advertisers Still Prioritise View-through Rate

View through rate remained the priority for UK advertisers and agencies when establishing campaign objectives according to an analysis of all impressions run through Videology’s platform in Q2 2016. Over half (58 per cent) of UK advertisers optimised their campaigns towards view through rate and two thirds of UK campaigns targeted more than one device.



YouTube and Netflix More Important to Millennials than Cadbury or Ben & Jerry’s

YouTube, Netflix, BBC’s iPlayer, Spotify and Amazon are some of the most popular brands among British 18- to 24-year-olds, at the expense of more established brands like Cadbury. According to YouGov, neither Samsung nor Apple appear in the top ten.

7.5m Brits Left Behind in Digital Revolution
Analysis about the way people are using data and technology has revealed a distinct digital divide. Experian’s new consumer classification of today’s digital landscape, Mosaic Digital, has exposed a nation separated into three – with high, moderate and low users of data-driven, digital devices. Internet connection speeds are shown to have an impact, but so do many other behavioural factors, including underlying attitudes towards technology.

Amazon Prime Video to Launch in France, Italy and Spain

Amazon is preparing to launch Prime Instant Video streaming service in France, Spain and Italy before the end of the year, according to Le Figaro.

Korea Gets Programmatic TV via SpotX and Anypoint Media Deal

A deal between SSP Spotx and Korea-based TV targeting specialists Anypoint Media will see digital programmatic ads inserted into linear TV channels in Korea. The deal spans over 6 million people and will be delivered by switching in digital, targeted TV ads to ad breaks in linear channels in Korea.

Dolby and Jaunt Launch Cinematic VR Portal

Dolby Laboratories and Jaunt, a specialist in cinematic virtual reality, have launched a dedicated VR content portal featuring titles mixed in Dolby Atmos sound to enhance viewers’ sense of realism within the Jaunt VR app.

Ooyala Pulse Offers Live Video SSAI

Ooyala is now offering live server-side ad insertion (SSAI) for broadcasters and media companies. The technology provides smooth transitions between ads and content during live feeds and helps circumvent ad blockers.

Likqid Media Releases Flash to HTML5 Transition Product
Likqid Media has released LKQD™ FUSION, a product aimed at web video publishers, that lets Flash and HTML5 video ads co-exist. FUSION works by providing event communication and functionality ‘bridges’ between Flash and HTML5.

OTT Video Revenues to Generate $65bn

Global OTT TV and video revenues [for 100 countries – up from 64 in the previous edition] will reach $64.78 billion (€58.7bn) in 2021; a massive increase from $4.47 billion in 2010 and $29.41 billion in 2015. From the $35.37 billion extra revenues between 2015 and 2021, Asia Pacific will contribute $12.65 billion, Western Europe $8.25 billion and North America $9.00 billion, the Global OTT TV & Video Forecasts report estimates.

Smartphone Viewing Jumps in Q1

Video viewing on smartphones increased sharply during the first quarter, according to Nielsen’s new Comparable Metrics report. Smartphone video had a cumulative audience of 110.1 million adults in the US, up from 85.4 million in the year-ago quarter.

Betting Firms Spent Half a Billion Pounds on TV Adverts Since 2012

Betting firms have spent nearly half a billion pounds on TV adverts since 2012, according to new figures from the Guardian and Nielsen that show a 46 per cent rise in annual spending.

FMCG Sector Dominates Euro Final Ad Slots

The FMCG sector bought the most advertising time during the France v Portugal Euro final on Sunday in the UK according to analysis from TVTY. This was followed by the utilities, broadband and mobile, automotive and electronics sectors.

Western European OTT Revenues to Double

Western European OTT TV and video revenues will more than double between 2015 and 2021. However, growth rates will vary considerably between the 17 countries covered in the Western Europe OTT TV & Video Forecasts report from Digital TV Research.

25 Per Cent of Dutch TV viewing VoD by 2025

On-demand and non-linear viewing will account for 25 per cent of all TV viewing in the Netherlands by 2025, according to a report from Dutch bank ABN Amro. This is up from just seven per cent in 2015.

This Week’s New Partnerships:

Admeira Partners with Improve Digital

Swiss multi-media publisher Admeira is partnering with Improve Digital for its programmatic ad sales activities. Improve Digital will be Admeira’s technology partner for the optimisation of their display, mobile and video inventory.

Hearst Netherlands Chooses Improve Digital for In Page Advertising
Hearst Netherlands is joining forces with Improve Digital for monetising their in-article video inventory. In-page advertising will ensure that video starts playing as soon as it is visible to the user.

Virgin Ireland Drops Eir and Signs Sky Deal

Virgin Media Ireland has secured a long term agreement with Sky for the carriage of a number of Sky channels, including Sky Sports 1-5 and Sky Cinema. The agreement will give Virgin Media Ireland customers access to 159 live FA Premier League games.

This Week’s New Hires:

Guy Phillipson to Step Down as CEO of the Internet Advertising Bureau UK

Guy Phillipson, the Chief Executive of the UK’s Internet Advertising Bureau has announced he will step down in January 2017 after 12 years heading the industry body. Phillipson will stay involved in the media business through advisory and non-executive roles. His replacement has yet to be announced.

Greg Glenday Joins Shazam as Chief Revenue Officer
Greg Glenday has joined Shazam as the Chief Revenue Officer from digital advertising firm Undertone.

This Week on VAN:

Google’s Native Units Look Set to Shake Up the Outstream Market, read more on VAN

Freedom to Roam: How Marketers Can Make the Most of Mobile Video, read more on VAN

Introducing TV Rise, San Sebastian, 2016 read more on VAN.

Ad of the Week: Cafe de Colombia, #GreatnessIsBrewing, ROKKAN

What role did coffee play in getting a man to the moon? Who knows, but the guys at Café de Colombia would like to speculate in this ad that celebrates the little things that make big things happen.

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