In this week’s Week in Review: New Video Frontiers showcases cutting edge thinking, TV ad market suffers amid post-Brexit slump and Shazam rolls out in-app music video channels with Vadio. To receive a weekly summary of industry news and other VAN interviews and videos, sign up to the weekly Video Round-Up.
Thanks to Everyone Who Came to New Video Frontiers!
VAN would like to say a big thank you to the 400 odd people who joined us at Kings Place this week for what was another very special event. And we’d like to say a very special thank you to our outstanding speakers and sponsors, without whom the event simply wouldn’t be possible. From programmatic TV, to VR, to messaging without words, we learned a lot from all who came. Photos and content to follow soon.
Shazam Rolls Out In-app Music Video Channels with Vadio
Shazam is rolling out music video channels to all of its 120 million monthly active users in a partnership with Vadio, a Portland-based startup. Through their partnership, whenever a user taps on the Shazam icon to identify a song, a thumbnail of the official music video for that track will display on the song’s Shazam page.
Facebook Extends Snapchat Like Messenger Test
Facebook has broadened its test of a Snapchat-like redesign in the Messenger app. The feature, called Messenger Day, mimics Snapchat’s Story functionality by letting people candidly share photos and videos with colorful text and stickers that disappear after 24 hours. Facebook gave people in Poland access to Messenger Day last month, and now the feature is available to Messenger users in Australia as well, as first spotted by Mashable.
Facebook is also rolling out the ability for users to stream videos from Facebook to their TV, allowing them to enjoy their favourite videos on a larger screen through devices such as Apple TV or Google Chromecast.
UK Ad Viewability Remains Below 50 Per Cent
For the second consecutive quarter, less than half of online ads served in the UK met minimum viewability thresholds – costing advertisers around £154 million, based on IAB/PwC’s Adspend figures published last week. Only 49 per cent met the IAB and Media Ratings Council’s recommendation that 50 per cent of the ad was in view for at least 1 second, a marginal improvement from the second quarter in 2016, according to the latest report from ad verification company Meetrics.
Google to Create Separate Mobile Search
Google is going to create a separate mobile index within months, one that will be the main or “primary” index that the search engine uses to respond to queries. A separate desktop index will be maintained, one that will not be as up-to-date as the mobile index. The news came during a keynote address from Gary Illyes, a webmaster trends analyst with Google, at Pubcon. Illyes didn’t give a timeline in his talk, but in a follow-up with Search Engine Land, he confirmed that it would happen within “months.”
Snapchat Progresses on IPO
Snap Inc signed bankers last week to prepare for an initial public offering that could value it at between $20bn and $25bn, according to people briefed on the matter. Listing as soon as March, it would be one of the largest technology companies to go public in recent years.
Yahoo Boosted by Profits Rise as Verizon Reviews Hacking Impact
Yahoo’s profits more than doubled in the last three months, a boost for the troubled firm. In the quarter to 30 September, Yahoo’s profits rose to $163m, from $76.3m last year, on revenue up 6.5 per cent to $1.3bn. Chief executive Marissa Mayer said the figures underlined Yahoo’s value.
Salesforce Walks Away from Twitter Buyout
Salesforce, the only serious contender left on the list of Twitter buyout suitors, has ruled out a bid. Speaking to the Financial Times, the firm’s chief executive Marc Benioff confirmed that Salesforce was no longer interested in purchasing Twitter, saying: “In this case we’ve walked away. It wasn’t the right fit for us.”
Xaxis Buys Triad Retail Media
WPP’s digital ad-buying group Xaxis has acquired Triad Retail Media, which helps retailers sell ads on their websites. While terms of the transaction weren’t disclosed, people familiar with the matter say Xaxis bought Triad for roughly $300 million. Xaxis said it’s the largest deal it’s ever done, without disclosing specifics.
Protest Vote Over Re-election of James Murdoch Shows Unease at Sky
James Murdoch had been re-elected as Sky CEO with a majority of 71 per cent of the votes cast. However, without the support of 21st Century Fox, the global media and entertainment business owned by the Murdoch family and where he is chief executive, the motion would have been defeated with more than 50 per cent of the votes cast by independent shareholders against. The result of the vote fuels speculation that Fox is preparing a fresh bid to buy out the remaining 61 per cent of Sky that it doesn’t own.
Google in Talks with Disney, Fox and CBS to Launch Online TV Channel
Google has signed a deal with CBS to provide channels for its planned online TV service, according to reports, and is in “advanced talks” with Disney and Fox to broadcast their shows too. The Unplugged service is expected to be offered via YouTube.
Pervasive Ad Blocking and Video Piracy Among Millennial Viewers
Illegal video streaming, ad blocking, piracy and streaming password sharing are rife amongst millennials video viewers, according to the “Millennials at the Gate” report by Anatomy Media. Millennials use ad blockers to assert control over their user experience, reduce their data usage, and get access to their desired content faster. Almost 70 per cent use at least one method of piracy (download, stream or mobile) and survey results show that as a group their attitude is that piracy is acceptable.
Lackluster Sales Growth for Publicis
Publicis Groupe SA Chief Executive Maurice Levy was on the defensive Thursday after the company, battling the loss of key US clients last year, reported sales growth that failed to meet analysts’ expectations, prompting its shares to drop as much as 6 per cent.
Omnicom UK Revenue Drops Ten Per Cent After Sterling Collapse
Omnicom has blamed the drop in the value of Sterling for its UK revenue drop. Across the holding company’s regional markets, organic revenue growth in the third quarter of 2016 was 1.7 per cent in North America and 5.2 per cent in the United Kingdom, when compared to the same quarter of 2015.
Droga5 Adds Media Planning to its List of Offerings
Creative and strategic agency Droga5 has added media planning expertise to its toolbox. The company calls it an addition to its existing communications strategy department, providing “a more holistic approach to strategic planning,” and giving clients one solution for creating impact.
Facebook Claiming 2016 “Year of Video”
Zuckerberg revealed at a staff conference that 2016 will still be remembered for the year of video on mobile on Facebook, despite issues over ad video views. The tech giant now boasts over eight billion videos views a day on its site, up from one billion in 2015. Facebook also revealed it is now taking a heavy data-based approach to its advertising offering, revealing it requires a new model: Marketing 3.0. 2017 is expected to be the year location-based marketing.
Twitter’s Periscope Producer Takes Live Streaming to the Next Level
Content companies can now shoot Periscope videos on professional gear, and not just with a smartphone. Periscope Producer goes beyond video shot with a smartphone and lets content companies broadcast footage from professional cameras and streaming software. Plus, they can do it without losing the audience-interaction perks that come with live streaming through Twitter’s Periscope app.
Orange to Launch €50 VR Headset
Orange has launched the Orange VR1 headset in several European markets. Aimed at customers making their first steps into the VR world, the device is compatible with both iOS and Android smartphones.
Mobile Viewing Nears Parity with TV
Viewers are watching more content on mobile as viewing time moves closer to parity with fixed TV viewing, Ericsson’s latest ConsumerLab research. The ratio between viewing on fixed screens and mobile screens is close to 60:40 this year compared to almost 70:30 in 2010. Ericsson said that since 2010 the share of time watching on TV screens has dropped from 50 per cent to 45 per cent, while over the same time period, the share of time spent watching on mobile screens has increased by 85 per cent.
Independent Turns a Profit After Axing Newspaper
The Independent, the first UK national paper to go digital-only, has become profitable for the first time in 20 years, according to its owner Evgeny Lebedev. The company says its digital switch has been vindicated by significant growth online — from 15.8m unique users in February to 21m in June ahead of the UK’s referendum on EU membership, before falling back to 16.2m in August.
Facebook Risks Privacy Fears Backlash Over Data Sharing
Facebook has become the latest technology giant to sign up to a data sharing pact which allows personal information to be transferred to the United States. The social media site has quietly adopted Privacy Shield, a treaty that allows companies to transfer EU citizens’ details abroad. Facebook’s adoption of the treaty, comes after the previous US-EU agreement, Safe Harbour, was abolished by the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
Sizmek Releases Ad Builder
Sizmek has released Ad Builder 2.0, an enhanced version of the company’s web-based rich media authoring tool, to enable quick creation of HTML5 ads for mobile and desktop environments.
VR to Take-off in Australia
Demand by video gamers is expected to drive a boom in VR headset sales throughout the holiday season, according to a new study from Telsyte. The Telsyte Australian VR & AR Market Study 2017 predicts 115,000 VR headset units will be sold in the second half of 2016 with sales rapidly growing to over 500,000 units in 2017. In H2 2016, Telsyte estimates that 46 per cent of unit sales will be console-based VR systems, 46 per cent mobile VR and the remaining 8 per cent PC-based systems.
Constrained Premium Inventory Supply Drives Increase In Programmatic Guaranteed Video Buying Among UK Advertisers
The share of programmatic guaranteed inventory rose from 47 per cent in Q2 2016 to 58 per cent in Q3 2016, according to Videology’s 3rd Quarter U.K. Video Market At-A-Glance analysis.
“In the UK, we’ve got a supply shortage, so it is no surprise marketers continue to favour guaranteed upfront inventory buying”—Jana Eisenstein, Managing Director, EMEA, Videology. “According to the recent eMarketer research, as videos importance comes increasingly into focus, its supply growth will follow. The 51.0% of total video advertising that will trade programmatically in the UK this year is expected to grow to 71.4% by 2018, (eMarketer).”
Pinterest Reaches 150 Million Monthly Active Users
Pinterest has reached 150 million monthly active users worldwide. Most of its user growth, up 50 percent compared to last year, is from outside of the United States. The company also launched ‘The Pin Collective’, a group of influencers to help marketers help better content for the site.
Mediaset Wants to Seize 3.5 Per Cent of Vivendi
Italian broadcaster Mediaset is seeking an Italian court order for the seizure of 3.5 per cent of France’s Vivendi, in the latest chapter of the dispute between the two media groups. This comes after both Mediaset and its holding company Fininvest in August filed law suits for damages against Vivendi over allegedly failing to respect an April agreement to take 100 per cent of pay-TV unit Mediaset Premium. In turn, Mediaset would receive a 3.5 per cent stake in Vivendi.
NOS Launches Augmented Reality on TV
NOS has become the first operator in Portugal to offer TV content in augmented reality. Viewers equipped with Microsoft HoloLens holographic glasses will be able to use the NOS TV online application to enjoy the experience.
OTT Outspending Most Linear Broadcasters
Between 2013 and 2015, Netflix and Amazon more than doubled their annual expenditure on programming. In 2013, Amazon spent $1.22 billion; that jumped to $2.67 billion in 2015. In the same timeframe, Netflix spending rose from $2.38 billion to $4.91 billion, according to the findings from World TV Production Report 2016.
Hires of the Week:
Grey’s David Patton Appointed Global President at Y&R
Grey EMEA boss David Patton is joining sister WPP agency Y&R as global president to help rejuvenate the creative network.
Improve Digital Makes 60 New Hires and Moves to New Amsterdam HQ
Over the last few months, Improve Digital has hired more than 60 full-time employees. Now, the company and its over 200 employees are moving headquarters to a new location in Amsterdam in the Houthavens area.
Partnerships of the Week:
TubeMogul Integrates with TVTY to Connect Digital Ads to Offline Data
Clients of TubeMogul’s software can now automatically activate digital ad campaigns based on TVTY’s real-time data.
SpotX and Brightline Partner
Video inventory management platform SpotX and BrightLine, a specialist in advanced TV and OTT advertising, have joined forces to accelerate the automated purchasing workflow of advanced TV ads across millions of US households.
QYOU, China Entertainment Group Partnership
China Entertainment Group and The QYOU Network have reached an agreement where China Entertainment Group will officially distribute The QYOU video packages to China’s main online video platforms, YouKu, LeTV, Weibo, Tencent and others.
MediaCom Partners with Facebook for Feed Ready Content Service
MediaCom is partnering with Facebook as part of a new service it claims will ensure that brand content is “appropriate and effective” on each major digital platform. The service, called ‘Feed Ready’, claims to remedy the problems advertisers face when repurposing content across a range of platforms.
Ad of the Week: Association of Quebec Toyota Dealers, Skip Dad, Bleublancrouge
Every day, millions of young people rely on their dads to give them lifts to places. Wouldn’t it be great if you could skip the awkward car conversations by owning your own car? No, really, wouldn’t it?
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