Tuesday 29 March 2011

Conversation is King

Social TV is big news, getting bigger as you are watching, reading and tweeting

If the UK is a barometer of the anything, by the time the X-Factor hits the US (irrespective of who is judging it) half the viewers will be 'chatting' about the performances, good and bad, via a second screen, such as a laptop or mobile.

However, before we start thinking about split screens on your 42" LED we need to understand behaviour. Engaging in social networks is still a personal thing, never shared....particularly not with your parents!

Here at WPP, Kantar Media's futurePROOF study found that awareness of IPTV had still not reached mainstream levels, with less than half the population understanding the connected TV proposition.

So what does that actually mean? It feels like the incarnations of social TV we are discussing now might be big on technology and thinking (now you can 'checkin to your favourite TV programme) but may be a little over engineered?

How about creating a seamless experience around that so-called 'virtual sofa' where the two screens co-exist but creating mobile-based app content that enables discussion 'likes', 'slates', comments, broadcasts or communities to re-live, act out or share experiences?

Thursday 24 March 2011

The Modern Media Agency

This is really good - what a simple business we work in!

Not really 'The Modern Media Agency' more 'Today's Media Agency' - this stuff is definitive



My favourite is OUT - Recession Cutbacks - advertising spend will increase. If you start to triangulate or Octognulate these insights the key take away would be that despite the dead cat bounce there are structural implications. As media agencies we need to change ahead of our clients to help them embrace this landscape but not to the detriment of dropping the ball in traditional marketing approaches

Never been a more exciting time to work in media

Thursday 17 March 2011

Stat - Dunk

I really like basketball.....and analytics. Last week in Boston MIT hosted their Sloan Sports Analytics Conference. How cool is that?

In basketball a few of the stadia have installed 3D cameras that capture 25 images a second to capture everything (I mean everything) that happens on court

Sandy Weil explains that San Antonio players shoot 60 percent after receiving passes from Tim Duncan. That's high! And purely a function of the fact that many teams double team Duncan.

A major finding of the report is also that catch-and-shoot attempts are much more efficient than other types of shots when you control for distance and the presence of a defender. A player’s shooting percentage jumps significantly when the last thing he does before the a shot is the act of catching a pass — and not the act of dribbling. He usually has more space when he catches.

But if you catch a pass and hold the ball for about 2.25 seconds, whatever advantage you gained from catching the pass disappears. This makes sense, since holding the ball gives your defender a chance to catch up to you and prepare to defend your next move.

Thia sort of Optical Tracking Data has the potential to revolutionalize basketball. Looking at the minutia of on court movement, to explain how Ray Allen finds himself so open. If great screeners create great catch and shoot opportunities for guys like Allen, and those are the best field goal opportunities, then what player screens most often? Who are the superstars of screening? And how do you find one in the draft to complement your dead-eye shooting roster?

Fascinating stuff

Thursday 10 March 2011

Transparency

Transparency and simplicity. Time to get with the program.

If we don't start today someone else will. As analytics guys we tend to bask in the glory of the complexity of our work. But that world has changed and will never return again.

More and more marketing is now digital, and as that happens more marketing plans have better measures of activity. At that point they get analysed, drivers get quantified and everything becomes understood. That's what is called transparency

So how do we, as analysts create a large scale change in how marketing gets done? This is my starter - not exhaustive and I would really like to hear your views:

1. Demand that every activity has a commercially focussed success measure.

No more eyeballs, footfall or visits - We need to hear revenue uplift and cost-per measures.

You might start by making these up, but if you commit to them you can adjust your forecast; the finance guys do every day, and they are being listened to

2. Create measurement partnership programs

Many of digital partners (GOOG, MSFT, YHOO, FB, OMTR etc) are collecting and storing data on behavioral activity and, in turn, creating better mousetraps that help us crack the ROI code. They also want to increase their share of client spend and are looking for proof points. Work with them, it's not a lose of face to accept we don't know everything

3. Do something different

Transparency kills the dark art of measurement somewhat and much about measurement in this new world is now around observation. Follow trends and explore new opportunities, set some expectations around effect and get on with it.

The concepts of 'Business' and 'Brand' used to be disconnected, however, in board rooms all around the world marketing is still undertaken to build business. We used to come up with a multitude of excuses as to why we could only measure what we could.

That time is over - this is the time of transparency