Top Media & Marketing Innovations of 2008.pdf

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Top Media & Marketing Innovations of 2008

Dec 15, 2008

-By AdweekMedia Staff

Michael Porter, the Harvard Business School professor and economic theorist, calls innovation "thecentral issue in economic prosperity." In the midst of the worst economic morass most of us can recall,these are some of the year's best innovations in media and marketing -- some that look to have lastinginfluence, others that could even prove to be real game changers for digital media, in-store marketers,the TV networks, even architects of political campaigns. Barack Obama, whose team harnessed thepower of the Web as no "brand" ever had, changed how political races are run, and won. Apple's iPhone3G juiced up the mobile medium. And NBC's multimedia spectacle from the Beijing Olympics had thequadrennial event finally living up to the hype, and became the standard for how those contests will getplayed-with or without Michael Phelps' star turn. (Despite the Web's encroachment, NBC'sgroundbreaking TAMi audience-research initiative, launched during the Games, demonstrates thatbroadcast TV remains the "bedrock" medium -- some good news for the beleaguered networks.) Evenslow-to-change, easy-to-write-off old media like magazines and radio came up with some bright ideas-finally learning how digital media can help, rather than kill, their business. In a year as scary looking as'09, it's clear more innovation will be required. -Tony Case, Editor, Special Reports

Obama: Digital Change AgentOnetime presidential aspirant Howard Dean proved that the Web could be a force for raising moneyonline. Barack Obama this year took that proposition to an unimagined level, raising a healthy chunk ofhis nearly $1 billion in campaign contributions online. While marketers have drooled over the Long Tail,Obama grabbed it -- attracting more than 1.7 million contributors, with 93 percent of $2.9 million inonline donations coming in by way of increments of less than $100. What's more, the Internet -- andsocial-networking technology in particular -- played a critical role in marshalling support for Obama'shistoric election. The candidate collected millions of cell phone numbers in the run-up to his selection ofJoe Biden as vice president, which then allowed him to send targeted notices of personal appearancesand to organize networks of volunteers. "My BO" became a robust social network that helped supportersto self-organize. Even on Twitter, Obama was a star, drawing 146,000 followers of his short-message

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updates. And since the election, Obama has made strides toward using the Internet beyond organizing acampaign to reimagining government. He moved the fusty weekly presidential radio address to YouTubeand launched the ambitious change.gov, where visitors can scan thousands of government jobs, seewhich groups have lobbied the transition and submit ideas for policy proposals. While marketers havestruggled to fully harness Web 2.0 technology, Obama continues to prove its power. -Brian Morrissey

The TAMi Show: NBC's Multiplatform OlympicsIf the XXIX Olympiad will be remembered as a blockbuster (The Phelps Supremacy?), in media circles,the Beijing Games earned its historical bona fides as the first global broadband event. Over the course oftwo weeks in August, the NBC Universal research team transformed the Olympic Park complex into theworld's largest media laboratory -- and from the metaphorical Bunsen burners and test tubes, thecompany produced TAMi. The culmination of NBC's early efforts to measure all media exposure, theTotal Audience Measurement Index demonstrated that no matter how insidiously the Web continues toencroach on TV's turf, we're still very much a civilization of TV viewers. Stacking digital data atop thebroad base of TV viewership, the resulting pyramid looks a bit like Maslow's hierarchy of needs, withbroadcast functioning as the bedrock from which all else rises. A record 211 million people watched atleast some portion of the games, and NBC beat its ratings guarantees by well over 10 percent. Moreimportantly, NBC took in some $1.3 billion in ad revenue -- of which a relatively tiny $5.75 million wastied to online buys. TAMi proved what many have long suspected: Online and mobile video do notcannibalize live TV broadcasts. And for all the hype, revenue from Web video is still just a roundingerror when compared to the dollars TV continues to command. -Anthony Crupi

Hulu Takes HoldNBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker summed it up at the annual UBS Media Conference in New York lastweek when he described Hulu, the joint video-streaming venture of NBC and Fox, as "one of the greatinnovations of 2008." The groundbreaking online video model succeeded in delivering popularprogramming such as Heroes, The Office and The Simpsons to consumers-wherever, whenever theywanted it. While still a work in progress, Zucker correctly pointed out that the site "far exceededeveryone's expectations" after less than a year in operation. (Nielsen Online reports the site attracted 7.4million unique users as of October, up from 2.2 million in March, just after its official launch.) As Webvideo content flourishes, consumers continue to be drawn to Hulu's professional content (including notonly repurposed TV shows but feature films) and top-quality video, which also is distributed via partnersites like Yahoo and MSN. By contrast, Google's YouTube, with its much greater audience, remainspretty much the domain of, as Zucker pointed out, "a cat on a skateboard." (Some have speculated thatHulu could overtake YouTube in revenue in '09.) Buyers report that Hulu regularly sells out its adinventory, a most-enviable predicament for a video site. Hulu continues to feed the considerable legionof doubters, who said the networks could never make a go of online video, a steady diet of their ownwords. -Steve McClellan

iPhone Juices Mobile MediumApple's iPhone 3G may not singlehandedly push mobile advertising to seriously-big-bucks, steady-line-on-the-flowchart status in 2009 -- the sorry economy will most likely keep that from happening. And thetrendy device won't have the U.S. suddenly turning into South Korea, where 90 percent of the populationdumps their PCs and starts watching movies and playing games on their mobiles. But in 2008, the iPhonephenomenon did create a shift in the mindset of the American consumer -- from "Why would I want tosurf the Web on my crappy phone?" to "I can do that? I want one now!" Thus, the touch screen hasbecome the default design choice among models ranging from Google's G1 and Samsung's Instinct to theBlackBerry Storm (which, upon its debut last month, managed to create lines outside retail outletsreminiscent of those for the latest iPhone this past July). Then there are the many iPhone games andapplications that have launched -- everything from a New York Times app to the Social Gaming



Network's iBowl. It's now clear that the mobile medium is going to get there, and that advertisers aregoing to have a real canvas to play on in the near future, one that goes beyond short-code messages andclunky WAP sites. For that, they can thank Steve Jobs. -Mike Shields

HuffPo: The Rise of the Political News SiteIn a year in which so many logged onto the Web with regularity to check the latest tracking polls inMissouri (perhaps far more than could be considered healthy), The Huffington Post led a growingconstellation of political news sites that influenced much of the public discourse. Whether establishedplayers like CNN.com, MSNBC.com and Yahoo News or newbies like RealClearPolitics.com,Politico.com and FiveThirtyEight.com, the 2008 presidential campaign delivered a bonanza for digitalpurveyors of news. Most notably, the trend pushed Arianna Huffington's three-year-old newspaper/bloghybrid into the mainstream, forcing every media player to rethink its business model while makingcelebrity soapboxing cool. In September, as the race for the White House sizzled, HuffPo's traffic soaredby a mind-blowing 474 percent versus a year earlier, to 4.5 million unique users, per comScore. The bestnews of all for the site: It is terrifically positioned to thrive post-election, having expanded its purviewbeyond its core political bent. Over the past year, The Huffington Post has launched sports and greencontent as well as a local Chicago edition. Its innovative Big News Pages feature -- whereby editorsinstantly create news sections around the hot topic of the moment -- runs the gamut, from channelsdevoted to Lindsay Lohan to headlines from Zimbabwe. With Arianna & Co. having just reeled in $25million in funding -- remarkable in these times -- expansion plans are afoot. -MS

Fox's Clutter KillerThis season, Fox confronted head-on the issue of commercial clutter, the growing number of ads andpromos stuffed into shows by the networks. Recent studies have shown clutter averages, including allnetwork and local ads and promos, surpass 15 minutes per hour -- making TV shows, for a growinglegion of viewers, impossible to watch without the aid of a commercial-skipping DVR. This fall, Foxdebuted its new drama Fringe with roughly half the usual network commercial and promo load. Eachepisode boasts some 50 minutes of program time, versus the typical 44 minutes. Fewer breaks and shorterpods have led to less fast-forwarding and greater engagement with ad spots, according to third-partyresearch. Season to date, Fringe is the top-rated new drama among adults 18-49, and it likely will see aspike in ratings come January, when American Idol becomes its lead-in. The quid pro quo: Advertiserspay a premium for that less-crowded environment. In February, Fox will debut a second series, dramaDollhouse, with a similarly reduced load of ads and promos. To what extent the model would workelsewhere in prime time is unclear: As network executives point out, advertisers tend to define clutter aseverybody else's commercials. -SM

Turner's Big YearTurner Broadcasting System barreled into the 2008 upfront like Charles Barkley in his heyday as theNBA's most loquacious 6-foot-4 power forward: Charging the lane, pounding the glass and talking ablue streak. Turner's brash intrusion into the broadcast upfront schedule prefigured a sea change forcable, which had grown frustrated with getting the malodorous end of the CPM stick. While thenetworks keep demanding more for less, Turner looked to boost its share in the marketplace by offeringclients "broadcast replacement" inventory, time on ratings bonanzas like The Closer and Saving Gracethat delivered reach and reasonable pricing. Once negotiations began in earnest, Turner was able tofunnel a wealth of business away from broadcast, including fast food and packaged goods, and thatinflux of cash helped the company secure its most lucrative upfront to date. As Turner set the pace of thecable upfront, it also plotted a break from third-party ad networks. In June, Turner began developing anin-house system, packaging inventory across nearly 20 sites, ranging from proprietary brands likeCNN.com to partner sites like NBA.com. The company now traffics online ads to some 50 millionunique users and notches 3.5 billion impressions. As such, Turner is positioned to align clients with a



stable of established Web properties, allowing advertisers to target sports fans or men 18-49 on severalsites at once. -AC

Zuckerberg's Most PopularFacebook may not, as CEO Mark Zuckerberg awkwardly proclaimed when announcing its ad strategyover a year ago, have changed the face of media, but it most certainly has changed the development of amedium. Its move in May of last year to open the social-networking service to outside developersproved remarkably farsighted and influential. Its platform spread like a virus in 2008. As MySpacequarreled with widget makers about building business off its audience, Facebook embraced the outsidehelp. The rationale was simple but revolutionary: The surest way to build out services is to have anoutside army of developers do it. To date, 400,000 developers have introduced some 52,000 apps-andFacebook, not coincidentally, has exploded, expanding its user base to 130 million worldwide. That notonly led MySpace to embrace outside developers but also paved the way for Apple to open the iPhoneplatform. The result: Everyone has found platform religion. David Verklin, head of the cable TVconsortium Project Canoe, even talks of the boob tube as a platform. When the book is written onFacebook -- and many are in the works -- its critical choice to open up to outsiders may be seen as itsmost lasting contribution to the development of digital media. -BM

All A-TwitterIt's easy to make fun of Twitter. The short-messaging service's simple concept -- roadcast what you'redoing right now -- has become synonymous with banal updates like your friend is "eating a taco." To besure, plenty of taco-eating bulletins are broadcast daily by the six million registered users of the two-and-a-half-year-old service. But the surging popularity of Twitter points to a social-networking truth:Our conceptions of one another -- and brands -- are often formed by bite-sized interactions. A singleupdate does not in itself mean much -- but taken with hundreds, even thousands of them, those littlemessages can come together to paint a rich portrait. What's more, Twitter nailed something that'sfundamental to the Web: Keep it simple. Frustrating to some for its lack of bells and whistles, Twitter'ssimple "What are you doing?" query and 140-character message limit are arguably its strengths. Twitteralso proved that the most successful Web applications are flexible and open. Twitter's designers neverenvisioned that consumers would use the service to communicate with one another, but users refashionedit as such, employing the prefix "@+user name" to direct replies. So, Twitter rejiggered to support thatback-and-forth, while also letting outside developers build apps, further bolstering Twitter's popularity."Tweeting" may not be for everyone, but it's clearly onto something: The 25-person company recentlyturned down a $500 million acquisition offer from Facebook. -BM

Sponsor in Aisle Five!Shopper marketing may never be the same. Wal-Mart, the largest U.S. retailer, this year led the way withthe rollout of its in-store digital network, the Wal-Mart Smart Network. Powered by Internet ProtocolTelevision, content, ads and merchandising can be monitored and controlled down to a single screen.Even as scores of video networks pop up, this represents a new paradigm, offering a level of precisiontargeting never before seen. Instead of relying on shelf-talkers and end-of-aisle displays to promoteproducts, the Wal-Mart net creates a dynamic, interactive dialogue between marketer and consumer.(While utilizing the latest technology, the network also is a real throwback in terms of customer service,taking shoppers back to a time when the store clerk knew every item and could help the customer makeinformed decisions on the spot.) Operated by Premier Retail Networks, the network is the result of twoyears and $10 million in research aimed at the optimal content and placement of screens for engagingconsumers at the point-of-purchase. Up and running in 300 stores in time for the holiday season, Wal-Mart anticipates chain-wide deployment (2,700 U.S. outposts) by early 2010. -Katy Bachman



Cinema Ads a StarWhen National Cinemedia introduced digital ads in movie theaters back in 2002, it transformed theonce-sleepy medium of cinema advertising into a dynamic platform, one with a network TV-sized reach.This year, digital networks in NCM-affiliated theaters and rival Screenvision hit their stride, dispellingmany of the reasons advertisers once stayed away from cinema advertising -- among them, poortargeting, high costs and long lead times. NCM's digital network reached critical mass over the last year,with a presence on 91 percent of all its screens. Its preshow First Look, a mix of ads and entertainmentfrom content partners that's now in its third year, was seen by 70 percent of moviegoers in the top 10markets this year, and more than 65 percent in the top 25. Building on that reach, NCM expanded FirstLook from the big screen to the computer screen with an entertainment site featuring social-networkingelements. Cinema ads have, in fact, become one of the darlings of out-of-home advertising. With othermedia experiencing frightening declines, NCM is enjoying double-digit growth in ad business. Upfrontbookings for '09 are pacing ahead of this year, as a growing array of brands -- among them, Holiday InnExpress, Canon, Gap, Zales and Hasbro -- are stepping into the cinema advertising spotlight.-KB

Stardoll: Dressed for SuccessCall it theintersection of kids, fashion, celebrity and the Web. While virtual worlds like Gaia, Zwinkyand There.com have built a sizable following and landed big-name advertisers, Stardoll was a realstandout in 2008. The two-year-old Swedish site has built a virtual playground for tween girls (with 22million members and counting in 200 countries). Users can play dress-up using avatars of their owncreation or virtual (and fully licensed) versions of celebrities like Hillary Duff and David Cook; fashionscome via partner brands including DKNY and Vivienne Tam. Recently, Stardoll inked a pact with Italiandesigner Alberta Ferretti to open a virtual boutique in StarPlaza, the site's shopping galleria. As part ofthe deal, teen celeb Zelda Williams (daughter of comedian Robin) appeared as a virtual brandambassador, modeling Ferretti's designs. In October, Stardoll announced a deal with Hachette FilipacchiMedia's Elle to launch a virtual fashion magazine. While more static social-networking sites continue tosearch for a workable business model, virtual worlds like Stardoll are taking online playtime to a wholeother level. -MS

Web Amps Up RadioRadio has been called the original interactive medium, but when it comes to streaming on-air signals onthe Web, the medium hasn't been all that interactive, or engaging. That changed this past June with theintroduction of CBS Radio's new online player. Reinventing streaming, the player offered all thatconsumers expect of the Web, setting a new standard for how the oldest electronic medium can migrateto the newest. The player also served as the cornerstone of two groundbreaking partnerships betweenCBS Radio and two pure-play Internet radio services, AOL Radio and Yahoo LaunchCast. Theconsolidated networks, powered by the CBS Radio player, offer consumers easy access to more than 350radio stations on CBS/AOL and more than 300 stations on CBS/LaunchCast. Over the summer, theCBS/AOL player was made available on Apple's iPhone, and Clear Channel Radio launched its owniPhone app. At a time when terrestrial radio stations are facing double-digit ad declines on air, CBSRadio has opened new integrated-marketing possibilities. The combined CBS/AOL network drew nearly2.3 million weekly users in September. The new network with LAUNCHcast is expected to increase thatfollowing to 3.5 million. -KB

Oh, Snap! Magazine Ads Get InteractiveWith the print ad business in freefall, a few publishers aim to make their ad pages a more engaging, trulyinteractive experience, taking advantage of the exploding popularity of Web-enabled mobile devices.Technology from Palo Alto, Calif.-based mobile marketing company SnapTell enables brands to sendmessages to readers who shoot photos of magazine ads with their mobile phones. Rodale's Men's Health,



Wenner Media's Rolling Stone and Disney's ESPN The Magazine are some of the titles to have adoptedthe technology this year; participating brands include Absolut, Toyota and HBO. Using similartechnology from Glendale, Calif.-based SnapNow, Hachette Filipacchi Media's Woman's Day enabledmarketers like Dove and Kraft to offer discounts and giveaways. The "snappable" ads build ontechnology from ShopText in Norwalk, Conn., that places short codes in magazine ads as well aseditorial content. Using ShopText, publishers like Conde Nast, Hearst Magazines and Meredith Corp. areenabling readers to research products and shop straight from the page. As Web-enabled devices continueto swell in popularity -- and as publishers strive to make the print medium more indispensable toadvertisers -- snappable ads stand to become a more familiar presence. -Lucia Moses

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