MediaCom Blink #1 - Mobile is Changing Marketing by MediaCom Australia

Media TRENDS Consumer insight

1st global edition

Published by

Mobile is changing marketing A new mindset is needed!

INTERvIEW :

Get a hea

d of the g

ame with

Augmented real

Can the world be

Trend:

ity:

come a hyperlink?

KEEP IT SHORT, STUPID COMMUNICATE HAS . THE WAY WE CHANGED.

â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Guidee:hearts A Usering on in th What is go and minds of young men?

TREND: It isn't just your customers' opinions that matter. Their friends' opinions matter as well.

MOBILE: How to engage your customers with mobile campaigns. Successful cases you should know about.

EREADER: Do eReaders have a future? - What to pick - User experiences

CEO's note intro

Colophon

BLINK is published by MediaCom 124 Theobalds Road London WC1X 8RX United Kingdom Tel +44 20 7158 5500 Fax: +44 20 7158 5999 blink.magazine@mediacom.com www.mediacom.com Editor in chief: Signe Wandler, MediaCom, signe.wandler@mediacom.dk Editorial team: Jonas Hemmingsen (Nordic CEO), Joanne Brenner (Global PR and Marketing Manager), Ida Hemmingsson-Holl (Global Marketing Director) Visual concept: Brandhouse, www.brandhouse.com Printed by: Clausen Offset, DK Circulation: 3.900 ISSN: 1903-5373 The opinions expressed in the articles are those of the authors. Minor textual contents may be republished as long as the original author and publication are cited. Visit blink.mediacom.com

Blink#1

CeO's nOte intrO

We’ve all been in meetings where someone asks: “What’s our digital strategy”. every CeO worth his salt has his brightest minds on the case. the challenge for those trying to provide an answer is that digital changes everything a company does. As the internet has become an integrated part of our business, communication and marketing through anywhere, anytime access, the question has simply become less relevant. in the same way that electricity powers every aspect of our business, increasingly so does the internet. And yet, no one’s asking: “what is your electricity strategy?” it’s difficult to put a precise date on when this change occurred but sometime near the end of this decade, digital ceased to be distinct. it became, for those lucky enough to have it, like clean, water at the switch of the tap. it hasn’t happened everywhere yet, but certainly in developed markets and the more affluent parts of countries such as india, China and Brazil, digital can be classified as an essential service. Without it our lives and our businesses would simply not function in the same way. the challenge of adapting to this new reality is huge, and much of the adjustment will be in the area of mobile. globally, mobile internet access is set to grow 66% by 2013. in the uk, for example, it will become the most common way to go on the web by 2015. this first global edition of Blink is dedicated to all things mobile and what it means for businesses. We aim to provide guidance on some fundamental issues: does the humble handset represent a medium in its own right? is it simply a pipeline for the web? Or should we regard it as a new distribution platform? Our policy is that Blink should be an open forum for the most interesting experiences, profiles and analysis, so we’ve collated points of view by various insightful observers to give you a fully rounded view of the world of mobile. i hope you enjoy Blink. let me know what you think.

stephen Allan CeO, mediaCom Worldwide

Blink#1

CoNTeNTS

PageS

10-17

- oF WhaT YouR FRieNdS ThiNK! pages 30-31 By Kim Møller-elshøj

Tomorrow, consumers will be combining shopping sprees with surfing social media. in fact, they’re already doing it now.

ReaSoNS To ReThiNK MoBile By Helge Tennø

Mobile is at the forefront of a completely new way of thinking about marketing. We need to stop thinking of mobile as a technology or a tool. People, not technology, drive innovation in communications. 4

CoNSuMeR BeWaRe

Blink#1

all eYeS

oN MoBile Value added SeRViCeS pages 18-19 By MediaCom Interaction, India

The ubiquitous mobile phone has come a long way since it first appeared in india about a decade ago.

virtu

Staying ahead of

THe GaMe

pages 8-9

interview with Morten nielsen from Electronic Arts

The ouTeRNeT

sAy HellO tO tHe Wild WOrld WeB! By Torsten Rehder, Norbert Hillinger and sven Tollmien

Online and Offline are merging into the Outernet and placing itself over our environment as a second skin. Read about the drivers, the theories and the consequences.

PageS

20-29 Blink#1

eReaders in the U.S. MediaCom US/

Edited by Michele Skettino Where is the market heading for eReaders and who will win the race for dominance? A snapshot from the U.S.

From Reader to eReader By Patrick Bay Damsted Read about the personal experiences and reflections of a newly converted ereader.

pages

54-57

pages

60-61

CONTENTS

Keep it Short, Stupid

By Patrick Bay Damsted This is the story of why a growing 160-character culture is making us communicate much more than we did before.

pages

58-59

44-49

Bookworms behind the Screen

By Patrick Bay Damsted Kindle is much more than just a success for Amazon – there is also a community and an ecosystem of related products emerging around the device. An example is KindleBoards.com, a site for anybody with an interest in Kindle, founded by Harvey Chute.

Blink#1

PageS

The aNSWeR FaCToRY:

34-43

demAnd mediA And tHe FAst, dispOsABle, And prOFitABle As Hell mediA mOdel By Daniel Roth

instead of trying to raise the market value of online content to match the cost of producing it â&#x20AC;&#x201D; perhaps an impossible proposition â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the secret is to cut costs until they match the market value.

Mobile Cases Cases from the mediaCom world that will inspire you.

pages

32-33

aCom Medoi duces intr

w e n e threnning pla

in the last couple of years MediaCom Global has been collecting econometric modelling cases identifying effective ROi campaigns to establish a global benchmark base.

from tools etwork our n

s page

52-53

Blink#1

[mobile] intervieW WitH mOrten nielsen

Staying ahead interview with morten nielsen from electronic Arts innovation is the fulcrum for Electronic Arts, whether it is business development or marketing. it is what it takes to stay ahead in the gaming business with new platforms, new media and new competitors. Morten nielsen, nordic Marketing Director at gaming giant Electronic Arts, talks to Jonas Hemmingsen, CEO at Media-Com nordic, about iPads, co-promotions and thinking outside the box. Like most other industries, the gaming business has been hit by the financial crisis, prompting software companies such as Electronic Arts (EA) to go back to the kinds of marketing strategies that they know work: Television, Out

of Home and various digital activities. However ,Morten Nielsen, Nordic Marketing Director, emphasises, the company is still aiming to stay innovative and is always looking out for new ways of doing things.“We want to stay Top of the Pops,” says Nielsen. Jonas Hemmingsen (JH): How does the need for constant innovation aﬀect your co-operation with your media agency? What do you expect from us? MN: “The young consumers use their mobile phones, iPhones and iPads all the time. Social media is a very high priority to them, and thereby to us. We’re already the biggest supplier of games for iPhones, and in all our 2010-title launches you’ll find hype games for Facebook, Twitter and Youtube. This makes it very important to us that our advertising agency and media agency stay ahead of the game and propose new paths to us with due respect to the ROI.” JH: In reality the iPhone works as a gaming device. How do you see the arrival of the iPad? It has a better screen than the iPhone, which already has around 150,000 applications – most of them free. How will this aﬀect your business? MN: “The iPad is not a top priority for us. This is due to several reasons. One, we see that the market share for PC games in general is

"games have surpassed movies in many ways" going down. And two, the area in growth is social games like Wii. The mobile phones are primarily for the quick fix, when you’re on your way to school or university, whereas the computers or Playstations provide an experience of a higher quality.” JH: And if the free applications for iPads spread in the same way as they have with the iPhone ..? MH: “I’m sure we’ll see that happen but I don’t think it will catch on in the beginning. If you look at the iPhone the graphics are great and the usability is amazing. For the simple games

CAse: tHe mAdden nFl 10 CAmpAign in denmArk madden nFl (national Football league), the American Football game, is one of eA’s most successful titles in many territories. However, this was not the case in denmark, which led to a very limited marketing budget in the region. to get the most out of these limited funds, eA games cooperated with danish television channel tv2 sport during their broadcasting of the super Bowl, the premier American Football competition in the usA.

the cooperation included: • Sponsorship of NFL on TV2 Sport with logo or product display before, during and after matches. • Ownership of the NFL on tv2sport.dk • Editorial integration of NFL Madden10 in the NFL program on tv2 sport. • Inclusion of gameplay footage during every sunday match broadcast • Product placement in the studio • Use of the game in special events and competitions rOi was a staggering 7.81 and the sales index was 169.

Blink#1

intervieW WitH mOrten nielsen

of THe GaMe the iPad will obviously be perfect, but if you want to play more complicated games, like Counterstrike for instance, you have to be online and to be able to react within seconds. The iPad simply won’t do the job.”

"The ipad simply won’t do the job" JH: Innovation has been a top priority for EA since 2007… MH: “Yes, we aim to launch two, three innovative titles every year. And we aim to position ourselves as the online leader. When we launch a new title we always include an online plan. It’s extremely important to us to hold onto the gamers so they don’t think: ‘That was it? Now I have to go down and invest another €80 in a new game’. We need to supply free online content, new fields, uniforms and the like to keep them going. The best example was a FIFA gamer in USA who spent $2,500 because he was so fascinated by all the extra assets.”

JH: Do you see any possibilities for involving the advertiser to a higher extent? Obviously in-game advertising has been around for years... MH: “No doubt about that, in-game advertising has been around for what feels like forever. The best example is FIFA, where you can buy the classic in-game banners. Obviously there are lots of other options and the great thing is that we can track it and report it to the advertiser. In the future we will sell ads in two ways: The classic way and the new way where we introduce it as part of the game, which will ensure higher involvement and we’ll be able to track it quite accurately in the targeted groups. We know this method from the movie industry, where they have worked with product placement for years, and we’ll see a lot more of it, as games have surpassed movies in many ways.”

mOrten nielsen is nOrdiC mArketing direCtOr At eleCtrOniC Arts. He HAs Been WitH eA sinCe 2001.

eleCtrOniC Arts is a leading global interactive entertainment software company. eA develops, markets, publishes and distributes interactive software for video game systems, personal computers, wireless devices and the internet. in 2009 eA had 31 titles which sold more than 1 million copies – some of the most popular titles include the sims, Battlefield, madden nFl and FiFA. electronic Arts inc is listed at nAsdAQ and had a revenue of $4.2 billion in fiscal 2009.

prediCtiOns FOr tHe gAming mArket

• Console gaming for a more intense gaming experiences • Social gaming is growing • Games for smart phones as a quick fix

Blink#1

[mobile] 12 reAsOns tO retHink mOBile

ReMoTe CoNTRol CheSS

When the device interacts with the surroundings - on the participant's behalf.

people watch a tv programme once, maybe twice. But they can play chess a thousand times.

12 ReaSoNS To

MoBile Value ChaiN tracing participant action from A to z.

oBJeCTS

the mobile is just the thing stuff talks to.

CoNTeXT Adding value to the situation where the product is valuable and the brand mean.

Blink#1

[mobile]

12 reAsOns tO retHink mOBile

geoTiliTY aNd SPiMeS devices evices responsive to geolocation and time.

SeNSe/ ReCoRd the beauty of digitial is its ability to record anything - as it is happening. the mobile becomes a huge sensing advice.

mobile is at the forefront of a completely new way of thinking about marketing. But in order to understand its potential we need to look beyond the sms, the advertising and the text voting. We need to stop thinking of mobile as just a technology or a tool, but instead start concentrating on how people use it and the behaviour of those users; because people, not technology, drive innovation in communications.

eVeRYdaY liFe the pC is inaccessible in almost all situations where the brand is relevant.

deSigN the gui has to be designed to invite people in, and facilitate the activity.

By Helge tennĂ&#x2DC;

gaMiNg never underestimate the power of gaming activites.

eCoSYSTeM

CollaBoRaTiVe & SoCial deViCe

mobile is always just One part of a larger interconnected ecosystem.

itÂ´s a collaborative platform helping people connect and do stuff together.

[mobile]

Blink#1

[mobile] 12 reAsOns tO retHink mOBile

Mobile is not a media platform, it’s a communications device. it is a means for people to exchange ideas and build relationships, quite the opposite of a one-directional content distribution system.

getting noticed. However, for this attention to be worthwhile, it needs to be earned, not just grabbed. As C2C and personal devices become more and more prominent for marketers, it’s important to take notice; as consumers we share information because it’s valuable, not simply because we are aware of it. this is the starting point from which we need to rethink mobile strategy. But to create shareable value, how should our strategies change and what should we be thinking about? We need a new mindset.

the traditional advertising and media landscape is, as suggested by kevin slavin , md at Area/ code, “a competition of stories”, where the editorial content of one media channel is forced to compete against the content of others. When a brand’s advertising enters the mix, three, four or five stories can compete for the same attention.

the following list suggests twelve ways in which can rethink our approach for future mobile platforms. Hopefully one or more of them can ignite the imagination and new ideas.

this has led to an enormous focus on attention strategy, where a lot of the investment goes into

1.every day life

the pC is inaccessible in almost all situations where the brand is relevant. Technology is everywhere; it has become both ubiquitous and invisible and allows us to place our marketing initiatives within easy reach of the participants every hour of the waking day. But companies often fail to maximise the opportunities available, using portable devices as tools to fill the available spaces inside the lives of consumers with senseless messaging.

Blink#1

[mobile]

What we really need to understand is that even though people are technologically available, it doesn’t mean they are behaviourally available. As marketing moves from the battle of stories (in media) to everyday life, it turns from thinking about short-sighted attention strategies to long-term relationship-building. We are moving away from attention-grabbing and towards value, from time being a cost, to time being an opportunity, from campaigns to relationships.

[mobile] 12 reAsOns tO retHink mOBile

2.design the graphical user interface (gui) has to be designed to invite people in, and facilitate the activity The GUi has to be designed to invite people in and facilitate the activity Behavioral Psychologist Donald norman has been quoted as saying: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Each time a new technology comes along, new designers make the same horrible mistakes as their predecessors. Technologists are not noted for learning the errors of the past. They look forward, not back, so they repeat the same problems over and over again.â&#x20AC;? When it comes to design for interactive platforms, it seems that the knowledge from existing design practices has been overlooked in favour of designing interfaces that ease the technological development budget, rather than accommodate the human mind. This is certainly true when it comes to mobile, with devastating effects when it comes to engaging the mobile user. Algorithmic logic and robotic rationality seem to shape the reasoning behind the interfaces trying to engage people in services, content and marketing. luckily there are exceptions. Companies like TAT from Sweden have been exploring mobile design for years, and whilst not every project has been a commercial success, it seems that they are creating valuable insights that will to lead to more dynamic, desirable and effective solutions. Design is for humans, not robots, and it should force technology to adapt and evolve, not the other way around.

3.Gaming never underestimate the power of gaming activities. There is a common misconception in participatory culture that content equals participation. This is fundamentally wrong. inviting people in to register and submit content, gives no reason for return visits, and no reason for active collaboration over time. There are clear guidelines and suggestions as to what creates a liveable, breathable community. it has little to do with the gathering of content and more to do with the lubrication of the exchange of ideas through mechanics and dynamics. One of the more effective ones is the application of gaming concepts. not necessarily games themselves, but embed-

ding mechanics or dynamics from gaming culture into the functionality of the application in order to enhance exploration and engagement. This applies to our instinctive human curiosity, regarding understanding how things work, and our competitiveness, which is embedded deep within the human mind. Adding a bit of the gaming mindset to an otherwise tedious task can both liven up your existing audiences, and also open up new models for participation and collaboration that dramatically increases engagement with the activity.

[mobile]

Blink#1

6.context

[mobile] 12 reAsOns tO retHink mOBile

Adding value to the situation where the product is valuable and the brand meaningful.

4.ecosystem ne mobile is always justr- O part of a larger inteem. connected ecosyst

an ecosystem Digital is not a silo; it’s people on of activities. it engages ending on dep s; a range of platform connects and , ility ilab ava context and erent, coh one these interactions into people y onl is it se. synchronous univer o wh s rm tfo pla for t building conten eriences. exp ut abo nk thi rs me Custo think about platforms. a sensor or d generator, a remote, Mobile is a trigger, a lea everywhere using its capacity to be a recording device. By and value nd relevance for the bra anytime; you can create ns, both tio ita lim ar t mobile has cle for the participant. Bu idth (at ndw ba d ite lim es, n abiliti due to limited interactio cessing strength. present), and limited pro s formats s now utilise numerou As marketing campaign cannot that one platform alone and activities, it is clear es that iliti ab e nit has clear and defi do everything. Mobile for bile mo ing Us . er platform can be rivalled by no oth at it wh ing do rk wo to it ts ns pu these specific operatio st. be does

The difference between traditional advertising and new marketing can be summarised in two sentences: • Traditional advertising is all about affecting our anticipation of an experience outside of the experience itself, in order to change or manipulate the evaluation of the experience after it has happened. • new marketing is about adding value inside the experience itself. Traditional advertising proves to be complex and costly. This is because our ability to reach out and talk to people is to a large extent limited to media, consumed in specific contexts, unrelated to the communicated products or brands. But technology has changed; it has become ubiquitous and invisible. This means that people and participants can access our marketing all the time. But why would they want to access it? Context is about understanding the situation where the product is relevant. it is about understanding that product design is about identifying the features of a situation and adding value to it through a specific product. Service design is similar. You must understand the context surrounding the product and then design services that create additional value inside this context. By doing this you will create a more unique brand experience, rendering the product invaluable. Digital services are now a part of the product development process as they can offer unique experiences and value to an otherwise ordinary product.

5.collaborative & social device it´s ´s a collaborative platform helping people connect and do stuff together. it is interesting to note that before we put computers into telephones, they were purely collaborative devices – it’s almost as if, by introducing technology, the telephone has tuned into an anti-social device. People belong to networks, and enabling these groups through the exchange of ideas is one of the most important abilities of the digital/real world. The mobile is essential to this, and has historically been a

Blink#1

[mobile]

great socialising device, strengthening our connections with friends and family. The mobile platform expands our present notion of the telephone into something more like a super-communications device, with strengths in all dimensions of communication. This means that whereas most applications today are inherently unsocial and database-driven, we are only at the start of a new learning curve; soon it will be the exception when applications or abilities remain individual.

[mobile] 12 reAsOns tO retHink mOBile

7.objects the he mobile is just the thing stuff talks to. Already we are seeing our everyday objects being upgraded to include some form of ‘intelligence’, able to communicate with us and enforcing its utility. What we as marketers need to understand is that mobile strategy is not about being accessible through an application on the phone, it is increasingly about helping people connect to stuff in the real world. A quote by kevin Slavin explains it: “Mobile is just a reference to an ecosystem that phones are a part of.” in his talk at Webstock in 2009, Matt Jones, an expert in interaction design, referenced the future of smart objects: “now, hackers are building sensors, bots and software into everything around them, bottom up, fast, cheap and out of control. They are creating environments that react, adapt and respond to us – and perhaps, more importantly – each other” This is a reference to a future already here, where objects gain a level of intelligence, being connected and in a dialogue with their surroundings. And in this world mobile will be the interface, receiving their feedback, communicating with them and enabling us to control them.

8.Value chain tracing racing participant action from A to z. A sale is the result of a chain of events happening in mostly random order from the time when a customer first shows interest in a product to its final purchase. Digital has a clear role in this process but often fails to prove its direct effect on sales due to black holes, non-digital, nonrecordable steps in the purchase process. This is often the case in retail, where engagement online is parallel to increased awareness in-store, but where the opportunity to accurately or correctly measure the related activity is non-existent because of lack of measurability. Mobile can help remove these black holes so that, to a more certain degree, we can measure the direct effect of an online marketing activity to actual in-store purchasing. Mobile can be the platform connecting online to in-store.

[mobile]

Blink#1

[mobile] 12 reAsOns tO retHink mOBile

9.chess

people watch me a tv programtwice. once, maybe lay chess But they can p es. a thousand tim a tv-programme

watch vin slavin: â&#x20AC;&#x153;people times.â&#x20AC;? in the words of ke chess a thousand y pla n ca ey th t bu , ice tw once, maybe t how we think abou t implications for rm ea tfo gr s pla ha e ich ot wh qu es this asking ourselv p sto to ed ne no e is marketing. W g, because there display advertisin y of online ilit ab e th is best suited for ps m ru al media far out-t is; is online question: tradition ask ourselves is th to ed ne e we t ha and? What are th and mobile. W medium for our br les sa t ec dir a and mobile rms? e connected platfo best abilities of th rness to measure nded by our eage bli en be ve ha spewing out statis it seems we analytics engines of . se sts ea co e th , low les ely direct sa rs at extrem and unique visito tics on click rates sursimplicity of mea a haze, where the o int in t us go s led s ha b ha But this around the we transport people tablishing ing our ability to real potential: es 's rm tfo pla e th g ein se h fresh content, the way of us participants throug th wi ips sh ion lat lasting re lue. as and limitless va conversations, ide t sales platform. tform, not a direc pla ip sh e ion lat re ilty of creating th Online is a sure, but is also gu ea m to a h sy ug ea ro be th it may sold solely t products can be illusion that mos display ad. siness ore and more bu times suggests, m rk gle yo sin w ne an e th th As s rather g on subscription become ar ts uc od models are focusin pr ing number of as re inc er ess ev sin an bu sales. As fering of one ilar, the unique of h sim ug ro tly th en d er re inh fe ing nces of ugh unique experie . ne has to come thro t alo er than the produc its marketing, rath nt our most importa ere can we grow wh le is: ro n re tio tu es fu qu nt e rta th t impo is the single mos customers? this tforms. of connected pla

Blink#1

[mobile]

10.Remote control When the device interacts with the surroundings - on the participant's behalf. A chip implant in the back of the neck or the retina might be some decades away but mobile is already offering a lot of the functionality presented in movies as a remote control to communicate and respond to future connected environments. the mobile is a sensing device, connected to a database of knowledge through its access to the ownerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s social networks. By combining it with either geo-positioning or near field technology, it can control the surrounding environment in order to either accommodate disability or facilitate tailored real world services. We are already familiar with conscious action related to direct payment or ticket registering via mobile. At the same time geo-apps on the iphone or Android are tracking our every move and can react or have our surroundings react to us.

[mobile] 12 reAsOns tO retHink mOBile

12.sense/ record 11.Geotility and spimes

devices responsive to geolocation and time.

A spime is an abbreviation of the combination of space and time, referencing an object that com bines temporal awareness with geographic location. even though the term was coined by author Bruce sterling only some years ago, the idea of spimes have been on the lips of direct marketers since the dawn of mobile. the dream has been to have an obje ct ‘attached’ to a person, pushing coupons, freebies and othe r shor t-sighted intrusive incentives, as one is moving around in civic surroundings. passing an ikeA sends you an sms of a free dinner if you come into the store, Jessops photo laboratory would offer you a free 20x15 print, and the coffee shop invites your friends in for a free cup. luckily, these ideas became illegal even before they had the opportunity to intrude on people’s lives. However, some retail chain applications do offer this as an option to their service today. But spimes have far greater reach, and are only restricted presently by our own actions. let us look beyond coupons and augmented reality layered maps, and integrate the functionality into our services and ecosystem.

the beauty of digital is its ability to record anything as it is happening. the mobile becomes a huge sensing device. this brings with it two opportunities. the first is as a measuring device, giving us access to knowledge that we didn't have previously, the second is in regard to the quality of data we can acquire when technology obtains it without demanding any conscious participation on our behalf. traditionally, we tend to understand situations by asking people directly or indirectly about to experiences outside the situation itself. this is a rational approach to discovering secrets hidden away inside a rather complex and subconscious brain. Asking people to imagine why they did something, or how they experienced it, when they might be completely unaware of why and how they did it creates a huge source for error. With the mobile set to record, the experience can be sampled as it is happening. Without the person acting as a filter between the action and the recording, the mobile will be able to record an unbiased record of the process providing unique insights which cannot be collected through interview or observation alone. Future digital activities will have to be built with data collection integrated, as marketers will grow increasingly aware of the value these recordings will have when it comes to understanding participants and contexts.

to learn more from Helge tennø: Blog: www.180360720.no linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/helgetenno twitter: @congbo presentations: http://www.slideshare.net/helgetenno/

[mobile]

Blink#1

[mobile] All eyes On mOBile vAlue Added serviCes

on mobile

s e c i v r e s d value adde A

terACtiOn, indi

By mediACOm in

mobile gaming technology to educate rural kids, trading information to farmers, mobile advertising platforms, music and movie downloads, games and a lot more… the ubiquitous mobile phone has come a long way since it first appeared in india about a decade ago.

Blink#1

oday, mobile phones are not just about making and taking calls – they are boosting India’s m-commerce with both India’s central bank and the market regulator mulling over proposals to allow active trading via mobile phones. While the Blackberry has become a lifeline for a million urban Indians, the rural junta has not been left behind in the race, as telecom operators slug it out to capture the biggest slice of India’s growing rural markets. According to research firm Gartner ‘mobile applications with money transfer via short message service’ lead the list of top 10 most used mobile applications, followed by ‘mobile search’ to drive sales and marketing oppor-

tunities on the phone, ‘mobile browsing’, ‘mobile advertising’ and ‘mobile music’ (see box). Most kids in rural India do not have access to formal education and often end up working on the farms during the day. So to help reach out to these children, an inspiring project, Millee, is under consideration, which uses mobile gaming technology to enhance access to literacy among children of school-going age in the developing world. “It is a very interesting and encouraging initiative.” said Sidhartha Bezbora, who regularly writes about technology and telecom on his blog www.wirelessduniya.com. “Another very interesting project is farmers using a phone to water their farmland in i Gujarat”

[mobile] All eyes On mOBile vAlue Added serviCes in december 2009, infosys announced the launch of flypp™, an application platform that has delighted digital consumers with a host of ready-to-use experiential applications across a universe of devices. mapmyindia, in partnership with sygic, has launched mobile apps that give the user street level directions, and lets them search across points-of-interests (Poi) on their mobiles without the need for a data plan. That’s not all… mobile trading will soon be a reality, and india’s markets regulator seBi is currently working on the final guidelines. According to seBi’s proposal, brokers who provide internet-based trading are eligible to use wireless technology after getting approvals from stock exchanges. The net worth requirement per broker is proposed at Rs 50 lakh if he provides the facility on his own. in case a service provider provides the internet trading facility on behalf of a group of brokers, the net worth criteria stipulated by his stock exchange will apply. already, nokia has partnered with itc echoupal to offer personalised agri-services on the nokia Life tools to e-choupal network. and, information giant Thomson Reuters’ latest offering for farmers, Reuters marketLite, is already "all the rage" among the village folks who use information on seeds, weather and other farm inputs regularly. With intense competition driving down tariffs, mobile operators in india are increasingly focusing on value added services (Vas) to generate revenues. Vas, which covers the entire gamut of services from downloads of movies and music, to sms and mms, ringtones, callertunes and games, has been on a solid footing globally, but given the low base and the familiarity with information technology, it is witnessing exponential growth in india. The global Vas industry is growing at about 40–50 per cent, but the indian Vas market has seen growth rates of 60 percent in recent years. it is estimated to touch 251 billion rupees ($5.5 billion) in 2009/10, on the back of a pool of more than 500 million mobile customers. Although most indian consumers are not very comfortable with non-voice usage of their mobile phones, that trend is gradually reversing, helped by the entertainment sector, with music and film companies, game makers

VaS iS PRiMaRilY BeiNg uSed iN ThRee FoRMS: EnTERTAinMEnT VAS is designed for mass appeal and extensive usage. examples include jokes, Bollywood ringtones and games. These services are currently very popular and are driving the revenues for the indian mobile Vas market. inFO VAS provide useful information, often in a personal context, to the end user. examples include information on movie tickets, news, bank accounts etc. These also include user requests for information on product categories like real-estate, education, etc. MCOMMERCE VAS enables conducting a transaction using the mobile phone. examples of this kind involve buying railway tickets or movie tickets through the mobile phone. and television channels aggressively entering the mobile content market.

and puzzle categories are the most favoured among gamers in india.

around 60 percent of all Vas revenue currently comes from music downloads and ringtones, and driven by a huge youth market, demand for gaming, mobile imagery and streaming audio and video is rising.

With its mobile subscriber base growing rapidly, advertisers in india are also adopting innovative ways of reaching out to the consumer on their mobiles. While basic promotional sms alerts are used by everyone—from small businesses to national-level politicians, advertisers are focusing on more complex mediums such as embedding promotions within mobile games.

Recently, imimobile, the global service creation partner for operators, media providers and enterprises launched daVinci social, a white-labelled service that enables people to

indian telecom firms currently draw only a small portion of their revenues from Vas, but this will likely grow to about 18-20 percent in 2010, and once 3G services are launched in the country in 2010, this could increase further. The average Revenue Per user (aRPu) from non-voice services, including data card access and sms, is expected to rise from 9 per cent now to about 25 percent. data services should see a surge in adoption and usage. High-speed applications will open up a lot of possibilities of innovative Vas enabling diverse infotainment service opportunities in this film and cricket-focused country.

easily manage their mobile digital sociallife. it is apparently the first Bollywood streaming application ready on nokia s60 5th edition devices and streams Bollywood songs, movie trailors, director’s cuts etc. “When the internet came, people hardly thought it would be useful and look where it has gone now. so having access to high speed internet on mobiles with 3G will allow people to do a lot more of the stuff they are now doing on their laptops, at the same speed,” says suraj nalin, a software engineer working at Yahoo! A recent study by consultancy informate mobile intelligence revealed that mobile users spend 15-20 minutes on messaging activities daily, while 40-45 minutes are spent on entertainment where users listen to a minimum of 2-3 songs and click 15-18 photos in a month. The study also revealed that card

According to research firm gartner, the toP 10 consumer mobile applications by 2012 will be: no. no. no. no. no. no. no.

1: money transfer 2: location-Based services 3: mobile search 4: mobile Browsing 5: mobile Health monitoring 6: mobile payment 7: near Field Communication services no. 8: mobile Advertising no. 9: mobile instant messaging no. 10: mobile music

[mobile]

Blink#1

[mobile] tHe Outernet

The ouTeRNeT.

Say hello to the wild world web!

under the name ‘Outernet’ a technological development is approaching that will profoundly change our relationships with each other and with the objects around us in the world. the internet is leaving the previously detached realm of cyberspace and placing itself over our environment like a second skin. By tOrsten reHder And rené HentsCHel / illustrAtiOns AnnA Ax / pHOtO: spOrt-mAster - pHOtO: tOm rOssum The possibilities we are familiar with from the internet – links, search function, personalisation and interaction – are being transferred to physical objects. The connections between people and things are thus becoming denser, more specific and taking on a local component: depending on our interests and needs, different information becomes visible in the environment. a new dimension of perception is created in which virtuality and reality are merged. HsdPa, WiBro and WimaX are systematically erasing the dividing line between oﬄine and online. so in the future we are always on and always connected!

Blink#1

[mobile]

a re

m erge d

[mobile] tHe Outernet

virtua li

ty and rea l i t y

the term ‘the Outernet’ refers to the development of online abilities in physical objects and in the real world. As a second layer in our everyday lives it will change the way we interact with each other and with objects. the theories are that • the whole world will become a hyperlink. • Computers will become invisible. • information and networks will become ubiquitous. • reality will be reintegrated and augmented. • environmental perception will become more selective. the consequences affect life, business and of course marketing. [mobile]

Blink#1

[mobile] tHe Outernet

cdriving FOrCe 1:

LocaLisation

localisation is an essential element of the Outernet as it establishes the vital link between the digital data infrastructure and the real world. the ability to determine where and at what distance we are located in relation to one another is a prerequisite for many Outernet applications. lOCAlising By gps The Global Positioning System (GPS) makes it possible to localise people and objects geographically. Digital cameras and camera phones are increasingly equipped with GPS, automatically adding the relevant geo-coordinates to photos and videos. triAngulAtiOn As An AlternAtive tO gps Besides GPS, triangulation of GSM towers or wireless LAN hotspots can also be used to localise mobile devices. Compared to GSM, localisation by wireless LAN allows far more accurate positioning in urban areas and particularly in closed buildings. Wireless LAN hotspots therefore play an important role in the spreading of the Outernet.

c dRiViNg FoRCeS

HigHly ACCurAte lOCAlisAtiOn WitH gAlileO When the EU launches the Galileo satellite navigation system in 2010 there will be a significant improvement in localisation accuracy: in the freely available service people and objects can then be localised to an accuracy of about four metres, and for fee-paying customers to less than one metre. Galileo will therefore be a key driver for the Outernet.

THE SOCiAl TRAVEl GUiDE FOR MOBilE PHOnES The fully customisable social travel guide “tripwolf” is available as an iPhone application that can also be used in offline mode. During installation a selection of city guides is stored directly on to the iPhone, and these can be synchronised at any time. in addition, the application displays suggestions in the surroundings once the mobile phone has been localised. „tripwolf“ sources the content from its own online community and the travel literature published by MairDumont.

cdriving FOrCe 2:

WeB of tHinGs

the Web of things networks physical objects and turns them into information carriers. in this way, everyday objects work like a website: they are linked to the information resources of theinternet and can be clicked on like hyperlinks via mobile phone. OBJeCt Hyperlinking By BArCOde And imAge reCOgnitiOn Visual codes such as the QR Code, Semacode or Aztec Code serve as a method of linking objects to the Web. A further development of this technology is the recognition of objects by their shape: objects are photographed using a camera phone and matched with an image database, upon which a corresponding link is opened (e.g. kooaba.com). However, it is above all RFID technology, NFC and sensor technology that will give the Web of Things a huge push. rFid is On tHe AdvAnCe RFID tags are tiny radio modules which permit the automatic remote identification of objects. They are already quite common in ski passes and electronic labels. RFID tags can also be used to link objects to information. It is conceivable, for example, that

Interactive Print Mobile visuelle Suche als Mehrwert für Zeitungen und Magazine im digitalen Zeitalter

Blink#1

[mobile]

every physical object will have a website which can be called up directly via RFID-capable mobile phones. mOBile pAyment viA nFC Near Field Communication (NFC) works in a similar way to RFID technology, with the difference that the exchange of data takes place over a distance of just a few centimetres. As this short distance is tantamount to physical contact, NFC is tipped to become the key technology in the field of mobile payment. sensOrs „Feel“ tHe pHysiCAl WOrld To some extent, sensors act as the sense organs of objects. Brightness, noises, temperature or pressure – sensors make it possible to read out the surrounding situation sensitively on different levels. On the basis of this information, mobile devices can interpret the context in which a person is currently to be found.

MOBilE ARTiClE RETRiEVAl ViA iMAGE RECOGniTiOn The kooaba company has developed a new application for mobile devices which makes it possible to link entire magazines and newspapers via mobile image recognition without having to alter the editorial content graphically. The reader can then not only participate in mobile marketing activities such as competitions, but also forward content to friends and archive it online in PDF format.

[mobile] tHe Outernet

cdriving FOrCe 3:

smaRt infoRmation PRocessinG

On the Outernet there will be an expo nential increase in information. to master this information explosion a new generation of intel ligent information processing is needed: the sma rt Web. semAntiC inFOrmAtiOn prOCes sing On tHe smArt WeB With the Smart Web, computers will become capable of understanding information semantica lly. For example, if the user enters a query into the semantic search engine Powerset.com, a real answer is given. The question “how tall is Queen Elizabeth II?”, for instance, will generate the answer namely “1.63 metres”. Sema ntic tools can also be used to augment conversations with additional information: Thoughttrail.com, for exam ple, analyses chats and automatically imports relate d content.

cdriving FOrCe 4:

neXt-GeneRation i/o deVices

in order for the Outernet to be able to assert itself successfully, mobile devices which can be operated intuitively are needed. For this reason, all eyes are turned to the new generation of input and output devices. tHe ipHOne sHOWs HOW it’s dOne The iPhone can be seen as one of the main reasons why people no longer scoff at the Mobile Web and its applications. Yet the multi-touch usability of the iPhone is only the beginning: numerous new materials, media and technologies are currently under development that will make mobile communications even more intuitive.

tHe WeB OF diversity Will BeC Ome tHe WeB OF impOrtAnCe When context information such as time , place and user profiles are taken into account, the relev ance of search results increases. This is already begin ning to happen: Google‘s mobile application ‘Voice Searc h’ automatically takes the location into consideration for search queries. If, for example, “movie showtimes” is spoken into the mobile phone, all the cinema schedules in the immediate surroundings are displayed.

FrOm Oleds tO WeArABle eleCtrOniCs Motion sensors, flexible LED displays (OLEDs) and speech recognition systems have already found their way into mobile devices. In the future, they will be joined by technologies such as gesture control, face recognition and electronic ink (e-ink). Haptic displays, which make digital information tactile on the display surface, are also now practicable. As the technology is becoming not only more efficient, but also smaller, the concept of the wearable computer is drawing closer all the time: it is conceivable that smart glasses, retina implants or even control over brainwaves will also become reality one day.

smArt WeB + sOCiAl sOFtWAre = enduring COmmunities If the Smart Web is combined with socia l software (social networks, wikis, blogs, etc.) a more speci fic and more intensive connection between people is created. The community functions that we know from the Internet get out on to the street and into real life. As online communities on the Outernet are enhanced by the factors

tHe virtuAl extensiOn OF reAlity Augmented reality (AR) does not describe a technology, but a way of perceiving the environment – virtually extended reality. Augmented reality can be understood as a layer model that enriches reality with virtual levels and thus merges the real and the digital realms of experience. An example of an AR system is the mobile travel guide “Wikitude”. It augments the user‘s view of the surrounding world by overlaying additional digital information on the mobile phone‘s camera image.

of time and place, they are transformed into enduring communities. lOCATiOn-BASED inFORMATiOn FROM THE COMMUniTY The joint project of the location-based networks Brightkite and the augmented reality browser layar (via iPhone), which encourages users to take photos or post something. By simply pointing the camera at any place the user can receive all the informati on available from the social network in real time on the display. in this way, the service provides a realtime view of the location based network.

THE SMART MOBilE TRAVEl COMPAniOn Wikitude is a mobile phone application which uses augmented reality to overlay information about the surroundings on the real image of the mobile phone‘s camera. With GPS and a digital compass, the position and viewing direction are recognised and relevant information (e.g. about places of interest) is retrieved from the Wikipedia database. With this innovative mash up it will be possible for users to have an extensive, mobile travel guide at hand at all times.

[mobile]

Blink#1

[mobile] tHe Outernet

ptHeOry 1:

tHe WHoLe WoRLd WiLL Become a HYPeRLinK

In the age of the Outernet the physical world functions like a website. Every object can be clicked on like a hyperlink in order to access information, services and communication offers. tHe teCHnOlOgiCAl inFrAstruCture FOr tHis is AlreAdy in plACe tOdAy: The mobile devices currently available are sufficiently equipped, and the production costs for RFID tags, microchips and sensors have been reduced to an economically acceptable level. In view of the rapid technological progress being made, there are now very few people who still doubt the prediction made by Marc Weise, senior scientist at the Xerox research centre, in 1991: “In the 21st century the technology revolution will move into the everyday, the small and the invisible.” OBJeCts Will BeCOme selling spACe, plACes Will BeCOme AnCHOr pOints The Outernet will radically change our relationships with one another and with objects around us in the world: when real objects – such as cars, billboards, or urban trains pulling into stations – become hyperlinks, then people, objects and information will enter into a new relationship with each other. Objects must therefore be seen and designed in the future as interfaces and – even more so – as potential selling spaces. Due to the possibility of interlinking, physical locations become anchor points around which local communities form and at which context-relevant information is exchanged. On THE OUTERnET, THE inTERnET Will EXPlODE inTO THE REAl WORlD. “People, systems and products link up directly with each other and interact. Via mobile devices which are constantly connected wirelessly to the internet, the Web will conquer the street and only then will it realise its true potential.” Nils Müller, founder and CEO of TrendONE

ptHeOry 3:

infoRmation and netWoRKs WiLL Be uBiQuitous

p TheoRieS

Networks are the capital of the future because access to resources and not possesion of them will be of crucial importance in the future. The Mobile Web and corresponding terminal devices allow us ubiquitous access to information, services and networks.

diFFerent spHeres OF identity Will merge On the Outernet, access to digital information is no longer physically limited, while on the Internet a distinction is still made between online and oﬄine and thus between real and virtual identity. By removing this boundary on the Outernet the different partial aspects of our social identity become merged. In the age of the Outernet it will therefore become necessary to create a uniform self-image that coherently integrates the different spheres of identity. COmmunities Will BeCOme mOre spOntAneOus On the Outernet, communities will become more spontaneous, more dynamic and more specific. The joining together of the community members is not only based on their common interests, but also on their location. The flash

mobs organised online and carried out oﬄine are a good example of instant community building in the age of the Outernet. COmmunities Will AlsO BeCOme mOre enduring As the thread to the virtual community is never broken on the Outernet, an ‘ambient intimacy’ emerges. This term describes the sense of feeling close to people despite the fact that they are at a different location. The practice of being in constant contact with friends via digital communication technologies can lead to the stabilisation of communities. On the Outernet, communities will therefore become more erratic on the one hand, but also more enduring on the other.

ElECTROniC ViSUAl AiD FOR THE BlinD Physicians in Tübingen have developed a kind of electronic retina for blind people: the retina chip. The wafer-thin chip, on which sit 1,540 photocells plus electronics, is implanted beneath the nerve cell layer of the patient‘s retina. As with a healthy eye, the light falls through the lens, shines through the nerve cells of the retina and then hits the chip‘s photocells. The retina chip facilitates visual acuity of six percent – sufficient to recognise people‘s faces.

Blink#1

[mobile]

ptHeOry 2:

[mobile] tHe Outernet

comPuteRs WiLL Become inVisiBLe

Computers will be so small in the future that they will be practically invisible. This will make it possible to embed computers in everyday objects, in our clothes and even in our bodies. tHe envirOnment Will BeCOme sensitive And reACtive Progress in microelectronics and nanotechnology is bringing the vision of the comprehensive informatisation of the world closer all the time. RFID tags, sensors and microchips can now be produced with such small dimensions and so cost-effectively that they can be integrated into everyday objects and items of clothing. Computers will therefore disappear from our field of vision and embed themselves seamlessly in the physical world. Our environment will become sensitive and reactive, adapting automatically to our needs. smArt OBJeCts AllOW intuitive OperAtiOn Even when computers almost literally vanish into thin air, they will nevertheless be ubiquitous. They operate invisibly in the background and act as intelligent helpers in our everyday lives. Examples of smart objects are a car tyre that tells you when it is losing air, or medication that draws attention to the fact that it is past its use-by date. As smart objects possess intuitive user guidance, technically inexperienced users can also use them without difficulty – unlike the conventional Internet.

ptHeOry 4:

ReaLitY WiLL Be ReinteGRated and auGmented

On the conventional Internet, data is uncoupled from the dimensions place and time. This is in contrast to the Outernet, were data assumes a direct contextual relevance. Instant messengers such as Skype, microblogging services such as Twitter and social communities such as Facebook have already successfully incorporated the time factor. The location and time context dramatically increases the relevance of data – and thus becomes a killer application. reAl interACtiOn is reintegrAted On the Outernet a comprehensive reintegration of real interaction processes into the digital environment takes place. When someone reports on an experience in real time via Twitter, a direct link is established between reality and virtuality and reality reintegration occurs.

COmputers And inFOrmAtiOn Will BeCOme intimAte As computers become embedded in our environment, the physical distance between user and desktop will be removed. Computers integrated in textiles, intelligent contact lenses and retina implants will make the relationship between people and computers much more intimate: media content and data will get much closer to the recipient – they will ‘touch’ us in the true sense of the word.

severAl versiOns OF tHe reAl WOrld The reintegration of reality into the digital world is mirrored back into the real world on the Outernet. This is done by enriching and extending the real world by means of augmented reality. As augmented reality complements our perception by adding digital layers, our environment becomes customisable: depending on which filters we use, we perceive our environment differently.

BEOBlE.ME: OUTERnET SOCiAl nETWORk beoble.me combines different functions of the Mobile Web and Web 2.0 in one platform and aims to become the new social network of the Outernet. Users of beoble.me can determine at any time which friends and members of their network are nearby and which bars and restaurants in the surroundings are recommended. They can phone and mail each other and get to know new members without having to exchange mobile phone numbers or similar contact data.

THE MOBilE AUGMEnTED REAliTY BROWSER The company SPRXmobile has developed the ‘layar’ application which makes the browser of mobile phones capable of displaying local data in augmented reality. When the surroundings are filmed using the mobile phone‘s camera a radar on the display indicates the distance to places of interest. if, for example, the user is searching for houses for sale, these are displayed showing a picture and the purchase price as soon as the mobile phone is pointed at the house in question.

ptHeOry 5:

enViRonmentaL PeRcePtion WiLL Become moRe seLectiVe

The merging of online and oﬄine appears to be increasing the complexity of our world beyond measure. In fact, the Outernet is much more about reducing complexity: as with an ad blocker, unimportant information can be suppressed and important information included via augmented reality. seleCtive envirOnmentAl perCeptiOn is A nAturAl prOCess The possibility of consciously selecting information will make the world a place with more options and therefore greater clarity in the age of the Outernet. The phenomenon of selective environmental perception is a natural process and one we are all familiar with: depending on our interests and needs, we focus our attention on certain details in the environment. It is therefore not necessary to relearn how to use the different filters through which we perceive our environment on the Outernet. However, as augmented reality visually highlights information, the selectiveness of perception will become more explicit and more specific.

COmmunities OF interest BeCOme COmmunities OF perCeptiOn What are the effects of selective environmental perception on social interaction? One consequence could be the formation of communities on the basis of the currently activated perception mode: Beatles fans, for example, who walk around Liverpool in „Beatles mode“, perceive the environment through the same filter. The common interest community of the Beatles fans thus becomes a common perception community at the real location. Social communities become more specific and shared experiences more exclusive on the Outernet.

THE PROACTiVE BROWSER FOR THE MOBilE WEB Aloqa is a provider of location-based services which supplies users proactively with location information. Thanks to Aloqa, companies and businesses wishing to draw attention to their location will no longer have to develop suitable software for each mobile telephone in the future. The user is spared the laborious task of typing search terms into the mobile phone as the location-related information on preconfigured topics (such as dining out or live music etc.) appears in the display by means of the push method. [mobile]

Blink#1

Hello

[mobile] tHe Outernet Hello

Hello

Hel

Hello

„COnseQuenCes:

maRKetinG

The outernet expands our possibilities for communication in all directions and makes interaction even more personal, more selective and more optional. marketing has been aware of this paradigm shift since the emergence of Hello Web 2.0. on the outernet, the focus of marketing willHello therefore be on adapting even more individually and sensitively than before to the needs of the customers. communication on the outernet takes place primarily via the most personal medium to date – the mobile phone.

Hello

COntextuAl tArgeting As A stArting pOint The mobile phone enables brands to reach customers in a more targeted way (ubiquitous advertising). in the future, contextual targeting (location, time, profile, mood, status, etc.) will be the starting point for allHello marketing activities. This will make it possible to approach customers on the basis of their current situation and moodHello – leading to mood marketing in its purest form.

Hello Hello

BrAnds As pOints OF OrientAtiOn How can contextual targeting be employed without the customers feeling pestered? orientation is the keyword here: if brands already provide orientation in the real world, they should be able to do the same in a mixed world of reality and virtuality. The right tip at the right time in the right place – this is how concrete He offers limited in terms added value with contextual relevance is created. special ll of timeHello and place (e.g. mobile coupons) can be an effectiveo way of establishing contact with customers.

„ CoNSeQueNSeS

Hello

Helloe.. See mme. See

lo. Hel e. em Tak me. . See ow me kn o t t Ge Hello.

Blink#1

[mobile]

Advertising As A serviCe advertising will become a service and the brand a good friend. The application “Passport to Greatness” from Guinness or the “soundwalk” from Louis Vuitton show what it can actually look like. in addition, mobile augmented reality applications such as Layar or Wikitude.me provide an indication of how a mixed reality can be created on the outernet which is filled with content not only by the Hello users, but also by commercial providers. mArketing BeCOmes trAnspArenCy mArketing on the outernet, transparency increases dramatically. Resourceful technologies like the iPhone application “amazon mobile” already challenge marketing to provide more transparency: with “amazon mobile” users can photograph products in stores and are immediately notified of the cheapest supplier of the product in question. The product can then be purchased with one click. marketing is also increasingly challenged when it comes to relevance as context factors such as geographical location and user profile must be taken into consideration on the outernet. marketing will therefore develop more and more in the direction of transparency marketing and position itself as an efficient complexity reducer.

[mobile] tHe Outernet

„COnseQuenCes:

Life

xt, m one day to the ne ll not take place fro wi is Th et. ay. ern tod Int n the eady emerging more dramatically tha the Outernet are alr ange our lives even rtunities arising from po op the , ver The Outernet will ch we lutionary process. Ho but in a constant, evo more This enables us to act lored information. our es individuAlity tai y Ot ing all tak Om du by ivi pr es ind et liv th rn ay tHe Oute us in our everyd by providing us wi rts ty po ali du sup t ivi an ind ist tes ass nal The Outernet promo ions. A virtual perso ion. more informed decis layer) into considerat d oo (m nd efficiently and make mi of me fra r ou d an er) lay preferences (context Ople the ageing Ce OF Older pe relevant in view of tHe independen This is particularly y. es erl y elderly to Ot eld ver Om the the pr d n et an eve tHe Outern it possible for young children ke for ma ble ng gea ori na nit ma mo be even or home The Outernet will bient-assisted living s. concepts such as am rdened nursing home bu erov de tsi structure of society: ou life d ine rm ete f-d sel and lead an anxiety-free s is that sub-cultures s consequences of thi ens suBCulture the tH of e ng On re y. ay, eco tomorrow st da et ry rn tHe Oute temporary: gothic tod over the world eve ly isc on red y all to usu ble is ssi d po an it s erratic The Outernet make niches can be more ntiated. Entry into become more differe . od e, location and mo – depending on tim trusted r? urity: who will be the trusted pArtne s regarding data sec thority e ion au tH e est qu me -lik CO ses OT rai M Be o an WHO Will s? Will there be , the Outernet als tie ers ivi off act it mes up ce my co ien of en ver ck nv oe me to keep tra bably go to wh In spite of all the co k? The job will pro data, and who helps tas my s upast cc thi (o tru rm en es I rfo iti pe nt om ers ide partner to wh pendent partial will private provid de or nta, tio da ua l sit na , rso all pe ept. After that administers the ty management conc rent personal identi with the most cohe nistered somehow.

, etc.) have to be ad tion, shopping, party

s s e n i s uenCe

eQ „COns

ever too efore n r e th is t nities. I

soon to

start

tu s oppor busines y tr s u nels -ind els. on chan of cross ss mod unicati e phone and m e variety es and busine m id o c w il a mob ming ffers ervic shifting ts beco One ith our ternet o ducts, s ile pH ult in all objec us on them w le is therefore ade will B The Ou about new pro O m He f sa g l res ry tr e foc g tO t point o thinkin tationa l ings wil next to us, w sHiFtin d Web of Th lay. The equence, the s time. Physica g p n is is ti d it e s e l n s n A th e a n o . s s o m b e r in c a e c F e s r a n p O e W e ord int f the at th ll. As xperie obile tHe pO ination of M ke the shoes o a possibility to shopping ma nd check-out int of e o p to b li d ig ale sa The com g spaces. If we odel, price an rld into one b ping window om point of s in wo em – fr shop e e c r n a ie and sell diately see th sforming the h r s alan expe cts whic an me pattern can im bile phone, tr lions of produ laces offering vement ch as o u s p m o il s f e m to m o servic with lop in alysis to the e d n te e v a e s e a p e create d b m d Th to co e ncy an vices. ocation r ie e L c s . have to l therefore hav ffi s inly w e e te il unding e to n ccura e time shops w ct surro computer gives ris much more a offers increas e t ing ir e g d n r r e e te ve ted ent em Ou on th ode mo on the s Are e calcula tertainm s based erviCe e networking remiums to b obility and en tching service ented reality m s W e p n a siv m m prehen surance rofile-m -based s in aug The com example, car in ses or location be boosted: p i-player game s o lt e r u ls lows, fo ation of busin gaming will a eed dating; m d lis sp mium) the loca cy. Dating an spontaneous also pre s to an s e s a n c e in r ces ome transpa to participate vironment. bout vide ac er (in s rs g furth cards that pro information a al en ic in s d y h lu vite use c p s g din by in vide to the duCts tball tra , but also pro roducts games in id prO ome hybrid p mples are foo se a r e B is y d H a a c COme ucts be ct benefits. Ex symptoms of Cts Be al prod e u prOdu uternet physic original prod nly relieves th ers e O ion, off to th e o n th to t a n n n addit esents a O th io I it . n s d o d le ti a a fi in dic pro epr services hange, or me on. . This r of user e basis in uniqueness net. ati exc r th e fe n n li o li o r n r d o lp ise ute certa raphica custom eAlity sting a ency on the O its geog mes r ervices can be ge and sugge ar O p C s e n a B s tr ta or ne of nd t OF O et, products a an artificial sh e high degree gmen n tHe se of the Outer time, creating arising from th d ge rs In the a d to a place an ract price wa e te n ti u e o c to can b y strateg possible

[mobile]

Blink#1

[mobile] THE OUTERNET

ﬁ cause of action

Recommended course of action:

You have to get better in believing the impossible! One thing is clear: everything is going to change – and fast! The Outernet characterises a technological development which has already begun, is gaining pace and will have a fundamental effect on our lives. But how should companies respond to this process? The sentence “You have to get better at believing in the impossible!” was uttered by Kevin Kelly of Wired magazine and describes precisely the way we must approach the Outernet. The recommended courses of action listed here should be seen as stimuli for our thoughts to open a door into the future.

Authors: Torsten Rehder and René Hentschel, TrendONE Hamburg Foreword and editing: Max Celko, trendanalyst Recommended course of action: Lars Schlossbauer, Proximity Germany GmbH

Blink#1

[mobile]

[mobile] tHe Outernet

uniCAtiOn „1. COmmtern will be how to approach et, the first thing to change

as a result of the ou ation will be placed in ups in the future. inform customers and target gro the target group will ls and measures to reach a context and the channe possible and target groups e om bec l munication wil explode. one-to-one com sp. The drastic rise in hable will move within gra eac unr d ere sid con y usl previo a campaign architecture will make the creation of communication channels campaign experiences e gathering and sharing of increasingly complex. Th ortant for the meaningimp re mo become more and within the company will ting budget. ful allocation of the marke iRES THAT … COnTROllABlE REQU TO MAkE THE VARiETY t and learn is made • a commitment to tes ROI red consistently to the gea is n • communicatio monitor the success to ed tall ins is tem sys • a campaign-tracking asures of the channels and me measures takes nt of the channels and me ust adj ous tinu con • the sions. place based on conver

„3. serviCes

The driving force ‘next-generation I/O devices’ alone as well as the topic augmented reality (AR) of the Outernet make it obvious which service extensions will become possible as a result of enriching the real world with virtual information. The virtual postbox, for example, represents an enormous service gain for the customer, who can have a virtual postbox corresponding to parcel dimensions projected on to the desk via PC and web cam. The customer then places the real object in the projected postbox to check whether it is the correct size. If we add the other driving forces of the Outernet we get an idea of how big the service influence of the Outernet is. COMPAniES MUST THEREFORE … • establish service quality management to augment existing services with the potential of the Outernet • establish innovation management to identify additional services for the customers • involve employees and customers actively in the process of service optimisation and extension.

„2. BrAnd

be experienced on The digital fingerprint of a brand can Web TV and soites, webs the Internet today. Campaign mers a digital custo the er off to used now cial media are brand experience. usually ends at However, the digital brand experience ted cases it isola in – n scree uter the edge of the comp game consoles. or es devic ile mob to leap the ages man h are experiencYet it is precisely the digital devices whic ce, for Surfa osoft Micr ing such rapid development. r experience i-use mult and ch i-tou mult a ers off example, brand showcasthat allows a completely new kind of video-in-print rst fi the re, ermo Furth . ing at the POS types to mass proto solutions are making the leap from ration of integ the is print o-inVide market readiness. lays, loudspeakDisp ucts. prod print into es imag ing mov they can be ers and batteries are made so thin that . zines maga into rated integ to engage in This gives companies the opportunity and at new touch ing exist at interaction with consumers gue. dialo the nd expa to points and RE … BRAnD COMPAniES MUST THEREFO tify relevant • develop a device strategy to iden rate them devices for the company and to integ into the brand presence e to guarantee a • define a digital brand experienc all channels on ence pres ia imed mult rm unifo al stimuli to digit new of g • establish the screenin e is rienc expe d bran al digit the that ensure maintained continuously.

„4. sOurCe OF Business

into the real world, amazon moves the Pos from the internet ers. retail allowing it to compete with conventional

of how the internet The music industry is the prime example how, from that, new and can threaten existing business models The outernet will es.) itun ,(e.g. oped business models are devel tial business poten have an even greater impact on existing and our lives. of area r large much a ect models because it will aff

evil at the same. The outernet can therefore be good and ess models and busin new t it has the power to bring abou of the biggest one ls. mode ess busin ng existi to jeopardise potential or the the assess to challenges for companies will be time. good in s dangers of trend

ess models to be Wikitude is one of the first outernet busin next-generation and sation locali s: force g drivin based on two forces it is possig drivin two i/o devices. By combining these e into a mobile iPhon the or es phon oid andr ble to transform ses itself like a impo super travel guide. The Wikitude browser ented with augm is world real the and lens, layer on the camera s. review Qype travel information from Wikipedia and possibilities it offers The power behind the outernet and the by amazon with its ted nstra demo for this business model are This application s’. mber Reme zon ‘ama n catio mobile appli ts to the amazon objec of s allows users to upload photograph product recome receiv and tVs) or shoes s, store (e.g. chair doing this, By n. retur mendations for mobile purchase in

COMPAniES MUST THEREFORE … • look further to the competition own business • regard the critical analysis of their se cour of er matt a as el mod ever y year. • reinvent and redevelop themselves formula: relevance. in the end, what remains is the simple, old for the customer nce releva have h whic anies comp only those to enter into a able be will in an increasingly complex world oping a relationdevel and g lishin estab to view dialogue with a mers and custo their d ship. and only those which understan the busie, futur the in nce. releva ve achie act accordingly will by ‘management by d mine deter be will anies comp the of ness consumer insights’. [mobile]

Blink#1

[mobile] COnsumer BeWAre

CoNSuMeRS BeWaRe - of what your friends think! tomorrow, consumers will be combining shopping with social media. in fact, they're already doing it now, using Facebook and twitter from the comfort of their own homes to ask their friends what to buy. soon, consumers will be just as comfortable networking from their iphones while in the middle of a shopping spree. new technology drives new behavioural patterns. By kim mØller-elsHØJ

esterday's received wisdom on how consumers choose one product over another is simplistic, based on the assumption that they behave in a rational manner. today we know that this paradigm tends to relate only to the process of purchasing mid-range, humdrum items (think printer toner!). consumers feel more than they think, and will make their decisions accordingly. When the new Jaguar Xf came out, i immediately coveted it (zero rational behaviour there) even though i knew i already loved it that evening i spent hours trawling the web for more information: my emotions had started to give way to reason, and i needed to post-rationalise my initially strong affective response.

Blink#1

[mobile]

tHe sOCiAl risk OF COnsumptiOn of course, almost everything on the average shopping list is going to cost a lot less than a Jaguar Xf; when someone considers buying a handbag, mobile phone or clothes, it’s often not just the price tag (be it too cheap or too expensive) that stops them from buying – far more important is what their friends will think of their purchase. consumer behaviour theory refers to this as ‘perceived risk’. in the aﬄuent Western world, financial risk is secondary to the (psycho-) social risks such as: “my friends may think i look so last year”, “Will they think i’m green enough?”, “i won’t be respected”. This is particularly true for the buyer when there is something at stake and it explains why consumer behaviour tends towards minimising the risk of unfavourable evaluation by their peers. With the advent of social media, they can do this more easily than ever before.

sOCiAl mediA There are several online facilities that will assist consumers – in real time – with their decision making. type “should i buy” into facebook search and twitter search and you’ll find hundreds of people asking and answering that question. Hunch.com helps you make decisions and gets smarter the more you use it. as they themselves put it: “in ten questions or less, Hunch will offer you a useful solution to your problem, concern or dilemma across hundreds of topics.” another, pollpigeon.com, allows you to create a poll to obtain people’s views on what laptop, dress or rhinestone glove to buy. all of these services are set up in seconds and easily accessed from your BlackBerry, Google android phone or other web-enabled mobile devices. imagine this scenario. a young woman goes handbag shopping. she casts her eye over the bewitching display. should it be a La Perla, a Longchamps, or something

iF yOu WAnt tO knOW mOre Facebook search: http://www.facebook.com/search/ twitter search: http://search.twitter.com/ Hunch.com: http://www.hunch.com/women-s-shoes/ poll pigeon: http://pollpigeon.com/search/?query=should+i+buy example of someone who, from the dressing room, has posted a pic of a dress, asking for her friends’ evaluation: http://tweetphoto. com/6621137

[mobile] COnsumer BeWAre the graphics on this page is an example of a Qr code. made from the word mediaCom.

source on quote on google’s move: http://www.biggu.com/2009/12/31/announcing-shopsavvy-3-6for-android/shopsavvy App http://www.biggu.com/apps/ examples from Japan: http://blog.cliffano.com/2009/05/18/ qr-code-usage-in-japan/ packaging news uk http://packagingnews.co.uk/channel/ converting/news/980776/

else? she takes a photo of the chosen bag with her iPhone and, via twitPic, posts it onto her twitter feed to be picked up by her fellow fashionistas, and then carries on browsing in the store. five minutes later, she gets the feedback she needs: “Love it”; “Gorgeous. Buy it!”; “don’t buy it! i hear they use indian kids to do the tanning of the leather”. in a trice, she has gone from admiring a handbag to knowing that she shouldn’t buy it, because the company may be using child labour. What better way for a young shopper to minimize the associated social risks? This behaviour poses a challenge to the retailer. a poor-quality snap of a beautiful product or an untrue product story could result in negative online buzz, despite the fact that the person photographing it is actually in the store looking at it, and loving it. But retailers, be warned: any business that tries to seize all control of the information that customers share with

their network online will fail. instead, it is important to seek to understand this natural evolution of behaviour and support it. tHe retAilers’ respOnse developing responses to this is crucial – and the only limit as to how, should be our imagination. customers can be helped to share thoughts and feelings with their friends online: today an increasing number of mobile devices have built-in barcode(1d)or QR-code(2d)-recognition software, capable of holding simple data such as an internet address. The next generation of mobile phones will have built-in Rfid-chip readers, and the generation after that will have super sophisticated photo-recognition software installed. This software will be able to recognise any object, and link it with matching data from the web. all customers have to do is activate their cameras which, in an instant, will recognise the code and respond accordingly. Last december Google announced their Google favorite Places program whereby Google mailed QR code window stickers to something like 190,000 local retailers. all of these QR codes are tied to Google’s local search feature and allows the retailer to include coupons and special offers to users who scan the codes (Google can track the use of these codes and charge accordingly just like they do with adwords). next step is that these codes become product specific, which has been acknowledged by the company “Big in Japan”, who has made the mobile app “shopsavvy” that links a product barcode with a wealth of online opportunities. in the case of the handbag scenario described above, the store could have added a QR-code to the price tag; the code could hold a shortened uRL that would take the customer directly to twitter.com, where the entry field would have been pre-filled with a link to the product page for that

particular bag, or perhaps a link to a web page containing a review or background story on the product. This way, the company could achieve a degree of control and be assured that the photograph viewed online would be top quality, and the product story would be correct. in addition, friends who click on the link on twitter would even have the opportunity to purchase the product online, there and then. The technology for this is ready, and the shift in behaviour has already advanced; especially in Japan,where similar concepts have existed for a while. nowadays it is rare to find a product, poster or magazine in Japan without a QR code, according to Packaging news, uK. today QR codes are used by record companies in ads. The consumer snaps the code, and is brought to a website where he or she can listen to samples of the artist’s music, there and then via the mobile device. Japanese Jagariko snack food’s QR-codes link to free downloads of ringtones. You find them on disney posters, outdoor advertising, mcdonalds cups and paper bags (nutritional info), t-shirt tags have them, and so do magazines; integrating off-line with on-line. now retailers in the rest of the world need to get ahead of the curve – before the curve gets ahead of them. in the future, an even tighter merge between off-line shopping and on-line social media will be inevitable. kim møller-elshøj is a futurist and the founder and director of scuttlebutt, a research and strategy consultancy

[mobile]

Blink#1

Mobile Cases

Cases from the MediaCom world that will inspire you.

Mobile Case from US

Dell

MediaCom and their mobile specialist group, Joule, are leading the efforts to migrate Dell’s successful direct selling model to the mobile channel. • The central challenge to Dell’s mobile efforts is creating a consumer proposition that encourages the purchase of high consideration items, like computers, through Courtesy of Dell Inc mobile phones. • MediaCom and Joule approached this challenge by creating mobile-specific direct selling efforts that maximize the personal, immediate and interactive aspects of the mobile channel. • MediaCom and Joule provide a turn-key mobile marketing solution for Dell – channel and campaign strategy, media planning and buying, WAP site development, SMS, consumer messaging and measurement and analytics.

Dell Back to School (Direct Selling)

Dell’s Back to School campaign focused on direct selling of student-oriented items through the mobile Internet. • Highly targeted, performance-based media on the mobile Internet drove users to the Back to School mobile micro-site. • All products featured on the micro-site linked directly to Dell’s m-commerce engine for purchase. • An SMS call-to-action was incorporated into the BTS direct mail pieces, allowing consumers to interact immediately with the program via mobile. • A robust analytics system tracked user activity from banner click through transaction.

Results

• Average order values in triple digits, demonstrating a successful consumer proposition • The performance based media generated sufficient transactions to deliver a positive ROI for the campaign For more information please contact Director of Team Dell Media Adam Komack at adam.komack@mediacom.com

Blink#1

[mobile]

Mobile Case from Denmark

TDC Butik

(Tele operator: TDC Retail)

Challenge

TDC Butik wanted to use their existing print media to maintain and continue the sales dialogue with their clients on their mobile phone from February 1st 2010 with a target is to reach 25.000 mobile permissions by the end of 2010.

Solution

MediaCom Mobile delivered a sms-based competition with built-in permission and an interactive mobile platform to send out newsletters with a high degree of sales incentive, inspiration and involvement and also a viral effect. The newsletter was sent out weekly during the campaign periods.

Results

15.000 permissions were collected by May 1st 2010 through three sales catalogues. Unique insights into the respondents use of smart phones and terminals in general were gained. In addition, tracking on other teleoperators' clients, on visits to the store, store locater and redemption of vouchers were also attained. For more information please contact Mobile Director Steffen Krabbenhøft at steffen.krabbenhoft@mediacom.dk

[mobile] CASES

Mobile Case from UK

Snickers – Get Some Nuts! Masterfoods/Mars

Summary

A radical new approach to Mobile, and a sensible new approach to buying space helped Snickers grow in a declining market. 1980s icon Mr T helped young blokes get one up on their mates, creating the world’s first voicemessage generating ad in the process. The campaign was spread by consumers themselves – this viral success led to a turnaround in sales.

Opportunity/problem

Substantial chocolate bars like Snickers are fundamental to Mars’ business. Despite the successful launch of the new campaign in 2007, spearheaded by Mr T encouraging the nation’s males to “Get Some Nuts”, increasing sales in this category is a tough call. We had to make “Get Some Nuts” famous amongst young men.

Mobile Case from UK

Insight

This category is in long term decline with the rise of healthier eating – even amongst the young males. Giving them another reason to be a part of the brand was key. This audience thrives on an environment of one-upmanship – their friendships are a tsunami of ribbing, piss-taking, and general abuse. How could we harness this behaviour and become a part of their daily banter with mates?

Natwest phone App (Royal Bank of Scotland)

Making it happen

A digital campaign that featured the world’s first in-banner voice message generator, developed by MediaCom’s in-house creative team. Rolling over the ad, the user could select a friend’s name, phone number, and one of seven reasons why they think that friend needs to “get some nuts”. The friend would receive a call from Mr T, pointing out their foibles and culminating in the suggestion that they “get some nuts”. To make it viral, they’d receive a text asking them to send it to their friends. The voice-message generator was also housed on the website with other Mr T content. In a first, all digital media space was bought on a “cost per voice message” basis.

Results

Over 66,000 unique phones calls delivered in 8 weeks. For more information please contact Mobile Manager Peter Fyfe at peter.fyfe@mediacom.com

The brief

NatWest and RBS needed a ready-made audience for their iPhone apps. Our job was to encourage the customers to download them.

The offer

Our customers could download the apps before anyone else.

The answer

First, we searched our data for customers with NatWest or RBS sort codes. Next we checked if any of them had iPhones. Then we told them about the app.

Results

The number of people who've clicked through on our messages has stayed high. Nearly 23% people have downloaded the apps so far and the apps have picked up a lot of social media buzz. For more information please contact Mobile Manager Peter Fyfe at peter.fyfe@mediacom.com

[mobile]

Blink#1

[content] THE ANSWER FACTORY

Demand Media and the Fast, Disposable, and Profitable as Hell Media Model By Daniel Roth / photography: tom rossum / illustration:

Blink#1

[content]

[content] THE ANSWER FACTORY

[content]

Blink#1

[content] THE ANSWER FACTORY

If Christian Muñoz-Donoso is going to make this job pay, he’s got to move quickly. He has a list of 10 videos to shoot on this warm June morning, for which he’ll earn just $200. To get anything close to his usual rate, he’ll have to do it all in two hours. As he sets up his three video cameras on the rocky shore of a man-made lake in Huntington, Massachusetts, he thinks about the way things used to be. He once spent two weeks in a bird blind in his native Chile to capture striking footage of a rarely seen Andean condor. But those jobs are almost as endangered as that bird. Now he trades finesse for speed.

oday’s topic is kayaking. Muñoz-Donoso has enlisted a local instructor to meet him and to bring along four of his boats. Every five minutes, Muñoz-Donoso’s assistant shouts a new subject — “Kayak basics!” “Paddling tips!” — and the expert, sitting in one of his rigs in the bourbon-colored water, riffs off the top of his head. Muñoz-Donoso gets most of his shots in one take. But conditions are working against him. Shifting winds and changing light require him to adjust his setup. The instructor keeps switching kayaks and gear. Finally, the entire shoot has to be put on hold as three bearded fishermen loudly and slowly drag their boats into the lake, directly into the frame. Muñoz-Donoso hoped to finish his shoot by 11, but it’s already 12:45 when he crams his equipment into the back of his SUV and speeds back to his office, 20 mile away. He climbs a flight of stairs to his studio above a strip mall, unloads his gear, and keeps up his breakneck pace. As he opens his files in Final Cut Pro, he winces. “Normally I’d eliminate the wind or the kid screaming in the background,” he says. “But in this case we don’t do any of that.” He points out that the focus is off: The rippling water is sharp while the kayaking instructor is slightly blurred. But the company he’s working for won’t care, he says, so why should he — especially for $20 a clip? Within a few hours, he has uploaded his work to Demand Media, his employer for the day. It isn’t Scorsese, but it’s fast, cheap, and good enough. Thousands of other filmmakers and writers around the country are operating with the same loose standards, racing to produce the 4,000 videos and articles that Demand Media publishes every day. The company’s ambitions are so enormous as to be almost surreal: to predict any question anyone might ask and generate an answer that will show up at the top of Google’s search results. To get there, Demand is using an army of MuñozDonosos to feverishly crank out articles and videos. They shoot slapdash instructional videos with titles like “How To Draw a Greek Helmet” and “Dog Whistle Training Techniques.” They write guides about lunch meat safety and nonprofit administration. They pump out an endless stream of bulleted lists and tutorials about the most esoteric of subjects. Plenty of other companies — About.com, Mahalo, Answers.com —

Blink#1

[content]

have tried to corner the market in arcane online advice. But none has gone about it as aggressively, scientifically, and single-mindedly as Demand. Pieces are not dreamed up by trained editors nor commissioned based on submitted questions. Instead they are assigned by an algorithm, which mines nearly a terabyte of search data, Internet traffic patterns, and keyword rates to determine what users want to know and how much advertisers will pay to appear next to the answers. The process is automatic, random, and endless, a Stirling engine fueled by the world’s unceasing desire to know how to grow avocado trees from pits or how to throw an Atlanta Braves-themed birthday party. It is a database of human needs, and if you haven’t stumbled on a Demand video or article yet, you soon will. By next summer, according to founder and CEO Richard Rosenblatt, Demand will be publishing 1 million items a month, the equivalent of four Englishlanguage Wikipedias a year. Demand is already one of the largest suppliers of content to YouTube, where its 170,000 videos make up more than twice the content of CBS, the Associated Press, Al Jazeera English, Universal Music Group, CollegeHumor, and Soulja Boy combined. Demand also posts its material to its network of 45 B-list sites — ranging from eHow and Livestrong.com to the little-known doggyphoto site TheDailyPuppy.com — that manage to pull in more traffic than ESPN, NBC Universal, and Time Warner’s online properties (excluding AOL) put together. To appreciate the impact Demand is poised to have on the Web, imagine a classroom where one kid raises his hand after every question and screams out the answer. He may not be smart or even right, but he makes it difficult to hear anybody else. The result is a factory stamping out moneymaking content. “I call them the Henry Ford of online video,” says Jordan Hoffner, director

Online content is not worth very much.

er of employ … the day

[content] THE ANSWER FACTORY

He has shot more than 40,000 videos for Demand, filming yo-yo whizzes, pole dancers, and fly fishermen. But ask him to pick a favorite and he’s stumped. “I can’t really remember most of them,” he says.

of content partnerships at YouTube. Media companies like The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, AOL, and USA Today have either hired Demand or studied its innovations. This year, the privately held Demand is expected to bring in about $200 million in revenue; its most recent round of financing by blue-chip investors valued the company at $1 billion. In this industrial model of content creation, Muñoz-Donoso is working the conveyor belt — being paid very little for cranking out an endless supply of material. He admits that the results are not particularly rewarding, but work is work, and Demand’s is steady and pays on time. Plus, he says, “this is the future.” He has shot more than 40,000 videos for Demand, filming yo-yo whizzes, pole dancers, and fly fishermen. But ask him to pick a favorite and he’s stumped. “I can’t really remember most of them,” he says. In an era overwhelmed by FlickrYouTubeWikipedia-BloggerFacebookTwitter-borne logorrhea, it’s hard to argue that the world needs another massive online content company. But what Demand has realised is that the Internet gets only half of the simplest economic formula right: It has the supply part down but ignores demand. Give a million monkeys a million WordPress accounts and you still might never get a seven-point tutorial on how to keep wasps away from a swimming pool. Yet that’s what people want to know. Ask Byron Reese.

eese is a tall Texan who serves as Demand’s chief innovation officer and who created the idea-spawning algorithm that lies at the heart of Demand’s process. To determine what articles to assign, his formula analyses three chunks of information. First, to find out what terms users are searching for, it parses bulk data purchased from search engines, ISPs, and Internet marketing firms (as well as Demand’s own traffic logs). Then the algorithm crunches keyword rates to calculate how much advertisers will pay to appear on pages that include those terms. (A portion of Demand’s revenue comes from Google, which allows businesses to bid on phrases that they would like to advertise against.) Third, the formula checks to see how many Web pages already include those terms. It doesn’t make sense to commission an article that will be buried on the fifth page of Google results. Finally, the algorithm, like a drunken prophet, starts spitting out phrase after phrase: “butterfly cake,” “shin splints,” “Harley-Davidson belt buckles.” But that’s just the start. Armed with those key words, another algorithm, called the Knowledge Engine, dives back into the data to figure out exactly what people want to know about the term. If the original algorithm divines “2009 Chevy Corvette” as a profitable title, the Knowledge Engine will return with “cost of 2009 Corvette”; for “shin splint” it might come back with “equine treatment shin splints.” The second

[content]

Blink#1

[content] tHe AnsWer FACtOry

algorithm also looks at how well past titles with similar words have performed in terms of ad revenue. Demand has learned, for instance, that “best” and “how to” bring in traffic or high clickthrough rates, while “history of ” is ad poison. At the end of the process, the company has a topic and a dollar amount — the term’s “lifetime value,” or LTV — that Demand expects to generate from any resulting content.

To predict any question anyone might ask and generate an answer that will show up at the top of google’s search results.

The focus on LTV keeps Demand away from any kind of breaking news coverage or investigative work, neither of which tends to hold its value. It does, however, produce the kind of evergreen stories typically seen in newspaper features sections. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently commissioned Demand to produce some travel articles that ran online and in print.

he algorithm’s endless ramblings — a collection of cacophonous phrases and esoteric subjects — seem haphazard and chaotic. But Reese knows there is logic at work. When asked for the most valuable topic in Demand’s arsenal, he replies instantly: “‘Where can I donate a car in Dallas?’ One, you have a certain number of people searching for it. Two, the bid term ‘donate a car’ is in the double-digit dollars, like $15 or $20 per click. People have a propensity — 17 percent — to click on an ad when they see the word car. There’s very little competition. And the article will retain its value for a long time.” So why Dallas? He has no idea: “Dallas just happens to be the location where we know people are searching for how to donate a car.” T hat’s not to say there isn’t any room for humans in Demand’s process. They just aren’t worth very much. First, a crowdsourced team of freelance “title proofers” turn the algorithm’s often awkward or nonsensical

phrases into something people will understand: “How to make a church-pew breakfast nook,” for example, becomes “How to make a breakfast nook out of a church pew.” Approved headlines get fed into a passwordprotected section of Demand’s Web site called Demand Studios, where any Demand freelancer can see what jobs are available. It’s the online equivalent of day laborers waiting in front of Home Depot. Writers can typically select 10 articles at a time; videographers can hoard 40.

early every freelancer scrambles to load their assignment queue with titles they can produce quickly and with the least amount of effort — because pay for individual stories is so lousy, only a high-speed, high-volume approach will work. The average writer earns $15 per article for pieces that top out at a few hundred words, and the average filmmaker about $20 per clip, paid weekly via PayPal. Demand also offers revenue sharing on some articles, though it can take months to reach even $15 in such payments. Other freelancers sign up for the chance to copyedit ($2.50 an article), fact-check ($1 an article), approve the quality of a film (25 to 50 cents a video), transcribe ($1 to $2 per video), or offer up their expertise to be quoted or filmed (free). Title proofers get 8 cents a headline. Coming soon: photographers and photo editors. So far, the company has paid out more than $17 million to Demand Studios workers; if the enterprise reaches Rosenblatt’s goal of producing 1 million pieces of content a month, the payouts could easily hit $200 million a year, less than a third of what The New York Times shells out in wages and benefits to produce its roughly 5,000 articles a month.

demand Media has created a virtual factory that pumps out 4,000 videoclips and articles a day. it starts with and algorithm. The algorithm is fed inputs from three sources. seArCH terms (popular terms from more than 100 sources comprising 2 billion searches a day. tHe Ad mArket (a snapshot of which keywords are sought after and how much they are fetching), and tHe COmpetitiOn (what´s online already and where a term ranks in search results).

Blink#1

[content]

algoRiThM No.1

The algorithm determines what articles to produce, it also estimates a search term´s earning potential - its lifetime value, or lTV.

[content] tHe AnsWer FACtOry

efore Reese came up with his formula, Demand Media operated in the traditional way. Contributors suggested articles or videos they wanted to create. Editors, trained in the ways of search engine optimization, would approve or deny each while also coming up with their own ideas. The process worked fine. But once it was automated, every algorithm-generated piece of content produced 4.9 times the revenue of the human-created ideas. So Rosenblatt got rid of the editors. Suddenly, profit on each piece was 20 to 25 times what it had been. It turned out that gut instinct and experience were less effective at predicting what readers and viewers wanted — and worse for the company — than a formula. The humans also couldn’t produce ideas at the scale of the algorithm. On a recent day, Demand Studios had nearly 62,000 freelance assignments ready to be filled; coming up with that many ideas takes more than a white board and a conference room jammed with editors. And to Demand, scale is essential. One outside search engine marketer estimates that Demand earns a mere 15 to 60 cents per ad clicked. It takes millions of clicks to build a real business out of that.

olume is also crucial to Demand’s top distribution partner, Google. The search engine has struggled to make money from the 19 billion videos on YouTube, only about 10 percent of which carry ads. Advertisers don’t want to pay to appear next to videos that hijack copyrighted material or that contain swear words, but YouTube doesn’t have the personnel to comb through every user-generated clip. Last year, though, YouTube executives noticed that Demand was uploading hundreds of videos every day

> algoRiThM No.2

A second algorithm, the knowledge Engine, generates title ideas by combing through search queries that have included that term.

— pre-scrubbed by Demand’s own editors, explicitly designed to appeal to advertisers, and cheap enough to benefit from Google’s revenue-sharing business model. YouTube executives approached Demand, asked the company to join its revenue-sharing program, and encouraged it to produce as many videos as possible. Since then, the two companies have grown even closer. When YouTube’s sales team bemoaned the tiny supply of Spanish-language videos for it to run advertisements against, YouTube’s Hoffner called up Demand. Within weeks, Demand Studios started issuing Spanishlanguage assignments. Soon it had uploaded a few hundred clips to YouTube — everything from how to be “un buen DJ” to how to fix a bathroom towel bar. “I know we do deals with the ESPNs and ABCs of the world, but Demand is incredibly important to us,” says Hoffner (who is married to wired’s executive director of communications). “They fill up a lot of content across the site.” And they do it by taking what used to be a deeply human and intuitive endeavor and turning it into a purely mathematical and rational one. This, Reese says, is the ultimate promise of his algorithm:

“You can take something that is thought of as a creative process and turn it into a manufacturing process.”

> PRooFeR No.1

A freelance title proofer looks at the term spit out by the algorithm and, for 8 cents each, tries to make it into a real title.

[content]

Blink#1

[content] tHe AnsWer FACtOry

> PRooFeR No.2 A second proofer, also paid 8 cents a piece, improves on the first title.

Blink#1

[content]

> ediToR An editor (in thsi case from eHow) loads the phrase into the central repository for assignment, a Web site called Demand Studios.

> FReelaNCe WRiTeR A writer trolling through Demand Studios spots the title and writes it up for $15.

[content] tHe AnsWer FACtOry

“You can take something that is thought of as a creative process and turn it into a manufacturing process.”

By next summer, according to founder and Ceo Richard Rosenblatt, demand will be publishing 1 million items a month, the equivalent of four english-language Wikipedias a year.

ichard Rosenblatt was born and raised in Southern California’s San Fernando Valley and has rarely ventured far from Hollywood’s orbit in spirit or in geography. He is 40 and wiry, with carefully tousled brown hair, a bright-white, everpresent smile, and a long, pinched nose. One day this spring, Rosenblatt was in the foyer of Demand’s Santa Monica, California, headquarters, casually chatting with Brooke Burke — the bikini model, former TV host, and Dancing With the Stars winner — and her fiancè, a Baywatch actor. Rosenblatt is also friends with cyclist (and Demand investor) Lance Armstrong, a fact that he mentions frequently. (“I’m supposed to go to France Wednesday with Lance, but I just can’t,” he confided, sighing. “It’s a lot of travel.”) He is particularly fond of the exhortation “Go big or go home,” a phrase that he includes in his email signature and has commemorated in the naming of Demand’s Go Big conference room. Numerous executives told me that when they first met Rosenblatt, they were immediately repulsed: He was too slick and seemed to be missing the geek edge. “Then in five minutes you’re like, ‘Holy cow, this guy has it all to back it up,’” says Quincy Smith, CEO of CBS Interactive.

> PlagiaRiSM CheCKeR The article is checked against a database to make sure it´s not cribbed.

Demand is just the latest of Rosenblatt’s run of startups, nearly all of which hewed to his “go big” mantra. After graduating from USC law school in 1994, he saw that companies were growing curious about the Internet, so he set up a company that offered a $3,000 Web-design seminar that came with a custom-built Web site. The startup, which was later called iMall, went public at $18 a share, shot up to $112, then plummeted when the Federal Trade Commission investigated the firm’s claim that its clients’ sites were earning $11,000 a month. They weren’t, it turned out. Rosenblatt was forced to kill the seminar division, losing 95 percent of his company’s $16 million in annual revenue. He quickly refocused on iMall’s other business of providing an ecommerce platform for small and medium-sized companies and sold the company in 1999 to Excite@Home for $565 million in stock. Rosenblatt bought a Ferrari. Excite@Home soon went bust. In 2000, Rosenblatt took over the ailing drkoop.com, an online site tied to C. Everett Koop. Where others saw just another ad- dependent disease-information site, Rosenblatt saw a chance to turn the bearded former surgeon general into a brand, the next “Martha Stewart or Walt Disney — but for health,” as he told BusinessWeek at the time. He created a line of Dr. Koop Men’s Prostate Formula pills. The company went under.

> CoPY ediToR A copy editor gets paid $2.50 to read the article, make any fixes, and upload it back to Demand Studios. it´s automatically posted on eHow.

ads from google (and other sources) appear on the page with the article. [content]

Blink#1

[content] THE ANSWER FACTORY

Perhaps weary of going big, Rosenblatt went home, where he derived some comfort from the millions he had earned. He bought and sold a domain registrar company. He started a site called Superdudes, where users could create superhero-like avatars. He invested in a nightclub in San Diego.

ut with the birth of Web 2.0, big was back. In 2004 a group of investors tapped Rosenblatt to run eUniverse (later renamed Intermix Media), a struggling Internet conglomerate that happened to own MySpace. Soon after Rosenblatt started, New York attorney general Eliot Spitzer charged Intermix with bundling adware and spyware with its free games and screensavers. Rosenblatt settled almost immediately, handing over $7.5 million — the entire cash holdings of Intermix. “It was the worst, most miserable time in my life,” he says. Still, he could be consoled by the fact that his company had survived and still had MySpace, which was exploding into the Internet’s dominant social media site. AOL, Viacom, and News Corp. were all sniffing around, and Rosenblatt began to play them off each other. Not long after settling with Spitzer, he sold Intermix to News Corp. for $650 million, of which he earned $23 million. Then he left the company. Although Rosenblatt had been at MySpace for only 18 months, he had seen enough to come up with a theory: The social network was doing it wrong. It had built a supersite, aggregating millions of users and encouraging them to root around. But they had difficulty finding information about specific subjects. “I kept thinking about gardening,” he says. “People wanted to talk about gardening, but they didn’t want to do it on MySpace.” Instead they went to Google, which was its own kind of aggregator, collecting everyone who searched for specific terms and directing them to appropriate sites. If he could collect enough tiny sites and sell Google ads against them, he could potentially build a more successful business than he could with one supersite.

Blink#1

[content]

n the strength of this plan, Rosenblatt raised $355 million from funders like Goldman Sachs, Oak Investment Partners, and legendary investor Gordon Crawford. Then he went looking for acquisitions. He bought eNom, one of the largest domain registrars, and Pluck, a company that handles commenting and social networks for Web sites, along with dozens of amateur-content sites that could catch lowly keyword ads. Among them: eHow, Trails.com, GolfLink.com, and Cracked .com. Rosenblatt now had three revenue sources: domain sales; services; and video, banner, and Google ads. Demand Media was born. But it wasn’t until 2007, when the company bought ExpertVillage.com, Byron Reese’s how-to site (reportedly for roughly $20 million), that it began to realize its potential. Reese and Rosenblatt soon began working on an idea that Reese had long struggled with: Millions of visitors were coming to ExpertVillage and generating reams of data, but his editors didn’t do anything with it. What if they used that information to determine what content to create? Here is the thing that Rosenblatt has since discovered: Online content is not worth very much. This may be a truism, but Rosenblatt has the hard, mathematical proof. It’s right there in black and white, in the Demand Media database — the lifetime value of every story, algorithmically derived, and very, very small. Most media companies are trying hard to increase those numbers, to boost the value of their online content until it matches the amount of money it costs to produce. But Rosenblatt thinks they have it exactly backward. Instead of trying to raise the market value of online content to match the cost of producing it — perhaps an impossible proposition — the secret is to cut costs until they match the market value.

ot everybody agrees with him. Howcast, one of Demand’s largest competitors, also produces explainer videos and how-tos. Unlike Demand, the company employs a staff of editors and writers and gets freelance voice-over pros. Filmmakers can earn a couple thousand dollars shooting the videos, and the difference is noticeable. (Howcast’s “How to Make Friends at a New School” includes such useful tidbits as “sit in the middle of the classroom to surround yourself with as many potential new friends as possible.” Demand-owned eHow’s “How to Be Popular in School” video, in contrast, offers such vague guidance as “be nice to everybody.”) “We believe that quality holds long-term value,”

Demand Media was born. But it wasn’t until 20 when the company bought ExpertVillage.com, Byron R how-to site (reportedly for roughly $20 million), that it beg realize its potential. Reese and Rosenblatt soon began worki an idea that Reese had long struggled with: Millions of visit coming to ExpertVillage and generating reams of data, but h didn’t do anything with it. What if they used that informa determine what content to create? Here is the thing that since discovered: Online content is not worth very much truism, but Rosenblatt has the hard, mathematical proof. It black and white, in the Demand Media database — the lifetime valu algorithmically derived, and very, very small. Most media companies are increase those numbers, to boost the value of their online content until amount of money it costs to produce. But Rosenblatt thinks the Howcast CEO Jason Liebman says. He emphasizes that his team comes up with titles the old-fashioned backward. Instead of trying to raise the market value o way: deciding what people want to learn based on their to match the cost of producing it — perhaps an impo own instincts, what holidays and events are coming up, tion — the secret is to cut costs until they match th and from general research. Yet Howcast pulls a tiny — and Not everybody agrees with him. Howcast, one of D getting tinier — fraction of the traffic that eHow does, and est competitors, also produces explainer videos and how Liebman hesitantly acknowledges that he’s working on an algorithm to compete with Demand. Demand, the company employs a staff of editors and write freelance voice-over pros. Filmmakers can iebman isn’t the only one ready to couple thousand dollars shooting the videos, mimic Demand’s approach. CBS and the difference is noticeable. (Howcast’s Interactive — which owns CNET, UrbanBaby, GameSpot, and other “How to Make Friends at a New School” sites — also deploys an algorithm that includes such useful tidbits as “sit in the helps guide what its sites cover. AOL is middle of the classroom to surround working on one as well. Smaller sites like yourself with as many potential Helium and Associated Content are trying to bring their own flood of freelancer-written work to the Net, using many new friends as possible.” of the same contributors as Demand. Demand-owned eHow’s The fact is, the Demand way may be inescapable. A senior execu“How to Be Popular tive at a major media company likened Demand’s algorithmicin School” video, in based content-creation factory to what he saw in the advertising contrast, offers industry in the past decade. Experience, relationships, and gut checks started losing out to raw data. “To customers, advertising such vague may not look that different, but the systems to deliver the right ads guidance as to the right consumer at the right time have changed dramatically,” “be nice to he says. “The content systems are going through the early, early everystages of that right now.” Still, Rosenblatt says he is trying to place a new emphasis on body.”) quality. “There’s a constant debate internally,” he says. “This “We might sound crazy, but I’d rather spend more and put more believe quality into the process. Long term, we’ll make more money that by increasing quality.” try a But when he gets into the details, it’s clear that he’s not nd qualmoving far from his Henry Ford model. “We’re not ity

talking about $1,000 videos, so a couple dollars here or there can make a serious difference. For instance, pay an extra dollar for fact-checking.” How can anyone survive on that? Good question. Google it. If the answer isn’t out there, it soon will be.

Goog

le it …

[content] keep it sHOrt, stupid

Blink#1

[content]

[content] keep it sHOrt, stupid

As new forms of emerge, we develop new ways of communicating. the intrinsic limitations of each medium generate a surge of human creativity which ensures that the receiver understands the communication. this is the story of why a growing 160-character culture is making us communicate much more than we did before. By pAtriCk BAy dAmsted

[content]

Blink#1

[content] keep it sHOrt, stupid

n 29 May 1913 there was a riot at the Paris Ballet. It was the premier of the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky's ballet The Rite of Spring. The audience immediately reacted. Right from the quiet opening bassoon solo, a number of jeers and boos were heard from the audience, and as the ballet progressed, the jeering and booing escalated. The audience were hearing something they had never heard before and reacted spontaneously. The sound was different from what they were used to, and the music, the choreography and the scenography were totally different from what they had expected to hear and see at the Paris Ballet on that night in May. Stravinsky had created a spontaneous failure, which provoked fighting in the audience. As a result, police had to arrive in the interval to restore a reasonable degree of order. The performance was completed with a certain amount of riot and disorder in the audience – but there was no doubt that the new form was making great demands on those in the audience. Later, psychologists have suggested that the surprising jumps in melody and the shifting rhythms characterising The Rite of Spring made the audience feel uneasy, thus making them aggressive, especially as they did not have the ability to decode the music because it went beyond their expecta-

neW sHOrt FOrmAts On tHe net if this article has made you feel like exploring the new short formats on the internet, the natural place to start is status updates on Facebook or the large number of messages on twitter – where organisations as diverse as Wal-mart and nAsA communicate their messages and a large number of celebrities keep in touch with their fan base. you can also see creativity flourish if you search the web for 6-word novels – a form inspired by ernest Hemingway’s statement that the best novel he wrote consisted of just six words: “For sale: baby shoes, never used” – or if you enter the search string #twitterart in twitter’s search field. One thing is certain: limitations break down all limits.

FreedOm is WHAt We dO WitH tHe limitAtiOns We HAve In 2008 Americans sent a total of about 75 billion SMS messages per month. What was originally intended as a way to use unused resources during time periods with no traffic on the mobile phone network is now a billion dollar function that has long since caught on, with all its intrinsic limitations. When the Finn Matti Makkonen invented the SMS

all through history and everywhere in art we see how limitation has been the starting point and driver for wilder creativity. tions and their past experience with ballets. Nobody helped them understand what they were hearing and seeing – and that left them perplexed and angry.

Blink#1

[content]

system, he and his colleagues had to limit the amount of data per message so that the format could fit into the existing signalling format on the mobile network. The length of messages was initially limited to 128 bytes

and later to 140 bytes – or the equivalent of 160 characters. The first message was, in all its simplicity, “Merry Christmas” – and since then we have used the 160 characters for a wide range of human communication. Every day, jokes, marriage proposals and gossip are flying through the network, aided by the tools we have invented to work around the limitations to our communication. But how come a medium with such great limitations is still so successful – despite the fact that abundance and unlimited possibilities are the very symbols of our present-day expectations of both media and life?

his is because limitations can be man’s best friend. Limits make us feel secure but also awaken our intrinsic creativity. All through history and everywhere in art we see how limitation has been the starting point and driver for wilder creativity. From the freaky French-speaking Oulipo group of writers, poets and mathematicians, who, through restrictions, tried to invent new ways of writing, and the Japanese haiku

[content] KEEP IT SHORT, STUPID

poems, which were written according to stringent rules, to the American writer Hemingway, who personally found that the best novel he wrote consisted of six words. Across their fields, artists and inventors are using limitation as a principal driver of creativity, based on the philosophy that without limitations we will create nothing new of any value. The Power of the Smiley From the beginning of his long career, film director Lars von Trier, who has won the Palme d'Or at Cannes, among other awards, has used strict self-imposed limitations to strengthen the creativity of his production. For instance, he made a film under the selfimposed limitation that he could spend no more than € 133,333 on its production, and in another film, camera movements were controlled by a computer. But he is probably best known as the insistent member of the quartet of film directors behind the Dogme 95 films, where a large number of international film directors undertook to abide by ten rules, referred to as “the Vow of Chastity”. For instance, they were not allowed to add sound or light after filming. The result was more than 200 films from all over the world that focused on telling their story rather than on technique. Von Trier learned the technique behind creative limitations from the hero of his youth, Danish film director and poet Jørgen Leth, who has used the art of limitation stringently in his entire production. Von Trier later turned what he had learned from Leth against him in the film The Five Obstructions, in which Trier challenged Leth to remake his classic 1967 short film The Perfect Human. In The Five Obstructions the master is thus tormented with his own technique by his pupil. If you know the story behind the films, they are masterpieces. However, von Trier’s films are not easily accessible if you do not know the background; then the absence of added sound and light will be just a shortcoming – or the computer-controlled camera movements will be peculiar, purely and simply.

000000000 26-PST,1142;000 15-Apr-79 12:05: 9 1740-PST -7 pr -A C rcvd at 12 -M IT M : om -fr ail M 79 1736-PST Date: 12 APR 19 IE at USC-ECL st Draw(cont’d) From: MACKENZ HICS and the Fa ET M 15 10 P# OU Subject: MSGGR OFFICE-1 To: ~drxal-had at at PARC-MAXC IT-MC, malasky M at p cc: msggrou erning the loss w days ago conc fe a ge sa es m In regard to your medium: of meaning in this have mment, but I too us hesitate to co th d ns an , sio re es pr he w ex l I am ne res, facia lack of tone, gestu we could e s th ap m rh fro Pe d ? re ion ffe su ning of a solut gin be e th t es gg etc. May I su e, i.e: punctuation we us extend the set of nt sentence is mea te that a particular ica ind to sh wi I If it so: ek, I would write with tongue-in-che the current ow I agree with all “Of course you kn policies -).” administration’s The “-)” indicates

tongue-in-cheek

’s Digest article len from a Reader sto t bu , ine m t ct. I’m sure there This idea is no tely different subje ple m co a . on o ag I read long e our punctuation r ways to improv tte be r, he ot y an are m Any comments? Kevin

[content]

Blink#1

[content] keep it sHOrt, stupid

he same applies to sms messages, which would not be a very sexy medium if we had not invented an entirely new form of grammar to superimpose on the basic text communication. This technique takes its starting point in what we are dealing with – the letters and other characters available to us – adding a good deal of human creativity. one of the most important additions is emoticons, which are now such a well-known and established aspect of our daily communication that they are taken for granted. However, the need to express the mood of a message emerged with our ability to communicate by means of text via a network where messages were sent in dialogue form but still spoke to only one of our senses. The limited bandwidth of text communication forced us to be creative. The post (see page 47) – from 1979 – on a mailing list is one of the best – and first – examples of that: Without a smiley, you may offend the receiver – despite the best intentions – with something that was meant to be friendly. Therefore, we need a set of characters with which we can express emotions. Kevin macKenzie’s suggestion to his colleagues on the american aRPanet mailing list resulted in a rapid development – which accompanied the development of digital communication on the mobile network and the internet for the simple reason that the meaning of a message is not created by the sender alone but just as much, or perhaps to an even higher degree, in the space between the receiver and the message. students of this field call it reception theory – research into the meaning we create when receiving communication. The difficult thing about communication is not to send a message – but to make sure it is received as precisely as possible. and that can be difficult as reception takes the form of decoding in the mind of another human being and is thus deeply dependent on the sum of his or her life experiences and cultural background. Therefore, nothing can stand alone if it is to be understood correctly. and therefore, the audience was unable to understand the depth of stravinsky’s creativity at the premiere of his new ballet on that evening in may 1913. it was the first time

Blink#1

[content]

The meaning of a message is not created by the sender alone but just as much, or perhaps to an even higher degree, in the space between the receiver and the message. they heard and saw it, and nobody helped them understand it. time has helped us, and as The Rite of spring has found its place in history, we have gradually become able to see that it is remarkable and of lasting value – in fact a work of genius – solely because we now know the context.

more economical with letters because we are rarely permitted to use more than 160 characters, we are beginning to develop other ways of squeezing more and more communication into the cramped space available. We are beginning to communicate in a more condensed way rather than at length.

A 160-CHArACter Culture emoticons make it possible for our facebook updates, our tweets and our sms messages to be understood as intended: a smile may flicker across the receiver’s face – or he will understand that now we are serious. However, our creativity goes much further than just combinations of colons, dashes and bracket signs intended to be viewed with one’s head tilted to the left. Thus, as the trend towards short messages requires us to be

The basic question is: why is our use of short messages growing in an age when the technical limitations should have been overcome? “in my opinion, where there have been short message requirements imposed on current media, this has typically not been driven mainly by technical limitations but has rather been due to providers’ billing models, in the case of sms messages, or people's shortening attention spans due to the breadth of

eaTed in R C is g in er tHe meAn tHe reCeiv F O d in m tHe The Rite of Spring, which stravinsky composed in 1913, was so creatively striking that it has gone down as one of the most important moments in music history – a point in music history where one could speak of a “before” and an “after”. this surge of creativity sprang in part from the art of limitation. stravinsky had composed the whole of the rite of spring without time signatures and the result was a piece of music which later became world-famous for its violent and unpredictable rhythms. those in the know about classical music speak of three categories of classical composers: those who take the past as their starting point and never let go of it, those who start in the past and move on – and stravinsky, who started in the future. But he lacked one important thing at the premiere in paris: the ability to convey his music to the audience. time and, with it, many other classical experts took care of that – and only later did we all understand his vision. His music became a success when somebody who had the necessary experience and was sufficiently cultured heard it and conveyed it to the rest of us. the music lacked the punctuation which was necessary in order for it to be widely understood.

[content] keep it sHOrt, stupid

entertainment now available, in the case of twitter and other social networks,” says Richard West, the creator of a so-called uRL shortener called is.gd. a uRL shortener makes it possible to shorten very long web addresses to short strings of characters, which are better suited for media intended for short messages. “uRL shortening services are useful mostly in media that allow only a limited number of characters, the best example being sms messages. uRLs, which might be deep within a site or dynamically generated, very often run to 50+ characters, and this simply isn't a good use of space within an sms message. another very popular use is in twitter messages, which have similar restrictions,” explains Richard West, who developed his uRL shortener because he was dissatisfied with the existing options. The uRL shortener is an effective addition which makes it possible to squeeze much more data into less space. if, for instance, i wanted to write a twitter message, where i have only

shortened uRLs, which is far more than is.gd will ever require.” Thus, the future can easily remain short. sHOrt is gOOd for a long time, we believed blogs would become all the rage on the internet. However, they only caught on among large numbers of the general public when the form became short and to the point. on the other hand, we quickly learned that a status update like “Just took the dog for a walk” will get much fewer comments on facebook than the update “The dog just took me for a walk” solely because the latter leaves room for interpretation in the receiver. something that can happen in the encounter between text and receiver – that can shift the experience from sender to receiver. creativity flourishes on both sides of the communication when we encounter a limitation.

The basic question is: why is our use of short messages growing in an age when the technical limitations should have been overcome? 140 characters available, and wanted to include the uRL of a previous article i wrote for Blink, i would have to write: http://blink.mediacom. com/new-business-model. By now i would already have used 44 of the 140 characters available – and there would not be many characters left for explanatory text. after visiting is.gd, however, all i would have to write would be: http://is.gd/6n6Vn, in other words only 18 characters. The link works just as well as the direct one, and it is the is.gd server that ensures that anyone who enters the shortened uRL is taken to the original one. so far, is.gd has shortened 100 million links, and Richard West explains that it will be a long time before they run out of short uRLs: “is.gd's uRLs won't become significantly longer than they are currently. They'll stay the current length until just over 916 million shortened uRLs have been created, and after that, adding one additional character will allow over 56 billion unique

[content]

Blink#1

[mediaCom promotion]

m:Files MediaCom introduces

three new planning tools from our network in the last couple of years MediaCom Global has been collecting econometric modelling cases identifying effective ROi campaigns to establish a global benchmark base. This base is the fundament for a couple of new planning tools allowing planners at MediaCom to provide our customers benchmarks for expected campaign performance. These tools are now part of MediaCom's Global core planning suite of support tools.

Media Multiplier – cross-media impact on net reach

Blink#1

Photo: Evelyn Huang, MediaCom Beijing

Photo: Robert Fry, MediaCom Singapore

effective Frequency Calculator

Econometric modelling shows that exposure on Radio is not as impactful as exposure on TV (e.g. when we aim to create brand or product awareness). However, the level of impact can also vary across categories. TV, for instance, might be more powerful in one category than another. These econometric modelling findings are the foundation for the Media Multiplier planning tool. Media Multiplier uses the impact index across media for the relevant category when estimating the net impact reach for a campaign. For example: When a TV campaign generates 80% net reach, the radio campaign generates 50% net reach and the print campaign 75%. Media Multiplier estimates the combined net reach for the campaign as a whole, using the impact index developed from our econometric modelling studies. Therefore, the tool can be used to set objectives for the combined net impact of a client’s campaign.

Touchpoints

When introducing a new brand or a new product that consumers have never heard of or hardly know, we need higher frequency in order for the message to cut through. The Effective Frequency Calculator, like the Media Multiplier, is based on the MediaCom Global econometric modelling benchmarks and allows planners to establish different scenarios for the planned campaigns based on a number of different factors (e.g. competitive noise, expected campaign strengths & weaknesses, consumer involvement and category characteristics). Our benchmarks establish different scenarios to give Planners an estimated best effective frequency for their client’s brand or product. The Effective Frequency Calculator is mostly used in close cooperation with the clients as some factors - like expected campaign creative strength and weaknesses, for instance could be an evaluation if no pre-test of the campaign has been made.

Photo: Corrina Bachtiar, MediaCom Toronto

Planning campaigns aimed at generating Brand Awareness requires a set of activated touchpoints very different from campaigns aimed at repurchase sales. But which touchpoints have most impact when planning Brand Awareness campaigns and which are most impactful when planning sales driven campaigns? If the client already carries out econometric modelling studies for their brand, these studies will provide the answer. However, for clients who have not yet engaged in econometric modelling, Touchpoints is a planning tool that evaluates up to 30 different contact points (e.g. TV, radio, word of mouth, displays, sponsorships, etc) and has the ability to impact different planning scenarios such as: Awareness, Consideration, Preference, Start Dialogue, Purchase, Experience/Loyalty, Repurchase, & Advocacy. We work with our clients to calibrate touchpoints for their brand and invite our planning team and marketing departments to reply to an online touchpoints survey. This gives the client a unique opportunity to discuss which touchpoints are most relevant for different planning scenarios. Using the results of the Touchpoints survey (based on the client’s replies as well as those of the MediaCom planning team) as a basis for the planning process, future planning can be carried out in a smoother and faster manner.

[mediaCom promotion]

m:Files

e t a r u c e c r a u s Newbile Mea Mo he uK in t

bile bal mo o l g l l ing for a (body trics repor t ent A m s e the g dia m elopm bruar y mobile me k in the dev e will be e F f o 4th mar ting d the ime w On the rs) launche his is a land or the first t e traffic visi o n f h operat in the uk. t g because and view t ow us to pla n a a l system ile adver tisi us level dat data will al so provides l s b of mo access cen s. the mmm nts and it a e e able to internet sit e for our cli e industr y. l ent i e mobil ely on mob rrency for th asureme m v a u i i med e cen effect n trading c curate cks real-tim media o c m a t m s o o c em r the ly tra m is th anonymous h is a first fo m m A m hic . it the gs er launched ehaviour w h b v g e sin . searc e w tool b o r u t b u l e on yo sus lev y found e r b t s n indu eo ca ch vid n obile u a l nute Fyfe, m o i e r d m e i t v 0 e m A1 act p mA mm e cont .com s a e l for gs p iacom ation, nform er.fyfe@med i r e h t t For fur er, uk at pe g a n ma

Blink#1

[ereader] FrOm reAder tO ereAder

ereader FrOm reAder tO

Are you considering whether to make the switch from reader to ereader? Blink reports on the experiences and reflections of a newly converted ereader. By pAtriCk BAy dAmsted

Blink#1

[ereader]

[ereader] FrOm reAder tO ereAder

gOOdBye tO ups I buy quite a few books from abroad. Both new and used books find their way into my shopping basket from a variety of countries and bookstores as I usually become aware of a book I want to buy when browsing the Internet and rarely when browsing a physical shop. Therefore, I decide that my next gadget is going to be an ebook reader. The choice is simple: the combination of user-friendliness, assortment and accessibility points towards Amazon’s Kindle. My Kindle arrives two days after it has been shipped. It travels from Kentucky via Cologne and Malmo to Denmark. It travels 7,000 kilometres in two days and arrives at my address in the easily recognisable brown van from UPS. That is ten days less than it typically takes to get a book delivered from Amazon. com in the US to Hans Christian Andersen’s – and yours truly’s – town of Odense, Denmark. As I close my door, I think to myself that because of the very parcel which my always friendly UPS man has just delivered, it will probably be a long time before I see him again. That is, if my Kindle is

the switch has happened: i am no longer just a reader, but an ereader. after skimming through a few pages. Instead, I find a book in Kindle Store about how to write sitcoms and buy it. 20 seconds later it is on my Kindle and I start reading. A neW generAtiOn OF gAdgets My Kindle is not very attractive to look at. It looks slightly clumsy and dated but it is functional and userfriendly in a way that surprises me. I belong to a generation that grew up with the Commodore 64 – and thus the first tape and disk drives – and with automatic answering machines and Video 2000 players. My generation is not used to being wooed by gadgets. On the contrary, electronics, especially the digital kind, had a high entrance barrier when I was a teenager. One had to adopt the machine’s way of thinking and accept its mood swings. One minute it would say: “Use me!”, and the next minute it would crash while one was trying to use it. A Kindle is not like that. It takes its starting point as the lowest common denominator. A Kindle has a user

From the start, i operate my kindle intuitively as good as Amazon promises. I tear open the box, which is the size of a thick book in A5 format. There is my Kindle, in a soft cardboard insert. I take it out and push the switch at the top right. It switches on and writes: “Hi Patrick”. The next minute I have downloaded a 20-page sample of a book that Amazon recommends for me – a recommendation I choose to ignore

interface that never screams: “Operating system!” or “Blue screen!” Instead, it speaks to – and with – the consumer’s impulses. Right from the start, I operate my Kindle intuitively, and even if my life depended on it, I would have no idea where the user’s guide is – or if my Kindle came with a user’s guide at all. The Kindle is navigated using six navigation controls and a

small joystick which is a bit like a built-in mouse. However, I have yet to learn how to control my impulse shopping – with the built-in mobile data connection, it is a very short step from thought to action. As my Kindle knows it belongs to me, it also knows my preferred credit card right from the start and there is nothing whatsoever to stop me from buying and downloading books on the spur of the moment from an online store which is open 24/7, with approximately 390,000 titles available so far in Europe (592,000 in the US). The advantages are very tangible. There is no waiting and an ebook does not have to make a long, CO2-expensive journey from the UK or the US. “Well, have you read any books on that Kindle thing?” asks a slightly sceptical, and slightly jealous, friend who drops by for coffee a couple of days later. And the answer is yes; in fact, I have read more than I normally do. I always have my Kindle with me – when I am out during the day and when reading in bed at night. Since I am the kind of person who reads more than one book at a time, it is great that it remembers the last page I was on and also stores my notes, which I normally scribble down on loose pieces of paper. But most importantly, my Kindle has made me read more because I have all my books with me wherever I go. So no matter which of my books is relevant in a particular situation – or which of my books I feel like reading – it will be there. Which of course means that it will more often be relevant to read. My Kindle has a good memory and is a great companion for me, who typically buys four or five books per month on

[ereader]

Blink#1

[ereader] FROM READER TO EREADER

The experience of reading a book is best on a Kindle, while magazines and newspapers – where of course pictures and layout play an important role – look greatest on an iPad. impulse. However, I only read non-fiction on my Kindle. Not one short story, novel or book of poems has found its way into the digital memory, which holds 1,500 books. But this is quite typical of my usual reading pattern as I read two or three novels a year at the most. 1.7 Kilos of Paper So far, my only problem has been how to find the right way to hold my Kindle, especially when I am lying down. After a couple of days I decide to put my Kindle away for a bit and continue where I left off in the latest nondigital book I have bought: Walter Isaacson’s Einstein biography. However, as it has more than 700 pages and weighs 1.7 kilos, I soon find myself longing to hold my Kindle instead

The first time I hold an iPad in my hand, I know that this is going to be my next gadget of love. It has a touch screen, and this is what makes it so different. What do you do with people you love? You caress them, and this is exactly how you operate an iPad: gently, softly and calmly. 56

Blink#1

[ereader]

as my arms are trembling by now. The switch has happened: I am no longer just a reader, but an ereader. I don’t mind at all not having a book to put on a shelf – to collect dust – when I have finished reading it, but I know there are others who find it almost heartbreaking. However, my unromantic life as an ereader goes both ways: I am very much aware that the Kindle is my first – but not my last – ebook reader, and I am beginning to envy those who have a Nook, the ebook reader from Barnes & Noble. The Nook can add a number of social dimensions to reading as, in addition to the mobile network, it connects to Wi-Fi. Barnes & Noble is basically a chain of physical stores, and it is taking full advantage of this fact with the Nook. Thus, if you go into a Barnes & Noble store and you have your Nook with you, you will be greeted with information about special discounts and you will be able to browse that specific store using your Nook. Also, Barnes & Noble offers a feature which enables you to lend books to friends by sending them by wireless to any phone or computer with the free Barnes & Noble eReader software downloaded on it. In addition, you can expand the memory of your Nook to hold up to 17,500 books. There is no doubt that the Nook is a more social product whose purpose is in the real rather than the digital world. However, the fact that I live 800 kilometres, as the crow flies, from the nearest Barnes & Noble soon dampens my envy – and I have my Kindle and 390,000 books right here in my hands. Mobile Book Reader After some weeks I discover the real truth about Kindle: it is not a gadget – it is the bridge between having your library and your reading pattern anchored in the physical world or in the virtual world. With the introduction of Kindle’s software for both iPhone, PC and Mac, it is easy to switch devices, reading a bit on my computer, a bit on my phone and a bit on my Kindle. Each platform knows my entire library and the last page I was on in each of my books. As an old friend of mine always says, it is availability that creates the need –

and Amazon knows that: its virtual shelves are brimming with books, and now Amazon is offering me access everywhere I look. This fact is hard on my Kindle. Suddenly it lies on my desk for days. I forget to charge it, and before long it is not part of my reality any longer – why carry a heavier gadget with me when my mobile phone has the same features? In less than three months, my Kindle evolves from a physical product into a digital concept – and the chrysalis from which the butterfly emerges is my Kindle gadget, which is left lying empty on my desk. But there are also other serpents in paradise. Thus, I am green with envy when Apple launches its iPad. As is usually the case when Apple launches a new product, the iPad is well thought-out – and just gorgeous. The iPad is a sports car in a world of Russian tanks, and the first time I hold an iPad in my hand, I know that this is going to be my next gadget of love. It has a touch screen, and this is what makes it so different. What do you do with people you love? You caress them, and this is exactly how you operate an iPad: gently, softly and calmly. Therefore, Apple can afford to be up against many self-imposed odds: Apple’s books are about one-third more expensive than Amazon’s because Apple is heavily married to the publishers, while Amazon has tried to put pressure on publishers regarding pricing. In fact, for a long period of time Amazon sold its ebooks for less than it had paid for them in order to force prices down. In addition, Apple does not have nearly as many books as Kindle, but on the other hand, the publishers are more in love with iPad – for the very reason that books for iPad are more expensive. Therefore, the six big American publishers are threatening to stop supplying books for Kindle if Amazon does not raise its prices, and then the assortment will probably change quickly. And then there is the screen. The iPad’s screen is backlit, while the Kindle’s screen does not use backlighting but works by darkening certain areas and using the light that falls on the screen to display the page, the same way a paper book works.

[ereader] FROM READER TO EREADER

iPad Apple could sell the iPad embedded in concrete that you would have to chop away yourself – I would still buy it. But that is irrelevant, because we are not facing a war between Kindle and iPad. This is not about two gadgets – or two types of gadget, each with its benefits and drawbacks. This is a shift from a cultural heritage that started with stone tablets and is now published on thin paper – to one which started with the graphical user interface and the mouse in the sixties in California and is published in our heads, behind our eyes.

In less than three months, my Kindle evolves from a physical product into a digital concept We know the latter will win – because it is understood in the same place where the reading experience takes place: in our imagination. We don’t read an ebook, we create it in our heads, in the same way as we create every single creak, face or smile we read about in a paper book. The physical experience is easy to explain: the experience of reading a book is best on a Kindle, while magazines and newspapers – where of course pictures and layout play an important role – look greatest on an iPad. But this is by no means the central point now. The platforms are not – and have never been – the experience, because regardless of whether you read your next book on your mobile, your Kindle, your tablet, your computer or even your watch, it is the words you read and the way your brain unfolds them that make all the difference.

[ereader]

Blink#1

[ereader] Bookworms Behind the screen

behind the screen By Patrick Bay Da

msted / photogr aphy MATTON

arvey Chute is a book 6” Kindle (‘Kindle 2’) worm. He will read at as well as a Kindle DX ,” says Chute. He con airports and on plane tinues: “Kindle s. He has definitely changed will read at night by the my reading habits for the better. I find it light of his bedside lam much easier to disp. cover new books and – He will read at the slig convenient to downhtest opportunity. load those books right He devours book after from my Kindle. book and has done All of our Kindles are so for a large part of his on the same Amazon 47-year-old life. account, so when my Harvey Chute is not the wife recommends a kind of guy you book to me that she ha would expect to replac s downloaded, I can e his paper books immediately get it on with an electronic book my Kindle without reader. And it was having to pay again for not on the cards that Chute would be one it.” Chute is by no means the only Kind of the driving forces beh le fan. At Christmas ind the most active 2009, ebook sales ove Internet forum for Ki rtook sales of physindle owners. “My cal books on Amazon, first, instinctive, reacti and the surge seems on to Kindle was unstoppable. The evo similar to many book lution from paper lovers: an interest in to pixel is taking place it, mixed with some sce at lightning speed. pticism about the On its peak day, 14 De ebook experience. I lov cember 2009, e the physical feel Amazon shipped 9.5 of paper books, even the million Kindles – the smell of them,” equivalent of almost Chute tells Blink. But 110 per second – to on a trip to Atlanta, expectant readers wo Georgia, he met the fut rldwide, according to ure in a coffee bar. an official announcem “I saw a lady using an ent from Jeff Bezos, original Kindle and founder and CEO of asked her about it. Sh Amazon. e was enthusiastic and insisted that I give it a try. It was my first But Kindle is much time viewing an e-ink more than just screen, and it didn’t a success for Amazon take long for me to ‘ge – there is also a t it’. I knew at that community and an eco point that, for me, thi system of related s was going to be the products emerging aro preferred way to do lon und the device. An g-form reading.” example is Harvey Ch ute's KindleBoards. com, the largest indep Harvey Chute wa endent website s sold on a new aimed at anyone with way of reading. Amazo an interest in Kindle. n’s electronic book Since November 2007 reader had entered his , 8,000 members life, and today the have made more than Chute family are the 300,000 posts beproud owners of no tween them, and the less than three Kindles number of page views . “My wife has an has exceeded 22 millio original Kindle; and I n “Our members have the current use our forums to exp ress their passion in 58

Blink#1

[ereader]

KindleBoards To visit Harvey Chute’s independent Ki ndle community , go to http://www .kindleboards.c om/

Harvey Chute Chute, who has dual American and Canadian citizen ship, is a progra m manager with an IT consulting com pany and lives in Bellingha m, Washington, about 100 miles north of Seattle, with his wife and three daug hters.

terms of eboo k recommenda tions, ebook cl ebook bargains ubs, tips on and reviews of Kindle access Chute, who fo ories,” says unded KindleB oards because perfect combi this was the nation of his two interests, books. There gadgets and is no doubt in his mind why become so succ his site has essful: it is no t about ebooks in general – it or ereaders is exclusively about the read ence associated ing experiwith a Kindle. “I think our fo Kindle has be en a benefit fo cus on r us. Kindle ha moved to a pr s quickly ominent posi ti on ket, and there in the ereader are a lot of Kin mardle owners ou now. When th t there ey have questi ons or commen usually want ts, they to address thos e to people fa Kindle, not to miliar with ereaders or te ch-gadget fans That focus ha in general. s also helped us generate a expertise on K high level of indle. Our mod erators, and m our members any of , are deeply fa miliar with K troubleshootin indle usage, g and other ti ps. So for a K it’s a natural on indle owner, e-stop,” he says . – Indeed a on e-stop which is also a starti authors, both ng point for established an d unknown, w have new oppo ho no rtunities for ge tting readers fo w books thanks r their to Kindle and the it. A number of unknown au community around thors are selftheir books as publishing free platform. In ad or paid downloads on the Amazon dition, a subs tantial numbe which are so ol r of books d that nobody owns the righ longer can be ts any downloaded to the Kindle. A by the Los Ang s reported eles Times at the end of Dec 2009, 64 of A ember mazon’s top 10 0 Kindle title at USD 0.00. s were priced To the book in dustry, a price 0.00 sounds sh of USD ocking, but fo r an unknown ebook priced author, an at USD 0.00 could launch career. “In fact a very lucrativ , one author, e Boyd Morriso published his n, who selfbook ‘The Ark ’ on Kindle, be popular on K came very indleBoards an d was subseque to a publishing ntly deal from a su bsidiary of Sim signed Schuster,” says on & Harvey Chute . The book an are scheduled d its sequel for release in 16 countries so far in 2010. The evoluti on toward s digital distri storage of book bution and s is unstoppabl e. Amazon’s erea der are phenom The sales figures for enal. The com the ecosystem munity and arou and growing da nd Amazon’s Kindle are im pressive y by day. How ever, all of this by the spiritua is driven l union which evolves betwee and reader as n author the story unfo lds. Thus, whe Chute goes to n Harvey bed at night in Bellingham, W he will switch ashington, on his bedside lamp and his immerse himse Kindle to lf in a book be cause, as he co interview, “To ncludes the use a bad pun, it really has re enjoyment of kindled my good books.”

[ereader]

[content] Bookworms Behind the screen

Blink#1

[ereader] will ereaders achieve mass appeal?

eReaders in the U.S. are gaining in popularity.

But Will They Ever

in a World of Convergence? A year ago, many Americans had never heard of an eReader, and an even larger number had never seen one. But 2009 was the year when several new players entered the market, retailers stocked their shelves for holiday sales, and eReaders received increasing press from both traditional outlets and from consumers themselves, spreading the word via blogs and social networks. Where the market is headed and its ultimate successes are still to be determined, but the race for market dominance is clearly on. By MediaCom U.S. Edited by Michele Skettino Interest in eReaders among U.S. consumers has seen a slow, steady climb. When early models were first introduced as far back as 1998, they failed to create demand. It wasn’t until Amazon – the largest on-line book retailer in the U.S.—introduced its eReader Kindle in 2007 that interest began to build. Perhaps it’s not surprising that it took a behemoth like Amazon to create demand for the new technology. Leveraging an estimated 65 million monthly visitors (Forrester), Amazon targeted Kindle to its core following of heavy book buyers, who were obviously comfortable with technology and with purchasing books on-line. Until last year, Amazon’s only major competitor in the eReader space was Sony’s Reader Digital Book. At last count, Amazon still holds a 60% share of the eReader market in the U.S., while Sony holds 35% (Forrester). However, change is coming quickly. The eReader market is becoming increasingly crowded with new players and new technologies—including most notably, and most recently, the Apple iPad. Perhaps because of this new competition, and both the paid marketing and organic buzz that followed, familiarity and interest in eReaders is growing among U.S. consumers. In the latter half of 2008, almost 40% of Americans had never even heard of electronic book devices, compared to just 17% in 2009 (Forrester). Sales are also on the rise. By the end of 2008, Kindle and Sony combined had sold approximately 1 million units. According to Forrester projections, total eReader sales were expected to top 3 million by the end 2009, and jump to 13 million by 2013. New and better technologies are certainly contributing to the increase in eReader popularity, including larger screens that duplicate the print reading experience; the ability to download eBooks to other devices; growing availability of eBook and periodical titles, and sharing ca-

Blink#1

[ereader]

[ereader] Will erAders ACHieve mAss AppeAl? pabilities. But changes in consumers’ media and purchasing habits are also likely driving demand. Simply put, consumers may finally be ready. With mobile and on-line media consumption now commonplace, immediacy has become the norm. We want to read what we want, when we want, where we want, at the touch of a bottom. Waiting for a book to come in the mail, or traveling to the store to buy it, is almost becoming quaint. And with thousands of songs now available on our iPods, we are also accustomed to unlimited options. eReaders allow you to carry your entire library with you—so choice is no longer limited to the number of books you can squeeze into your bag. WHO’s reAlly using tHe ereAder? As eReader sales and awareness grow, their user profile is changing as well. As Forrester Research suggests, the early adoptors of eReaders were gadget-loving, frequent book buying, technology enthusiasts –a group that at most accounts for about 5 million U.S. homes. They were primarily older males, with higher than average incomes, thus rendering the relatively high price of eReaders less of an issue. And since this demographic also tends to have a longer commute and travel more for business, the inherent appeal of the eReader was a given. As with most technologies, as eReader popularity grows, the consumer base is becoming more reflective of the overall population. While once heavily male-skewed, today’s eReader consumers have gotten younger, include a growing number of women, and are less tech-savvy than the early adopters. This shifting consumer base will have implications on sales trends. It is likely that this second wave of consumers will be

about reading to purchase a single-purpose device? Or, will the reading experience offered by other already owned devices, such as laptops, netbooks, iPhones, be “good enough” for the average consumer? Alternately, if purchasing a new device, will consumers be motivated to spend a bit more for the “tablet” or “slate” devices that offer much of the same benefits as the eReader, but also offer additional uses? If initial sales of the iPad are any indication—having sold over 2 million units in the U.S. in little over two months—the answer seems to point toward “yes.” In fact, already it’s reported that 5 million books have been downloaded from the digital iBooks bookshelf, again in only about 70 days. Following these trends, most experts would probably agree that eReaders will eventually follow the trend of all technology which points toward greater convergence. Perhaps a dedicated reader, such as the Kindle, was needed to create initial interest in eBooks, but moving forward eBooks can probably survive without an independent reading device. For instance, Amazon is already allowing its Kindle users to sync content with other devices, such as the iPhone.

the latter half of 2008, almost 40% of Americans had never even heard of electronic book devices, compared to just 17% in 2009 (Forrester). We want to read what we want, when we want, where we want, at the touch of a bottom. less concerned with having the “latest” technology, and more concerned with price. In fact, price sensitivity may be the strongest factor limiting the widespread adoption of eReader technology: they are still relatively expensive. At the high-end, the larger model Kindle DX is priced near $500 U.S. while the small Sony Reader eBook “Pocket” Edition at the lower end of the price spectrum is priced around $200 U.S. –still a relatively large investment for a single-use device. Forrester research suggests that the majority of online adults (60%) would not purchase an eReader unless it was less than $100 U.S. Future OF tHe ereAder still unCleAr While we know that interest in eReaders is clearly growing in the U.S., the future of the market still leaves many questions. For instance, beyond avid readers and frequent book purchasers, does the average American consumer care enough

This being said, however, convergence will take time, and eReaders are still likely to gain considerable penetration in the coming years. After all, as stated earlier, sales are projected to grow from 3 million to 13 million by 2013. There are also a number of factors that could bolster sales. For instance, the lucrative textbook market and business markets have yet to be tapped, and global distribution of eReaders is in its early stages. In addition, if the newspaper and magazine industries are successful in promoting eReadership with new subscription and content distribution models, and/or with direct investment in subsidised electronic reading devices, usage figures could rise significantly. Or not. The truth is, no one really yet knows how big the eReader market will grow, or who will emerge as the winners. For the time being though, as some major U.S. retailers are hoping, there is likely a growing swell of Americans who simply will not be able to resist taking home another shiny new gadget.

[ereader]

Blink#1

A User’s Guide

to Young Men introducing its Planning Tool

Some of you may recall that in 2008, the Discovery Channel launched the most comprehensive study into male attitudes and behaviours ever undertaken. The study reached out to every corner of Europe and beyond, from Sweden to Romania, from Russia to France, encompassing 19 markets and over 14,000 young men. By Claire O’Connor, EMEA Director, Insights & Innovations, Discovery and Alexander P. Nielsen, Nordic Research Director, Discovery Insights from the study were distilled into a book entitled, Species: A User's Guide to Young Men, published in September 2008 and shared with media owners, advertisers and journalists. A male segmentation was also produced resulting in the creation of four broad typologies, three of which can be further subdivided. The insights uncovered then are still relevant today and by applying our segmentation algorithm to all proprietary projects since we first published Species, we continue to develop and further cement our vast knowledge of what is going on in the hearts and minds of young men and how they are coping with today’s pressures. Additionally, the Discovery Insights team continue to keep the study alive through various initiatives. First a web 2.0 application was created called FYI Species. Over 200 Discovery personnel contribute to the site by tagging relevant articles about young men and their lifestyles, all of which help keep the study alive and fresh. In 2009 Discovery developed another aspect to the study. Based on the foundation of Species a Planning Tool was developed. Discovery surveyed 8,000 men,

Blink#1

1,000 across each of the 8 markets. Results can be evaluated using the male typologies first uncovered in September 2008. The purpose of doing so was to enable Discovery to align brand attributes to Species typologies and then to Discovery content, providing advertisers with a model that enables them to effectively connect with highly targeted viewers in a manner they haven’t been able to do so before. The four broad Species typologies are: Pressured Providers, Modern & In Control, All About Me and Non-Committals. Across the Nordics, the most common type of young man is Modern & In Control except in Finland where the All About Me mindset prevails. The Species Planning Tool offers a wealth of valuable and flexible information which allows advertisers to gain a deeper understanding of their brands and the young men who consume them. In essence, by helping a brand enhance its positioning with current consumers it can steal market share from close competitors through positioning its brand messaging in a relevant and engaging environment. In order to discuss the breadth and depth of information available

within the Species Planning Tool we will look specifically at Norway, Denmark and Sweden focusing on the brand strategies of Hugo Boss and, in summary, Nokia. One of the first questions which can be addressed by the Species Planning Tool is the popularity of a brand within a market. Hugo Boss is very popular across the three Nordic markets, particularly in Norway and Denmark where it is the 2nd most used brand with 14% and 16% of young men respectively. In Sweden, Hugo Boss is the 5th most used brand amongst 7% of young men. Despite this good performance there is room for growth – especially in Sweden. In the telecoms sector, Nokia is also a successful brand across the three countries, being the most used brand in Norway (36%) and Denmark (46%). In Sweden, Nokia is the 2nd most used brand with 19%, Sony Ericsson being the market leader. One of the major benefits of the Species Planning Tool is its ability to match a brand to a particular segment of young men and identify relevant Discovery content to help position advertising message s or inspire brand partnership opportunities.

tips FOr using tHe tOOl: HugO BOss in nOrWAy

step 1

Understand brand usage by each Species typology. Non-Committals are regular users of Hugo Boss: Norway (Index 124), Denmark (Index 130) and Sweden (Index 126). The brand may want to consider either further enhancing its relationship with Non-Committals or increasing its popularity amongst a typology where usage is lower (eg. All About Me : Norway (Index 89) and Denmark (Index 81)). For these purposes, we suggest strenghtening the brand's relationship with Non-Committals.

step 2:

Of the top 10 motivational factors for buying grooming products, we know that Non-committals over-index on “It helps me look and feel like a successful man” (112) and “Because I like others to notice me and my looks” (108). We also know that Non-Committals in Norway consider themselves to be particularly “Expert, skilled” (125) and “Up to date on latest trends” (120). Hugo Boss could aim to incorporate these statements and values in their brand communications if not already done so.

step 3:

Identify which of the 16 attributes outlined in the study are shared by Non-Committals and the Hugo Boss brand. The highest ranking attributes for both that are common include: ‘A Leader’, ‘Smart & Cleaver’. By leveraging these attributes in its communication / creative execution, the emotional connection Hugo Boss will have amongst these Non-Committal type of young men even further.

step 4:

Understand how the top ranking. Discovery shows amongst Non-Committals align with Hugo Boss’ attributes. Associating the brand with these programmes ensures Hugo Boss sits in an environment where there is already an emotional connection. This increases the likelihood of ad recall and brand message transference. The show Dirty Jobs, for instance, is considered by Non-Committals to be ‘Entertaining & Funny’, ‘Strong & Brave’ and ‘Masculine’. If Hugo Boss was to convey these attributes in its communications, the brand would see higher levels of engagements by Dirty Jobs viewers. On a different note, in Denmark, the Nokia brand is most popular with: Modern & In Control men sharing the traits ‘Handy & Practical’ and ‘Clear & Easy to Understand’.

3 of the 18 species mindsets that all young men across emeA share in their lives but to varying degrees However, close competitor Sony Ericsson is closely linked to the attribute ‘Likes Excitement’. If Nokia wanted to extend its market share here, it might consider establishing an association with the Discovery Channel’s Destroyed in Seconds, a show which indexes quite highly with the attribute ‘Likes Excitement’. In contrast, if Nokia wanted to focus on its own strong attributes, it might consider associating itself with Discovery Channel’s How It’s Made, a programme in which the ‘Clear & Easy to Understand’ attribute ranks very highly. Depending on what Nokia wants to do – steal share from its closest rival or enhance its penetration with its consumers – Discovery Channel content can help the brand support either strategy with relevant and engaging content. In our 2009 study, we explored several brands across 4 product categories in the Nordic region. Please get in touch if you would like to know how your brand could better connect with a young male audience. In 2010, we plan to explore the usage of more brands. If you would like to influence which brands should be included, again please don’t hesitate to get in touch and let us know.

extract from book 1 of the 18 mindsets from the book

Blink#1

BLINK is brought to you by MediaCom, one of the world's largest media agencies. Visit us on www.mediacom.com to find out more about the future of mobile and other media trends, sign up for our quarterly newsletters and online events, read our blogs or follow our consumer panels on twitter.

Blink#1

[ereader]