Two very interesting interviews with Martin Sorrell, WPP CEO. Well woth a few minutes of your time.

The first, Sorrell is asked about the content and gives his views on why FREE does not work:

The second, he gives his views on the future of advertising:

36% of UK Mobile Consumers plan to use the Mobile Internet in Next Year

The research shows high interest in mobile websites, with an average of 28% of European mobile consumers expecting to access websites once a week or more using their mobile phone over the next year. British mobile consumers emerged as the most likely to use the mobile Internet regularly, with 36% stating their intentions to do so over the next 12 months, followed by Germany at 27% and France at 20%.

Take a look a look at where we are today. In the UK, 14m consumers use the mobile internet, some 23% of time spent online is via a mobile device – this shows the reality of mobile. The issue is that today that less than 3% of businesses have a website optimised for a mobile, a staggering discord.

The research asked a 1,000 respondents in each country – Britian, France and Germany. Free access to websites on the mobile Internet emerged as a major driver for usage, with 56% of consumers in France and the UK, and 35% in Germany, stating that they would be very unlikely to use websites which charged them a fee. Fast loading times of websites to the mobile device and simple viewing and navigation were also key amongst French, German and British mobile consumers, with relevant and useful content whilst on the move also featuring highly for Germans.

Other key findings included:

• On average, 30% of mobile consumers (30% UK, 25% France and 36% Germany) were willing to receive alerts from websites of interest on their mobile phone, with 38% preferring these to be via SMS rather than email.

• Mobile search engines emerged as the most popular means of accessing websites on the mobile handset in all three countries, followed by bookmarking in the UK and France, and alerts and notifications in Germany.

The results show that there is a clear and growing market opportunity for the mobile Internet. Mobile is set to be a significant channel and key channel for marketers. However, organisations need to ensure that they deliver to the needs and expectations of a mobile audience.  Mobile is very different to the fixed online environment and is not about transfering your existing offer to a new screen. The mobile channel brings with it a whole load of new considerations – sadly something that many organisations are failing to grasp today. 

A recent European study, by the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) (www.mmaglobal.com) and research partner, Lightspeed Research (www.lightspeedresearch.com), has found on average a quarter of consumers would be more likely to respond to advertising in any media if it allowed them to do so using their mobile device.

The findings of the study should be a wake-up call to advertising and media agencies. Mobile should be firmly in the mix when looking to develop campaigns. It is still amazing to see so many ambient campaigns that don’t carry a call to action that is compatible with a mobile. Many of those that carry web site addresses fail on the fact that the site is not optimised to mobile – very large pages sizes and full of graphics.

The research asked a 1,000 respondents in each country – Britian, France and Germany – about their awareness of and preferences for mobile response options and how mobile would enhance their engagement with advertising. Consumers of all age groups demonstrated high levels of awareness and response across multiple media delivery methods, including print media, cinema, radio, outdoor and in-store advertising.

Texting a keyword to a mobile short-code was cited as the preferred method to responding to an advert.

Television advertising was most frequently mentioned for its inclusion of mobile response mechanisms across all three markets, and was perceived by consumers to be the media where mobile response was most effective. UK consumers however emerged as being more likely to respond via mobile to adverts seen on a PC or laptop, while those seen in a print magazine or on a PC or laptop were most popular in France. Direct mail came out on top for consumer response via mobile in Germany.

Key findings included:

• On average, 25% of consumers (31% UK, 24% France and 20% Germany) felt that they would be more likely to respond to an advert that provided a mobile response cue.

• In the UK, mobile response advertising seen on a PC or laptop elicited a higher activity rate in the last month (25%) than other media. In France, print advertising or advertising delivered via a PC or laptop was the most popular (34%), while direct mail was ranked the highest in Germany (23%).

• Texting a keyword to a short-code was recognised as the best way to gain a response in all three countries, while going to a mobile site or calling a number were also popular across all markets.

Providing a response mechanism using mobile is the ideal way to increase the impact of any marketing activity. A mobile call to action enables consumers to engage with brands whenever they want, where ever they are – perfectly aligned to the increasingly mobile lives that many consumers now live. To capitalise marketers and agencies need to understand the value of mobile and more importantly how to integrate in a way that will really engage and add value to consumers, this second element far too many fail on.

Titled The New New Media, six articles will form a short series about the changing media environment. For other articles click here.

pl. me·di·a: A means of mass communication, such as newspapers, magazines, radio, or television.

The media industry has changed. The way media is delivered, the way we consume media has changed. It was not that long ago the majority of content was created by professionals and published by professionals, content was exclusive. Content created and pushed to our eyes and ears. A newspaper, magazine, television programme, website, everything used to be pushed and we consumed. Content is no longer pushed, today it is increasingly pulled. Digital technologies have changed the rules.

THE CREATOR AND CREATED HAS CHANGED. Content is no longer exclusively the domain of the professional. Content can be created and published by anyone. Barriers have been removed. Professionals still create and publish, but so do the rest of us. The quality has not dropped, the form has simply changed.  Content used to be based on structure and format. Words came in paragraphs, broadcasts came in programmes. Today snippets are the norm.

We consume increasing volume of content in flashes; Words come in 140 characters, broadcasts in one and a half minute bursts. Content is increasingly distributed via text message, or through services like Twitter or Youtube. Consumers create content and comment on existing content. Sometimes this content or comment links to or refers to content created by professionals or published by professionals, but often not. Consumers now dominate in the content stakes, they are the lead in create and share. The balance of power has shifted. The creator has changed.

Snippets are summaries; what is going on, something that has happened, a headline, a piece of information. They create interest; desire to pull more linked to headline, subject, content, tone, language, need or even the creator. Snippets grab attention, or do not. Interest generated in a nano second, we both engage and pull more or we walk away. Choose to walk we are informed, stay consume and we become more informed. Our ability, or desire, to consume rafts of content is diminishing. Summaries are often enough; content succinct, messages stark. The created has changed.

So why does this matter?

Desire and appetite for knowledge and information is not waning, content consumption is exponentially growing. Digital technologies are seeing to that. The challenge for the professionals is to understand how to take advantage; how to create, package, promote their content. Get this right and there are riches to be made. A snippet is more than a headline - control the snippet – it is the new way of marketing and commercialising content.

Importance of mobile is increasing, the channel is set to become a primary content environment for the majority. Gearing content and commercial capabilities for mobile will be key. 

Need more advice?  We specialise in mobile and are here to help.

(Image: Squashed Green golf ball creates chair designed by jean marie massaud truffle)

A fantastic look at the effect of digital technologies on the world we live in. To give you a flavour the quotes specific to mobile:

“The computer in your mobile phone today

is a million times cheaper

and a thousand times more powerful

and about a hundred thousand times smaller

[than the one computer at MIT in 1965]“

“So what used to fit into a building

now fits into your pocket

what fits in your pocket now

will fit inside a red blood cell in 25 years” – Ray Kurweil

Well worth a watch.

pl. me·di·a: A means of mass communication, such as newspapers, magazines, radio, or television.

The media industry has changed. The emergence of digital technologies has seen to that, more people are reached by media and more frequently than ever before. With more people engaging with media why do we continue to hear stories about the media companies struggling to make returns?

THE FOUNDATION HAS CHANGED. If you consider that the foundation of the media industry is historically linked to those that deliver the media content to you – the distributor, news store, the paper boy or girl, publisher and broadcaster – we can start to see why digital technologies have had such a dramatic impact on the traditional media industry.

The foundation is not the road the printed publication travelled, or the sheet of paper that the content is printed, neither is it the airwaves that carries a broadcast signal, it is not the content creator or the even the brand – it is the mechanism that actually delivers the content to eyes and ears.

Digital technologies have changed the landscape, although the principle of the foundation has not changed the players have. The foundation today is linked to organisation such as Google, Facebook, Youtube, Bebo, Skype and Twitter – they are now the mechanism that delivers content to eyes and ears. These players have been brought about by our every increasing appetite to consume and share news and information. The change has been rapid as digital technologies remove the barriers associated to the traditional media. The format, location, distance and time are no longer considerations, the transfer of content and information can be instantaneous and to anywhere in the world.

The issue with the foundation is it has never been hugely lucrative. Think of the newspaper girl or boy they get just a few pence for each paper delivered, the newspaper delivery firm even less per delivered unit. In the traditional world there was money associated with the delivery. For the new foundation this has largely changed there is no money associated to distribution. If you take the list of the new players Google is in the anomaly in that it is the only one that has and is making real money. The others all have fabulous values attached to their organisations but have failed to show any real way to make a return.

So how come Google was different? Basically they got lucky they were in the right place at the right time, they had the right product for the moment and their product was simple. Their first mover advantage gave them a commanding position as a foundation provider. Without them it was harder to access and consume media in the digital environment they became the primary distributor. Google became synonymous with searching on the internet. This commanding position meant that they were able to place a premium charge against the use of the foundation. In the old world they attached the equivalent of a toll charge to a main road or motorway, a placement of 3” border full of sponsorship around the edge of your favourite television programme.

It is unlikely that such a commanding position for other new foundation providers will be achieved as the digital media environment has become fragmented. Third parties have gained a position at the point of actual delivery to the consumer, Organisations like Tweetdeck now provide the interface to Twitter and Facebook,  the foundation role is weakened as consumers have choice and as such commercialisation becomes more challenging. Many of the prospective players will fail to deliver returns - they no longer have exclusive control of distribution and they don’t have the infrastructure, resources or experience.  

Importance of mobile is increasing, the channel is set to become a primary content environment for the majority. Gearing content and commercial capabilities for mobile will be key. 

Need more advice?  We specialise in mobile and are here to help.

(Image by Sebastian May, Artlab – University of Westminster)

You can view the full Morgan Stanley report here: ‘How teenagers consume media’ 

Published: 13 Jul 2009

How Teenagers Consume Media

Radio

Most teenagers nowadays are not regular listeners to radio. They may occasionally tune in, but they do not try to listen to a program specifically. The main reason teenagers listen to the radio is for music, but now with online sites streaming music for free they do not bother, as services such as last.fm do this advert free, and users can choose the songs they want instead of listening to what the radio presenter/DJ chooses.

Television

Most teenagers watch television, but usually there are points in the year where they watch more than average. This is due to programs coming on in seasons, so they will watch a particular show at a certain time for a number of weeks (as long as it lasts) but then they may watch no television for weeks after the program has ended.

Teenage boys (generally) watch more TV when it is the football season, often watching two games and related shows a week(totalling about 5 hours of viewing). A portion of teenagers watches programs that are regular (such as soap operas) at least five times a week for half an hour or so but this portion is shrinking, as it is hard to find the time each day.

Teenagers are also watching less television because of services such as BBC iPlayer, which allows them to watch shows when they want. Whilst watching TV, adverts come on quite regularly (18 minutes of every hour) and teenagers do not want to watch these, so they switch to another channel, or do something else whilst the adverts run.

The majority of teenagers I speak to have Virgin Media as their provider, citing lower costs but similar content of Sky. A fraction of teenagers have Freeview but these people are light users of TV (they watch about 1 ½ hours per week) so they do not require the hundreds of channels that other providers offer.

Newspapers

No teenager that I know of regularly reads a newspaper, as most do not have the time and cannot be bothered to read pages and pages of text while they could watch the news summarised on the internet or on TV. The only newspapers that are read are tabloids and freesheets (Metro, London Lite…) mainly because of cost; teenagers are very reluctant to pay for a newspaper (hence the popularity of freesheets such as the Metro).

Over the last few weeks, the sun has decreased in cost to 20p, so I have seen more and more copies read by teenagers. Another reason why mainly tabloids are read is that their compact size allows them to be read easily, on a bus or train. This is especially true for The Metro, as it is distributed on buses and trains.

Gaming

Whilst the stereotypical view of gamers is teenage boys, the emergence of the Wii onto the market has created a plethora of girl gamers and younger (6+) gamers. The most common console is the Wii, then the Xbox 360 followed by the PS3. Most teenagers with a games console tend to game not in short bursts, but in long stints (upwards of an hour).

As consoles are now able to connect to the internet, voice chat is possible between users, which has had an impact on phone usage; one can speak for free over the console and so a teenager would be unwilling to pay to use a phone. PC gaming has little or no place in the teenage market.

This may be because usually games are released across all platforms, and whilst one can be sure a game will play on a console PC games require expensive set ups to ensure a game will play smoothly. In addition, PC games are relatively easy to pirate and download for free, so many teenagers would do this rather than buy a game.

In contrast, it is near impossible to obtain a console game for free.

Internet

Every teenager has some access to the internet, be it at school or home. Home use is mainly used for fun (such as social networking) whilst school (or library) use is for work. Most teenagers are heavily active on a combination of social networking sites. Facebook is the most common, with nearly everyone with an internet connection registered and visiting >4 times a week. Facebook is popular as one can interact with friends on a wide scale.

On the other hand, teenagers do not use twitter. Most have signed up to the service, but then just leave it as they release that they are not going to update it (mostly because texting twitter uses up credit, and they would rather text friends with that credit). In addition, they realise that no one is viewing their profile, so their ‘tweets’ are pointless. Outside of social networking, the internet is used primarily as a source of information for a variety of topics.

For searching the web, Google is the dominant figure, simply because it is well known and easy to use. Some teenagers make purchases on the internet (on sites like eBay) but this is only used by a small percentage, as a credit card is required and most teenagers do not have credit cards. Many teenagers use YouTube to watch videos (usually anime which cannot be watched anywhere else) and some use it as a music player by having a video with the music they want to listen to playing in the background.

Directories

Teenagers never use real directories (hard copy catalogues such as yellow pages). This is because real directories contain listings for builders and florists, which are services that teenagers do not require. They also do not use services such as 118 118 because it is quite expensive and they can get the information for free on the internet, simply by typing it into Google.

Viral/Outdoor Marketing

Most teenagers enjoy and support viral marketing, as often it creates humorous and interesting content. Teenagers see adverts on websites (pop ups, banner ads) as extremely annoying and pointless, as they have never paid any attention to them and they are portrayed in such a negative light that no one follows them.

Outdoor advertising usually does not trigger a reaction in teenagers, but sometimes they will oppose it (the Benetton baby adverts). Most teenagers ignore conventional outside advertising (billboards etc) because they have seen outside adverts since they first stepped outside and usually it is not targeted at them (unless it’s for a film).

However, campaigns such as the GTA: IV characters painted on the side of buildings generate interest because they are different and cause people to stop and think about the advert, maybe leading to further research.

Music

Teenagers listen to a lot of music, mostly whilst doing something else (like travelling or using a computer). This makes it hard to get an idea of the proportion of their time that is spent listening to music. They are very reluctant to pay for it (most never having bought a CD) and a large majority (8/10) downloading it illegally from file sharing sites. Legal ways to get free music that teenagers use are to listen to the radio, watch music TV channels (not very popular, as these usually play music at certaintimes, which is not always when teenagers are watching) and use music streaming websites (as I mentioned previously).

Almost all teenagers like to have a ‘hard copy’ of the song (a file of the song that they can keep on their computer and use at will) so that they can transfer it to portable music players and share it with friends. How teenagers play their music while on the go varies, and usually dependent on wealth –with teenagers from higher income families using iPods and those from lower income families using mobile phones.

Some teenagers use both to listen to music, and there are always exceptions to the rule. A number of people use the music service iTunes (usually in conjunction with iPods) to acquire their music (legally) but again this is unpopular with many teenagers because of the ‘high price’ (79p per song).

Some teenagers use a combination of sources to obtain music, because sometimes the sound quality is better on streaming sites but they cannot use these sites whilst offline, so they would download a song then listen to it on music streaming sites (separate from the file).

Cinema

Teenagers visit the cinema quite often, regardless of what is on. Usually they will target a film first, and set out to see that, but sometimes they will just go and choose when they get there. This is because going to the cinema is not usually about the film, but the experience –and getting together with friends.

Teenagers visit the cinema more often when they are in the lower end of teendom (13 and 14) but as they approach 15 they go to the cinema a lot less. This is due to the pricing; at 15 they have to pay the adult price, which is often double the child price. Also, it is possible to buy a pirated DVD of the film at the time of release, and these cost much less than a cinema ticket so teenagers often choose this instead of going to the cinema.

Some teenagers choose to download the films off the internet, but this is not favourable as the films are usually bad quality,have to be watched on a small computer screen and there is a chance that they will be malicious files and install a virus.

Devices

Mobile Phones

99pc of teenagers have a mobile phone and most are quite capable phones. The general view is that Sony Ericsson phones are superior, due to their long list of features, built in walkman capability and value (£100 will buy a mid-high range model). Teenagers due to the risk of it getting lost do not own mobile phones over the £200 mark.

As a rule, teenagers have phones on pay as you go. This is because they cannot afford the monthly payments, and cannot commit to an 18-month contract. Usually, teenagers only use their phone for texting, calling. Features such as video messaging or video calling are not used –because they are expensive, (you can get four regular texts for the price of one video message).

Services such as instant messaging are used, but not by everyone. It usually depends whether the phone is Wi-Fi compatible, because otherwise it is very expensive to get internet off the phone network. As most teenagers’ phones have Bluetooth support, and Bluetooth is free, they utilise this feature often.

It is used to send songs and videos (even though it is illegal) and is another way teenagers gain songs for free. Teenagers never use the ringtone and picture selling services, which gained popularity in the early 00s. This is because of the negative press that these services have attracted (where the charge £20 a week with no easy way to cancel the service) and the fact that they can get pictures and music on a computer –then transfer it to their phones at no cost.

Mobile email is not used as teenagers have no need; they do not need to be connected to their inbox all the time as they don’t receive important emails. Teenagers do not use the internet features on their mobiles as it costs too much, and generally, if they waited an hour they could use their home internet and they are willing to wait as they don’t usually have anything urgent to do.

Teenagers do not upgrade their phone very often, with most upgrading every two years. They usually upgrade on their birthday when their parents will buy them a new phone, as they do not normally have enough money to do it themselves.

Televisions:

Most teenagers own a TV, with more and more upgrading to HD ready flat screens. However, many are not utilising this HD functionality, as HD channels are expensive extras which many families cannot justify the added expenditure. Many of them don’t want to sign up to HD broadcasting services, as adverts are shown on standard definition broadcasts, so they can’t see the difference. Most people have Virgin Media as a TV provider. Some have sky and some have Freeview but very few only have the first five channels (BBC One, BBC Two, ITV, Channel Four and Channel Five).

Computers:

Every teenager has access to a basic computer with internet, but most teenagers computers are systems capable of only everyday tasks. Nearly all teenagers’ computers have Microsoft office installed, as it allows them to do school work at home.Most (9/10) computers owned by teenagers are PCs, because they are much cheaper than Macs and school computers run Windows, so if a Mac is used at home compatibility issues arise.

Games Consoles:

Close to 1/3 of teenagers have a new (<2 ½ years old) games console, 50% having a Wii, 40% with an Xbox 360 and 10% with a PS3. The PS3 has such a low figure because of its high price (£300) and similar features and games to an Xbox 360, which costs less (£160). The Wii’s dominance is due to younger brothers and sisters, they have a Wii and parents are not willing to pay for another console.

What is Hot?

• Anything with a touch screen is desirable.
• Mobile phones with large capacities for music.
• Portable devices that can connect to the internet (iPhones)
• Really big tellies

What Is Not?

• Anything with wires
• Phones with black and white screens
• Clunky ‘brick’ phones
• Devices with less than ten-hour battery life