ScribeMedia.org

Monetizing Digital Content

Peter Cervieri — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 17:40:04 +0000

Better Strategies for Monetizing Digital Offerings: Thinking Out of the Box while Looking across Industry Silos

Introduction: Dr. Howard Morgan, Co-Founder and Partner, First Round Capital

Monetizing digital offerings is a continuing challenge. Advertising can generally generate only some of the revenue required, so customer payments appear to remain essential for most businesses. Freemium was a good starting point, and now soft pay walls are being tested. Shifting music and film from purchase to subscription is emerging as a sea change.

Paul Smurl, Vice President, NYTimes.com

Shawn Price, President, Zuora.com

Betsy Morgan, President, TheBlaze.com

Richard Reisman, President, Teleshuttle Corporation

What else is new? What can be applied across verticals? Do we need to rethink the value proposition and customer relationship? How successful are strategies to apply social influence and “pay what you want”?

This panel discussion looks broadly at how content businesses such as publishing, music, and video are transforming themselves to achieve economic viability:

Among the issues discussed:
- What strategies are they adopting?
- What can these verticals learn from one-another?
- Do new transaction platform services create new opportunities?
- How far out of the box can solutions go?

Panel Moderator:
- Dr. Howard Morgan, Co-Founder and Partner, First Round Capital

Panel Speakers:
- Betsy Morgan, President, TheBlaze.com
- Shawn Price, President, Zuora.com
- Richard Reisman, President, Teleshuttle Corporation
- Paul Smurl, Vice President, NYTimes.com

Smart TV – Producing for Pixels

Peter Cervieri — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 21:35:40 +0000

Now that the battle for high-resolution HD displays, including 3D, is well underway, the next front on the war for viewership lies in Smart TV. Once viewed as a gimmick for high-end large-scale displays, Smart TV is now a canvas for producers to deliver shows and apps to a new generation of Internet-enabled displays.

Rachelle Zoffer, Verizon

Displaysearch predicts that 50% of all television sets above 50 inches will be some form of Smart TV by 2014. And the landscape is not just confined to traditional TV manufacturers, but includes the likes of Apple and Google, among others.

With smartphones and tablets providing greater opportunities for producers, apps produced on one device will be ported to a new generation of Smart TVs, and vice versa, transforming how producers conceive of television for an audience that still wants big-screen experiences, even if the television needs to behave like multiple screens, simultaneously.

Vamsi Sistla, Telvetto

Timo Korpela Multitou.ch

Panel Discussion & Audience Q&A

Speakers

Timo Korpela, Multitou.ch

Vamsi Sistla, co-founder, Telvetto

Vamsi Sistla is the founder of Telvetto, a stealth start-up that is building the next Smart TV curation experience. He was formerly director of the mobile/social media platform product group at Rovi and previously held mobile content management roles at Macrovision and TVGuide. He has been a pioneer in the interactive TV space, having developed new platforms for Ignite, creating AOLTV experiences for ‘Price is Right;’ ‘Wheel of Fortune,’ and ‘Jeopardy,’ while at Mixed Signals, and building the first real-time social TV experience for ‘Survivor,’ while with Steeplechase Media and Television.com. He has worked as a software engineer for Structural Research Dynamics Corporation and the Ford Motor Company.

Rachelle Zoffer, Director, Content Strategy & Acquisition, Interactive TV at Verizon

Chris Pfaff, President, Chris Pfaff Tech/Media LLC; vice chairman, PGA New Media Council

A board delegate of the PGA New Media Council since 2006, and a PGA NMC member since 2004, Chris Pfaff leads a consultancy – Chris Pfaff Tech/Media LLC – that represents some of the leading service providers, audio/video technology firms, networking vendors, and media companies in the world, from PRIMEDIA and Eastman Kodak to Cantor Telecom. A veteran of the venture world, Chris helped launch more than 20 ventures from the Lucent New Ventures Group, including iBiquity Digital; Flarion; Lucent Digital Video, and GeoVideo Networks, among others. In addition, he has helped launch AT&T’s Internet strategy; the Viacom New Media division of Viacom, Inc.; Sony Electronics’ Digital Betacam format, and Sharp Electronics’ LCD product division.

The Future of Web Advertising

Peter Cervieri — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 16:48:34 +0000

4 Startups That Could Change The Marketing Landscape for Online Retailers in a Big Way

Hear pitches from 4 companies who are changing the way online retailers advertise to consumers. Learn how these innovative entrepreneurs plan to disrupt the web ad online advertising space and dig down to learn more about their ideas and business models.

5 minute presentations by each of the teams, followed by 5 minutes of questions by our panelists which include a distinguished group of VCs.

We showcase the 4 following startups:

- Album+ – is the easiest way to aggregate location specific event photos, in real time. We use mobile technology, and geolocation, along with a web app and some API`s to make shooting, collecting, organizing, sharing and purchasing photos from the same event; automatic. Our target market right now is weddings, and our business model is charging the host for the service. The app is free and can be found here http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/album-plus/id437410243

- Appside – Founded in 2011 AppSide is the first end-to-end content marketplace for motion-controlled entertainment devices. With years of experience in the motion field, AppSide provides the “missing link” between hardware manufacturers, developers and end-users, in the fast growing market of motion-controlled/Natural Interaction entertainment devices. AppSide`s end-to- end marketplace (platform and content) gives users easy access to innovative motion controlled games and apps using the best device experience possible. The company is based in Tel Aviv, Israel, and is backed by Wekix, a technology and new-media start-up accelerator, as well as high-profile US and European private investors.

- Immersive Labs – provides adaptive advertising technology designed to optimize content based on actual viewership on digital signs for retailers and out-of-home advertisers. The technology is a combination of anonymous facial detection, sophisticated machine learning and strategies specified by the marketer. Immersive Labs is a Techstars NY company and was selected as one of the Top 25 hottest startups to watch in New York City by Business Insider.

- Lemon – (an acronym for Location Enhanced Mobile Opt-in Network) is a digital media company providing total B2B solutions for location-based mobile marketing. The company offers state-of-the-art white label software that can be integrated into any app on the Android, Blackberry, or iPhone platform. When installed, the LEMON software enables push messaging based on precise locational awareness and specific user behaviors, resulting in highly targeted and relevant messages delivered at exactly the right time and place for maximum impact. The company also offers agency and consulting services, including strategic planning, custom app development, campaign planning & management, and metrics & reporting.

Panel Moderator:
- Lori Hoberman, Partner, Chadbourne & Parke LLP

Panel Speakers:
- Peg Jackson, Gridley & Co.
- Erik Nordlander, Google Ventures
- Jeanne Sullivan, Starvest Partners

Streaming Media West

Peter Cervieri — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 11:09:03 +0000

<a href="http://www.kaltura.org/">Open Source Video</a>

Here’s the promo video I did for the upcoming Streaming Media conference in Los Angeles. It was mostly done in After Effects and Final Cut. I wrote the music too.

Start-up Bootcamp

Peter Cervieri — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 15:48:27 +0000

Create and Pitch a successful business plan
If your business plan is scribbled on a napkin, you could be in for some nasty surprises. On the other hand, a 40-page term paper is a waste. Instead, invest just time enough to make smart choices, and be prepared to pitch your ideas in a compelling way. Learn how to plan your business with speed and flexibility in this interactive workshop.

David Ronick is a co-founder of upstartbootcamp.com, which helps founders start up smarter via on-demand courses, coaching, and webinars. David has helped over 100 founders plan and launch new ventures, and is the author of Hit The Deck: Create a Business Plan in Half the Time with Twice the Impact. Prior to upstart, David co-founded an early social network, and an out-of-home ad network. David is a contributing writer for Inc.com and BusinessInsider.com, and a graduate of Brown University and Harvard Business School, where he`s a judge of their business plan contest.

Location is Not a Fad

Neil Glassman — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 14:53:31 +0000

The above video interview is from Internet Week in NYC.
Sponsored by

Location is more than just a check-in. Taking full advantage of location can change the way people interact with brands by moving the conversation to a physical location and, it’s hoped, a purchase.

The data that can be applied to applications’ geo-sensitive components runs deep. Matt Gillian, cofounder of Simple Geo, discusses how his company is striving to provide app developers with the data tools they seek to serve more precisely targeted information.

Putting consumers’ location and intentions into context can be aided by neighborhood data, such as demographics, population density and business with offers that may supplement the initial inquiry. Gillian describes promos that take consumers along the final mile, perhaps enhancing their experience with the augmented reality of virtual things in the real world displayed on the mobile device.

Brands and agencies hunger for technologies that provide data at every point in the consumer experience to achieve improved individualization and conversion. Location-based service layers feed that hunger and can do so while addressing the consumer appetite for discovery and convenience.

ChatThreads Reveals Results of Live Tracking Study

Chao Li — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 18:36:09 +0000

The above video interview is from the Advertising Research Foundation Audience Measurement conference.

Sponsored by

An important question at this year’s ARF conference was, “does social media have an impact on sales?” Walter Carl, the founder and CRO of ChatThreads, talked about his company’s findings.

People who are FaceBook ‘fans’ of a brand will spend more but only if they were passionate about the product in the first place. Carl also talked about the importance of the combination effect of TV/Billboard and Social Media advertising. They found that the combination effect accounted for a 17% lift in effectiveness.

ChatThreads uses live tracking to observe advertising effects on test subjects. Live tracking makes it possible to see a 360 degree view of the subjects’ exposure to advertising.

ChatThreads ran a study where subjects used a mobile app to track their exposure to quick service restaurant brands by taking a picture or making a note, and also writing down if it was a positive or negative experience. This included ads on TV and billboards, as well as mentions of a brand through a friend’s FaceBook or Twitter updates. This allowed ChatThreads to gather data on the relationship between a person’s real world and social media interactions with a brand.

For more of Walter Carl and ChatThreads’ findings, see the above video.

The Power of Persuasion and Watchability in TV Ads

Neil Glassman — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 17:05:22 +0000

The above video interview is from the Advertising Research Foundation Audience Measurement conference.

Sponsored by

There is a school of thought that ad effectiveness increases when TV viewers are more highly engaged in the programming they watch. According to data collected by Ace Metrix, however, there is a low correlation between the two, with ad creativity the essential variable in ad engagement.

CEO Peter Daboll says the findings conclude that viewing intensity, loyalty to the particular TV program and multiple other program engagement attributes do not affect how ads are processed. Relevance and purchase intent are core, with watchability and persuasion contributed by ads’ creativity leading to effectiveness. Daboll, citing his bias towards creative, suggests implications for online and social TV, along with over-the-air.

To be persuasive, an ad needs to hold viewers’ attention and have content that is valuable and relevant. Illustrating another strategic tact, Daboll observes that many successful beer ads benefit from broad appeal by testing to be sure they don’t offend viewers not specifically targeted. He also cautions that an eruption of negative comments on social media does not necessarily mean that an ad is ineffective — public relations and advertising effectiveness issues are to be addressed separately.

Monetizing and Measuring Mobile Video

Chao Li — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 13:58:19 +0000

The above video interview is from the Advertising Research Foundation Audience Measurement conference.

Sponsored by

“If you can’t measure it, you can’t monetize it,” said Steve Lanzano of TVB, about the hesitance of companies when it comes to mobile video.

Advertising agencies, TV Networks, and brand advertisers generally do not care what kind of device the consumer watches on, as long as they can measure and monetize the audience. Currently, there is no measurement for mobile viewing that can equate to the rating system that networks and advertisers use for TV.

According to Lanzano, brand advertisers are no longer trying to reach and sell to demographics but to biographics. Through the evolution of measuring technology and research, companies are moving away from looking for consumers in categories such as ‘adult, male, 18-24,’ and towards looking for consumers with either very specific needs, or who are in the market for what the advertiser is selling.

Engaged with Media as Long as Their Eyes are Open

Neil Glassman — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 13:00:02 +0000

The above video interview is from the Advertising Research Foundation Audience Measurement conference.

Sponsored by

New platform choices appear to be adding more hours to the media day of a segment of consumers. While different patterns of consumption can been found across the media types as they are selected based on access, time-of-day and location, ESPN finds its core audience of male sports fans is spending more time with the brand.

ESPN’s VP of Integrated Media Research, Glenn Enoch, notes that 15 years ago viewers could watch his channel’s content only on TV. Now, it’s available on TV, radio, Internet, mobile and print. The result is not cannibalization. Rather, ESPN’s research finds that consumers with improved “best screen” choices are engaged — one way or another — more hours per day.

Publishers need to consider multiple contexts for their media platform initiatives. For example, finding significant percentages of Internet and mobile engagement at work is not surprising. Perhaps less obvious, Enoch observes, is that radio, along with being widely used in cars, is also used by consumers of ESPN content at work when other choices are not available.

This should serve as encouragement for publishers with strong brands to be certain to be on the platforms used by their consumers, tailored to the locations and times-of-day those platforms are most likely to be a preferred choice.