Visual search- the next big Pinterest milestone?

Close in line in the league with Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, Pinterest is becoming a formidable digital advertising player. Visual information is processed 60,000 times faster than text which is one of the reasons online users are using this platform to gather information they want and need. Last week the platform launched a revolutionary search feature that uses photos to comb through millions of product images. For example, someone looking at a picture of a chair can zero in on finding similar chairs by tapping on the Pin to start a search result without typing a word. Up until now, people have only been able to search on Pinterest with text queries. It took Facebook four and a half years to build the same kind of sophisticated ad tools that Pinterest is pitching at the moment and Facebook still doesn’t have the visual search feature yet.

So how does it work? If you see something you like, you can hit the little gray and white magnifying glass in the top right hand corner and can drag your mouse to put a box around the part of the image you want to learn more about. This will yield a selection of visually similar results and tags you can choose from based on what's in the photo to narrow down the search. To take it a step further, when focused on the specific item, whether it's a lamp or a chair or a dress, Pinterest will give the user the

 exact name of the brand and where it can be purchased.

For now, marketers won't be able to buy visual search ads like they've been able to with text search ads, which debuted early in 2014. Pinterest hasn't commented on whether visual search ads would be a part of its future plans or not, but looking at the evolutionary path of the platform’s future that scenario seems likely. The visual-search move should prove popular to users—which will help maintain marketers' attention for the Pinterest ad products that currently exist. By making Pinterest easier to navigate through visual search, people could use it more like a shopping site than an inspiration discovery time sink. And where there’s search, there’s room for relevant ads that hit people who already have purchase intent — which could be very lucrative for Pinterest.

This is where Pinterest poses a marketing challenge for Google for marketing dollars spent by brands. Pinterest's advertising potential is more akin to Google than social platforms like Facebook and Twitter. The site's addition of Buyable Pins—which include 60 million shoppable posts—gives it a leg up over Google and possibly e-commerce platforms like Amazon. The power of the Pinterest platform is in tapping into the consumer's purchase mindset at all stages of its process from inspiration, discovery and now all the way through the purchase itself. The world is moving over to visual, pictures and video and this might just be the unique selling proposition for Pinterest for leaping ahead of the others in the crowd.

Read More: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/252665

Spotify vs Snapchat- digital video vs digital music world or evolving overlapping core competencies?

Snapchat began as a platform with purely ephemeral content but has slowly evolved into offering digital media content with a twist. With more than 700 million snaps sent daily, it has garnered some serious market power. First, there were personal snaps sent to friends that lasted mere seconds before disappearing. Then there was the introduction of curated “stories," which last longer and can be broadcast to a wider audience, but those still disappear into the Snapchat ether after 24 hours. With January’s introduction of the Discover feature, Snapchat opened the doors to select media outlets, news channels and lifestyle brands. In the Discover section of Snapchat, users can peruse snack-sized content from places like CNN,Foodnetwork, Comedy Central, and National Geographic. And now that original content includes music videos. Snapchat just entered the music video house.

Indie artist, Goldroom, released four music videos this week on Snapchat’s Snap channel, which is accessible on the Discover tab of the app. Value added services around the music video releases include behind-the-scenes exclusive content, including making-of videos and interviews, all with special Snapchat share buttons. With over half of Snapchat users under the age of 25, debuting original and highly-produced content on this platform (a model quite similar to Youtube influencers) could be a game-changer for musicians.  And while Madonna released her new music video on Snapchat in February, what’s different and remarkable about this Goldroom campaign is that all videos are shot in vertical format to accommodate the way people hold their phones.  Traditional media is bending to mobile media in a serious way.

Cross platform digital marketing and content creation especially with Snapchat is the new area of exploration and monetization for other digital platforms. Trying to tap into the millennial userbase of Snapchat, many brands want in on the Discover section. But Snapchat seems to be competing with Spotify by entering the digital music world and Spotify seems to be competing with Snapchat by entering into video content. It’s turning into a race of the platforms to be the one stop shop of all digital services that can be provided. Who will win? The one with the most fierce arc of innovation is set to win in this league of digital platforms. Snapchat has proved its metal in innovation but so has Spotify! Spotify’s ascent hasn’t been as rocket ship-fast, but it’s hold in the market has been steady and consistent, as well as appealing across a wide range of demographics. It now hosts non-music content like podcasts and video, in addition to predicting what kinds of playlists you’ll be into and curating a running playlist that changes with the changing tempo of your workout. Spotify’s first innovation is using data to become more intelligent. It is using its massive amounts of data to predict and create playlists around what you’ve already listened to at specific times of the day .The second innovation is around its running feature which figures your running pace based on your phone’s sensors and changes the music in real time to align with that pace. Now its set to enter the digital video streaming space. Some video content will be exclusive and original from Spotify and others would include launch partners like Comedy Central, Vice News, ABC, BBC, ESPN, Elite Daily, and TED.Spotify is introducing an experience that’s more accessible, personal and more usable than anything in music. You'll be able to watch clips from shows like Broad City. But it'll be a full-screen experience, which you watch horizontally. It is set to compete with Youtube, Vimeo and other video platforms.

So which platform is doing better?or would they resort to cross platform marketing ? or the platform with the best technology takes it all away? This mobile war is definitely set to get more intense and crowded with many smaller apps and players coming into the battle arena. In the end it’s a play of innovation and technology which provide the best user experience that’s going to be the deciding factor for the market share leader in the space of digital video and music.

Dunkin’ Donuts and AirBnB master the art of location-based digital advertising

Until recently, location based advertising  remained a small part of mobile ad budgets, primarily because it's difficult to pinpoint the exact person with the right type of ad on the fly. But if you get Google on board for targeting your ad campaign, you can be the trend-setters in the field. Dunkin’ Donuts and AirBnB took the initiative to monetize the most frequent activities done by tourists from out of town.

Dunkin' worked with Johannes Leonardo  and Trilia Media to build a Google campaign timetocoffee.com, which crunches two sets of data—the walk times to Dunkin' locations in the Times Square area, and current wait times at each—to determine which Dunkin' will get you coffee quickest.Users just need to search for "coffee near me" on Google Maps or in Google Search on their mobile phone and they will see an ad that says, "Find the fastest coffee." Clicking the ad brings up Google Maps, which auto-populates the user's location and points to the right Dunkin' to patronize.

Airbnb, not behind in the race, is launching a campaign called "Hosted Walks". This particular venture helps NYC tourists to see and explore tracks off the beaten path and not just the usual tourist traps. Airbnb also partnered with Johannes Leonardo, to tap into the site's vast hosting community to provide host-led audio tours of Midtown Manhattan via Google Maps. When a user searches for touristy things to do in the Times Square area, or input their tourist destinations into Google Maps, an ad will prompt them to see New York like a local. Clicking on the ad brings up Google Maps, which auto-populates user's location and calculates a route to their location that takes them by hidden gems—which are then narrated by Airbnb hosts in audio as well as speech bubbles.

Both these firms have leveraged the most popular tourist activities and combined it with a convenient simple local service and a digital ad to sell their products. The digital experience which accompanies the ads is quite unique, simple and addictive for new comers to the city. Who thought consumer experience was only limited to physical stores? Transcending the ad experience to a doable action to monetize a service physically within 15-30 minutes of seeing the ad is a stellar achievement in the digital world. Moreover the convenience and simplicity of using the pop- up ad makes it all the more sticky and is the unique selling proposition of these Google campaigns.

Christina Yoo, associate programmatic media director at Essence, states how a new version of the location-based campaign is now using better targeting tactics alongside programmatic buying, improving accuracy."In the beginning, one of our biggest problems was getting accuracy at scale," Yoo said. "We want to have these perfect location-based experiences for the individual, but we also want to make sure that the information that we're getting is accurate."Part of the reason why advertisers are struggling with place-based mobile advertising is because marketers aren't looking for data outside of apps, which have built-in location metrics for brands to measure against.When locations are brought together and people are targeted in real-time based on where they are, brands have to go beyond that [app] signal!

Source: http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/how-dunkin-donuts-and-airbnb-are-turning-google-searches-experiences-nyc-167216

Paramount’s bold gutsy move against the big studios..

Home Entertainment release windows have been a point of contention since eternity. I was working for 20^th Century Fox during the summer with one of my projects trying to convince the management to move the pre-set 90 day window for Video-on-Demand (movies available on I-Tunes, Amazon, Hulu) to a shorter 25-30 day window for select movie genres that don’t have a big theatrical audience.

They were not up for taking up a fight against the big theatrical chains for the fear of their movies being boycotted by them. Major theater chains have been resisting the ongoing shortening of release date windows, which put new movie releases on VOD platforms or DVD before they even leave theaters, sometimes on the very same day as their theatrical debuts,  as many believe audiences will skip the multiplexes if they can see many films from the comfort of the couch.

Well it was just a proposal from my end, which had a bleak future of being accepted…who knew during that very time Paramount would actually surprise everyone with its first move. Being one of the smaller studios amongst the big 6, it really did pull some strings to pull off this initiative especially with the theatrical chains. It partnered with AMC theatres and Cineplex Entertainment in July on the release of Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension and Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse to digital outlets (home entertainment platforms) 17 days after leaving theatres. Both the movies will be allowed to play in theaters exclusively until the number of screens showing the pictures drops to 300 or less

How did Paramount get this sweet deal ?

“For several years we’ve been asking for the studios to work with theater owners on developing new models and ways to grow the whole pie and market in ways that don’t damage a film’s theatrical run,” said Patrick Corcoran. “We applaud Paramount for discussing this with theater owners.”

It offered the exhibitors a certain percentage of the studio’s digital revenue for the period of digital and cable on-demand availability through the first three months from the initial U.S. theatrical release which the other studios are not ready to contend because on digital they earn 70% of the total revenue while 30% goes to the platforms whereas for theatrical the studios get only 50% and 50% goes to the cinemas. In a time when chains are struggling to keep up and raising prices of concessions to make up for the loss of theater-goers due to pirating, this move is perceived as combative.

Is this going to be a revolution for movie watching attitude for consumers? Or platforms like Netflix have taken away that advantage from services like I-Tunes, Amazon Prime Video and GooglePlay?

Was it an intelligent move for Paramount?

Yes I feel Paramount is an innovator, a go-getter in this rapidly changing world of digital media. Its carefully looking at consumer needs, consumer cravings and aligning its offerings with what today’s consumers who are mostly Millennials want! While the other studios sleep over it and wait and watch Paramount grabbed the market at the opportune moment.

I proposed a business model along the following lines-

•      New Exhibitor Terms - Studios would give a 15-20% cut to iTunes / GooglePlay vs 50/50 with exhibitors

•      Pricing: Charge $29.99 for a 24hr rental

Approach = 2 ppl x $15 cinema ticket ≈ $29.99

{ Floor: Avg. VOD rental + 50% Scarcity Premium = $5 * (1 + 50%) = $7.50

  Ceiling: Top Boxing events = $75 - $100 --> WTP to watch online}

•       Select Movie Genres: Mainstream, R-rated Comedies/Horror & Dramas, indie movies

Low popcorn sales categories/no animation

Targeting older “millennials” and adults

No special / visual FX

But they were too afraid…while after my proposal in 2 weeks’ time Paramount announced its big kill 

Why wouldn’t it work? Its a win-win situation!

• The exhibitors are now onboard- the studios major concern
• It reduces the piracy window - Most films disappear from theaters after six weeks, allowing for a two-month window in which they are not available to audiences via any platform, which tends to encourage piracy in an age when consumers expect immediate fulfillment
• Studios don’t have to do a separate digital marketing spend between the 90 days of release whence consumers forget that a movie got released which they didn’t watch earlier and now need to catch on I-Tunes
• Most important of all they cash in on consumers who don’t go to watch such movies in theatres (stream at home) and get more volumes in digital spend which they weren’t anyways getting from theatres at a 70% margin

Now it’s a wait and watch game if other studios join Paramount or treat it as an outcast….

Sources-

http://variety.com/2015/film/news/paramount-teams-with-exhibitors-to-shorten-home-entertainment-release-windows-1201536116/

http://screencrush.com/paramount-release-windows/

http://variety.com/2015/film/news/paramount-vod-plan-gains-support-1201553398/

DUBSMASH: The Gen-Next Selfie

Taking selfies to a new level, Dubsmash has become a social media staple- a simple yet addictively fun app, that rapidly blossomed into a viral sensation.

Founded in Berlin, by Jonas Drüppel, Roland Grenke and Daniel Taschik, Dubsmash lets you record a video of yourself, synced to a preselected sound clip, such as a well-known quote from a movie, funky ad, or songs. But, after failing to conquer the iOS app store twice before, they couldn’t have known for certain that they had a smash hit on their hands. Spanning 192 countries, a plethora of languages, and engaging celebrities Hollywood & Bollywood alike dubbing their latest releases, Dubsmash has gathered a tremendous fan following in just 10 months of its launch in November, 2014

Why does it work? The desire to amuse our friends mixed with a smidge of narcissism that most of us social media junkies (AKA everyone) seem to possess these days make this app super desirable

User generated content- Yes! Sticky user proposition- Yes!

But there are copyright issues inherent in Dubsmash, since the majority of uploaded sounds are from unlicensed content, namely TV and film sound clips. So far they have not been sued..by anyone..luckily!! Should that change, the startup plans to work within a ‘take-down notice’ model when a license holder complains. Owners believe that brands — and therefore copyright holders — will eventually be keen to work directly with the app, providing one potential route to monetization. Digital Advertising? Well not yet…but the website boasts of a user base of 75million people, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it is actually moving towards that path for revenue generation or looking to be bought out by the Facebooks and the Googles of the world at a gaping valuation!

Looking to make messaging fun? So stop texting and start dubbing!

http://www.dubsmash.com/