Politicians are spending about $10,000 to $100,000 or more for 140-character Twitter ads, bringing politics closer to consumers — and faster, too.
“Twitter has become a central tool for most political campaigns, letting campaigns reach voters nearly instantly, whether for fund raising or political messages, as well as simply to gather more Twitter followers to build audience for future tweets,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Now, paid ads — which make a campaign’s message more prominent, and less likely to get lost in users’ ever-churning news feeds — are moving into the spotlight ahead of the parties conventions and the November election.”
Twitter enables a rapid response from campaigns, allowing advertisers to take advantage of developing changes. For example, Democratic senator Claire McCaskill quickly launched a tweet saying, “Don’t let Todd Akin get elected. He thinks ‘women can’t get pregnant from #legitimaterape.’ Donate to @clairemc now” — after her rival made his now famous gaffe.
But, as the article points out, Twitter’s offerings go beyond just pinning paid tweets to the tops of news feeds or search results. “Aside from buying ‘promoted tweets’ in users’ Twitter news feeds or on certain searches, advertisers can also buy spots known as ‘promoted accounts’ and ‘promoted trends’ — accounts and trends that are listed alongside other suggestions for whom to follow and hot hashtags,” notes WSJ.
As the election draws nearer, expect to see more political Twitter ads, the article suggests. Fortunately for Twitter, this election could signal a notable switch in political advertising if the speedy campaigns prove effective.
As evidenced by two recent events, Twitter is in the midst of changing “from being a kind of real-time information utility to being a global media entity,” which has led “the company to restrict access to its API, in order to control as much of the content flowing through its network as possible,” according to GigaOM.
In the first event, “the company abruptly yanked Tumblr’s ability to connect to Twitter’s friend-finder API, and in the second it bragged about how positive its recent partnership with NBC was around the Summer Olympics,” notes the post.
Tumblr was disappointed by the move, which wrote in a statement: “To our dismay, Twitter has restricted our users’ ability to ‘Find Twitter Friends’ on Tumblr. Given our history of embracing their platform, this is especially upsetting. Our syndication feature is responsible for hundreds of millions of tweets, and we eagerly enabled Twitter Cards across 70 million blogs and 30 billion posts as one of Twitter’s first partners… We are truly disappointed by Twitter’s decision.”
The future is unclear for Twitter, suggests GigaOM, and only time will tell its fate.
“The only question that remains is whether enough users want Twitter to become that kind of media entity, with all the controls and restrictions and advertising messages that come with it. It’s possible that — as some have argued — the third-party developers who are complaining about their treatment by the company are no longer relevant… or Twitter may have miscalculated badly, and sealed its fate as yet another media entity scrambling to promote its ads to a declining user base, just as MySpace did,” explains the post.
During Sony’s IFA press conference in Berlin, CEO Kazuo Hirai unveiled the company’s new 84-inch 4K TV, the Bravia KD-84X9005.
“The thing is beautiful — and yeah, we can confirm, as Kaz suggested, that you really do want to stick out your hand and touch the picture when you’re standing in front of it, particularly, when the video cycles through images of the ocean, with water droplets hitting the screen,” reports Engadget.
According to the post, the 84-inch Bravia is “surprisingly thin” and features “speaker bars attached to either side of the display, with a control panel along the bottom. The stand consists of two metal bars holding up what’s surely a weighty set.”
“This new 4K TV comes equipped with a 4K LCD panel comprising approximately 8.29 megapixels which is 4 times the resolution of Full HD standard, and incorporates ‘4K X-Reality PRO,’ Sony’s super-resolution high picture quality engine optimized for 4K LCD TV,” notes the press release.
“In addition, the combination of ’10 Unit Live Speaker’ side speaker system, which is optimized for this large-size screen, with Sony’s unique high-quality sound signal-processing technology achieves powerful three-dimensional sound that envelops the viewer in position-orienting tones, from deep bass to high notes,” adds the release.
The post includes a slideshow and brief video, in which the reporter describes a smooth and realistic picture.
In increasing numbers, consumers are using their large flat-panel TVs to watch online video, play music, view photos, access social media and more.
“The trouble is, this is primarily being done via plugged-in PCs, or add-on boxes like Apple TV, Microsoft’s Xbox, and Roku players,” the Wall Street Journal notes. “They use separate remotes and are accessed via separate inputs on the TV.”
In response, TV manufacturers are offering smart TVs. “Their pitch is that you can switch between, or even combine on one screen, regular TV and Internet content, without adding extra devices and remotes, or switching inputs,” explains the article.
Walt Mossberg decided to “check in on the state of the smart TV.” He did so by using the latest Samsung unit because of its popularity and touch-based remote, along with its Smart Interaction concept, “which uses a camera and microphones built into the TV to support voice control, gesture control and facial recognition,” he writes.
While Mossberg found that the 46-inch ES8000 worked well for watching cable, conducting Skype conversations, streaming TV and movies through Netflix and other services, he also found the Smart interaction to be “unreliable and awkward.”
“I focused my testing on the Smart Interaction, the new remote and the latest version of the Smart Hub, Samsung’s built-in interface for apps and Web content,” he notes. “The TV easily hooked up to my cable box and allows you to control many functions, like turning the TV on or off or launching apps, by saying ‘Hi, TV’ then speaking a command,” with built-in mics on the TV or remote.
But in many cases, Mossberg’s commands were ignored or interpreted incorrectly. “Gestures were similarly frustrating,” he writes. Same goes for face recognition, which rarely, if ever, worked.
“There are flashes of a great future merging regular TV and the Web on the Samsung Smart TV,” he concludes. “But it needs work.”
A new TiVo product called Stream enables users to transfer and store pre-recorded television content on mobile devices for immediate or later viewing, a service similar to some current app offerings from cable operators.
“The $130 box, available September 6 from TiVo.com and in Best Buy soon after that, streams content from your TiVo to up to four mobile devices in your home at high-definition quality,” reports Katie Boehret for the Wall Street Journal.
TiVo Stream is compatible with iPhones, iPads and newer iPod touch models. An Android version is currently in development.
“Stream also turns mobile devices into TVs of their own: You can scan the channel guide, select a show and watch it live,” explains the article. “It also lets people wirelessly download content to their mobile devices for watching anytime, like on planes or during road trips.”
Stream requires that the user owns one of TiVo’s Premiere models ($150, $250 or $400, depending on the model) and subscribes to the TiVo monthly service fee (there is no additional service fee for Stream).
After evaluating Stream in her home, Boehret writes that she doesn’t want to give it up. She praises the easy set-up, download and buffer speeds, and the convenience of watching programs on multiple devices in different rooms of her house.
A recent study by J.D. Power and Associates reveals that only 11 percent of consumers purchasing HDTVs are motivated by 3D capabilities.
The “2012 High Definition (HDTV) Report” was released last week, based on research of 1,000 consumers who purchased HDTVs during the past year.
Price is often a factor, according to Sara Wong Hilton, a director at J.D. Power and Associates. Another is the requirement of special media players or 3D glasses, which many find to be an irritating necessity and expense.
“The study said that 75 percent of customers surveyed gave price as the primary motivation for making their HDTV purchases,” reports TV Technology. “This was followed by brand reputation (60 percent), positive reviews (37 percent), past brand experience (36 percent), construction quality (33 percent), styling (29 percent), and ease of use (21 percent).”
“Half of the customers responding to the survey said they purchased 41- to 50-inch sets,” adds the post. “The poll also showed that LCD displays were more popular than LED or plasma models and that Vizio led the field in customer satisfaction, scoring 887 on a 1,000 point scale.”
Maxwell Wessel discusses the inevitable disruption of television in a guest blog for Harvard Business Review. Wessel is a member of the Forum for Growth and Innovation, a Harvard Business School think tank focused on disruptive innovation.
“Periodically, technologies or business model innovations allow start-ups to enter industries offering services that are generally cheaper and more accessible, but of far lower quality,” he writes. “However, over time, these start-ups tend to invest in performance improvements in such a way that allows them to displace industry incumbents.”
Already, for a fraction of the cost of cable, consumers can subscribe to streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu Plus, which may not have all desired content, but are becoming increasingly viewed as “good enough” alternatives.
And as more people opt into these disruptive services, “the big studios and distribution companies, armed with their outrageous overhead structures, will be unable to compete with small production studios designed to leverage novel distribution channels at much lower cost,” writes Wessel.
But he also notes that a change in the overall ecosystem will be difficult (though not impossible and still inevitable) because it is currently built around “multi-billion dollar wire infrastructures” and a consumer base in need of high-speed wireless Internet access.
Change on a massive scale will happen slowly, according to Wessel. “Academics have noted that disruptive cycles take place over periods of 15-30 years. Even if those cycles are faster than ever with the ever-falling costs of distributing information, educating the public about new ideas, and producing innovative products, it will still be a number of years before we see meaningful change.”
Television networks are experiencing a change of heart, recognizing the additive potential of digital platforms and no longer viewing them purely as a threat to ratings, reports Variety, noting that broadcasters are now leveraging new platforms to boost on-air ratings.
Where before top networks would never offer new TV pilots on VOD or online streaming prior to the broadcast debut, Fox, NBC and others are now releasing full-length shows before their TV premiere.
“At first blush, the gambit holds out the possibility of cannibalizing audience by giving the viewers most likely to watch a show’s premiere a reason to opt out of the TV exhibition window, where most money is made through ratings guarantees to advertisers,” explains Variety. “But the flipside notion taking on increasing currency is that advance screenings could be the best way to generate buzz, converting early birds into grassroots marketing machines.”
The article also notes the potential to create damaging negative buzz, making the move a somewhat risky proposition.
“On demand is now becoming a meaningful platform for networks to find audiences and sampling for their shows,” says Comcast executive Matt Strauss. “That’s a pretty fundamental shift in how programmers have historically looked at on demand.”
Comcast has released new data that suggests a connection between early exposure on video-on-demand to increases in ratings on linear channels.
Last year, Fox debuted “New Girl” online two weeks before the on-air premiere and saw 2 million views before the show hit TV. There was some concern that all this traffic would reduce ratings, but “New Girl” still had a strong premiere. The network is slightly tweaking its online rollout; online or VOD offerings are now available almost a month before the on-air premiere but are taken down some time before the debut.
UPS has placed $2 million of faith in same-day delivery service Shutl. The company will use the investment to “expand its engineering team, sign up new retail partners and prepare to launch in the U.S. early next year,” reports AllThingsD.
Shutl offers 90-minute delivery windows as part of its retail partnerships. Customers can also pick a customized one-hour delivery window. All deliveries are same-day as purchase.
“We’ve spent this last year taking Shutl national across the UK; now we are ready for the U.S., a market that we estimate will be worth around $26 billion by 2016,” claims Shutl founder and CEO Tom Allason.
As more consumers shop online, the demand for premium, fast shipping services has increased. Amazon’s Prime Two-Day Shipping allows customers to pay an annual $79 fee for unlimited two-day shipping. Amazon reports it now ships more items with this service than with its Free Super Saver service.
While eBay has also experimented with same-day shipping, Amazon maintains it has not found an economically efficient way to employ the service.
In a recent survey conducted by market research company Lab42, it was found that 66 percent of consumers prefer Web retailers to brick-and-mortar stores and about 73 percent of survey participants do nearly half of their shopping online.
“Shopping online allows us to skip the lines, crowds, travel expenses and the hassle of parking,” notes Mashable.
The Web can also be a great place to find bargains. Nielsen recently reported that nearly half of all U.S. smartphone owners regularly use shopping and deal apps such as eBay, Amazon, Groupon and LivingSocial.
“About 45 million smartphone owners access shopping-and-commerce apps each month,” details the post.
Lab42 created a great infographic to help visualize the data. One interesting statistic: “45 percent of online shoppers have bought something online that they would not buy in person.”
Recent numbers indicate that smartphone sales have surpassed PC sales, “meaning that smartphones are rapidly becoming the most common device connected to the Internet,” according to Business Insider.
This is affecting habits both within and outside of the work environment.
Apple is winning at mobile enterprise because of the rising BYOD (“bring your own device”) culture in the workplace. According to Goog Technology, more than 72 percent of its clients had a BYOD program, offering “formal support for users to access corporate information on their personal devices,” notes the post.
The iOS platform is becoming increasingly popular in the workplace, reports Business Insider: “Between 65 percent and 74 percent of all new phone activations per quarter for the last year and a half have been with iPhones, according to Good Technology.”
That data is even more tilted in Apple’s favor when it comes to tablets. The iPad is the clear favorite, responsible for more than 90 percent of all tablet activations.
“Don’t count the competition out: IT departments are growing to accept Android, as they work through some of the complications — such as more device types and platform updates — presented by Android,” explains the post. “And Microsoft, of course, still has many strengths in the enterprise and an aggressive new product strategy to build on them.”
Nearly 100 million tablets were sold in 2011. That’s a big number, especially considering the tablet craze only began with the launch of the first iPad two years ago.
“Tablets and smartphones will not completely displace PCs. But they will quickly overwhelm them in terms of unit sales,” suggests Business Insider, adding that “when, where, how and to what degree this occurs will have tremendous implications across many businesses and industries.”
According to a report from BI Intelligence, it’s estimated that tablet sales will reach 400 million units by 2016. The report offers four reasons:
1) “The average sales price of tablets are falling.” Even the all-powerful iPad’s price has dropped 11 percent since its launch in 2011. This drop has much to do with the introduction of the mini tablet by Amazon and the likely appearance of more such devices soon.
2) “Increased penetration in existing markets. Increased adoption will be driven by falling prices and the tablet market’s subsumption of the e-reader market, which sold more than 20 million devices in 2011,” writes Business Insider.
3) “Tablets are disruptive.” Tablets are far better for media consumption than any PC and are cheaper alternatives for consumers.
4) “Multiple emerging markets are ripe for tablet disruption.” The report notes that “tablets have only started making their way into the enterprise — a hardware market that will top $420 billion this year.” It mentions education as another opportunity, noting that “U.S. K-12 schools spent about $5.5 billion on textbooks in 2010, and college students spend hundreds of dollars per semester on textbooks they’ll only use once.”
Even amongst the giants of music streaming, financial situations are unstable. Both Spotify and Pandora, two streaming services with millions of users, are losing money because of music royalties, according to The New York Times.
“Pandora, which went public last summer, has never had a profitable year, and in its most recently reported quarter lost $20 million on $81 million in revenue,” writes NYT, also reporting that “Spotify’s accounts for the last year, recently filed in Luxembourg, show that it lost $57 million in 2011, despite a big increase in revenue, to $236 million.”
Pandora, which offers both free and paid services, relies most heavily on advertising for revenue, but can’t earn enough to offset its royalty costs. “Last year, Pandora paid $149 million, or 54 percent of its revenue, for ‘content acquisition,’ otherwise known as royalties,” notes the article.
Spotify was able to earn 83 percent of its revenue from subscriptions, with 4 million of its 32.8 million users paying the $5-$10 monthly fee rate.
Its royalty negotiations with labels are private, but “Spotify’s chief executive, Daniel Ek, has said that the company had paid in its history about 70 percent of its income ‘back to the industry.’ But a closer look at its recent financial statements shows that the ratio may be even higher,” reports NYT.
It’s difficult to predict what might solve the music industry’s issues, as declining sales over the past decade make it difficult to imagine record labels will lower their royalty rates. “But the graveyard of failed digital services, and the financial struggles of Pandora and Spotify show that the music industry hasn’t yet figured out the balance between licensing costs and how much money a digital service can make,” concludes the article.
Bloomberg L.P. expanded its analytics offerings with the launch of Bloomberg Sports in 2010. The service now serves 25 Major League Baseball teams, will launch a soccer-based service in the United Kingdom in September, and offers a fantasy football tool called Decision Maker 2012.
President of Bloomberg Sports Bill Squadron expects “to be within all major sports in two years, maybe three on the outside.”
The company’s most successful product to date has been its tablet application for Major League Baseball players. The application offers video of upcoming pitching opponents, including individualized videos of past performances against opponents.
The soccer application targets fanatical soccer supporters and betters in Europe. The app will use metrics, statistical comparisons, and projections to aid betters.
Squadron told Mashable that the growth of Bloomberg Sports has essentially followed his projections, and that when he formed the entity he had planned to establish a presence “in baseball especially, then build a platform that could be expanded to other sports from there.”
Created ten years ago by MLB Advanced Media, the online video service MLB.tv has since become one of the most successful video services, earning millions of dollars in revenue for its popular baseball content.
MLB.tv’s success is due in part to its devoted fans. The first game offered on the service — NY Yankees vs. Texas Rangers in 2002 — had 30,000 viewers worldwide.
“Those 30,000 fans have turned into millions of fans across the world and that little experiment is now a mega-million dollar business,” GigaOM reports. “Since its launch, the service has broadcast 1.5 billion live video streams and has accumulated a total of 3.7 million subscribers.”
The service also rose to the top by being ubiquitous. Offered on a variety of platforms and devices — from Apple TV to the Kindle Fire — MLB.tv is available to customers no matter how they access their content.
“So far in 2012, MLB.tv has seen 27.3 million mobile live video streams,” notes the post. “In the first week of 2012 baseball season, MLB saw 3 million downloads of its At Bat 2012 iPad app. At present there isn’t a professional sports league that holds a candle to MLB’s online arm.”