iMedia Panel: Gaming Impact & Measurement

The last panel of the iMedia Breakthrough Summit was entitled: “Gaming Impact & Measurement”
Moderator:

Andy Fessel, Consultant, IAB

Participants:

- Michael Dowling, Senior Vice President, Nielsen Entertainment

- Amy Shea, Research Director, Ameritest

- Joshua Larson, Director of Industry Products, GameSpot, CNET Networks

Gaming has actually been around longer than the web.  The fact that advertising is joining the medium when its in a fairly mature phase is interesting.  But the space has much more room to grow and develop. All we really know about the game sector right now is how many games are sold.  There is no robust measurement for how much is played or how. 

Types of in-game advertising
Big time product placement
Static billboards
Dynamic Ads
Unlockables/Extras
Mode/Level Sponsorship
Q: With gaming, we have an opportunity to measure around immersion.  What do we want to measure?

Joshua: We know gamers are a highly desirable demographic and they are playing.  We need to know if putting your brand in a game will impact it in a measurable way.  We need to look at effectiveness measures, as well as impression based measures to allow it to compare it across mediums.

Amy: What strikes me is how much the gaming community is re-teaching the advertising community about what they should have known all along.  Emotion and engagement and relevance all made good branded entertainment (aka 30 second ads).  They got away from that with the concept that you could push a whole lot of ads at someone.  And they failed.  Whenever you talk about what’s effective for brands - relevance, fit, emotional involvement.  Cognitive and attention pattern is important, but also emotional engagement will drive results (persuasion, purchase intent, etc.).

We did a study - looked at the MTV Video Music Awards to see if ad integration worked.  Some ads worked, some didn’t.  Was the audience engaged or not engaged? 

Q: Everything that is right about a game is wrong about television.  You have frequency, duration, immersion, a hard to reach audience.  What else do we want to measure?

Joshua: We really have no idea just how big gaming really is.  How much is spent with all these games.  Game play metrics.  How much time is spent doing all these activities is just really key.  It might take a few years, but soon a majority of consoles will be online - broadband connection - because then we can track real numbers.  Not self reported or diagramming, real numbers.  Not just for marketers, but I think the push can come from brand marketers.  The industry needs that info as well.

Michael: We do have new sales figures, but we don’t have numbers on rentals or pass around, borrowing games, etc.  Nor do we have info about the halo effect, the social impact of games.  Very different to see the reach of new sales vs. lifetime reach.  We need a stronger metric.  Even when we get 100% of the online universe we won’t have 100% of the universe online, so we will need some other ways.

Q: What does it do for my brand?  Brand impact and measurability.

Amy: When you think about brand integration and film, having the real values of the brand integrated into the story are key.  That is true for games as well.

Q: The gamer is elusive in terms of measurement

Josh: I’m happy to be the voice of the angry malcontents.  What we have done to date is just observe behavior.  Get out of their way, see what they are clicking on.  Message and brand is important.  Need the measurement ot get out of the way - can’t get in the way of their experience.

Study: Gamers are reception to in game advertising (sort of)

• 5 in 10 recall seeing ads in games
• 4 in 10 are likely to remember an ad they see in a game
• 3 in 10 learned about or became aware of a new product or service
• 8 in 10 are irritated by ads that get in the way of gameplay or aren’t a good fit for the game
• 7 in 10 would rather see ads in a game than have to pay more for the game
• Half say its really hard to see or pay attention to some ads
• 23% avoid particular games because of advertising.

We can’t just throw ads at them - there has to be some perceived benefit.  We receive advertising (gamers receive advertising) because it is free.  It has to add something to experience.

Question (from the audience):  How do you measure different types of brand integration (skiing through gates branded with ads, vs being surrounded by ads)?

Michael: Its as expected - if they don’t see the ad for a consistent period of time they won’t feel it.

Q: Will there ever be a way to measure in-console games that are not online?

Michael: Yes, through panels.  In the future, with online hookups, you will have enough of a census level measurement to project to the population at large.  And the big point is that we can have a much bigger sample that we have now.

Q: Community. There is a new and enahced way to get a message out.  How do we address that?

Amy: We saw a lift in measures (in the Video Music Awards study) when people watched the VMAs with others.  It made a big different in the length of the program - how much they watched - and whether they watched it with others.  The more social experience they were having.  If they were going online at the same time as watching.  That increased the awareness of the ads.

Michael: Did a study of 18-34 year old gamers.  50% played a game with someone in the room.  The halo effect of the social effects of game play are real, significant.

Josh: There are two forms of activity we can get — around the game (user profiles, chats, etc.) is captured well now.  In the game, the mult-player aspect, what are they chatting about, what is coming up - fascinating insight that we don’t have yet.

Question (from the audience): What are the thresholds for an ad being highly pervasive?  How many times do I have to see a game in an ad for it to work?  How many impressions do we need to have to know we are going to get enough.

Michael: We believe anything above a .3 is signifant.  We need to do more testing.  Test in the home.  See what the impact of 20, 30, 40 hours of game play over a few months will have.  Haven’t yet looked at frequency caps and such.  Don’t really have the answer just yet.

iMedia Panel: Gaming Creating & Execution

The afternoon focus at the iMedia Breakhrough Summit Panel was gaming.  The title of this panel: “Gaming Creating & Execution.”

Moderater

- Julie Schumaker, National Director of Sales, Video Advertising - EA

Participants 

- Gerard LaFond, Partner - Persuasive Games (also President of Red Tangent)

- Claire Lipnicki Ekizian, Account Director - MarketSource IMS

- Gordon Paddison, Executive Vice President, Integrated Marketing - New Line Cinema

Our topic is dynamics and challenges in the process of advertising in video games.  We all want to know methodologies and what is the ROI.  What isn’t as often covered is the actual execution - which can be quite challenging.  This panel should help people understand what is the A to Z of being part of game.  Focus on Video Game Integration (aka branded entertainment/product placement) and Advergaming (where the brand is actually the entertainment).

Q: What challenges have you faced in putting Castrol Syntec to a game?

Claire: It was a very long process - over 18 months.  Long decision making process, very long on integration. 

Q: Timing.  How does advergaming create a better solution from timing?

Gerard: The timeline to create an advergame is only 2-3 months.  You can typically get something up in about the time it would take to film a tv spot.  You can also re-skin a popular arcade game, which can happen very fast.  That is the entry level.  But the challenge is creating a custom advergaming.

Q: How does a non-entertaining brand make entertainment out of games?

Gerard: I don’t think every brand is right for advergaming.  There is an opportunity in advergaming that is similar to the opportunity in the game space as a whole.  But, that creates challenges for advertisers.  They have to tell good stories. 

Q: Is it building a game experience, or just building media?

Gordon: Advergaming is content.  We created a game in 18 days for a film, Running Scared, which was a good example of both advergaming and in-game advertising.  Every element of the game was preceded by a video clip.  We had an age gate (to make sure people were 17+). It got picked up by the blogs, and then the mainstream media - it got a lot of attention then.  The game followed the character development and that worked really well.  There were in-game placements, such as a movie theater actually in the game (with a reference to the movie) and buildings/billboards that featured information about the film.  They were funny, irreverent enough (didn’t take themselves too seriously) - the goal was to make the audience laugh, and drive them to the movie.  The question is — what level of gaming engagement do you require for your brand?  In some cases, all we need are people to sample.  If they are going to the site they already have awareness, so just a little bit of conversion is good.

Claire: We want to associate our brand with the game.   We want more than just a quick hit.  We had bonus packs, a cheat code (available on the Castrol Syntac website) that tied back involvement to the brand.  We really wanted people to immerse themsleves in it.

Q: Viral marketing has to be a big part of video games.  How do you create that?

Gerard: The games can’t live in a silo by themselves.  It has to be a part of an overall communications and marketing effort - with online and offline partners.  But if the game isn’t any good, isn’t controversial (doesn’t have sex, isn’t funny or irreverent) - then it will languish.  There are ways to get around that.  You can go to a game portal and find a built in audience.  You can partner with larger game portals (Yahoo! Games, etc.).  And 99% of the time we are giving away an advergame, so we don’t care who has it, just that its out there.

Gordon: There are a lot of grassroots and offline initiatives you could try.  But you have to remember the game is trying to sell the brand, the product - so you need the game to do its job and promote the product, and not rely on the existing packaging for the product to promote the game.

Q: How do you become a part of the story?

Gordon: You give a creative brief to a bunch of crazy game developers, they come back with someone insane, and you say go for it. If its safe enough, you put it out in the light of day  If its not safe, you put it out in the middle of the night and then promote the heck out of it.  Remember, we aren’t trying to reach consumers, they are malcontents. There are certain brands that are natural for this space (Red Bull) and make sense in the environment.  They are also consumed while people are playing games.  So its about finding the audience and going after them appropriately.

Q: Isn’t it an oxymoron that endemic brands need to be in games?

Gordon: How many energy drinks are out thre?  How do you differentiate Red Bull from another drink?  That’s when the lead time can benefit - someone can say they have a movie coming out in March ‘07 or a new drink in Summer of ‘08 and they can fit. 

Claire: That’s why it made sense for Castrol to be in a game.  Selling motor oil in the context of a racing game s something we will also want to do.  So we had the time to get it right.  Now we can do even more of it.

Gerard: If you are dealing with game product you have to be dealing with gamers.  Often we are selling to an agency or a brand manager who may not be a gamer.  What we often end up doing is buying a console and some games and tell them to play.  Then we will talk to them about why it makese sense.  Its really important to be deadling with gamers.

Q: Can you name a really Bad Game?

Gerard: Go to the WD40 website - there is a game where things start squeaking and you spray them.  That’s just silly.  There is the potential for a backlash if you make a bad game.

Q: Can you give an example of bad In Game Integration?

Gerard: I don’t like in-game advertising, because I am a gamer and I am really concerned about my favorite games becoming filled with advertising.  There is an opportunity for something like an oil brand in a racing game.  Or a handheld device that is integral to the story.  But there is constantly a tension in sports game - there are some things that are ok (you expect billboards in a stadium) but don’t overdo it.

Gordon: I agree 100%, except sports games, anything that mirrors the real world - if you could stream live ads to extend the broadcast opportunity into the game, that is the reality of the situation.  That’s the normal experience.  They expect that.

Q: What is over the top? 

Gerard: A lot of the automoative brands we work with are worried about doing something bad, going too far.

Claire: Castrol Syntec wouldn’t do anything that crazy.

Final Comment: If game are going to become an ad medium, they have to be more scalable than they are currently.

iMedia Panel: Marketing to Gamers

Mike Denzler, the Media Director for Freestyle Interactive delivered a case study entitled: “A Whole New Ball Game: Marketing to Gamers.”  Here are my notes:

Publisher Challenges: Slowed console growth & market maturation (there are 100 million vidoe game consoles in the market, but only 1% are next generation consoles, connected to the internet or similar).  Transition ‘fitness’ year and economic impact.

Marketer Challenges: Everybody’s targeting the game audience - they are highly desirable.  But, the gamer audience is very hard to reach - they don’t respond to traditional advertising.

Leveraging Opportunities: Broadband proliferation, community & communication, on demand and user control.

The gamer media habits align perfectly with marketers goal of leveraging emerging media (early adopters, difficult to reach in other channels).  Video, mobile, and community provide vehicles to keep in front of games.  The key is the creative.

FEC Votes to Protect Internet Politics

The Federal Election Commission voted unanimously today to adopt a rule requiring anyone placing a paid political ad on a Web site to abide by federal campaign spending and contribution limits.  The rule also updates existing FEC regulations to make it clear that all other Internet political activity, such as blogging, e-mail communications and online publications, is not covered by the campaign law.  The Associated Press has a summary.
- AdamB at DailyKos says “The Netroots Win.”

- Chairman Michael Toner offered these ”Remarks from Today’s FEC Hearing” at RedState.

Mike Krempasky and Markos Moulitsas Zúniga deserve thanks and credit for putting their political differences aside to help lead the blogosphere in this important fight.  Nicely done.

iMedia Panel: Mobile Case Studies

Mike Baker, the President and CEO, EnPocket, presented some new information about mobile.  Here are my notes:

- Mobile phone ranks second in importance, only TV beats it out.  Among young people, mobile ranks second to internet.  Awareness, Purchase intent and engagement are all higher through mobile.   Response rates are higher also (online banner - .25% vs mobile marketing - 6.5%)

- Mobile provides a lower cost of delivery, no print or postage costs, immediate fulfillment, etc. - that makes it the future of advertising.
There are three mobile formats to consider:

- Text messaging: Options include text to win, polling, mobile coupons, voting, alerts, and trivia.  About 40% of people who have mobile phones have sent a text message in the last 30 days.  For 18-34 year olds, the number is closer to two thirds.  20-30% of people have sent a mobile picture in the last 30 days (over 30% among young people).  15% have use mobile internet in the last 30 days (25% among young people).  Untargeted response rates: 1-5%.  Targetered response rate: 30-35%

- Mobile Internet Ads: Options include Store locator, text links, click to buy, click to sms, sponsored content, click to call. Untargeted click through: 1-6%.  Targeted click through: 10-24%

- Multimedia Messaging (MMS): Options include: Audio, Rich Graphics, Video, Reply to Buy, Click to mobile internet, slideshow style.  This is a native mobile ad unit - requires you to attract/grab attention in 15 seconds.  Hard to do, but if you can, this is very effective.  Example: sending movie trailer, combined with theater locator, coupons, etc.  Untargeted advertising response: 1-5%.  Targeted advertising response: 20-50%

iMedia Panel: Myth vs. Reality: What’s Real and Actionable?

The main panel this morning was titled: Myth vs. Reality: What’s Real and Actionable?  Here are my notes:

Moderator: Doug Weaver, Upstream Group
Participants: Kate Everett Thorpe - Venture Partner at Walden VC, David Adelman - Media Director in Johnson & Johnson, Adam Gerber - VP of Ad Products and Strategy, BrightCove

Doug: There is no problem spotting breakthroughs, there are breakthroughs all the time. The challenge is figuring out which ones are important and where they will go.

Four things we will talk about:

Alternate delivery of video to the home
Small screen applications (iPods, etc.)
Mobile
Gaming

Three Questions:

1) How big is it?  Are consumers really using this application?
2) How important is it?  Is it something that is going to help us deliver marketing value?
3) How soon will it happen?  You want to be about 15 minutes ahead of the pack.

Q: What is your checklist for determining what is important?

Kate: Focus on whether users will actually use it.  Advertisers are not going to put budget, investors aren’t going to back it - unless there is distribution.  Example: The thought that nobody would watch TV on their mobile was a US-centric view, but the rest of the world was using their mobile for more than a phone for a long time.

David: Its not about technologies — or even individual technology companies.  Creative is the question, how are all the ways that it can be used.  Does it allow me to tell a great story or reach a consumer?  If yes, we can use it. If we just look at audience, or distribution, we might miss the real reason for adopting it.  We are really thinking hard about content and finding alternative ways to get it out.  Need to conceive of brand stories that can live in these spaces - short form, long form, interactive, etc.

Adam: We are moving into a fragrmented world that is multi-dimensional.  The number of channels they can enage, in different platforms, at different times.  Three basic things — simple, scalable, and solution oriented.  If I can envision an opportunity has the potential to scale, can be easily delivered and managed, and can meet a client need, then I will pursue it.

Q: What is the future of the agency?  Is there something fundamentally broken in the model that prevents an agency (or client organization) from responding?

Kate: There will be a fundamental change in the agency relationship.  Media is being focused on search model and arbitrage instead of strategic (top down/bottom up) model.  Content also.  Agencies need to be set up to create content.  You have to have one piece of content that can be altered for a variety of venues.  TV advertising in these spaces will be the lazy man’s advertising, the popup all over again.

David: Re-integration of communications strategy and creative development - its really hard to get it done with these huge agencies and separate media buying groups.  Medium size, fast moving agencies are able to move into these new spaces with a lot of fresh work.  We need to try and create structures where marketers feel comfortable taking risks - that creates some new innovations, opportunities to learn, etc.

Adam: I think Agencies are set up to success - the media services companies are far better positioned to deal with communications planning and unbiased selection of media investments.  The large creative shops are in danger of becoming dinosaurs.  They are not positioned well to succeed.  Generally their creative talent has a limited view, they approach things in a linear way - don’t understand how consumers are engaging new platforms.  Will see a lot of work moving away from large creative shops in favor of boutiques.  They will invest in analytics and data and they will become the ones that can figure out what is working and not.

Q: What is overhyped/? What phenomena that is getting too much press?

David: Video on mobile phones is a little bit of a push right now.  I think there is a lot you can do on the mobile platform, and its exciting to see video getting distributed.  But as an advertising vehicle, we still have a lot to figure out. 

Adam: Need to separate overhyped into two buckets - consumer behavior and marketing value.  Consumer generated media is overhyped with respect to its value from a marketing standpoint.  A big wake up call will be when major brands are integrated into controversial citizen generated stories.

Kate: Bright Cove! (laughter).  The hype around consumer generated media is too much, because we don’t know how to use it yet.  But the people are there, the audience is doing it, so we have to figure it out.  There have already been some disasters where people tried to fake consumer generated media.  We need to find a way to communicate with our audience through social networks and consumer generated media if that’s how they want to communicate with us.

Q: What happens when the big brands try to use these tools?

Kate: Authenticity is king.  If you are not authentic, you will be called out, ,whipped and beaten in public, and then they will hold you up as a prize.  If you allowed the audience to create a dedicated page, helped them, or made tools available to them, then you would have something good. 

Q: Alternative methods of delivering video… what’s important?

Adam: There are major issues with the ad model that are causing friction.  TV shows generate between $0.30 and $0.60 in revenue per viewer.  When distributed online, the networks are making close to $1.00.  You can’t have an ‘ad-pod’ with a 6-10 ads in it.  They might accept an ad at the beginning, or at the end, but they don’t want to be interrupted.  So the numbers don’t work.  The financial model doesn’t work.  That’s why there is friction.

David: I’m board with pre-rolls.  When you factor in that the consumer is in control, and this media can be very personal, it doesn’t work for me.  There is a lot more demand for this inventory then there is supply - which can mask a bad model.  The big question is, can brands create and own really compelling content that people want?

Kate: You are funneling more viewers off a broadcast model where they get to choose whether they see your ad or not.  The ad model has to be worked out still.  A ‘paid for by’ model could work. 

Adam: Advertisers are used to talking in big groups, with unspecific ratings data.  In the new area, engagement models are going to be the measurement. But you can’t compare these different models.  Marketers can’t figure out how to make the change.  And until they do, these different models will not evolve quickly. 

Question from the audience: What do you see as a VOD ad model? 

Adam: There are marketers who have content, interesting content, that they can deliver direct to consumers — auto, travel, movie, music.  Build a virtual channel and build access direct to consumer for marketers.  Model for VOD will be more about invitation that gets them hooked and telescopes them into larger interaction.

Question from the audience:  Are you creating new metrics?  How are you getting people not on the bandwagon to jump on?

David: How do we justify a long engagement with a small audience?  The marketing research industry needs to step up.  We are looking for new ideas for how to measure and communicate this stuff?

Question from the audience:  What is the threshold for overall engagement?  How do you divide it up?

Adam: I think marketers need to do a much better job setting their communications goals and charging their agencies to execute.  They do not need to reach everyone on everything.  Understanding who the 10-15% of the consuming target it as that will truly cause an influence change, and then planning around that, are the critical inputs that your agencies should be hearing from you.  Agencies can only do as good as the input they get.

Kate: Have we ever heard the word ‘engagement’ in talking about offline/traditional media (my note: yes, in politics).  We need a reality check.

Q: Small Screen Applications.  How important?

Kate: How many people have ipods?  How many are accessing video?  That’s when it gets exciting.  People are getting mugged in New York for their iPods - there is obviously something there.  But not all VOD is created equal - Tivo and iPod video are totally different.

Q: Gaming.  Worth the hype?

Adam: Its something a lot of people do so it’s a huge opportunity.  The challenge is understanding how you use gaming.  But all ‘gaming’ is not the same.  Just as mobile is three or four different things and you have to understand the differences.  Console based, network based, mobile platform — the ad opportunities and engagement opportunities are different through each of those platforms.  Simply sticking branded icons or other simplistic messaging units won’t do much.  Does it actually engage the consumer or drive intent? 

Kate: The development cycles for games are very slow.

[The panel ended, somewhat abruptly, when the fire alarm went off. No, I’m not kidding.]

iMedia Keynote: Why Breakthrough?

Rick Parkhill, CEO of iMedia Communications gave the morning keynote.  Here are my notes:

- Why is this conference called Breakthrough?  These technologies aren’t new, they have already emerged - so calling this an ‘emerging technologies’ conference or ‘new media’ event wouldn’t make sense. But, there are so many breakthroughs happening — technology, consumer acceptance, content companies embracing these new things. 

- What is changing?  78% of marketers (surveyed by ANA/Forrester) said TV advertising has become less effective in the past two years.  Almost 70% of advertisers think DVRs and Video on Demoand (VOD) will reduce or destroy the effectiveness of traditional 30-second commercials. When DVRs spread to 30 million homes, 60% of advertisers say that they will spend less on conventional TV advertising.

Fun with numbers (i.e. predictions):

- TV: TV ad spending will decline 5-10% next year.  If TV advertising represents a $75 billion market this year (according to Robert Coen, Universal McCann) - there will be $7.5 billion from TV going into interactive.

- Games: Over 70% of 18-34 males are gamers.  3/4 of households own a videogame system.  Young men spend more time playing games then watching TV

- Mobile: More mobile phone subscribers in the world than landlines.  200 million subscribers in the US, over 70% penetration.

- Video: VOD, DVR, Digital TV, iPTV, Mobile Video (cell phones, iPods), Online video, outdoor or Place based video - they are all opportunities to serve video.  There is no excuse for not developing and distributing video.

iMedia Panel: Influencers in the New Digital World

John Geraci from Crux Research presented a session titled: “Influencers in the New Digital World.”  Here are my notes:

- There are lots of nicknames for this audience: Millennials, Generation Next, Dot Y, Gen Y.  They are hard to understand.  Hard to Reach.  But everyone wants them.  They are the most “Critical” Media Consumers in History (meaning they are the most important, and they hold advertisers and marketers very high standards).

- They are more influential than ever before.  Compare 1966 Teen Spending - $12 Billion (avg $4568 per year) to 2005 Teen Spending - $233 Billion (avg $10,420 per year) That’s a 2.3 x increase in spending power.  Today, 1 in 3 dollars being spent are either being spent by, or influenced by, teenagers in America.

- “The Net Generation uses digital tools to pass the time, play, learn, communicate and even think in new ways.  As a result, they develop new kinds of consumer needs, behaviors, and relationships to brands.” (Don Tapscott - Growing up Digital)

- Poll Results: More than 2/3 of teenagers distrust ad messages they see. 

- Poll Results: Teens Trust TV Ads the Most (more than radio, internet, magazines). They love the infinite nature of the internet but they don’t know what to trust.  

- Poll Results: Some Media Seem Off-Limits for Ads.  Teens say it is appropriate to advertise in magazines, radio, on the TV and the web.
- Poll Results: Teens Admit that Old Media Ads Influence Them. They buy products they see on TV, read in magazines, see in movie theaters before show starts, etc.
- Poll Results: The N-Gen is critical of Word-of-Mouth as well.  Only 36% are extremely likely to go buy something their friend suggested.  Compare that to what reception professional marketers would have.
- Poll Results: Recent digital ‘hardware’ penetration has been greatest in mobile devices.  Teens are buying cell phone with cameras (+35%), web enabled cell phones (+8%) — the ‘on the go’ devices are growing while the ’sit and watch’ devices (TV, computers, even video game consoles) are slowing.

- Fragmentation of media is real: 200+ cable tv networks, 5500 consumer magazine titles, 10,500 radio stations, 30 million + websites, 122, 000 books publicshed, 240 million televisions sets (two million TV sets in the bathroom).  But fragmentation doesn’t scare this audience.  Teenagers feel empowered by all the media - they value being in control of their media environment.

- Media use has reached a saturation point.  Almost all media use is dropping (-4%). Radio (-20%), Newspaper (-20%), TV (-7%), Magazines (-24%).  But the Internet (+63%) is growing. New media is taking time away from old media.
 
- How must marketers adapt?  In the ‘old’ Analog world, advertising and engagement was: Media bound, passive, and supportered a “sellers” market.  In today’s “new’ digital world: content is unfastened to any medium, interactive, ‘buyers’ market (producer ceding control over content to their customers).
Bold Predictions
1) Advertisers are about to show you the money - spending on new media is about to hit a tipping point.
2) Targeting will be as dominant as the message and creative
3) The Media Planner will soon becomes the Rock Star of the Agency - because targeting is why new media really works (analogy to Moneyball in baseball).
4) Don’t Discount the Importance of Research - sources of consumer information undercount young audiences; if you can’t count the audience, marketing dollars won’t flow to the medium.

Clips and Tips: March 27, 2006

If they make it, they will watch (Detroit Free Press)

Major League Baseball Steps Out As Coach in the Game of Web Video (Wall Street Journal)

Survey offers ’sneak peak’ in to ‘Net surfers brains (USA Today)

A Web Site So Hip It Gets Laddies to Watch the Ads (New York Times)

The Founder of Heavy.com presented at the iMedia summit today.  They have been ahead of the broadband revolution and now that the rest of the world is catching up, they are ahead on the creative side as well - understanding what it takes to get attention, keep it, and motivate people to action (i.e. to buy something).

Sponsor Presentation: ESPN

The iMedia Breakthrough Summit kicked off last night with some presentations by the conference sponsors.  One of the first sponsors to present: ESPN Digital Media.

Instead of running us through a powerpoint presentation or talking about all the benefits of their digital media offerings, John Zaccario, the VP of Product Management for ESPN Digital, gave the microphone to us.  He showed a short video highlighting the power of sports and the passion of fans and then asked the assembled crowd of media executives and creative folks to share their favorite stories. 

A guy talked about having Redskins seasons tickets growing up and how spending Sundays became ‘Son Days’ with his dad at RFK Stadium.  A woman talked about how her three-year old twins donned their Steelers Jersey and took on Cleveland Browns fan who tried to taunt them in a supermarket.  A guy talked about sitting in the stands the other night watching ‘his’ UCLA Bruins advance to the Final Four.  A woman talked about sitting in the stands watching her son hit his first grand slam in little league (the crowd applauded for that one).  And one guy talked about Pedro Martinez delivering a bases loaded strike against the Yankees to claim a Game 7 win and the World Series for his belowed Mets – it hasn’t happened yet, but he can dream, right?  I shared two sports memories myself — one from my tour of all the major league baseball stadiums in 1997 and the other from when I wrote a when the Green Bay Packers visited the White House following their NFL Championship that President Clinton read nearly all of, word for word.

Sports is important to me.  And I am not alone – apparently more than 18 million unique visitors find themselves drawn to the ESPN.com website every month.  ESPN has the perfect mix of content (news, information and analysis), distribution (the website(s), TV network(s), the magazine, the mobile service, a soon to be launched social network/community, and on and on), and integration (the story continues seemlessly across all the channels) - mix that with the passion of sports and you’ve got it made. 

The focus at iMedia is how to leverage channels like ESPN to reach desirable demographic audiences.  Of course, marketers wouldn’t need to use ESPN as a vehicle if they could find a way to bottle the passion and energy that sports provides to people’s lives.  Good luck with that.