DIGITAL MEDIA DIGEST: FEB‘18
A monthly look at the world of digital from NORTH’s point of view
Print isn’t dead, it’s a Cyborg.
by Justin “Scrappers” Morrison, Publisher and Creative Worker
In 2012 Newsweek printed its last magazine with a hashtag running larger than their old skyscraper on the cover, #LASTPRINTISSUE. Newsweek continues to publish, but only online. Many traditional print publications have stopped printing hard copies because of revenue loss. According to The Atlantic, between 2000–2015, “print advertising revenue fell from about $60 billion to about $20 billion, wiping out the gains of the previous 50 years.” In print publishing, the largest costs are the hard expenses of printing and distribution. Cut those expenses and you’ve taken the shortcut to saving money. However, without a printed product you’ve lost the value of the real-life physical interaction.
Wired Editor in Chief Nick Thompson see’s the value of real-life printed publications. With print, there is a guaranteed amount of impressions. 800,000 readers get Wired delivered to their hands monthly. The way Thompson sees it in an interview on Recode, “On the internet, if you get lucky, you can reach more than 800,000 people,” he said. “But you can also put out really good stuff that’s seen by nobody because it doesn’t actually work in the algorithms.”
Print is not dead, it’s just become a cyborg walking on legs made of paper and wireless phone screens. Printed and digital media are stronger together. It’s not about one dying and the other thriving. Successful publishers have found ways to use both without printing their #LASTPRINTISSUE.
Here are a couple examples of innovations that utilize the strength of both print and digital.
Stay Wild Magazine — I’ve helped publish this printed quarterly adventure magazine since Spring 2014. At first, advertisers were interested in securing right-hand reads within the first six pages of the magazine, but that changed quickly once we provided another option. Editorial stories featuring their products in authentic use have become the way brands prefer to use their advertising budgets. While exercising total creative freedom with the editorial story the adventurers wear and use the brand’s products. In the end, we’ve created video, social, and printed stories rather than fill ad space. Beyond Stay Wild’s editorial story the brands get plenty of product and lifestyle content they can use for their own print and digital needs. It’s a much bigger impact than a single print ad and it’s way more fun for everyone involved.
Live Fast Magazine — After seven years of online publishing, Live Fast printed their first issue and launched an internal ad agency. With a focus on fashion, art, sex, and travel, Live Fast has created meaningful connections between brands and content creators. This connection has become so valuable that the magazine launched an in-house creative production company. Their production company is called Pepper and offers services traditionally handled by ad agencies; marketing strategy, graphic design, copywriting, influencer engagement, social media management, and art production to name a few. Without direct access to the printed magazine, Pepper would just be another traditional agency.
The Portland Mercury & The Seattle Stranger — These alternative newsweeklies are based in the Pacific Northwest and owned by Index Newspapers. The majority of their ads and editorial coverage is for local events. They’re the most effective printed way to promote weekly events, and because of this, they’ve created an innovations that picks up where the success of their printed product leaves off. They sell digital tickets for the events they promote. Without the costly infrastructure of bigger companies like Ticketmaster, Index is able to offer tickets at a lower cost. Since they are a trusted local source for event promotion they are also trusted by their readers and potential ticket buyers.
Range Magazine — This consulting agency offers trend forecasting and content production services. This wouldn’t mean much without the perceived value of their printed magazine’s editorial coverage. Range’s print product is aimed at outdoor retail industry insiders. It’s so effective in reaching this audience that the printed magazine is released and distributed at the Outdoor Retailer convention. Lots of bigger brands have followed the current trend set by smaller brands of handling their own creative services internally, but with the credibility of a printed product full of branded content about the outdoor industry Range offers more than brands can do for themselves.
VICE — This free magazine distributes 160,000 printed copies, boasts a 100% pick up rate, and a 5.6 person pass along rate. The guaranteed 896k monthly readership challenges Wired’s 800k with every printed issue. VICE places a lot of value in their print advertising with rates beginning at a minimum of $50K. In their 2018 media kit, they claim that “7 in 10 readers report taking action after seeing an ad in VICE — liking that brand more or considering purchasing the product or service.” With this in mind, it’s easy to see why at least half of their print ads are for VICE digital media. According to digital.vice.com their “Digital Network reaches more than 200 million unique visitors a month. However, the success of their digital network hasn’t been reason enough to abandon their printed magazine.
Print media will last as long as it innovates to serve the real needs of its readers and advertising partners.
Navigating Location-Based Mobile Options
Caroline Desmond, Director of Media Strategy
Location-based mobile advertising allows brands to reach consumers when they are either near or at the point of purchase, and it has become a staple in many channel plans as a way to “close the deal” when a consumer is in a position and primed to buy. Furthermore, the increased relevance of location-aware advertising results in more than double the usual response rates from consumers.
Mobile location data can also provide powerful insights about an audience’s interests based on the places they frequent. This is particularly true given we are nearly inseparable from our mobile devices these days. Deloitte reports that the average American checks their phone 47 times a day. Pew Research Center reports that 90% of cell-phone owners “frequently” carry their phone with them. Given the ability of mobile devices to transmit location data, this can quickly begin to illustrate a day in the life of a mobile user and what they are interested in based on where they go. For example, someone who goes to the driving range once a week, shops at Whole Foods, and regularly visits a CrossFit gym is likely interested in golf, physical fitness, and natural/organic food.
There are many mobile media companies that offer location-based targeted ads, so the challenge becomes how to effectively evaluate the many options out there to achieve the most accurate targeting and best value for your client or brand.
1. What sources of data does the mobile media company use to register user location?
The best mobile media companies use a combination of data sources to identify a user’s location. Companies that rely purely on mobile latitude/longitude data put themselves at risk of being exposed to location ad fraud. This happens when mobile publishers who know they can charge more for inventory that includes location data provide false latitude/longitude coordinates to increase their odds of winning bids to show targeted ads.
This is why we location-based mobile ad solutions that instead rely on a combination of factors in addition to lat/long data including:
- Carrier data
- Beacons
- SDK tracking
- Wi-Fi
- IP address
2. How long does someone need to dwell in a place for it to count toward tracked behaviors?
Generally speaking, if a device location registers within the geo-fenced area of a brick and mortar location, that is counted as a “visit.” The best mobile vendors will also look at the altitude of device location (for multi-story buildings) as well as user dwell time in a space to differentiate a visit from a “drive-by.” This avoids the risk of falsely reporting that someone was in a location when they were really just passing by. Aside from the obvious impact on a brand trying to reach consumers when they are actually in a specific location, the accuracy of what’s logged as a visit has material implications for developing accurate target audiences based on places they actually frequented.
3. Can the mobile vendor measure/project lift in sales resulting from the campaign?
Many mobile media companies have the ability to measure lift in foot traffic to a retailer as a result of a campaign. They do this using the same location technology used to target ads, but this time looking at whether someone who saw an ad later visited the promoted retailer. Typically these “retail lift” studies use a control vs. exposed methodology to illustrate how much more likely someone was to visit the promoted retailer as a result of seeing the mobile ads.
The challenge for some brands, however, is that they are sold in multi-purpose retailers (Target, Home Depot, Costco, etc.), so a mere visit to the brick and mortar location doesn’t reveal if the consumer actually bought the product sold at that store. To solve for this, some mobile companies have partnered with data providers like Nielsen Catalina and IRI to match data at the register for specific product purchases to users exposed to a campaign. The connective tissue that makes this possible comes from phone number/email information tied to a retail rewards/loyalty account that can then be matched up and anonymized to phone number/email data known to mobile media companies.
4. How can location-based mobile buys compliment each other?
Not all location-based mobile solutions are created alike. There are rewards-based mobile apps (iBotta, Shopkick) that are more likely to price-sensitive consumers when they are actively shopping in-store. These consumers might be less brand loyal, but they are more likely to convert at a higher rate and this can mean rewards-based mobile apps can be a very efficient medium to drive trial.
On the other hand, there are location-based mobile solutions that reach consumers when they are in other apps but near the retailer. A relevant product offering might draw those users into the store when they are in the immediate proximity of a promoted retailer. These kinds of buys may not deliver conversion rates as high as rewards-based mobile apps, but they are effective at delivering reach. In many cases, you can also direct users from ads served in this fashion to a coupon offered through a rewards-based mobile app. Thus, the two types of buys serve as a strong complement to each other.
In short, with the right mobile media company, a brand has a powerful tool to serve up highly relevant messages to the right person, at the right time, in the right place. Additionally, the right mobile media company can offer a valuable way to bridge the gap between digital impressions and offline purchase behavior. By asking these questions, we narrow the ever-growing list of mobile media offerings to only those most likely to deliver a quality impression that drives client business.
Movies and The Millennial Audience
Izzy Kramer, Media Planner
I have some news you may find surprising. The movie theater industry is booming. Now here is something more surprising, Millennials are the main reason behind the success. This is the same generation who, a few years ago, were the ones “killing the movie industry.” In fact, 2016 was anticipated to be “the worst year for movies…since before the 1920s” and the blame was placed on (but of course) Millennials.
Last month, a report published by the Video Advertising Bureau stated: “those age 6 to 34 — millennials and younger generation Z — represent over half of the moviegoing audience”. A little unexpected, right? Not if you really consider the generations we’re talking about.
By now it is common knowledge that Millennials prioritize buying experiences over stuff. So no wonder this generation is drawn to the movie theater. It’s the OG experience. Going to the movies is relatively inexpensive, especially when compared to bowling or going to a play. Going to the movies is also a comfortable experience Millennials grew up with. They grew up in the Great Sequel Boom when Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and Twilight drove hordes of costume-clad kids to midnight showings and weekend matinees. In fact, in an article written by Forbes back in October, “according to National CineMedia, members of [Millennials] are 50% more likely to claim movies as a passion. They are also most likely to buy tickets ahead of time, and nearly 90% aim to arrive at the theater early.” Which means Millennials look to elongate the experience and “make an event” of going to the movies.
This doesn’t leave out Gen Z. According to Forbes, “Gen Z is already on track to become the largest generation of consumers by the year 2020, and they account for $29 to $143 billion in direct spending.” With Gen Z we are beginning to see a continued trend of seeking experiences over products. This plays well into the major renovations theaters have undergone over the past few years, and has Gen Z’s interests peaked. I’m talking reclining leather chairs, improved surround sound speakers, high-quality food and beverage, and so much more to make going to the movies into a luxury experience. Back in my day we use to sit on cardboard upholstered with beaten up, dingy fabric in which you had to cross popcorn encrusted, sugar soda-splashed concrete floors in an ice-box cold theater to get to. These whippersnappers don’t know how good they have it!
But I digress.
With all of that said, it makes complete sense both of these generations are becoming major moviegoers. And we are beginning to see the effects. It is projected 1.3 billion movie tickets will be sold this year, which is up from 1.2 billion last year. Of course, this is nothing like the numbers were seeing back in the 2000s. Those were the days mentioned before of The Great Sequel Boom and before the introduction of on-demand streaming services like Netflix. Since 2009 we have seen a decline in total ticket sales. However, 2018’s projection is just shy of the 1.4 billion sold in 2009 and the 1.57 billion sold in 2002.
I can’t say if we’ll ever get back up to the astounding ticket sale numbers of the 2000s, but movie theaters aren’t down and out. We are now in the surge of Marvel and DC superhero films that populate the box office each year. And don’t forget the ever-popular Star Wars Saga which re-entered the game with The Force Awakens in 2015 — breaking a series of box office records.
Along with that, there is a relatively new player in the game that has been shaking everything up.
MoviePass.
MoviePass is a subscription-based movie ticketing service. Subscribers pay a monthly price and are able to attend as many movies as they like, limiting one movie per day. Too good to be true? It gets better.
Back in August, MoviePass dropped their price to $9.95 per month. That meant subscribers can see unlimited movies in one month for the price of one ticket. And we’re not talking about having to go to unknown theaters on the other side of town. Big names like Regal and Cinemark are in partnership with MoviePass as well as many small, local theaters.
Within the first two days after dropping their price, 150,000 people signed up for MoviePass. By December, MoviePass reached over 1 million subscribers across the US.
It is this sort of subscription-based service that has some saying it is the future of movie ticket purchasing. It has radically changed the value of the movie theater experience. Going to the movies was already an enjoyable experience but what generally got in the way was the price. Before MoviePass, audiences had to weigh the price of the ticket compared to the value of seeing a particular movie. If the price was too high, eh — might as well just wait for it to come out on DVD, right? But with services like MoviePass, it completely takes out the factor of price and equals more frequent moviegoers. More frequent moviegoers mean more eyeballs on the screen.
For advertisers, this presents an interesting opportunity. We don’t care so much about total movie revenue as we do total ticket sales. How many people are getting in front of that screen? So services like MoviePass allows brands to reach their audience in theaters more frequently than ever before. Instead of reaching them maybe once a month, the same moviegoer could be exposed to messaging multiple times a month.
Also, as stated above, the movie theater is a prime location to reach those ever-elusive Millennials with nearly 90% of them aiming to arrive at the theater early. This means cinema advertising allows for brand messaging to get directly in front of a seated, actively engaged Millennial audience.
And apparently, it is catching on. A few weeks ago, Screenvision Media, a cinema advertising distributor, announced 2017 was a record revenue year for them. And it isn’t just Screenvision Media but the entire cinema ad industry has been seeing ad growth over the past few years.
All in all, movies theaters are surviving and thriving as they offer a distinctive movie watching experience that streaming services or at-home watching cannot. Theaters are adapting to new technologies in line with their sound and growing young audience that could mean a healthy longevity for theaters.
