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comScore Lists Top 10 Digital Media Trends of 2010

posted on February 9, 2011

It’s time for the comScore, U.S. Digital Year in Review report 2010! I know you’ve been waiting breathlessly for this, preparing for the moment when you can put these marketing secrets into action and ramp up your sales 200%!

Well, here’s the real secret. There are no secrets. We’ve seen these trends coming right at us for the past year and then some. Still, a little validation is always helpful, so let’s see what made the list of the Top 10 Digital Media Trends of 2010.

E-commerce is back, but is morphing:

The report states that US e-commerce grew 10% to $142.5 billion. A big chunk of that went to online only sites such as Amazon, but many brick and mortar stores with an online component saw sales skyrocket this past holiday season.

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Ken and Barbie Get Social

posted on February 9, 2011

The internet is all a twitter today about a brand new social media marketing push from toy manufacturer Mattel. The campaign is all about how Ken plans to woo Barbie back into his life by Valentine’s Day and it’s pretty brilliant.

The entire event revolves around a website where people can vote if Barbie should take Ken back. The simplistic website has huge buttons sending people to Ken and Barbies’ Facebook, Twitter or Foursquare page, there’s even a YouTube video where Ken uses Match.com to see if he and Barbie are compatible. Not enough? They’re also running a reality show on Hulu called The Genuine Ken and not coincidentally they’re about to release a new “Sweet Talking Ken Doll” who looks like a cross between Justin Bieber and the kids from Twilight.

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Last FM Mobile Switches from Ad-Supported to Subscriber Based

posted on February 8, 2011

Starting on February 15, mobile Last FM listeners will have to pay $3.00 a month to continue their service. That’s less than most people spend on coffee or soda in a day so no big deal, right? Wrong. As expected, the response to the company’s blog post announcement has been mostly about people ready to jump to a competitor rather than pony up the bucks.

The refusal to pay for what they once got free is pretty common in the internet space and it’s becoming more and more of an issue as news outlets and video sites switch over to the paid subscription model. But what’s really interesting here is a line from Last FM’s post:

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Can You Name the Brand Behind the Little Darth Vader Ad?

posted on February 8, 2011

Probably not.

Nielsen has turned in the numbers on this year’s Super Bowl ads and what was popular and what was memorable were two very different things.

Little Darth Vader attempting to use the Force on everything from baby dolls to the dryer took the top spot as the most popular Super Bowl ad, but it didn’t even make the top ten for brand recall.

Doritos was the winner across the board with ads that were both popular and had high brand recognition. The Pug attack got the top spot for the most recalled brand ad while the licking cheese fingers and grandpa’s ashes came in fourth and fifth for popularity.

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Hulu’s CEO Speaks Out on the Future of TV Advertising

posted on February 7, 2011

Last week, Hulu’s CEO Jason Kilar wrote a blog post about the future of TV and web advertising that folks say was tantamount to him writing his resignation. The crux of the post is that TV execs are stuck doing business the old fashioned way and as such, are squashing the progress of web TV which is much more appropriate for today’s mobile society.

He makes three big points which demonstrate why web TV is more powerful than traditional TV:

  • Traditional TV has too many ads
  • Consumers want TV to be more convenient for them.
  • Consumers are demonstrating that they are the greatest marketing force a good television show or movie could ever have, given the powerful social media tools at consumers’ disposal.

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The Black Eyed Peas Worked for Free: Should You?

posted on February 7, 2011

In 2010, The Black Eyed Peas made an estimated 81.6 million dollars from touring, but they didn’t make a dime for their performance at yesterday’s Super Bowl. Why not? Unlike The Blues Brothers, they didn’t lose their fee on a big bar bill, they simply agreed to play for free in the first place.

As preposterous as that may sound, a new article at Forbes.com points out that the Super Bowl halftime acts traditionally work for free in return for the exposure. (Insert Janet Jackson joke here.) Last year, the Super Bowl brought in 106.5 million viewers and this year is on track to break records. So what is 106.5 million eyeballs worth? For advertisers such as Pepsi, Doritos and Carmax, it was around 3 million for every 30 seconds. Imagine if the Peas had bought an ad equal to their time on stage.

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Verizon’s iPhone Plan: Now Unlimited-ish

posted on February 4, 2011

Yesterday, Verizon had their most successful first day opening in their history when they opened the virtual doors to iPhone pre-sales. But while they were taking in money with one hand, they were changing the rules with the other. That “unlimited monthly data plan,” they’ve been advertising is about to become . . . well. . . limited-ish.

As Verizon puts it, the iPhone network is “a shared resource among tens of millions of customers.” That means that they have to balance the needs of the many by reducing service to a few.

A spokesperson was quoted in the LA Times as saying: