Audio internet stuck in 1996
News, 24 April 2019
TOPICS
PODCASTS, STREAMING & ON DEMAND

The amount of audio-friendly internet content is growing rapidly but the accompanying ecosystem remains embryonic, according to a Google executive, and brands have plenty of scope for experimentation.

Brenda Salinas, who works on Google’s news partnerships, even puts a precise date on where its evolution has reached. “As far as the audio internet, this is where we are: we are in 1996.”

That choice of date relates to the first incarnation of The Washington Post’s website, which was the future then but which looks archaic now.

“[The audio internet] is a very nascent technology and we think it has a bunch of potential, but there are a lot of unanswered questions,” she told the recent World Media Group Briefing on ‘The Impact of Voice & Sound.

“Even the most creative among us are still not sure which way this is going to go,” she added. (For more, read WARC’s report: Patience required with an audio internet ecosystem ‘stuck in the 90s’.)

What, for example, does the audio equivalent of a link sound like? asked Nate Lanxon, Technology Editor at Bloomberg.

He pointed out that podcast listeners – as well as advertisers – must rely on descriptions written by other people to ascertain if content suits their needs.

And he likened this to the wild west days in the 90s, when coders could manipulate early search engines Infoseek and AltaVista with a deceptive use of metatags.

“It was so easy to manipulate [and] that is kind of how we are with podcasts right now. Nobody is analysing the content or doing sentiment analysis on that podcast. We’re still super-reliant on old manual ways of discovering,” he said.

Sourced from WARC

 

The World Media Group had some really innovative entries for their recent World Media Awards. Take a look at this video to see all those entries who were shortlisted for the Grand Prix award.

Patience required with an audio internet ecosystem ‘stuck in the 90s’

Alex Brownsell
Source: Event Reports, The Impact of Voice & Sound, March 2019
Downloaded from WARC

Executives from Google, The New York Times, Mindshare and HSBC discuss how audio advertising is likely to develop in the coming years.

The audio internet remains “nascent” and should be approached by brands in a spirit of experimentation, much like the written web in the 1990s. Voice brand interactions offer double the emotional engagement to those situations where a consumer has typed the brand name. Faced with “brand decay”, advertisers like HSBC are investing in “sound identities” to help them “cut across” to distracted customers. Publishers are in the midst of a podcast “gold rush”, but, ultimately, the digital platforms are likely to “seize control” of the podcast ad market.

The World Wide Web has come a long way since the early days of dodgy dial-up connections and rudimentary search engines. It was a point that Brenda Salinas, a Google executive, was at pains to make when she offered a demonstration of The Washington Post’s impossibly archaic website as it had looked at its inception in 1996.

Speaking at the World Media Group Briefing on ‘The Impact of Voice & Sound’ (London, March 2019), Salinas – who works on news partnerships for Google – emphasised that the industry is at a similarly embryonic stage of development when it comes to audio and voice.

“As far as the audio internet, this is where we are: we are in 1996. It is a very nascent technology and we think it has a bunch of potential, but there are a lot of unanswered questions. Even the most creative among us are still not sure which way this is going to go,” said Salinas.

Whether it be voice-activated devices powered by machine learning AI or journalistic podcasts, marketers are increasingly excited by the potential to establish a sonic connection with consumers. As event chair Clancy Childs, chief product and technology officer at Dow Jones Professional Information, commented, the “amount of audio-friendly content is multiplying minute by minute”. For full article please CLICK HERE

About the author
Alex Brownsell
Senior Editor – Media,
WARC alex.brownsell@warc.com

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

FOX Networks Group Wins the Grand Prix for its DEEP STATE Pan-European Marketing Campaign

London, Friday 5th April 2019:The winners of the 2019 World Media Awards were announced last night at an exclusive VIP event held at The Ham Yard Hotel in London with brands such as Amgen, Audi, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Formula 1, Incredible India, Samsung and Siemens receiving accolades for their entries. Hosted by the World Media Group*, the World Media Awards, now in their fourthyear, are the only global awards to recognise brands, agencies and media partners who, together, create the most effective cross platform, cross border, content-driven advertising campaigns.

The biggest winner on the night was FOX Networks Group, whose pan-European campaign for the espionage thriller series DEEP STATE, picked up the World Media Awards Grand Prix, as well as winning the World Media Award for the Media and Entertainment category. The winning campaign succeeded in heightening awareness for the ‘Deep State’ concept and igniting interest and conversation with its target audience even before creative material from the series was available. Following a global strategy with local activations, the campaign delivered an uplift in new audiences of nearly 40 percent.

The judges also praised Audi,winner of the Automotive category,for its innovative ‘Bring the e-tron to the Digital Airwaves’ campaign, which brilliantly exploited the podcast as a content channel, delivering outstanding results for the business. Formula 1 drove away with the prize for Luxury, Lifestyle & Fashion, and received a Highly Commended in the Media & Entertainment category, for‘Unleashing the World’s Greatest Racing Spectacle on the Planet’, a campaign designed to increase fan engagement by drawing them closer to the drama of F1 and creating active conversations around the brand. Incredible India’s entry,promoting the Indian sub-continent as a world-class tourist destination,took home the Travel & Tourism award fora campaign full of high impact imagery and visual storytelling, which was produced specifically for a mobile-first audience.

“The World Media Awards provide an important benchmark for innovation in international content marketing so we’re delighted to be awarded this year’s Grand Prix for the DEEP STATE marketing campaign,” said Antoine Chapuy, Senior Marketing & PR Manager, Fox Networks Group Europe & Africa.“We were up against an impressive line up of competitors so it’s testament to the hard work of our European and African marketing teams whose collaboration and execution was key to the success of the campaign.”

A panel of 30 senior jurors from leading advertisers, agencies and publishers, headed up by Co-Chairs Stacy Gratz, Global Media Director at Bacardi, Caroline Foster Kenny, CEO EMEA at IPG Mediabrands and Jim Piercy, Creative Director, Customer Studios EMEA/Asia at The Wall Street Journal, were taskedwith selecting the eight category winners and the Grand Prix winner from the many global submissions. This year saw a huge increase in entries from media brands, a reflection of the number of media owners that have established their own brand studios in recent years to create credible content.

Stacy Gratz, WMA judge and Global Media Director at Bacardi,said“We were delighted to receive an impressive array of submissions from all over the world as more and more brands embrace content as a way to tell their stories across multiple channels and borders.FOX Networks Group’s campaign for DEEP STATE is a great example of an innovative pan-market content strategy that has been executed seamlessly at the local market level across several countries. The campaign maximised cross-border collaboration to yield outstanding results overall, and is well-deserving of the Grand Prix award.”

For more information on the World Media Awards and to see the winning entries in full, visit http://sandbox.world-media-group.com/awards/2019-winners.

 The winners of the World Media Awards 2019, along with comments from the judges about the category winners,are as follows:

 

Automotive
Winner – Audi e-tron: Bring the e-tron to the Digital Airwaves
Entered by: PHD GermanyCredits: iTunes, Podigee, Spotify, Soundcloud, Youtube, Deezer, Viertausendhertz

“This campaign showed some great insight around the power of podcasts. There was a clear business challenge and they told a great story of the development of the strategy, the implementation and results – and the business results were fantastic!”

Brand & Media Owner Partnership
Winner – Credit Suisse: The Power of Entrepreneurial Thinking
Entered by: Bloomberg Media Group

Credits: Havas International, Ipsos MORI

“This was a well-considered partnership. The content was audience behaviour led, digging down into the science of the entrepreneur and offers the audience real value. The results speak for themselves!”

Highly commended- Samsung Galaxy Note9: Selling a Phone with Hidden Powers
Entered by:Starcom
Credits: Epic Games, Ninja, SSSniperwolf, Markiplier, Ali-A, Harry Kane, Publicis Sport & Entertainment, R/GA

“This campaign benefitted from an intelligent strategy that highlighted a clear USP, creating exclusivity and virility in a beautifully crafted way.”

Corporate Influencer
Winner – Amgen JAPAC: The Cost of Silence
Entered by: The Economist Group

“In a very tough sector, this campaign delivered its message to the right audience, going above and beyond what you would normally expect.”

Financial Services
Winner – Deutsche Bank: Global Treasury Leaders Programme
Entered by: EI Advisory
Credits: The Economist

“This campaign has created long-term value, building a genuine community around specialist issues. It demonstrated clever targeting, was led by highly focused information and content, and delivered great business results.”

Lifestyle, Luxury &Fashion
Winner – Formula 1: Unleashing the World’s Greatest Racing Spectacle on the Planet
Entered by:Wavemaker Client Solutions London
Credits: Wieden+Kennedy

“This campaign needed to resolve a tough challenge – it was a well-presented entry, demonstrating a great, insight-led strategy and delivering superb business results.”

Media & Entertainment
Winner&Grand Prix Winner –FOX:DEEP STATE Pan-European Marketing Campaign
Entered by: FOX Networks Group
Credits: That Lot Agency

“The DEEP STATE campaign achieved amazing results – delivering an uplift in new audiences to the channel of nearly 40%. The entry incorporated innovative , creative solutions, with real-time, agile and responsive media and content choices..”

Highly Commended –Formula 1: Unleashing the World’s Greatest Racing Spectacle on the Planet
Entered by: Wavemaker Client Solutions London
Credits:Wieden+Kennedy

“This campaign created a turn-around for the brand, with multi-level touchpoints and bespoke strategies for different need-states.”

Technology & Telecommunications
Winner –Siemens: Reimagine the Game
Entered by: The Economist Group
Credits: Signal Noise TVC Group

“We loved the data-led story telling. This campaign had at its root an original idea and created engaging content around it.”

Travel & Tourism
Winner –Incredible India
Entered by: CNBC Catalyst

“This campaign benefitted from compelling content and new formats, leveraging CNBC’s premium traveller research insights to identify new opportunities – it also delivered strong results.”

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]