Archives par mot-clé : video ads

Marketing Visions: Revitalizing Video Marketing with Simple Tools

Sixteen.

That’s the number of times your team has shared the same year-old brand video in the past two months. Between your social publishing platform and emails to your audience, your video marketing has been getting progressively staler over the past year, and you’re concerned it’s becoming a bit too obvious.

But your team’s hands are tied. You don’t have the equipment to produce high-quality photo or video, and you don’t have the budget to outsource that kind of production to an external team. This leaves your team making use of what they have, using the occasional cell phone photo or in-house graphic. You bide your time until the end of the quarter in hopes of juggling the budget to make a new round of video content—only to release it into a marketplace totally oversaturated with video content.

It’s not difficult to see why some content teams find themselves in a video marketing rut. Whether it’s out of habit or a lack of resources, brands sometimes find themselves falling behind the competition, but can’t seem to find a way to break out of the pattern without investing large portions of their budget or time. The good news is that with the increasing popularity of visual content, there are more ways than ever for marketers to take advantage of fresh new tactics and quality equipment, without disrupting spending and workflows.

Fresh Approaches

When it comes to cleaning up a brand’s video presence, it’s easy to get caught up in thinking about the video itself. How should it look? How long should it be? How intense of a production are we signing up for here? But if you’re just planning on producing content and posting it to your YouTube channel, then your team is likely missing out on a number of opportunities in terms of your video format.

One of the more popular contenders in this space right now is live video, and it’s not difficult to see why. Live video offers marketers an easy way to make timely, relevant content without the expectation of studio level production values (though if you’re lucky enough to have a team equipped to pull this off, it can help you stand out from the competition). What’s more, the relatively new nature of live video means that users find it interesting, and the platforms investing in it tend to give live content a free boost.

Using live video can be an easy way to get your team’s feet wet with impromptu video production, while more formal projects can provide a lot of value later. For instance, your team could produce an informative live webcast that addresses some of your audience’s consistent problems, and then turn the recording of that webcast into gated content down the road. Just like that, you have two lead-generating video projects for the price of one livestream.

For teams that aren’t ready to dive right into new production, however, there might be fresh opportunities in creating micro content. Over the past few years, the popularity of GIFs has skyrocketed across the web, making them a powerful marketing tool. Consider combing through some of your older video content and creating informative clips that highlight specific tips or insights, which can then be used to drive interest across your social media publishing platforms. Using GIFs isn’t difficult and can double your team’s visual content inventory—so long as you know how to implement them in a way that fits for your brand.

Hand holding a phone taking a picture

Image attribution: NeoNBRAND

New Toys

Even with some new formats under your team’s belt, every marketer would love to have a budgeted way to improve their visual quality. As long as you know where to look, you don’t have to spend a fortune to make dramatic improvements to your video production.

The Camera in Your Pocket

Often the best place to start improving your team’s visual quality is your cellphones. From social updates to live video, phones tend to be the most convenient equipment at your team’s disposal, but often produce the lowest quality of work. Small investments in cell phone tripods, unlocked photo and video apps, or, for the most ambitious teams, cell phone lens kits, can help you make huge strides towards improving video quality.

Cinema Equipment, But Smaller

One of the most common techniques for making studio grade video so excellent is advanced stabilization. Gimballed devices help filmmakers keep their video looking smooth even while running, jumping, or simply panning across a nice vista. For a small bump in price, it’s now possible for your team to take advantage of this same tech for your video content. Whether you just want a system that will stabilize your cell phone video or an entry-level camera with built in stabilization, your team can now have all the tools necessary to produce cinema-style content—for the price of a video freelancer’s daily rate.

Widen Your Scope

Not many brands have taken advantage of 360-degree content, though it’s been available for several years. But producing 360-degree video and photography isn’t as daunting or expensive as you might think. Consumer grade 360-degree cameras can provide your brand with a relatively cheap way to see if this format might work for you. For a slightly higher price point, your brand could be one of the first to produce 360-degree video by using a multi-GoPro rig— a system not necessarily for the faint of heart, but also not impossible for mid-size content teams.

Camera equiment on a table

Image attribution: Jakob Owens

It’s not hard to see why so many mid-size marketing teams end up with stale video marketing. The marketplace moves fast, audiences have short attention spans, and finding the time or budget to produce even one video can seem like an overwhelming task alongside your already breakneck publishing schedule. By thinking carefully about what might interest your audience, taking advantage of opportunities afforded by new video formats, and by making a handful of relatively cheap purchases to equip your team, it’s possible for savvy marketers to turn their otherwise stale video marketing scheme into a well-oiled machine producing cinema-quality content.

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Jury to hear Bill Cosby’s testimony about quaaludes and sex

Jurors at Bill Cosby’s sexual assault trial have heard excerpts from the comedian’s lurid, decade-old deposition, but explosive sections about him obtaining quaaludes and giving them to women before sex are yet to come.

Prosecutors on Friday are expected to continue focusing on Cosby’s testimony, giving jurors a look at his view of women, sex and the night in January 2004 that Andrea Constand says he drugged and violated her at his suburban Philadelphia home.

The 79-year-old Cosby has said he will not testify, giving his deposition from Constand’s civil lawsuit and a prior police interview added weight as jurors consider charges that could put him in prison for the rest of his life.

A detective on Thursday read portions of the deposition covering what Cosby described as several sexual encounters with Constand, including one before the alleged assault where he said he found himself « somewhere between permission and rejection. »

Friday’s excerpts are expected to include an exchange where Cosby, once known as America’s Dad, acknowledges using quaaludes in his pursuit of women for sex.

« When you got the quaaludes, was it in your mind that you were going to use these quaaludes for young women that you wanted to have sex with? » Cosby was asked.

« Yes, » he replied.

Cosby testified in 2005 and 2006 as part of a lawsuit brought against him by Constand, the former director of women’s basketball operations at his alma mater, Temple University.

Constand testified this week she rejected Cosby’s advances and would have fought him off again had the pills not left her paralyzed and semi-conscious.

He has said the sexual encounter was consensual.

Cosby eventually settled with Constand for an undisclosed sum, and his deposition was sealed for years, until a judge released parts of it in 2015 at the request of The Associated Press.

A detective said Thursday the investigation was reopened just seven days after the deposition excerpts were unsealed.

Constand, 44, testified that Cosby penetrated her with his fingers against her will after giving her pills that left her so limp that she was unable to push him away or tell him to stop.

In the deposition, Cosby said he gave Constand three half-tablets of the cold and allergy medicine Benadryl before the « petting » began.

Prosecutors have suggested he drugged her with something stronger, perhaps the quaaludes he admitted obtaining decades ago.

Also Thursday, a detective testified that Bruce Castor, the district attorney who decided more than a decade ago not to bring charges against Cosby, shut the investigation down in 2005 while police were still working the case.

Cheltenham police Sgt. Richard Schaffer’s testimony could blunt efforts by Cosby’s lawyers to exploit the fact that Castor saw no case. Castor, who has long been out of office, is on the list of potential witnesses at the trial.

Castor ended the investigation after four weeks.

He testified last year that he had talked with Cosby’s lawyer before making his decision and that it was intended to let Cosby speak freely at a potential civil deposition — the same deposition that prosecutors are now relying on at his trial.

Some 60 women have come forward to say Cosby sexually violated them, but the statute of limitations for prosecution had run out in nearly every case. Constand’s case is the only one in which Cosby has been charged.

The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they grant permission, which Constand has done.

———

For more on Cosby, including trial updates, historical photos, videos and an audio series exploring the case, visit: http://www.apnews.com/tag/CosbyonTrial

Hung Parliament: Q&A guide to what happens when no-one wins the election

Houses of ParliamentImage copyright
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The general election has ended in a hung Parliament, meaning no party can reach an overall majority. So what happens now?

Will the party with the most MPs form the next government?

Not necessarily. The party with the most MPs, when the votes have been counted in all 650 constituencies, is normally described as the winner and its leader nearly always goes on to become the next prime minister.

But that might not happen this time with an inconclusive result. It is possible for the party that came second to form a government with the help of other parties.

How does someone win the election?

The easiest way to become prime minister is to win what is called a majority in the House of Commons – a majority is where your party has more MPs than all the other parties put together.

The finishing line is 326. That would be enough for a government to vote through new laws without being defeated by their opponents. If they don’t reach that number we have got what is called a hung Parliament.

What is a hung Parliament?

When no single party can get enough MPs to form a majority on its own the Parliament is said to be « hung ». This happened at the 2010 general election.

What happens now?

In a hung parliament, the Conservative government will remain in office – and Theresa May can live in Downing Street – until it is decided who will attempt to form a new government or unless she decides to resign.

There will be another frenzied round of talks between the party leaders and their negotiating teams, as they try to put together another coalition government or a looser deal to put either Mrs May or Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn (the only two people with a realistic chance) into power as prime minister.

Or one of the two party leaders could opt to go it alone and try to run a minority government, relying on the support of smaller parties when needed to get their laws passed.


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Getty Images

Who gets the first go at putting together a deal?

Theresa May can stay on as prime minister while she tries to put a majority together.

If it becomes clear that she can’t and Jeremy Corbyn can then she will be expected to resign. Mr Corbyn would then become the prime minister.

But the Labour leader does not have to wait until Mrs May has exhausted all her options before he starts trying to put a deal of his own together. He can hold talks with potential partners at the same time as Mrs May. They may even be talking to the same people.

How long will it take?

There is no official time limit. It took five days to put the coalition together in 2010 but it is generally expected to take longer than that.

Negotiations can’t go on indefinitely, surely?

At the moment the first deadline is Tuesday 13 June, when the new Parliament meets for the first time. Mrs May has until this date to put together a deal to keep herself in power or resign, according to official guidance issued by the Cabinet Office.

But Mrs May must be clear that Jeremy Corbyn can form a government and that she can’t. She is entitled to wait until the new Parliament to see if she has the confidence of the House of Commons.

What if it is still not clear a new government can be formed?

The government needs to see if it can assemble the votes it needs to get its programme of proposed new laws passed in the Queen’s Speech, which is scheduled for Monday 19 June.

Theresa May may opt to remain in power and gamble on getting enough votes from other parties to get her programme passed. If she has already resigned and handed over to Mr Corbyn, this will be the key test of whether the Labour leader can form a government.

What will happen to the Brexit talks?

They could be delayed if there is a hung Parliament or Jeremy Corbyn becomes PM. The talks are currently due to begin on 19 June but if it takes a while to form a government it could ask the EU for a delay.

What role does the Queen play?

The leader of the party that can tell the Queen they have a workable Commons majority is the one Her Majesty will authorise to form a government.

By convention, the Queen does not get involved in party politics, so there are no circumstances in which she would choose the prime minister.

There have been suggestions that she may not deliver the Queen’s Speech in person if there’s a question mark over whether it will get voted through.


What is a coalition?

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PA

A coalition is when two or more parties join forces to govern as a single unit. The junior partners are given ministerial jobs and a joint programme for government is set out.

Will there be another coalition this time?

It seems less likely than in 2010. It depends on four factors:

  • Whether the potential coalition partners have enough MPs between them to command a workable majority.
  • Whether the biggest party wants to do it or would prefer to try governing alone as a minority government.
  • Whether the potential partners can convince their respective parties that it is a good idea.
  • Whether they can find enough common ground on policy – the junior partners will inevitably have to ditch some of their policies but they will insist on keeping others.

Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party has suggested it could back the Tories and would be vital in helping form a government in a hung parliament.

Jeremy Corbyn could lead a coalition with the SNP and the Lib Dems – although this is something he has so far said he would not do.

But his shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry said the party would attempt to force through a Queen’s Speech and ask the SNP, Lib Dems and Greens to back it.

The Lib Dems have said that there will be « no coalition » and « no deals » from them while SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon said she « would look to be part of a progressive alliance that pursued progressive policies ».

But she also criticised Mr Corbyn, saying he was not « credible as an alternative prime minister ».

The Green Party, which currently has one MP, said it would never back a Tory government but could support Labour on a vote-by-vote basis.


What is a minority government?

If the Conservatives or Labour are unable to put together a coalition or decide to go it alone, they can form a minority government, filling all the ministerial positions themselves.

This party would be unable to pass laws and legislation without the votes of other parties that are not part of the government.

For example, Labour could be a minority government with Jeremy Corbyn as prime minister – but would likely require the votes of the Scottish National Party and Liberal Democrat MPs to get things done.

How many MPs would a minority government need for it to be a feasible option?

A party could fall well short of an outright majority and still run a minority government.

A new Conservative or Labour government would also face a fractured opposition. For it to be defeated, the Lib Dems, SNP, UKIP, Plaid Cymru, the Greens and the DUP would all have to gang up together to vote against it. This would not happen very much in practice. It is not enough for the losing parties to have more MPs than the « winner ». They have to be able to form a coherent alternative.

So the party that finishes second in the election could form a government?

Yes. Although there is a question mark over whether the public would accept it.

How stable would a minority government be?

Britain has had minority governments before, although they have rarely lasted long.

The SNP governed in Scotland as a minority government between 2007 and 2011. It means the government has to form alliances and deals with smaller parties to secure their support in Commons votes – but they can achieve some stability by entering into a « confidence and supply » agreement with another party.


Will there be another election?

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PA

Possibly. In the past, when minority governments have been formed at Westminster, the prime minister has held another election at the earliest opportunity to try and gain a working majority. Or the opposition has forced another election by tabling a « confidence » motion.

The Fixed-Term Parliament Act – passed by the Lib Dems and Conservatives to make their 2010 coalition less likely to collapse – means an election can only be held if:

  • Two-thirds of MPs vote for it. In practice, it would need to be supported by both Labour and the Conservatives
  • If MPs pass a motion of no confidence in the government AND an existing or new government cannot win a confidence vote in the Commons within 14 days of the no-confidence vote

After Parliament is dissolved there are 25 working days until an election is held.

Is there any way round this?

We are in uncharted waters here. Britain does not have a written constitution and experts are divided over what may happen if no one can form a government.

Here are some alternative scenarios:

  • If a « no confidence » motion is passed in the Commons, the prime minister could hand the party leadership to a colleague, who could have another try at winning a confidence vote before the 14 day grace period is up
  • The prime minister could resign, after being defeated on the Queen’s Speech for example, and hand power to the leader of the opposition, who would then attempt to govern. This raises the prospect of a change of governing party without an election – something that has never happened in Britain and would be likely to trigger a constitutional crisis

Comey: White House lied about me, FBI

Former FBI director James B. Comey on Thursday used a dramatic appearance before a national audience to sharply criticize the character of the president, accusing Trump of firing him over the Russia investigation and then misleading the public about the reasons for the dismissal.

Trump and his team, Comey said, told “lies, plain and simple,” about him and the FBI in an effort to cover up the real reason for his sudden sacking last month. Comey said that after one particularly odd private meeting with the president, he feared Trump “might lie” about the conversation, prompting him to begin taking careful notes after each encounter.

Comey revealed that after he was fired, he leaked notes on his interactions with Trump to the media, hoping that sharing the information would prompt the appointment of a special counsel to investigate the administration over possible links to Russia.

“It’s my judgment that I was fired because of the Russia investigation,” Comey said. “I was fired, in some way, to change — or the endeavor was to change the way the Russia investigation was being conducted.”

Comey’s testimony threatened to deepen the legal and political crisis engulfing the White House, which has struggled to respond to growing questions about the president’s conduct.

“I can definitely say the president is not a liar,” said White House deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders after the hearing. “I think it’s frankly insulting that that question would be asked.”

Over nearly three hours of testimony in a packed hearing room, Comey grimly recounted the events that he said showed the president sought to redirect the Russia probe away from his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, and get the FBI to publicly distance the president himself from the probe.

As Comey spoke, most senators on the dais sat spellbound. Republican members of the Senate Intelligence Committee sought to soften Comey’s version of events, noting that Trump never ordered him to drop the Flynn investigation but merely “hoped” he would. Democrats tried to build a case that Trump had obstructed justice by firing Comey.

Pressured by the administration to focus on the president’s legislative ambitions rather than the politically consuming investigation, Republican leaders defended the president after the hearing, with House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (Wis.) casting Trump as a political novice who isn’t “steeped in the long-running ­protocols” of Washington and is “just new to this.”

Comey declined to say whether he thought the president had obstructed justice, saying that was a determination to be made by Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III.

In response to Comey’s testimony, Trump’s personal lawyer, Marc Kasowitz, released a statement saying the president “never, in form or substance, directed or suggested that Mr. Comey stop investigating anyone.”

Kasowitz also accused Comey of trying to “undermine this administration with selective and illegal leaks of classified information and privileged communications.”

Comey and Trump’s interactions: what we know so far View Graphic Comey and Trump’s interactions: what we know so far

The hearing, broadcast nationally by at least 12 television networks, was held in a cavernous space in the Hart Senate Office Building with hundreds of seats to accommodate the intense interest. Several lawmakers who do not serve on the committee took seats in the audience, a rarity on Capitol Hill. Most were Democrats eager to hear Comey’s claims of presidential impropriety.

Inside the hearing room, people audibly groaned or gasped when Comey said he had “no doubt” that Russian government officials were behind the hacking of the Democratic National Committee last year.

Anticipation for the hearing stretched far beyond the Hill. Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) walked into the hearing with a binder that included 20 of more than 600 questions he said were submitted to him by constituents.

Comey began his testimony by saying he became “confused and increasingly concerned” about the public explanations by White House officials for his firing on May 9, particularly after the president said in an interview that he was thinking about the Russia investigation when he decided to fire him.

The former director wasted little time repudiating White House statements that he was fired in part because of low morale among FBI employees who supposedly had soured on his leadership. Comey said the administration “chose to defame me and more importantly the FBI.”

“Those were lies, plain and simple,” Comey said. “And I’m so sorry that the FBI workforce had to hear them, and I’m so sorry the American people were told them.”

His most damning remarks were directed at the president, but in the course of his testimony, Comey also raised doubts about the judgment of a host of other people, including Justice Department officials such as former attorney general Loretta E. Lynch and current Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

During questioning, Comey said that while the Hillary Clinton email case was ongoing, Lynch asked him to refer to the probe as a “matter” rather than an “investigation.”

The former FBI director said he thought that that wording “gave the impression that the attorney general was looking to align the way we talked about our work with the way the campaign” talked about it. “That was inaccurate,” he said. “That gave me a queasy feeling.”

Regarding Sessions, Comey said he took his concerns about one particular conversation with Trump to the new attorney general and said he did not want to be left alone again in a room with the president. Comey said Sessions’s body language gave Comey the impression there was nothing to be done.

Comey described his state of mind as he tried to navigate a number of tense conversations with the president about the investigation into possible coordination between Trump associates and Russian operatives.

In his written testimony, released Wednesday, Comey described being summoned to a private dinner at the White House in January with the president, who told him: “I need loyalty. I expect loyalty.”

Comey said the conversation, in which Trump asked whether Comey intended to stay on as FBI director, despite three prior discussions in which Comey had said he did, raised concerns in his mind.

“My common sense told me what’s going on here is he’s looking to get something in exchange for granting my request to stay in the job,” Comey testified.

Comey made clear he felt the discussions were improper since Trump repeatedly pressed him about specific investigations that involved people close to the president.

The former FBI director described another interaction in February, one day after Flynn was forced to resign as national security adviser for misleading Vice President Pence about his contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

A number of senior officials had met with the president in the Oval Office to discuss terrorism. At the end of the meeting, according to Comey, Trump asked everyone to leave but Comey.

Sessions, the attorney general, lingered until the president told him to leave, too, Comey said.

“My sense was the attorney general knew he shouldn’t be leaving, which is why he was lingering,’’ Comey said. “I knew something was about to happen which I should pay very close attention to.”

Once they were alone, Comey said, the president told Comey he hoped he could let go of the investigation into Flynn.

“When it comes from the president, I took it as a direction,” Comey said.

At the time Flynn was fired, he was being investigated for possibly lying about his conversations with the Russian ambassador, Comey said.

He said he was shocked and concerned about the president’s request, but decided not to tell Sessions about it because he expected that the attorney general would soon recuse himself from the Russia probe, which he eventually did.

It was after this meeting that Comey went to Sessions about never being left alone with Trump again.

Comey’s account made clear that his relationship with Trump was fraught from their very first meeting, which occurred before the inauguration, when he told the president-elect that a dossier of unsubstantiated allegations against him had been circulating around Washington.

“I didn’t want him thinking that I was briefing him on this to sort of hang it over him in some way,” Comey said. “He needed to know this was being said, but I was very keen to not leave him with the impression that the bureau was trying to do something to him.”

Comey acknowledged, as the president has claimed, that he repeatedly told Trump that he was not personally under investigation. But he also said that in private meetings and one-on-one phone calls, the president repeatedly asked him to say publicly that he was not personally under investigation — something Comey did not want to do.

After firing Comey, the president tweeted a suggestion that there could be tapes of their private talks.

“The president tweeted on Friday after I got fired that I’d better hope there are not tapes,” Comey said. That made the ex-FBI director think any such tapes would back up his account of Trump’s improper statements, so he said he asked a friend of his to share with a reporter a memo he had written about the February conversation.

“I thought it might prompt the appointment of a special counsel,” Comey said.

Asked by Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) why he felt he had the authority to do that, Comey replied: “As a private citizen, I felt free to share that. I thought it was very important to get it out.”

The friend is Daniel Richman, a law professor and a former federal prosecutor who confirmed his role but declined to comment further. The reporter is Michael Schmidt of the New York Times, who declined to comment.

A special counsel was appointed — Mueller, who is a former colleague of Comey’s — and Comey has provided him with his memos, he testified Thursday.

Comey said he still has no idea whether the president has tapes of their conversations, but he said: “I hope there are, and I will consent to the release of them. . . . The president surely knows whether he taped me, and if he did, my feelings aren’t hurt.”

When the hearing was over, Sens. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Mark R. Warner (D-Va.), the two senior members of the committee, walked out to greet reporters camped in the hallway outside.

“This is nowhere near the end of the investigation,” Burr said.

Study: 64% make a purchase after watching marketing videos on …

Dive Brief:

  • Animoto today released its The State of Social Video 2017: Marketing in a Video-First World report with the key takeaway that marketers should focus on social media channels and mobile in their video marketing strategies, per a press release made available to Marketing Dive.
  • Illustrating the importance of the social media and mobile combination, 84% of consumers reported watching social video content on mobile devices, and 81% of marketers reported optimizing social videos for mobile including using tactics like planning for views with the sound off.
  • The report also found that social media video drives brand engagement and sales with 83% of marketers reporting they are confident Facebook video content will drive purchases and 64% of consumers reporting making a purchase after watching a marketing video on Facebook in the last month.

Dive Insight:

Video has become an integral part of content marketing and digital advertising. As a result, marketers have to learn to “speak video fluently” in order to connect with consumers on social media, said Brad Jefferson, CEO of Animoto, in the press release.

As consumption of branded video increases, marketers are ramping up production. Animoto found 47% of marketers are publishing four or more marketing videos in an average month, with 92% repurposing assets they already have.

Facebook and YouTube were the top two platforms cited by marketers in the Animoto report across a range of criteria including views, purchases, engagement, and both current and future investment for marketing video, echoing results from last year’s report.

On the consumer side, Facebook and YouTube also led the engagement category. However, when it came to actually watching videos daily, Facebook made a sweep of the entire report in the top spot. Instagram Stories took the second spot followed by Snapchat with YouTube in fourth place.

One interesting finding from the report was the popularity of live video. Even though live streaming video on social media is a relatively new feature, 47.8% of consumers reported preferring live video compared to 52.2% for pre-recorded video.

P&G Veteran Mick Suh Joins Eyeview Expanding CPG Leadership, Appointment Builds Continued Category Growth …

NEW YORK, June 07, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Eyeview, the industry leader in outcome-based video marketing, announced today that Mick Suh, a veteran of both Coupons.com and PG, has joined the company as Vice President of CPG Sales. Suh has a proven track record of helping top tier brands successfully build proven marketing solutions integrating data and personalization that deliver business outcomes.

With the expansion of video consumption, Eyeview is delivering on the long-awaited promise of 1-to-1 video, marrying the engagement and appeal of television quality video advertising with precision targeting and personalised creative to drive sales. Eyeview has developed a highly scalable cloud based video technology that gives brands the ability to deliver thousands of creative variations tailored to reach specific target audiences, on any screen for the highest return on ad spend.

“For me, what is most exciting about joining Eyeview is that we have an opportunity to shift the conversation around video beyond media metrics and directly connect video impact to business outcomes,” said Suh. “PG’s Marc Pritchard has called out the advertising industry for lack of transparency, driving clear PG requirements around industry standards on viewability metrics, fraud protection and 3rd party verification. Meeting all of PG’s requirements, Eyeview is all about metrics and has proven that through 1-to-1 video, marketers can do more than simply generate awareness and brand equity through their video advertising with a measured return in sales on every dollar they spend.”

Suh was most recently Chief Revenue Officer for audio tech startup Lisnr, where he helped grow revenue and lead the sales organization across verticals such as Sports, Live/Entertainment, CPG/Retail, and Broadcast. Before that, he held an executive sales position at Coupons.com, where he managed 9 of the company’s top 10 clients. He also spent almost 10 years working in brand management for Kellogg’s and PG. Suh is graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

“Across a growing client base including Fortune 500 brands such as PG, SC Johnson and Clorox, Eyeview has shifted the conversation around video beyond media metrics and ad delivery to proving that 1-to-1 video can drive sales outcomes,” said West Naze, Vice President of CPG and Shopper Marketing, Eyeview. ”Mick will continue to expand our industry leading CPG leadership where we have proven success in driving incremental sales and return on ad spend numbers that are consistently 3X NCS Digital Video Benchmarks.”

To learn more about Eyeview, visit https://www.eyeviewdigital.com.

About Eyeview
Eyeview is a video marketing technology company and the industry leader in outcome-based video marketing. Eyeview delivers superior return on investment through 1-to-1 video.

Through proprietary VideoIQ® technology, Eyeview easily leverages brand, product and consumer data to create and deliver 1-to-1 video ads to every consumer and ultimately drive sales. VideoIQ® provides an elemental knowledge of video variables that powers a results-driven decisioning engine, capable of making billions of decisions each day, delivering the most relevant message to every consumer across television, desktop, mobile and Facebook.

Eyeview serves the nation’s top brands, including PG, SC Johnson, Walgreens, Lowes, Mazda and Hyundai.

Elizabeth Wynnemer
(612) 205-3637
lwynnemer@eyeviewdigital.com

Video Marketing Nuggets in Mary Meeker’s 2017 Internet Trends …

I’ve just finished reading all 355 slides in Mary Meeker’s 2017 Internet Trends Report. Meeker is a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers and her annual PowerPoint presentations are legendary. In 2015, I shared 12 slides that every video marketer should read right now. And in 2016, I shared 12 brand new slides every video marketer should read right now. But, this year, I couldn’t find 12 slides that video marketers need to read anytime soon.

However, there were still a couple of nuggets of news buried in her presentation at the Code Conference in California that are worth knowing about. For example, Meeker predicted that internet ad spending will surpass spending on TV within the next six months. That seems like a major milestone.

The plethora of PowerPoints also included the news that online advertising revenue in the US grew 22% in 2016, with much of the growth coming from mobile, which now generates more ad revenue than desktop. That seems like critical data.

Google and Facebook accounted for an astonishing 85% of all the digital advertising growth seen in the US in 2016, with Facebook’s revenues leaping 62% year-on-year while Google saw year-on-year revenue growth of 20%. Yep, that’s one of the trends in the digital video marketing business.

Looking at the challenges faced by social media advertisers, Meeker reported that measuring ROI (61%) is their top concern, although other problems include securing budget and resources (38%) and tying social campaigns to business goals (34%).

She also reported that global smartphone growth is slowing. The number of smartphone shipments increased by 3% in 2016, but this was down from 10% growth in 2015.

Adults Spend 6 Hours a Day on Social Media

Other takeaways from the report included the observation that American adults now spend 5.6 hours a day using digital media, including 3.1 hours via mobile devices and 2.2 hours on desktop and laptop. Meeker also highlighted the rising global use of ad blocking software, especially in developing markets. India, for example, has a mobile ad blocking penetration rate of 28%, while in China it is 13%.

However, e-commerce, voice recognition, gaming and mobile entertainment are all on the rise, and Meeker noted that there are now 2.6bn gamers around the world compared to just 100m in 1995.

Another trend that she identified is the rise of extremely powerful US and Chinese internet companies, which may worry competition regulators, but not Meeker, who told the Financial Times in an interview that these firms are likely to step up their competition with each other.

“People don’t spend enough time looking at how intense the competition is,” she said. “The bet here is – we can’t stop progress. Are we better off or worse off? So far, the data implies we are better off.”

That’s it. That’s all I could glean from 355 slides. Of course, you may want to wade into Meeker’s 2017 Internet Trends Report and see if there are a few more news nuggets that I’ve missed. I only found nine. But that’s still a few nuggets short of a dozen. So, maybe it’s just an off year.

Trump’s sons recommend the high road they usually don’t take

President Trump’s adult sons think it is time for everyone to take the high road in political discourse. Just don’t expect them to lead the way.

“Morals have flown out the window,” Eric Trump lamented on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show Tuesday night. “We deserve so much better than this as a country, and, you know, it’s so sad.”

Apparently not sad enough for him to set an example, however. In the same interview, Eric Trump said this of his father’s critics: “To me, they’re not even people.”

Classy, right?

In an interview that aired earlier Tuesday on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Donald Trump Jr. said Kathy Griffin “deserves everything that’s coming to her,” after she posed for a photograph with a bloody mask meant to simulate the president’s severed head.

For the record, death threats are what’s “coming to her.”

So, to summarize: The president’s detractors are subhuman, and at least one of them deserves to have her subhuman life threatened by the president’s supporters. Golly, the state of politics in this country is so sad, isn’t it?

On some level, the sentiments of Eric and Don Jr. are understandable. We’re talking about their father, after all, so a little righteous indignation is to be expected. If all they did was lash out, they might be entitled to a pass.

But their moralizing about over-the-line rhetoric is jaw-droppingly hypocritical.

There is another major disconnect in the Trumps’ thinking: They seem to be under the impression that because they do some good things, they ought to be immune to criticism for doing bad things.

“I’ve raised $16.3 million for the greatest hospital in the world — that’s St. Jude,” Eric Trump told Hannity. “And I get attacked for it.”

By “attacked,” he meant scrutinized by Forbes magazine, which reported Tuesday that Eric Trump’s annual charity golf tournament doubles as a revenue stream for Trump family businesses. Although Eric Trump claimed that his family donates use of the Trump National Golf Club in Westchester County, N.Y., public records show that the club has accepted $1.2 million in payments over the years.

“Golf charity experts say the listed expenses defy any reasonable cost justification for a one-day golf tournament,” Forbes reported. More:

And while donors to the Eric Trump Foundation were told their money was going to help sick kids, more than $500,000 was re-donated to other charities, many of which were connected to Trump family members or interests, including at least four groups that subsequently paid to hold golf tournaments at Trump courses.

All of this seems to defy federal tax rules and state laws that ban self-dealing and misleading donors.

Two things can be true at once: The Trumps can do good charitable work and put money in their own pockets. They can be targets of unacceptable rhetoric and dispense some of their own.

What they want, however, is all the praise and sympathy that comes with the first half of those equations and none of the criticism that comes with the second.

Intelligence Chiefs Won’t Discuss Private Conversations With Trump In Open Hearing

Credit: U.S. Capitol

Updated at 1:01 p.m. ET

Learn More About The Trump-Russia Imbroglio

In an often contentious hearing on Capitol Hill, two intelligence chiefs testified Wednesday that they’ve never felt pressured to take improper actions regarding intelligence matters, including the investigation of Russia’s meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Countdown Clocks, Morning Cocktails As Former FBI Director Prepares To Testify

But the two officials, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and the head of the National Security Agency, Adm. Mike Rogers, declined to say whether President Trump ever asked them to downplay the Russia investigation.

The James Comey Saga, In Timeline Form

At a hearing of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Virginia Democrat Mark Warner asked Coats and Rogers about media reports that Trump asked them to intervene regarding the Justice Department investigation surrounding Russia.

Both declined repeatedly to discuss their conversations with Trump, answering in general terms.

« In the three-plus years I have been director of the National Security Agency, to the best of my recollection, I have never been directed to do anything illegal, immoral, unethical or inappropriate, » Rogers said. « I do not recall ever feeling pressured to do so. »

Coats responded in a similar vein.

« In my time of service, » Coats said, « I have never been pressured, I’ve never felt pressure to intervene or interfere, in any way, with shaping intelligence in a political way. »

Warner, along with several other senators, kept pressing and ultimately expressed frustration with the intelligence chiefs.

There are « reports, that nobody has laid to rest here, that the president of the United States has intervened directly in an ongoing FBI investigation and we’ve got no answers from any of you, » Warner said.

The hearing was often contentious, particularly when Democratic senators questioned the intelligence officials.

Committee Chairman Richard Burr, a North Carolina Republican, intervened at one point during a sharp exchange between California Democrat Kamala Harris and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

« The chair is going to exercise its right to allow the witnesses to answer the question, and committee is on notice to provide witnesses the courtesy, which has not been extended all the way across, » Burr said.

Republican John McCain of Arizona took a softer approach, drawing chuckles when he asked Coats, « Do you want to tell us any more about the Russian involvement in our election that we don’t already know from reading The Washington Post?« 

Coats did not offer any details, but said, « Just because it’s in The Washington Post doesn’t mean it’s declassified. »

The Senate Intelligence Committee is holding two days of closely watched hearings that might — or might not — shed new light on the state of the Russia investigation.

The president has repeatedly called for an end to inquiries into Russian election meddling in his public remarks. But Democratic senators, in particular, want to know what he’s told intelligence officials in private discussions.

The committee is holding a closed session after lunch with staff about the technicalities of the law that allows the intelligence community to surveil foreign targets. The intelligence chiefs indicated they would be more comfortable speaking in a closed environment and Burr suggested during the hearing that he would schedule time for the four men to return for a closed session.

The hearings Wednesday and Thursday are significant because stories about the Russia investigation have dribbled out piecemeal, often based on anonymous sources. The intelligence chiefs are all key figures in the investigation, but have rarely spoken publicly. Over these two days, four current intelligence officials, along with one former one, will all be testifying under oath before the same Senate panel.

Trump reportedly asked Coats and Rogers, to state publicly that there was no collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign. Neither official has done so.

Citing these reports, Warner said in his opening statement:

« If any of this is true, it would be an appalling and improper use of our intelligence professionals — an act that could erode the public’s confidence in our intelligence institutions. The (intelligence community) fiercely prides itself on its apolitical service to the country. Any attempt by the White House or even the president himself to exploit this community as a tool for political purposes is deeply, deeply troubling. »

While Democrats have focused on possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign, Republicans have focused on leaks about the investigation.

The president has frequently railed against leaks, and a government contractor, Reality Winner, was charged Monday with leaking an NSA document that details Russian efforts to penetrate U.S. election systems.

The former FBI director, James Comey, who was fired by Trump on May 9, is scheduled to testify before the same committee Thursday morning.