Digital

The first phase of the Making Measurement Make Sense (3MS) initiative is complete, and has yielded a five-part digital marketing measurement framework.

Marla Skiko heads the interactive division of SMG Multicultural, a division of Starcom MediaVest Group that articulates strategies for marketing to multicultural consumers. In her role, Skiko develops digital strategies on behalf of clients such as Allstate, Burger King, Kraft, Procter & Gamble and Wal-Mart. She shared insights and best practices for targeting Hispanic consumers with eMarketer’s Tobi Elkin.

Consumer attitudes toward video access are changing, moving away from ownership and rental models to streaming and subscription services, as connected CE and smart TVs proliferate in the U.S. and Western Europe, according to Parks Associates.

Brands of all stripes are working toward delivering personalized messages to their target audiences. Despite their best efforts, however, consumers say certain industries are not meeting their needs. Service providers, such as cable and utility companies, and regulated companies, such as insurance and finance brands, appear to be behind the curve in terms of delivering personalized digital experiences.

Small and medium-sized businesses will continue the recent trend of shifting their marketing budgets to digital advertising, performance-based platforms and customer retention business solutions over the next five years, according to a new U.S. SMB Spending Forecast by BIA/Kelsey. This trend creates an increasingly large market opportunity for businesses serving SMBs and developing SMB tools.

As online college courses have become increasingly prevalent, the general public and college presidents offer different assessments of their educational value, according to a new Pew Research Center report. Just three-in-ten American adults (29%) say a course taken online provides an equal educational value to one taken in a classroom. By contrast, about half of college presidents (51%) say online courses provide the same value. DOWNLOAD REPORT HERE

Generation X—the first generation to grow up with PCs—are plugged in and media-savvy. For marketers, that means that while these 34- to 45-year-old consumers are heavy users of digital tools, they also watch more TV than any other age segment.