Digital

Despite the growing popularity of connected devices in the home, including smart devices, streaming media players, and smart TVs, a new report from The NPD Group reveals that 31 percent of U.S. households do not currently have a broadband connection (25Mbps per second download speed or greater). This equates to roughly 100 million consumers, totaling nearly one-third of the U.S. population, and the vast majority of these consumers are in rural markets.

Perion Network Ltd. announced that Undertone, a cross-platform Synchronized Digital Branding for the world’s most prominent brands, and Alphonso, a TV data company that is relied on by marketers, agencies and broadcasters for mission-critical metrics, are partnering to bring together Undertone’s digital creative capabilities and premium reach with Alphonso’s large-scale TV viewership data.

Users of ad blockers feel strongly about how their personal data is collected for advertising. Almost two-thirds of people who use ad blockers (63%) say data collection in online advertising is an invasion of privacy.

The IAB, the national trade association for the digital media and marketing industries, released “Disrupting Brand Preference,” a study that shows that disruptor brand shoppers comprise 48 percent of all U.S consumers. They are younger than incumbent brand-only shoppers, with 84 percent under 54 years old, and are likelier to have a household income of more than $75,000. In addition, direct-to-consumer (DTC) buyers use their favorite brands as vehicles for self-promotion, with twice as many compared to incumbent brand-only shoppers saying that they choose brands to express “who I am.”

Univision Digital announced its new original digital series, “La Nueva” (The New), about the birth of the new generation of urban Latin artists who have taken the world by storm with their global streaming views and fan base.

In 1990, a new company called General Magic spun out from Apple. It took Silicon Valley by storm as rumors spread of its secret, “next big thing” project. Four years later, the company shipped its first product: a handheld, wireless personal computer—what was essentially a smartphone, even down to the emojis, all the way back in 1994. But the mid-’90s tech landscape wasn’t ready for an innovation so far ahead of its time—after all, the average consumer didn’t even have email and certainly was not prepared for 21st-century, anytime-anywhere communication. The product flopped, and General Magic shuttered.

As businesses work to localize their marketing strategies, advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine translation (MT) are making it easier to customize content for multinational audiences. As a result, the language services industry—which specializes in translation and localization—is experiencing a huge digital transformation, leaving translators and other language experts increasingly anxious about the future of their profession.

Pluto TV announced the launch of Pluto TV Latino, a new, dedicated category debuting on the platform featuring a suite of linear Spanish and Portuguese-language channels. The debut of Pluto TV Latino also denotes the first offering of its kind to be introduced on a major ad-supported OTT platform.

Retailers’ digital ad spend parallels that of the overall US digital ad market this year, growing 19.1%, according to our latest forecast. For this industry, mobile and search advertising dominate ad spend allocation.

To work effectively with machines, marketers need to set up guardrails, then let the machines crunch the data and the humans focus on creativity and personalization.

Raised with mature social media, online creative tools and gesture recognition at their fingertips, and with entrepreneurial platforms to broadcast their wares, generation Z is defining a new era of influence and creative communication.

The World Federation of Advertiser’s Global Media Charter lays out eight “principles for partnership in the digital media advertising ecosystem.” The list is a solid articulation of the top problems online advertisers face today.

4K TV (UHD) is now the standard TV resolution offer for large screen TVs. However, no sooner have consumers begun to adopt this technology, when suddenly all the noise and marketing is about 8K TV. But are consumers ready for it?

As the digital economy was forming in the mid-1990s, marketers saw an opportunity to democratize e-commerce. Internet cookies were initially invented more than 20 years ago as a way for websites to anonymously keep track of a visitor’s activities and user preferences. This innovative solution meant brands didn’t need to ask consumers for the same information over and over, simplifying the experience by autosaving login credentials and allowing sites to implement shopping carts and other conveniences. These features became a major factor in the digital revolution. Then marketers improvised, and advertising technology turned the cookie into what it is today

As retail store closures continue at an alarming rate, consumer goods brands have fewer channels to sell their products outside of retail and ecommerce behemoths like Amazon, Walmart and Costco. This reality has many in the consumer goods industry looking to sidestep retail and online marketplaces altogether by selling to their customers directly.

Total time spent with media has stalled in the US, with declines in time spent with TV and other traditional media being offset by increases in time spent with digital media.

The third annual Podcast Revenue Report by IAB and PwC confirms solid and increasing growth in the US podcast advertising marketplace.

The “cloud” is a technology transformation that has been spreading like wildfire throughout the consumer packaged goods (CPG) landscape for a while now—a long while. But like many modern technology advancements, the term “cloud” isn’t self-defining. So before we get into the many benefits of the cloud to your business, let’s define it.

The ongoing convergence of the way audiences consume linear and digital content lends itself to rethinking how data can and should be used to drive better outcomes for advertisers. This shift in consumer behavior is a valuable opportunity for marketers to use data to reach specific audiences more efficiently, all the while continuing to focus on privacy, user choice, and data governance.

The world that has been radically transformed since the commercial internet emerged a quarter century ago. Ten insights help frame the digital journey.