Digital

Digital marketers better like change, because it’s coming. According to an April 2014 study by Altimeter Group, digital transformation is now a significant movement. The research found that definitions of “digital transformation” varied greatly among industry professionals, and in the end defined it as “the realignment of, or new investment in, technology and business models to more effectively engage digital customers at every touchpoint in the customer experience lifecycle.”

The premise of the internet of things (IoT)—that everything can and will be connected—is by turns enticing and intimidating. Who wouldn’t want the ability to cool a room before returning home or have the oven start to cook the evening meal remotely? What business wouldn’t want to keep closer, more up-to-the-minute tabs on inventory thanks to stock items that can communicate levels and whereabouts?

Think the net neutrality debate is all about streaming videos? Think again. It’s actually much more than that: It’s about streaming your life. Internet connectivity might seem ubiquitous today, between the use of PCs, mobile devices, and smart TVs, but there are major swaths of daily life that aren’t connected yet that soon will become so, such as homes and cars, according to a new eMarketer report, “Key Digital Trends for Midyear 2014: The Internet of Things, Net Neutrality, and Why Marketers Need to Care.”

A new comprehensive study of U.S. online news users by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and Edelman Berland shows that relevancy (90%) is the top factor in sparking interest in in-feed sponsored content, yet it also clearly demonstrates that the public’s feelings about the advertiser itself determines the success of this type of native advertising. Criteria such as brand familiarity and trust (81%), as well as subject matter expertise (82%), were identified as critical in driving news reading consumers’ interest in sponsored content.

Ads for television shows aren’t just for the tube anymore.

This acoustic concert places La Ley among the repertoire of superstars that have participated in “Terra Live Music in Studio” and “Terra Live Music in Concert” with Terra.

Denny’s Corporation  has launched its new Spanish-language Facebook page, Denny’s Latino.

Quench your thirst. Brush your teeth. Bring the family together. At their most basic level, consumer products companies satisfy fundamental human needs. Today, digital technology is enabling those needs to be fulfilled better and faster than ever before.

Are you still looking to hire a digital marketing specialist?  If so, put on your Members Only jacket, pick up your Newton, and get back in your Model T Ford and drive home — because you are sorely out of date.

As group media director for digital advertising agency 360i, Jessica Sanfilippo oversees multiple areas of media planning including display, search, mobile, paid social and video. Sanfilippo recently spoke with eMarketer’s Lauren Fisher about multiple factors influencing desktop display CPMs, including programmatic advertising, a push toward more premium ad formats and the eventual switch to a viewable CPM.

Entravision Communications Corporation announced that its television and radio broadcasts of the 2014 FIFA World Cup have generated strong ratings to date across its platform of television, radio and digital properties.

Digital channels are now the method of choice for both product research and purchasing.

Facebook’s recent focus on direct-response advertising is leaving fewer options for marketers with branding goals, according to a new eMarketer report, “Facebook Advertising: Next Steps for Brand Advertisers.”

Entravision Communications Corporation  announced that it has acquired Pulpo Media, Inc, a provider of digital advertising services and solutions focused on Hispanics in the U.S. and Latin America.

The Super Bowl is known for the commercials, but Google found the World Cup dominated YouTube ad engagement. People watched more than 1.2 billion minutes of World Cup ads on YouTube, about four times more than Super Bowl ads this year.

“Los Cowboys,” an English-language, half-hour reality series from Corral 360, will go into production in July and will premiere exclusively on Hulu this fall. “Los Cowboys” follows the lives of a group of Latino/a urban charros (Mexican cowboys) from Los Angeles and their quest to gain respect as bona fide cowboys.

78% of marketing executives believe corporate marketing will undergo a fundamental transformation over the next five years due to the use of analytics, digital and mobile technologies, according to a new global survey by Accenture.  However, a similar number of respondents (79 percent) believe their company will not be a fully operationalized digital business in the same amount of time.

New consumer research from Leichtman Research Group, Inc. (LRG) finds that 49% of all US households have at least one television set connected to the Internet via a video game system, Blu-ray player, smart TV set, and/or stand-alone device (like Roku, Apple TV, or Google Chromecast) — up from 38% in 2012, and 24% in 2010. Overall, 24% of adults watch video from the Internet via a connected TV at least weekly, compared to 13% two years ago, and 5% four years ago.

Continuing its campaign to educate the industry about the new digital advertising viewability standards, Making Measurement Make Sense (3MS) launched a new PSA video contest, inviting advertising professionals and enthusiasts to develop videos that dramatize the issue of online ad viewability. To launch the competition, 3MS unveiled the second of its own PSA videos, dubbed ‘White Wall’, which brings to life a metaphor for paying for ads that are never seen.

Trust in programmatic buying has a long way to go, based on April 2014 polling by STRATA. According to the study, just 12% of US senior ad agency executives said they trusted programmatic buying to properly or accurately execute their ad orders. Though only 5% said they didn’t trust the tactic, 58% remained undecided, and one-quarter of respondents weren’t using programmatic buying at all.