Media

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.

I don’t have much time, because the World Cup is on and my home country, The Netherlands, has gotten off to a pretty amazing start. But I also follow England, Belgium, Team USA, Brazil, Japan and Germany (the last one I want to see losing, just like any other Dutchman, only to probably see them win the whole tournament). OK, I will admit I watch the whole thing beginning to end.

Delta Media announced the promotion of Hal Brown IV from VP, National Sales to the position of Chief Marketing Officer.

The MMA released an Interactive Creative Framework on how to build and execute the most effective mobile campaigns. The insights included are the result of an in-depth analysis of over 450 global mobile campaigns.

How much value is generated from sponsoring the World Cup? Or its superstars, such as Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo? Here are five metrics that are crucial to finding out.

While Brazil has had some hiccups in its preparations, the economic windfall from hosting the World Cup could be upwards to $65B. The influx of visitors alone will generate over $3B for Brazil. The World Cup is a momentous event and with that comes a stage for introducing innovative concepts and pushing marketing to new heights.

This week men, women and people of all ages from every corner of the world will gather around a TV set to join the passion of the World Cup and catch a hint of the spirit of Brazil. No other sport has the power to ignite the love for country and passion as soccer does during World Cup season, particularly for Hispanics. From an iconic Latin American destination to official music and entertainment featuring an all-star roster of Latino talent including Pitbull, Jennifer Lopez, Claudia Leitte and Shakira, this year’s championship is more infused with Latino flavor than ever before.  By Lili Gil Valletta, Co-Founder XL Alliance. Media Contributor.

A new graphic using statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau’s International Data Base shows the populations of the 32 participating countries in this year’s FIFA World Cup and past champions. The combined population of this year’s participating countries is 1.9 billion.

Fusion announced a new slate of original series including “Drug Wars” (from the producers of the critically-acclaimed series “Whale Wars”), “The Dukes of 2 Square,” and “Rootas”; the English-language version of Vik Muniz’s feature doc “This is Not a Ball” in time for the opening of the 2014 World Cup; and “Daily Show” correspondent Al Madrigal will host and report a one-hour primetime comedy special for the network on the power and influence of the booming Latino community in America, which will air in advance of the 2014 midterms.

The first matches are only hours away, and over the course of the month-long tournament billions (with a “b”) of fans will look to catch some of the action, whether on TV, on the radio, via other assorted media or even on-site. But while most of the world is getting ready for the event, here in the U.S. neither the tournament nor soccer itself have reached mainstream acceptance. However, demographics give reason to believe this might change over time, as younger generations of Americans are showing far more interest in the sport and event alike than their older counterparts.

World Cup fans will be watching the 2014 games across multiple devices, often simultaneously, according to an analysis from Experian Marketing Services. Specifically, World Cup fans are 31 percent more likely than average to watch online video across multiple devices, with 64 percent of adult fans watching online video during a typical week, compared with 49 percent of all adults.

Mike Sievert – Chief Marketing Officer /  T-Mobile

This week, the 2014 FIFA World Cup kicks off in Brazil, and we’re helping to bring this awesome global spectacle to your living room – and your phone – in typical Un-carrier style.

The World Cup is an amazing, incredible quadrennial event, and T-Mobile’s Simple Choice plan is hands-down the best option for the hundreds of thousands of Americans travelling to the games – with unlimited data and texting and low-cost calls while in Brazil.

Consumers around the world are rushing into the embrace of the smartphone market, according to new figures from eMarketer on mobile usage worldwide. By the end of 2014, we expect 1.76 billion people to own and use smartphones monthly, up more than 25% over 2013.

Among Hispanic soccer fans, filling the World Cup “sticker album” is a time-honored tradition. ESPN Deportes’ marketing team pays tribute to that ritual in its latest marketing campaign promoting the network’s news and information coverage around the World Cup.

MundoFox announced the U.S. premiere of ‘Los Simuladores’ (‘The Pretenders’), the original television series about a small team of con artists for hire who put their intelligence towards solving the day to day conflicts of their clients.

El Rey Network executives announced hat Austin, Texas will be home to the production and corporate headquarters for the new English-language cable network founded by filmmaker Robert Rodriguez. 

Long considered an up-and-coming sport to both watch and play, the popularity of soccer has been growing steadily since the rise of the soccer mom. In fact, advertisers and programmers looking for a unique opportunity to connect with fans outside well-established American sports, such as football or basketball, take note: the World Cup could be that space. After all, the sport’s fans are dedicated to the teams they root for, avid spenders and quite social when it comes to digital dialogue. Soccer’s fans are also a pretty diverse lot, which isn’t surprising considering it’s the preeminent sport throughout much of the world.

Digital video advertising will make up nearly 12% of all digital ad spending in the US this year and is projected to grow significantly faster than search or overall display advertising for the next several years, according to a new eMarketer report, “50 Best Practices for Digital Video: Do’s and Don’ts for More Effective Advertising.”

Cinelatino is joining in on the World Cup excitement by presenting a collection of action-packed soccer-themed movies from Mexico and Latin America, as well as the exclusive world television premiere of La H No Es Muda, a documentary about the Honduran National Soccer Team as they prepare for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

The new mobile medium represents an appealing opportunity for brand marketers—enabling them to reach a pool of consumers that is growing by the day anytime and anywhere. Because of mobile’s relative youth, however, there is still confusion over how best to engage in mobile advertising. Differences in technology mean that marketers can’t always employ the same best practices in mobile that they use for television or online advertising.