Media

Brand strategy on social media has expanded drastically in the past year. While many monitoring conversation during the most-talked-about televised events has been a commonality, brands have taken their social media efforts to a new level: predictive and real-time/responsive content marketing.  By Bill Mrazek, Social Media Strategist, BodenPR

I spent the greater part of last week in Silicon Valley and surrounding areas with about 50 brand managers. We visited with a selection of startups, accelerators, incubators and the usual suspects of social media movers and shakers.

Call 2014 the year of “social acceptance.” More marketers are committing budget to paid social media advertising. And social media companies are providing advertisers better targeting than ever, and more ways to see the return on investment, according to a new eMarketer report, “Social Media Advertising: Seven Trends for 2014.”

Mobile has attracted a sizeable bulk of US consumers, but the vast majority use desktop and laptop computers along with mobile devices, according to a new eMarketer report, “Redefining ‘Mobile-Only’ Users: Millions Selectively Avoid the Desktop.”

The multi-year exclusive partnership will include HSN products across all categories, launching with curated collections in the beauty, home, fashion, culinary, electronics and holiday categories.

Post-Newsweek Stations announced the appointment of Bert Medina as Vice President and General Manager of WPLG–TV, the group’s ABC affiliate in Miami. 

Spanish Broadcasting System, Inc. (SBS) announced the launch of AIRE Radio Networks to create and distribute leading Spanish-language radio programming debuting with a robust and high-profile celebrity lineup and targeted network vehicles.

Although social media users’ top methods of discovering, researching and keeping in touch with brands vary, they rely heavily on social networks throughout the entire customer life process, according to a September 2013 study by Wildfire.

Univision Television Group stations in Texas- KXLN Houston 45, KWEX San Antonio 41, KUVN Dallas 23, KSTR UniMás 49 and KAKW Austin 62, received a total of 33 Emmy awards at this year’s 11th Annual Lone Star EMMY awards ceremony held on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013.

Telemundo Denver announced the addition of Emmy Award-winning journalist Pedro Calderon Mitchel as News Director, effective November 18, 2013. He will report to Station Manager Andres Chaparro.

In his new role, Martinez will have oversight of the 16 owned Telemundo local stations located within the United States, as well as Puerto Rico.  He will report to Valari Staab, President, NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations.

Social media’s value to companies can be difficult to measure, and the efforts required for successful outreach can seem daunting. But, execs seem to think it is helping them improve customer relations. Some even consider it “transformational.”

A Step Away provides a behind-the-scenes, intimate look at the lives of the professional back-up dancers on world tour with global icon and entertainer, Jennifer Lopez.  The show follows the journey of these 10 dancers performing night after night, across five continents and 66 cities, as they give it their all — dealing with love, injury and trying times, all while they pursue their ultimate passion for dance.

Estrella TV’s ten-episode mini-series following the life and career of singer Jenni Rivera, Jenni- La Vida de Una Diva, will make its US broadcast debut on Friday November 15 at 7pm EST/6pm CST. The highly-anticipated series explores Jenni’s rise to superstardom while overcoming tremendous adversity.

Digital has complicated the path to purchase. The orderly progression from discovery to consideration to purchase to loyalty is now more of a tangle of paths, with multiple channels available for consumers to follow. However, the broad model of the sales funnel is still a useful metaphor, and it helps frame the role of mobile advertising in the retail industry, according to a new eMarketer report, “Mobile Advertising in Retail: Tracking the Changing Purchase Path.”

“Mobile-first” is becoming quite the buzzword, but not every marketer is taking a mobile-first approach to better target and engage consumers. Johnna Marcus, director of mobile and digital store marketing at Sephora, spoke with eMarketer’s Rimma Kats about the importance of reaching customers on devices that are personal to them.

Alexandre Hohagen, Vice President Facebook Latin America, has moved to Miami to assume the additional responsibility for U.S. Hispanic. Christian Martinez, previously Vice President of Network and Interactive Sales at Univision has joined the team to help run ad sales for the U.S. Hispanic market and will also be based in Miami.

We need to rethink the question of calculating ROI on digital and instead see digital as one of the components of a larger brand voice.

There’s been much hand-wringing of late over the idea that television watchers are cutting the cord—ending their cable TV subscriptions in favor of a range of video-on-demand (VOD) systems that deliver content via the internet. While news of the death of cable television might be premature—at least for the time being—research shows that pay TV services may be doing itself harm by failing to keep up with elements of usability that consumers have come to expect online, such as the ability to search for content.

In his new position, Briceño will oversee operations, production, marketing, sales and distribution efforts for beIN SPORT and beIN SPORT en Español, as well as for the authenticated-streaming service beIN SPORT PLAY.