A look at the key trends in media and technology affecting Australia and the wider world in 2014

1. Digital Media In
Australia: 2014
Trends
Ciaran Norris
09 Jan 2014
In 2014 the web will turn 25 and tablet sales are likely to outstrip those of PCs. But outside of these
quantitative stats, what should marketers expect in the next 12 months? Below we look at the
macro trends likely to impact on Australia and the wider world.
Vague But Exciting: A Maturing Medium
25 years ago this March a proposal written by a professor at Cern in
Switzerland was described as ‘vague but exciting’; that proposal would lead
to the creation of the worldwide web. So quickly has the web become part of
everyday life that it’s often easy to forget that many of the companies &
technologies it has created or popularized are still relatively young (Facebook
turns 10 this year, the iPhone will be 7) but this explains why there is still so
much uncertainty about what its lasting impact will be. But the fact that it has
had a massive impact, on a multitude of industries, and will cont8inue to do
so in 2014, is almost universally accepted.
Mind The Gap: Consumer Attention vs. Media Spend
Australians with smartphones, who account for 65%+ of the population, now spend 49% of their
daily media time online yet according to SMI online only accounts for 17% of media spend. There
are good reasons for this, including the continued efficacy of TV as a marketing medium, the slow
growth of ecommerce, which has often driven digital advertising in other markets, and continued
issues around tracking the effectiveness of mobile but those reasons will soon start running out.
Local advertisers would be wise to adjust their budgets to be more in line with consumer attention;
rumours that the like of Amazon and Netflix are planning to follow the MailOnline and Guardian in
launching local operations ought to speed up some.
TV 3.0: A Type Of Content, Not A Means Of Delivery
Glass. Everywhere. The last few years has seen a proliferation of screens to the extent that over 70%
of media consumption is now via a device which has one. This has meant that, far from dying off,
TV is arguably stronger than ever though it has also forced a reappraisal of what constitutes TV: the
1st episode of the 2013 season of Australia’s Next Top Model had nearly 3 times as many viewers as
the 2005 opener, but a large proportion of them watched online or via catch-up services.
On top of this, the likes of YouTube are now creating credible content brands, including the
homegrown Mighty Car Mods, who can reach audiences that many traditional TV shows would be
proud of. With 2014 likely to see new video ads reach Facebook (which has a daily reach 5 times
that of a Voice or AFL final) and Twitter now offering the ability to target people watching a
particular show, TV ads are likely to get another makeover in the coming months.
The Republic Of Content: Brand Need To Become Publishers
GroupM’s global Chief Digital Officer has observed that “Advertisers have a manufacturing
problem” and that “Few are able to produce [sufficient] assets…with the relevant viral hooks.” As
users increasingly move onto mobile devices, where content is often consumed in a feed, so it is
more important than ever that brands have stories they can tell and content to share.
The popularity of the phrase ‘native advertising’ is a recognition of the fact that traditional ads are
increasingly ignored; the solution for brands involves utilizing media budget to create great owned
assets as well as thinking more laterally about what constitutes content: Air New Zealand has
ratcheted up tens of millions of views for its safety videos whilst numerous companies are now
creating small-scale outdoor & experiential activations that come to life online.

2. Instagram,
Twitter &
Native Brand
Ads
Ciaran Norris
30/10/2013
Anti-Social Networks: The Move To Private Networks And Messaging
In 2012 Facebook paid approx. $1b for photo-sharing app Instagram; in 2013 photo-sharing app
Snapchat turned down an offer of $3b from Facebook. Apart from a desire not to be bought, the
key difference between Instagram & Snapchat is that photos sent on the latter are private,
highlighting a move away from public sharing.
Whilst Snapchat and many of its peers in this growing private messaging space have yet to find
revenue streams, what should matter to advertisers is that, in the words of consultant Ben
Thompson, “Every minute spent in Snapchat or LINE or WhatsApp is a minute not spent in Twitter
or Facebook or Instagram.” This desire not to be contacted or interrupted could have implications
as audiences become ever harder to reach.
Too Many Eco-Systems: The Platform Wars Get Out Of Control
The desktop web has been built on common standards such as HTML but with much of the
interaction on mobile devices happening in apps, such standards are much less common, with
major differences not only between Android & iOS, but also between different versions of Android
including different app stores & screen sizes.
On top of that many of the platforms that were built on the desktop web, such as Facebook, Twitter
& Google are now creating their own walled-gardens and refusing to cooperate. So, an image taken
on Instagram only shows up as a link in Twitter. At present brands and consumers seem willing to
muddle their way through these conflicting eco-systems but it could reach a point where these
conflicts start to cause issues for advertisers and audiences, which is why brands would be advised
to focus on what standards there are, such as HTML5.
The Cookie Monstered: Where Next For Tracking & Data Usage?
The biggest story in 2012 was the leak of millions of NSA files
detailing how the US & UK governments tap into digital
communications. Whilst this hasn’t yet had major effects on
the companies mentioned, other forces are starting to force
change in the way they operate. Regulations in the US & EU on
how cookies are used could soon be superseded by the fact
that cookies don’t work as well on mobile devices anyway
though companies who can encourage users to log-in may be
able to get around this, and could even start targeting and
tracking across devices.
But just because regulations might soon be out of date doesn’t mean marketers should be
complacent: it seems almost certain that the EU will tighten up its privacy legislation in light of the
Snowden revelations and because many US internet giants are headquartered in Dublin, European
legislation will also cover Australian users. Whatever happens though, expect to see a push by
publishers and platforms to drive log-ins and regulations as a way to get around the move to
mobile and a push for privacy.