QR Code Usage up 4,549% in 1st QTR 2011 – TLP integrates QR Codes in TransMedia Strategies

Mobile bar code scanning has increased by 4,549 percent in the first quarter of 2011 on a year-over-year basis, according to a Mobio Identity Systems study.

Report May 2011:  “The Naked Facts: Whiplash Edition QR Barcode Scanning in Q1-2011“  READ FULL REPORT HERE.

With the increase in smartphone purchases for both iPhone and Android devices, which have a pre-installed QR reader, there is growing awareness among consumers of QR codes compared to a year ago.

QR barcodes go mainstream
Women also show a higher interest in using QR codes, accounting for 68 percent of users.

These numbers have big implications for advertisers.

“QR barcodes are no longer just a way to speak to early adopters, or the geek crowd,” Mr. Binns said. “QR codes have gone mainstream and are being used heavily by women who are head decision makers and purchasers in households.”

Mobio offers target rich environments where advertisers use multiple barcodes tied to different outcomes or campaigns to engage their consumers multiple times.

The vast majority of mobile bar code scans are centered on providing more information about a product or service, with 89 percent of scans falling into this category.

In terms of the type of media scanned, social media accounts for 70 percent of scans, TV 22 percent, the physical world four percent, online three percent and print one percent.  The iPhone is the most popular scanning device, followed by the iPod Touch and then, Android.  The report also shows that consumers are not just trying QR codes once and forgetting about them, but are becoming repeat users of the technology.

In fact, repeat scanners account for 62 percent of the market.

For marketers, this means QR codes can provide a way to have an ongoing conversation with consumers.

“QR isn’t a one-off medium anymore,” Mr. Binns said. “Marketers can change their QR codes in ads each day, week or month, and have an ongoing dialogue with their consumer.”

The State of TransMedia According to JWT – In 2011 Brands Buy In …

JWT recently released a significant report for 2011 entitled:  “TransMedia Rising.”  In it the giant advertising firms quotes:  “What we need to do is figure out the story behind the brand, the place it wants to occupy in the consumer’s mind, deconstruct it, make it relevant and reassemble it for the relevant audiences, on the appropriate channels. Then, through social media, let the experience and associations grow organically.”  —DEAN BAKER, managing director, JWT Entertainment.

Enter the Age of the QR Code.  It is a technology that is a dream for brand integrations if their content can incorporate it to engage their audience/viewer/customer … because now they are one and the same.

This QR Code can be read by online readers and by cell phones with any number of free apps that can be downloaded from the Internet.  This particular QR Code will take you to The Legacy Productions’ main website.  To see how easy this is online, right click the QR Code … and click view image.  Then copy the URL.  Then  go here and insert it in the first line and click SUBMIT QUERY.   With cell phones it is much easier.  You simply snap a picture of the QR Code and then hit submit.  Done.

As this video clearly demonstrates, brands are using QR codes in many unique ways to engage their audience/viewer/customer.

18% Click Through Rates?  Consider the possibilities QR Codes present to TransMedia Campaigns using it.

Augmented Reality Applications with QR Codes

The Threshold – A Successful CISCO TransMedia Multi-Layer ARG Project

2011 Update:

CISCO, No Mimes and JUXT Team up again in an amazing TransMedia Project spanning 5 Continents and 2 weeks of Alternate Reality Game Immersion.  It’s called “The Hunt.”

Here is a Webisode segment provided as a featurette to the participants to help solve a mystery and engage them in activities.  You will notice the male character takes out an iPhone in real time and indicates feedback from people watching the story unfold.  CISCO branding and products are seamlessly integrated into the storyline of this segment.

In this follow-up segment it ends with a call to action from the viewer audience to help solve the dilemma in the storyline.

IN 2009 CISCO, Juxt and No Mimes collaborated and produced “The Threshold.”  It has set a new bar for TransMedia excellence.

The Threshold An Alternate Reality Game

In 2009, Cisco turned to JUXT Interactive and George P. Johnson to help make their annual Global Sales Meeting a virtual event. The Global Sales Experience was created to help inform and motivate 19,000 Cisco sales people from around the globe.

Knowing that our audience was 89% male — most of them highly competitive and highly social — made our solution fairly obvious. We turned the whole event into a worldwide competition. And to anchor that competition, we built a deeply immersive Alternate Reality Game (ARG) titled The Threshold. Collaborating with the ARG visionary Steve Peters and his talented team at No Mimes Media, JUXT worked to create an experience that would blow the Cisco sales force away. Bringing these two talented teams together did not disappoint. The fruit of this unique marriage was hours of entertainment, challenge and collaboration for our audience, many of whom devoted most of their waking hours to the experience.

To help build anticipation for GSX, The Threshold was treated like a summer blockbuster film, with Cisco offices displaying digital posters resembling movie billboards. The highlight of a pre-launch email campaign featured a gripping trailer video that raised buzz in Cisco hallways around the world.

The Threshold officially launched three weeks prior to the event, and players quickly found themselves immersed in its story, and emotionally invested in its characters. Cisco Sales teams demonstrated both genius and tenacity as they worked day and night to follow the ever-evolving storyline and unlock the game’s mysteries.

As The Threshold unfolded over 4 intense weeks, players exchanged phone calls and emails with fictional characters, scoured every corner of the GSX platform for clues, and uncovered secret videos, including recorded Webex sessions. Cisco’s CEO John Chambers even made cameo appearances, while Executive Vice president Rob Lloyd released crucial clues in his live opening session.

In the end, The Threshold proved to be a runaway success, doubling our expected participation numbers. The revolutionary ARG captivated 13,000 of the event’s 19,000 attendees, and for many of them, playtime exceeded several hours a day. Numerous unsolicited forum threads championed The Threshold for promoting collaboration and learning, and for bringing the company one step closer to its vision of ONE Cisco.

TransMedia Strategies with Multi-Screen Delivery – Now In High Demand in 2011

SOURCE HEADLINE (May 4, 2011):  The explosion in syndicated content, easily embeddable code, and the torrents of clips coming to the Web are paying off in streaming media pretty much everywhere. According to the third annual survey of web media companies by D S Simon, 85% of them now carry video, representing an increase of a third from last year. Television media was already at peak penetration, with 96% of venues carrying clips, but the 2011 Web Influencers Study found that virtually every other category of news, especially newspapers and radio, now make video de rigueur.  According to Doug Simon of D S Simon, the meaning here is clear. “The big news is that online media has now officially become a video programming network.” All of which goes to show how much users bring an expectation of streaming media experiences to a site. In order to feed the need for full motion, 84% of site users says they use third party providers along with in-house media. While traditionally non-video media are embracing the trend, it doesn’t mean that all of them are going full-bore into production. Understandably, 93% of radio stations say they rely in some measure on external sources of media, with 86% of newspapers and 80% of web media. TV entities tend to rely much more on their own assets, but still 63% user third parties.  We have said it before in these pages; video is the new text, and the Web is a primary accelerant of that trend.”

Almost every Pay TV operator has a multi-screen strategy now and many are involved in laboratory or field trials, while some plan full scale launches this year. A number of big players, such as Orange in Europe and PCCW in Hong Kong, already have well
established mobile TV services with varying levels of interaction between these and their fixed broadcast packages. The ultimate
destiny is a coherent, unified and yet flexible multi-screen service, providing customers choices over delivery, device and
method of payment, ideally served over a common infrastructure.

To Read full Report (Click Box Above)

The end game for the whole digital entertainment industry is a multi-screen world where there is no distinction made at a business level on the basis of the target platform, with all devices served via a common headend and network infrastructure. This may not be as distant as some commentators think, and so operators need to be considering now how to migrate and scale their business accordingly. Scaling will have to occur across four dimensions: delivery infrastructure, the pay business model, revenue security and content rights.

Today’s market is bourgeoning with “smart devices,” from tablets to TVs to any device that can connect you to the Internet. The industry has gone through many iterations of the smart TV and we’ve seen fluctuation in consumer adoption. In a survey conducted by RedShift Research in the UK in 20101, connectivity ranked third in importance, after resolution and screen size, in consumers considerations when purchasing a new TV set. Yet, with the turn of the year, we’re seeing increased growth and adoption of connected TV sets. According to In-Stat, Web-Enabled CE Devices will reach one billion by 2015.
Consumers are starting to understand the value that connected “Smart” devices bring to the entertainment experience. However, as we step into this new world of connected everything, we need to be cognizant of how we can continue to make the entertainment experience enjoyable for consumers. TVs are entertainment devices that should allow consumers to lean back and enjoy. The most important technology a TV can have is the ability to access a wide variety of entertainment choices and help the viewer choose the content that is best for them or their family. …

The next generation of connected TVs will bring with it aggregation of content, personalization and recommendations technology.  Along with these services, it will offer a greater way for TV manufacturers and service providers to monetize their offering – advertising capabilities outside of the traditional 30 second spot. It will use metadata pervasively to search for and connect consumers to content. It will have a lot to offer the consumer in their search for what to watch.

READ REST OF ARTICLE HERE…

TransMedia Workshop in LA – In Attendance April 25

The global demand for producers familiar with the process of developing transmedia content (across several mediums like games, mobile, television and film) for studios and networks is on the rise.  This 4-hour event at the Beverly Hills Hotel was the first of its kind and unique in the world, delivering practical, how-to TransMedia training led by leading cross-platform producer and strategist Jeff Gomez.  He taught his signature TransMedia development process to business executives, content producers, marketers and creators which has been used for such blockbusters as Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean and Tron Legacy, James Cameron’s Avatar, Microsoft’s Halo, Hasbro’s Transformers, Mattel’s Hot Wheels and Coca-Cola’s Happiness Factory.

An excerpt of a former magazine interviews on the Success of TransMedia and Increase in Industry Demand for TransMedia Producers tells the story for 2011 to Brands and Content Outlets.  That story is TransMedia is overturning the entertainment industry and providing many new opportunities to Brands which adopt TransMedia.

Forbes:  What exactly is “transmedia”?
Gomez:  It is the art of conveying a rich message, theme or storyline to a mass audience using multiple media platforms, such as ads, books, videogames, comics and movies. Each part of the story is unique and plays to the strengths of each medium, and the audience is often invited to participate and somehow interact with the narrative. We first saw the term used in this way by M.I.T. professor Henry Jenkins in his book Convergence Culture, published in 2006.  In today’s interconnected world, young adults, teens and even kids have become so comfortable with media technology that they flow from one platform to the next. The problem is that their content is not flowing with them. As a discipline, transmedia provides us with a foundation for the development, production and rollout of entertainment properties or consumer brands across multiple media platforms. …

Transmedia creates the flow. Instead of repeating the plots over and over again for each medium,
creators can continue and expanded their storylines, generating dazzling mythologies and complex
narratives.

Forbes:  Companies have been talking about embedding products and messages into entertainment for years.  How do you distinguish transmedia from branded entertainment?
Gomez: I think it’s important to point out that transmedia storytelling is not branded entertainment. Branded entertainment drives product awareness by tacking the brand onto something else, like product placement in a TV show. On the other hand, transmedia builds brand mythology, placing the brand front and center and building narrative around it. Think of the various tie-ins we saw around The Matrix franchise several years ago. Branded entertainment comes and goes in a flash, but transmedia storylines are timeless because they are built on a foundation of classic narrative structure. They’re good stories. Finally, the owner of the brand pays for branded content, but transmedia entertainment is designed to generate revenue because, ideally, it’s content that the audience wants and will buy. You’re giving fans more of what they want from your story: more character background, more story mythology, more opportunities to interact with the story’s creators and with one another. When people hear that Samuel L. Jackson will be playing Nick Fury in the next nine Marvel super hero movies, it helps tie that whole universe together. It’s a richer and deeper entertainment experience for the fan.  The storylines of major films like The Dark Knight, Wolverine and Watchmen are being supplemented by direct-to-DVD animation releases, each of which are selling quite well. The Watchmen videogame serves as a prequel to the movie and contains important story developments that fans want to know about. New stories set in the same world are alluring, as opposed to repurposed content, so the products
become more attractive and, in many cases, more lucrative.
Forbes:  Transmedia is often used to promote TV shows and movies, entertainment properties that already have a story built into them, but how does it work for marketers?
Gomez:   Procter & Gamble (nyse: PG – news – people) has used transmedia to extend the narrative of a soap opera, which is an ad vehicle for the company. In 2007, the packaged-goods giant commissioned Guiding Light: Jonathan’s Story, a novel published by Simon & Schuster that revealed the adventures of a major character that had been mysteriously absent from the daytime drama. The book, hyped in ads on the soap and in a blog bylined by one of the novel’s protagonists, was a media sensation and became a New York Times best-seller. We’re also seeing transmedia elements in the marketing of consumer products and advertising. With “The King” campaign from Burger King (nyse: BKC – news – people), for example, audiences have been engaged with this bizarre character, watching the commercials, purchasing and playing the videogames. In 2002, my company Starlight Runner was tasked to create a storyline around 35 die-cast metal Hot Wheels cars for Mattel (nyse: MAT – news – people) for the line’s 35th anniversary.  We worked with the company to understand the essence of the brand and watched how kids played with the toys.  Then we invented an elaborate racing universe and driver characters that, over the next three years, came to life in five computer-animated movies, a videogame, a comic book series, new play sets and an elaborate Web site.  Sales across the entire line increased dramatically.

TLP TransMedia Overview for 2011- How Can Brands Benefit?

Click Above to Download PDF

1)  What is a Transmedia Narrative?

2)  What are some recent examples?

3)  What makes TransMedia Stories  interesting to an audience?

4)  What does it mean for your Brand and how is it Monetized?

5)  How Is A TransMedia Strategy Initiated?

TLP Adds FusionTalk Video Emails to Interactive Slate of TransMedia Tools

For years TransMedia companies have searched for a suitable and attractive interface for the delivery of video email messages.  A GetResponse “2010 Email Marketing Trends” survey was conducted online from January 27 to February 5, 2010.   When a group of small to medium size business marketing companies were  asked if they used video email in 2009 and plan to use it in 2010, only a combined 15.7% of respondents said they used it last year.  However, more than 80% of respondents plan to use video email this year, with 11.9% saying they used it last year and will increase usage this year.

Video Emails Seen as Conversion Tool
Almost 66% of respondents said video email can result in significant or moderate increases in conversion rates.  Click Through Rates  (CTR’s) in response to a call to action is the coveted goal of email campaigns.  In TransMedia Campaigns, Brands want to be assured a video email spend will also return interactive results with metrics and usable data points.  TLP has chosen FusionTalk as its preferred Video Email interface, where we use and manage  it to design a customized video email campaign as part of a suite of TransMedia tools designed to get Click Through Rates and response to a Brand’s call to action.

TLP Completes “Connected TV” White Paper – Latin TV Market Focus

Managed TV versus Over the top video

The impact of connected TVs on the TV industry (RequestPDF – contact button)

What You Need To Know: A Sixty Second Version

UNIVISION STATEMENT AT YOUTUBE:  You’ve probably read the headlines: “New census milestone: Hispanics reach 50 million”; “U.S. Hispanic population tops 50 million” and one of our favorites “Los USA — Latino Populations Grow Faster with Wider Spread.” The U.S. Census numbers have confirmed that the Hispanic population has reached an important milestone, the 50 million mark. We are waking up to a new reality, a new face of America. The New American Reality video speaks to the unique experience of being Latino in America today.  Univision is proud to Inform, Entertain and Empower the Hispanic community. To learn more about how we reach the Hispanic consumer. 

March 18, 2010. Cable TV Is Doomed. “The death of cable television would probably still be inevitable without the Federal Communications Commission’s national broadband plan, which aims to expand broadband Internet access to 90% of Americans and dramatically increase access speeds. …We’re already familiar with two business models for web TV: Hulu’s ad-supported programming and iTunes’ micro-payment system of about $2 per ad-free show. Both of these are preferable to cable not only because they’re more cost-effective but because they allow the viewer a greater degree of control. You only pay for what you watch, whereas with cable you pay primarily for things you’ll never watch. Americans watch on average 5 hours of TV a day, so a cable subscriber with 100 channels is only consuming 0.2% of the programming he or she is charged for. With the average cable bill swelling to $64 a month in 2009 from $47.50 a month in 2004, ditching cable for web-based TV is an increasingly attractive option.

It is well known the broadcast television industry faces an unprecedented crisis amid a global economic downturn. News and industry experts have reported a dramatic fall in TV advertising spends, in many countries up to 50%. … and earnings drops to levels of 1995. There has been a multiplication of channels, brand confusion, and an ongoing fragmentation of audiences … An increasing number of bankruptcies of networks and production companies populate the news channels. This trouble in the global broadcast industry is well known by now.

An average of 179 Million Americans watched online video each month in 2010. Engagement levels also rose, with viewers watching online videos more frequently88.6 million people watched online video on an average day in December 2010 (up 32 percent from December 2009), while viewing sessions totaled 5.8 billion for the month (up 13 percent). The average American spent more than 14 hours watching online video in December, a 12-percent increase from last year, and streamed a record 201 videos, an 8-percent increase.

In February 2008 the average Hispanic-American over the age of 11 spent more time online than watching television, according to the Terra Networks-sponsored “Hispanic Syndicated Study,” conducted by comScore Media Metrix. In general, online Hispanics—independent of their language preferences and acculturation levels—are heavily engaged in technology,” wrote the report’s authors.  Every day, more than half (56%) of Hispanic-Americans surveyed said they spent at least an hour online, which was slightly more than the 50% who spent an hour or more watching TV. On a weekly basis, Terra reported that more Hispanic-American Internet users spent 13 or more hours online (30%) than watched TV for the same amount of time (23%).

Telemundo Internacional chooses TVU for live Internet broadcasts for its blockbuster Telenovela series “Decisiones” Mountain View - August 15, 2008 – Telemundo Internacional, an NBC Universal division deemed the preeminent leader in Latin American television worldwide, and TVU Networks, a global live Internet TV service with a user base of 18 million viewers in 200 countries, jointly announced today the addition of a Telemundo channel dedicated to its chart-topping series “Decisiones” that will be available worldwide excluding Mexico and the US.

October 14, 2010 Article:  TV revenue growth in Latin America set to explode “TV revenue in Latin America will be worth $18.5 billion in 2015 – up more than 50% on the 2009 total, according to a new research report from Informa Telecoms & Media. Latin American economies are showing signs of long-term strength, signalling big growth for television services in the next five years. “Greater economic resilience is now allowing the Latin TV sector to enjoy stable growth – putting it in its best position for decades,” said analyst Adam Thomas. In other words, with more disposable income floating around, subscribers are more likely to pour it into living-room entertainment. The growth will be so significant as to reduce the North American market’s dominance in pay-TV uptake over the next five years: Informa is forecasting that pay TV subscription numbers are anticipated to reach 57.3 million by the end of 2015 in the CALA region, up 57% from 36.6 million in 2009. In contrast, the U.S. in 2009 had 96 million digital households – almost 80% of the pan-continental total. By 2015 its statistical dominance will decline to accounting for 63% of the Americas total. Informa is expecting consistent growth in digital TV too, with the Latin region forecast to almost quadruple in size from 15.9 million digital TV households at the end of 2009 to 57.1 million by 2015. Brazil and Mexico combined to account for 51% of digital subscribers at the end of last year, their combined regional share will edge up to 54% during the forecast period.

The Legacy Productions Branding “Lovemarks” for Reality TV Series: JOBz

Kevin Roberts, CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi turned the advertising agency around with the concept and implementation of Lovemarks branding strategies for Fortune 500 clients.    A few years ago, Saatchi & Saatchi looked closely at the question:   What makes some brands inspirational, while others struggle?  And they came up with the answer: Lovemarks:  the future beyond brands

The Legacy Productions has implemented specific Lovemarks of:

Aspiration, Perseverance, Endurance, and Overcoming

… into the JOBz reality TV series’ brand image.  These Lovemarks are found throughout the JOBz’ webpage, print literature, key artwork, and other graphics in the show Media Kit.  http://www.jobztv.com

Here are some of the JOBz show posters:

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MORE ON USE OF LOVEMARKS IN A WEBSITE OR BLOG CAMPAIGN …

Check Out The Legacy Productions” “One Brick at a Time Campaign” By Clicking the Box Below