Strategy Analytics Digital Media Analysts were in attendance at CES in Nevada, our thoughts following day one at the show follow:
A cool but sunny day, good for rushing around at a conference.
- ATT's mobile data network held up well for the author
- Vegas traffic watch, severe
- the storm in the NE US meant a number of speakers and attendees were delayed in arriving in Vegas, all the conversation was about transportation nightmares
1. Extending TV advertising's reach into tablet and smartphone environments
Innovid is working with Cisco while Yume is working with Gracenote to enable targeted tablet and smartphone video advertising synchronised with broadcast TV ads via ACR.
Reasons to be excited:
- SA quantitative data shows the proliferation of devices (TTS and WSS) while SA qualitative research illustrates increasing levels of audience usage creating a huge opportunity for advertisers
- tablet and handset viewing tends to drive higher rates of engagement driving higher levels of brand recall: tablet and handset viewing is more personal and intimate than TV viewing and hence the impact of advertising via these devices tends to benefit
- technology enables a number of strategies, obviously TV brand advertisers can deploy retargeting and resequencing campaigns however conquest campaign strategies are possible eg, Ford runs TV ad which Chevy uses as triggers to target other devices
- audience tracking on these devices is much more accurate than the TV audience panel approach enabling better ad targeting and more sophisticated strategies: TV advertising is still a relatively blunt instrument
But what is currently missing are any indications that brands care about the technology or want to use it:
- this is an extension to linear broadcast advertising which will maintain a leading role in mass audience brand advertising and hence brand spending
- suspect that it is most likely to cannibalise online display budgets than TV budgets which are having an increasingly challenging time justifying their existence
2. Technology manufacturers seem to have rushed way ahead of the content industry again: 4K party starts but content is arriving late
Displays and technology enablers are boasting of their 4K capabilities but there is precious little evidence of content to take advantage of the technology.
Reasons to be excited:
- 4K demos are almost universally stunning when witnessed in person
- Amazon is working with Samsung, Warner Bros, Lionsgate, 20th Century Fox and Discovery to drive 4K usage. Amazon Studios is filming all new content in 4K. However apart from promises of cooperation there was precious little detail about any concrete release dates or commitments.
4k not OK?
- TV manufacturers and broadcast technology manufacturers are constantly pushing new standards and innovations to shorten the traditionally glacial upgrade cycles for displays and equipment viz, 3D. Is this another case of crying wolf a good few years before the wolf is anywhere near the farm?
3. Valve's Steam Machine initiative has approved multiple manufacturing partners, staying on course for a H2 2014 launch
iBuyPower, Digital Storm, Alienware, Falcon Northwest, iBuyPower, CyberPowerPC, Origin PC, Gigabyte, Materiel.net, Webhallen, Alternate, Next, Zotac and Scan Computers are all making versions of the PC-based gaming-optimised platform which will run Valve's Linux based OS designed to take Steam PC gaming from the PC monitor to the main screen TV
Reasons to be excited
- perhaps a platform which will enable PC to more effectively challenge consoles by addressing many of the configurability and complexity issues which deter many from PC gaming, as well as explicitly targeting the living room TV through Steam's Big Picture Mode and the wireless console style controller
- potential for growth for the already huge Steam platform which reported 65m active accounts in October 2013
Load of hot steam?
- there will be multiple models, multiple configurations and many different levels of graphical capability, there is no fixed target for developers and a risk of any benefits being lost on confused consumers bewildered by the many models of Steam Machine available. Steam Machines risk becoming an unconvincing Kite mark unless these issues are addressed.
- to drive excitement in new users Steam needs an exclusive game. There may be announcements down the line but unless there is a major title exclusive to the platform it is difficult to be too optimistic.
- launching games platforms is expensive: will Valve back up the initiative with the kind of marketing spend which will penetrate the mass market's conciousness or is this more about converting existing PC gamers to Steam Machines? The latter will be tough, enthusiast PC gamers do not need a simplified technology platform.
- PC manufacturing is very very low margin: how much patience will these manufacturers have if sales are slow and competition intense given the number of manufacturers involved?
We will continue to update you with any further media and entertainment related developments at the show.