Cinema, TV and VOD services share in the same ratings regime in the UK, giving parents confidence they can discern content unsuitable for their children.
Risks to children of being exposed to unsuitable content and advertising multiply on the 'open' internet.
Parental controls supplied by ISPs are key to filtering content and sites, although a unified approach is better
UK digital advertising will grow beyond £10 billion by 2018 by our estimates, representing more than half of all advertising spend and delivering the most advanced large advertising market in the world on a per capita basis.
Nevertheless, we see critical issues in digital marketing that are frequently acknowledged, but hard to fix.
At the heart of our hypothesis is the view that the marketing industry – brands, agencies and media – has focused on technology and efficiencies at the expense of consumer experience and distinctiveness.
Short form video is growing. It is easy to create, share and, with the rise of mobile technology, incorporate within communication
But despite the novel flexibility that mobile technology offers, the actual video most desired is surprisingly traditional
Buzzy, short form content fills gaps that have always existed; yet, despite the hype, it will remain supplementary to long-form programming
At launch, Google’s new subscription service YouTube Red competes most directly with premium music streaming services, also offering ad-free videos
YouTube’s augmented revenue model re-boots incentives for native talent to produce content for the platform, and will also widen its appeal for established content producers
Although consumers are likely to find paid subscription for ad-free videos a weak proposition, Red holds much potential for YouTube as it competes for attention across device ecosystems, and presents little risk to its existing advertising model
The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas revealed the ‘next big thing’ for consumers to be products embodying the Internet of Things (IoT), controlled from the smartphone or the vehicle Wearables like fitness bracelets are already selling well in the UK, amongst the largest per capita markets for consumer electronics, and next up is the launch of Apple’s smartwatch Building out the smart home is the focus of the current wave of devices imbedded with sensors on show at CES 2015, with apps developed on platforms supplied by Samsung, Google and Apple
Strong growth in the UK economy has created a very positive short term outlook for display advertising, with TV Net Advertising Revenues (NAR) expected to increase by 5% in 2014.
That bright prospect is nonetheless overshadowed by online video advertising, where 2014 is expected to add almost £200 million to the estimated £300 million spent in 2013. YouTube is leading the way, but the TV broadcasters also stand to benefit.
All the indicators point to yet more rapid growth in online video advertising over the next three to five years. So far it has had little apparent impact on TV NAR, but this should change from 2015 as TV and online video become more closely meshed.
Amazon has entered the increasingly crowded digital entertainment TV device marketplace, one which could be strategically more important for the ecommerce giant than tech rivals Apple and Google
The frictionless integration of entertainment and ecommerce on TV represents a bigger consumer milestone than competitor services are offering, and Amazon’s brand has huge appeal, though at present it has less market traction for streaming than it does for other products
Content owners and broadcasters remain the real TV gatekeepers, with integration of TV and digital a service-level pipe dream for now, and so Amazon will likely have to accept being one of many, rather than the runaway winner as it is in books
2013 has seen yet another year of strong growth in consumer adoption of mobile devices and screens adding to the challenges facing traditional media. Press and radio have long been affected, but television is now starting to feel the heat
BT and Sky’s contest for premium pay-TV sports rights has intensified. August saw the launch of BT Sport, while BT’s acquisition of the European football rights in November was a clear statement of intent, spending half of Channel 4’s total programming budget on approx. 200 hours of content
The UK has seen buoyant advertising growth of around 4% in 2013, with similar growth expected in 2014, in the context of the strongest economic recovery in Europe
YouTube (YT) held its first Brandcast in the UK in October, as well as in France and Germany, after staging similar events in the US. Google’s ambition is to compete more directly for brand and TV advertising in these core markets
At this year’s Brandcasts, YT highlighted its position as a complement to TV content and advertising, emphasising unique advertising opportunities for brands to engage with viewers through sponsored YT native and dedicated brand channels, in line with its new ‘brand partner programme’
In direct comparison to TV, online video advertising and viewing remains small. We project UK online video advertising to reach £305 million for FY2013f, representing 8% of TV ad revenue. As the dominant players, Google/YT are well positioned to grow display revenue by securing a large share of brand advertising moving online
Multichannel Networks (MCNs) operating on YouTube (YT) have seen a surge of interest from financial and strategic investors over the last year, mirroring their rapid growth on the platform and popularity among YT’s core demographic of 13-35 year olds.
As an extension of YT’s partner programme, MCNs provide production, traffic, monetisation and rights management services to content creators and brands, thus closing a gap in YT’s ecosystem by offering trusted environments with higher quality and monetisation standards.
MCNs are a key element in the professionalisation of YT and hence attractive vehicles for third parties to gain exposure to YT’s reach and potential. Looking ahead, for YT to continue its evolution and reach new levels of monetisation and content quality, structural and control issues need to be addressed that currently cap the upside.