May29Observations
Targeting Millennial Cord Cutters
One topic we’ve been increasingly talking about at SS+K is the future of the television business and the growing trend of cord cutting or cord never, particularly among Millenials. To gain some broader market perspective we joined the AdWeek webinar “Targeting Millennial Cord Cutters.”
Here are some insights we gleaned on why digital video is the way to reach this generation – and how brands like HBO, with advancements like HBO Now, are ahead of the curve:
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- Millennials are watching less TV than ever before, but video viewing is at an all-time high
TV viewership is down 23% year over year. There are more options not only in what to what but in how to watch. In order to be truly successful in reaching millennials, you have to be platform-agnostic.
- Social is mobile
Create content that is shareable and enables participation. People share content for their own social currency and good brands actively think through their posts.
- The cookie is dead
Marketers will need to be far more nimble to track who’s seeing digital ads. Increasingly, in order to determine what’s working, it’s about tying together 3-4 different levels of data to measure response rates and track conversion.
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Update:
Our HBO GO Awkward Family Viewing campaign continues to connect with audiences around the world, earning numerous awards from Cannes, The One Show and The Andy’s, with additional show announcements to come.
Awards:
- Cannes Lions: 1 Gold, 3 Silver, 1 Bronze
- One Show Pencils: 1 Best in Discipline (Film), 5 gold, 4 silver, 1 bronze, 4 merit
- Andy Awards:, 4 Gold, 2 Silver, 1 Bronze
- Webby Awards: 3 Best in Category
- D&AD Pencils: 2 Graphite, 1 Wood
Click through to view all 7 Awkward Family Viewing spots and read the industry accolades and press coverage.
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4.1.2014
There are few pleasures greater than diving into a pizza and any of HBO’s award winning sex, drugs, comedy and violence shows. Unless you’re 19 and Dad insists on watching it with you, over your shoulder. This classic family dynamic inspired our latest marketing campaign for HBO GO dubbed “Awkward Family Viewing”.
These seven spots were shared across HBO’s social media properties, in digital media, and integrated into HBO’s college campus engagement efforts.
For more on HBO Go and Awkward Family Viewing, read:
- AdAge: “Awkward Family Viewing” campaign earns top nod at the One show
- AdWeek: HBO Go “Awkward Family Viewing” named one of top 10 ads 2014
- WSJ: New HBO Go Ads Show The Horror Of Watching Sex Scenes With Mom And Dad
- Huffington Post: HBO Go Says Watching TV Is Better When Done ‘Far, Far Away From Parents’
- Time: HBO Just Created the Most Supremely Uncomfortable Ads of All Time
- Mashable: HBO Knows How Awkward It Is to Watch HBO With Your Parents
- AdWeek: Ad of the Day – Watching Sex Scenes With Your Parents Is Weird, Says HBO
- Fast Company: That Awkward Time You Watched “Game of Thrones” With Your Parents
- AdAge Creativity: Watching ‘Game of Thrones’ With Your Parents Sucks. Use HBO GO Instead.
- TechCrunch: These HBO Go Ads Are Hilarious
- Recode: Here’s to Awkward Family Viewing of “Girls”
- BuzzFeed: These New HBO GO Ads Prove That You Should Never Watch TV With Your Parents
- Cosmopolitan: HBO understands what it’s like to watch Girls and Game of Thrones with your parents
- Entertainment Weekly: HBO Go ads explain why you don’t want to watch HBO with your parents
- Esquire: HBO Makes The Funniest Commercials, Too
- Digg: These Ads For HBO Go Are Brilliant
- Refinery 29: HBO GO’s New Videos Comically Turn Up The Awkward
- Slate: HBO’s New Reason You Need #HBOGoplease
- PC Mag: Awkward! Avoid Watching ‘Girls’ With the ‘Rents With HBO GO
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AdWeek: Lenny Stern on Millennials in the workplace
“Part of their day job needs to be about making an impact, doing something meaningful … We as humans should be challenged and pushed. When that kind of spirit comes into a creative industry, it reminds us why we’re here.”
Wall Street Journal: Rob Shepardson on managing information overload
“[My] guiding principle is ABR—always be reading, on the commute home, traveling, in a cab, standing in line at Starbucks”
http://www.wsj.com/articles/how-to-cut-through-your-to-read-pile-1426004078
Digiday: Kevin Skobac on the power of the new Digg community
“A video campaign we created for a client was organically shared on Digg. The result, surprisingly, was more video views from Digg than almost any other property on the Web.”
http://digiday.com/publishers/digg-going-big-video/
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I’m thrilled to share my first article in Fast Company today on how to find the quietly powerful “moonbow” people in your company. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this piece. Have a read, and let me know what you think.
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We’re thrilled to announce a new client to the SS+K roster: luxury hotel brand, JW Marriott. Read Adweek’s take on our first global collaborative assignment with M&C Saatchi.
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In this week’s Global Viewpoint I had the opportunity to give some perspective on the balance of act fast, and act purposefully.
“Give our craft the time and energy it deserves, brands the quality they demand and consumers the content they truly care about. Not everything has to be as fast as a Twitter stream, and maybe we will all be better for it.”
You can find the whole piece over at Campaign Live.
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If you find yourselves at Brooklyn’s Atlantic Ave station this January, be sure to check our latest work for FreshDirect. You can explore every inch of the station to discover quick and easy recipes for the whole family, sundae combinations to make your mouth water, and tips on cooking. All expressed through the gorgeous food photography of Johnny Miller.
View more photos after the jump.
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This week SS+K and Jackson Hewitt unveiled a new identity and integrated marketing campaign around the brand philosophy of “Working Hard for the Hardest WorkingSM.”
With an emphasis on television and radio, the creative work shines a light on the hard-working Americans who look to Jackson Hewitt as their financial advocate. And just in time for tax season, Jackson Hewitt reminds them of its guarantees to uncover the biggest refunds possible with 100% accuracy.
Read more about the new campaign over at MediaPost.
TopJan12Observations
What excited us at CES 2015
Each January we travel to the Consumer Electronics Show, a mega conference filled with 200,000 people, miles of new technologies, over the top brand experiences, and flashy parties celebrating the next new big thing. It’s hard not to be overwhelmed by it all, but amidst the craziness we found ourselves fixating on a few key trends that make us excited for the year to come in consumer tech:
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The future of TV. Satellite cable provider Dish announced a groundbreaking new TV product called Sling TV that offers select premium cable channels, including ESPN, directly over the internet for just $20 / month. Live sports is the most valuable asset cable companies have in their expensive bundle, and Dish’s ESPN deal could be, for many, the straw that broke the camel’s back for cord cutting. Along with HBO announcing an Over-The-Top internet service at some time in 2015, this could be the year the great unbundling of cable actually happens.
Dish’s Sling TV will be available on just about every internet connected device. Photo: The Verge
Smart devices we actually want. 2015 will give us meaningful reasons to believe in the Internet-of-Things. Parrot Pot: a self regulating and self watering plant bowl; Dash Earphones: wireless headphones report your activity and heart rate; August Smart Lock: a door lock that can be controlled remotely; and eSkin Thermometer: stickers to monitor your child’s temperature in real time via your phone. Better yet, we can expect convergence across connected devices through smart home hubs like Google NEST.
The eSkin Thermometer is a cheap single use sticker that has NFC to communicate with your phone. Photo: Engadget
VR beyond hype. The latest version of Oculus Rift was mesmerizing, and paired with products like the Sixsense Motion Controller it can be transformative. But maybe more impressive was Google Cardboard, which managed to replicate much of the experience with just cardboard and a phone. A base jumping simulation was so real it caused a stomach ache. At minimum it shows the depth of which experiences can be created using the censors in a standard mobile smartphone, how much innovation is still possible.
Google Cardboard is just a simple folding kit and a mobile application for your Android phone. Photo: Google Images
A little bit of awe inspiring. We raced cars using just our brainwaves, saw drones that follow behind us as we run, listened to creepy lifelike robots singing to us, and watched autonomous cars that can start and pull out of our driveways for us with the touch of a smartphone button. The future really is still in our imaginations, and all of us have the potential to unlock it. It’s going to be a wild ride.
Toshiba’s concept robot, named ChihiraAico, is nearly believable, especially from a distance. Photo: Mashable
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My first piece on TechCrunch is all about how to take back control of your digital memories before it’s too late. An enterprising reader also recorded a reading to an interesting new podcasting for articles platform Umano. Have a read (or listen) and share your thoughts.
Read on TechCrunch | Listen on Umano
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