Following Chairman Rupert Murdoch’s hints early in the week of a possible separation, News Corp. announced on June 28 it’s splitting its massive media operation into two parts. One entity will house the newspaper and book publishing business while the other is home to the entertainment side (which includes the movie studio and TV networks).
In an era where we hear so much about consolidation, it was nearly mind-blowing to hear of such a major divorce. However, there’s still been plenty of acquisition news to keep the consolidation train rolling – only interestingly enough, on the agency front. Following WPP’s purchase of AKQA for $540 million last week, word got out that Omnicom was mulling over buying for-sale indie agency LBi for $575 million. In the startup world, social media CRM providers Buddy Media and Vitrue were snatched up by Salesforce and Oracle, respectively.
This is big stuff. These are macro moves. The fallout from such landscape shifts will be the meat and potatoes of OPS NY, Oct. 4.
The madness continues: shall we dive into how devices are greatly changing consumer behavior in terms of consuming media and purchasing? According to a recent report from InMobi and Mobext (Havas Digital’s mobile arm), around 29.5 million Americans, about 11% of the population, are now connecting to the Internet via tablets. A surveyed sample of this group had some bold proclamations:
- 29% claim they have stopped reading books in print
- 48% say tablet design makes it easier to access online media than on a desktop
- 22% claim they have shopped less in physical stores since purchasing a tablet
- 55% of make purchases on their device in an average month
Broadcasters are teaming up with mobile startups to revolutionize the way we view major events such as the Olympics. But this is only the beginning – in a multiscreen world, what other activities will “watchin’ some TV” entail? Intel has jumped firmly into land of online branded content with Intel iQ, a site that curates tech culture content from within and without the brand.
That’s macro, baby.
More in social media: OPS NY Keynote speaker Rich Webb, founder and former COO of The Barbarian Group, officially announced he’s consulting on the revenue side for Tumblr. This is a major agency innovator stepping behind the wheel for a social media platform still in the early phases of developing a monetization strategy.
Meanwhile Twitter is expecting to top $1 billion in revenue in 2014, which is a pretty impressive climb from $139.5 million in 2011; and CEO Dick Costolo commented that, on a daily basis, the social network often makes more mobile ad revenue than online. And yes, Facebook had its long-awaited IPO, which many considered a bust, but the stock is back above $30 (at the moment) – the king of social media has opened its inventory to demand-side platforms. Is this the start of something bigger, such as the much-rumored-about but vehemently denied Facebook ad network?
The ad tech industry will not be immune to these macro shifts, something Julie Schoenfeld, CEO of Perfect Market, during her OPS Markets NY 2012 Keynote. Check out this clip below about Google’s social spine.
Seismic activity is about to go off the charts. At OPS NY, we’ll break down what’s going on channel by channel, and examine how channels are blending into one another. We’ll explore the future of branded content, programmatic buying and premium sales, responsive design for device-unique content and much more. The macro changes are coming – seize the opportunity at OPS NY.
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Macro-level changes are coming, and you can sieze the opportunities that follow at OPS NY. This event will bring together digital advertising leaders and ops professionals to discuss a rapidly evolving landscape and develop strategies for monetization. Register today for OPS NY which will be held Oct. 4, 2012. |