By David Lawenda, VP of Global Marketing Solutions-US, Facebook
The stakes are changing -- and what's possible will amaze you
Having worked for some of the biggest names in broadcast & cable television, I, like many of my fellow marketers, fell in love with the medium... and its ability to showcase a brand with all the sight, sound, and motion. Video is a powerful communicator, and no banner or pop-up ad I've ever seen has delivered the impact of a :30 commercial.
This notion was challenged when I joined Facebook less than two-years ago. In that short time frame, mobile media has exploded... and I, like many of my fellow marketers, find myself glued to my iPhone throughout the day (and nights!) in ways I could never have imagined.
For all of us, mobile is the most significant thing to happen in our lifetime. This is a good thing, and like all the disruptive media that came along before it, the smart will thrive if we harness the brand building power of this phenomenon.
1.Mobile adoption is happening fast. Very fast. Three of every 4 US mobile subscribers aged 13 and older own a smartphone, a growth rate of 340% in the last five years. 87% of young adults have it with them at all times (including sleeping with it). In a recent survey, teens ranked batteries and a Wi-Fi connection BEFORE food and water as necessary for basic survival.
2.Mobile is not a device... it's a consumer behavior. In the past few years, mobile consumers have switched or replaced many traditional behaviors, including how we get the news, navigate, shop, travel, eat, connect, or even how we hail a cab. It is our remote control for life, a life that is in our command... and on demand.
3.The small screen is now the first screen. We're in a new Golden Age of television programming and streaming video content, with the average viewer watching an hour more per day of TV content than just a few years ago. The hitch is that almost 20% of time spent watching that TV content is happening beyond the television set.
So it's no coincidence that MOBILE time spent per day has overtaken all other forms of media. The rising star in the landscape is mobile video. With an explosive growth rate of over 367% in the last two years, it's predicted that by this time next year, mobile video will account for nearly half of all video content consumed.
4.Think People, not Cookies. The majority of consumers consider their smartphone to be their PERSONAL device. It's YOUR telephone number. YOUR photos. YOUR Life. And unlike a computer or a TV, we don't share our phones. Because of this, mobile provides us an opportunity to shift from CPM and cookie-based targeting to People-based targeting. Imagine being able to target against an actual audience, not a piece of content. It's a marketer's nirvana... personalized marketing at scale.
5.The thumb is now in charge. Marketers have lamented to me about the fragmentation of audiences, compromised delivery predictability, and a consumer overwhelmed with choice. How do you reach them? The answer is in the palm of their hands.
It's our job to keep up with consumers and find them where they are being entertained. That's mobile - it's the promised land, given amazing growth in video consumption. Some of my most staunch TV-loving advertising clients have seen better results by investing across TV and mobile through platforms like Facebook. Instead of TV only, those campaigns are being amplified, across platforms, in a way that way outperforms any non TV+Mobile broadcast or cable campaign. Not just once or twice, but over and over again. This is only the beginning... just watch.
Yes, I drank the mobile Kool-Aid.
And so should you.
About the Author
David Lawenda is the head of US Global Marketing Solutions at Facebook. He has 25 years of media experience and has helped drive revenue for some of the most successful entertainment brands in the world, including Turner Broadcasting, Paramount Domestic Television, MTV Networks, and Univision Communications. An honors graduate from Georgetown University, David currently sits on the Board of Directors at the IAB, The Advertising Club of New York, and is a member of the Executive Committee of the Marketing Communications Division for the UJA Federation of New York.