Alex Marks, head of UK marketing, Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions analyses how TV viewing is extending beyond the living room
We hear a lot about convergence of technology at the moment and how one day we'll all be watching TV on our mobiles and not in the front room. It's always felt something of anathema to me and I work in digital! But dig a little deeper and you see what's really going on.
As ever it's all about content, and the impact that new technology is having on how people consume and share it. As marketers whose livelihood is built around seeking content to advertise in or around, it's pretty important we understand what this means.
Technology is facilitating a new world for video content - anything, anytime, anywhere. Over 300 million people worldwide are watching TV online, more than the number listening to audio, while internet video consumption has more than doubled in the last year. This new world of content is associated with freedom by viewers - no restrictions, no pre-defined scheduling and more content across multiple platforms.
Overall, people are both time and device shifting and taking control over content when they need to. Context also has a big impact on what we are prepared to view as well as what sort of mood we are in. Comedy clips transfer easily to many devices but drama doesn't. TV is about laid back consumption while PC and Mobile are more lean forward and personal.
These distinct experiences demand a new advertising approach which moves away from the traditional disruption strategy towards integration. This poses a lot of questions for marketers. As viewing extends beyond the living room to the three screens what does it mean for your brand and your advertising?
Read The 3 Screens, Microsoft's comprehensive study on online video available on our website.