mobile

What is the definition of a tablet?

/ Author / Leave a comment

It’s not the Samsung. When the iPad was being launched and everyone was discussing whether or not there was a place in the world for such a device (I think we have the answer to that!) the most common phrase in reviews was..’if I have an iPhone and a Mac, why do I need one?’ At the time people were not sure of the answer, in the Apple way, the iPad created the need rather than answering one.

Since then the competition has fired its responses and some of them I think have missed the point. Lets take the Samsung example:

The fact is the Samsung is just too small, it’s as close to a phone as an iPad and that is the issue for me, that is where I am left asking – where does this fit? I have seen them in the flesh, they are oversized phones, the screens neither big enough to enjoy gaming, reading, web pages or apps but too big to be convenient like a phone.

The iPad has succeeded because it is big enough to have an experience, it did not set out to be a phone with a slightly larger screen, its build quality and slickness all add to this experience, something else that the competition seem incapable of replicating. I suspect the Blackberry offering will be nice, they are quickly realising that quality of finish both technically and physically is important and I have no doubt it will be a market winning execution, next to the iPad. Here is an example of some people’s interpretation of it

Oh come on publishers..build a decent app

/ Author / 2 Comments

So disappointing. All the major newspaper groups sat down in locked rooms and worked for days and nights to establish what to do with this new tablet world. After many hours they decided that it would be amazing if they scanned in their papers and you could click on the pictures to be taken to another page with a picture and some text. Genius!

There are so many options, independants like Flipboard have created a beautifully slick proposition, very visual, intuitive, interactive etc the newspaper apps are depressing in their lack of creativity, lets see what Murdoch comes up with. There was a moment there when my view that paid for content could actually win out but I have a set of apps now from the publishers that have been a massive let down and if they dont improve then they will get some one hit wonder payments and then thats it.

It annoys me that they have not done more in this exciting area, next we will be encouraging advertisers to create full page iPad ads that dont move, arent clickable and seem to be as dull as the content they are in..doh. Sorry Audi and the like.

Innovation is no longer having an ad in these environments, innovation is creating for the environment, there is a big difference, and too many award entries will be based on the very fact that they stuck an ad on the iPad..#fail. The only innovation on the iPad is the iPad, most of the other stuff is failing.

Marco Bertozzi discusses Vivaki/Google deal on exchangewire

/ Author / Leave a comment

Marco Bertozzi Discusses The Renewal Of The Vivaki And Invite Partnership
Posted: November 17th, 2010 | Author: ExchangeWire | Filed under: Ad Exchange, Ad Trading, Agency, Demand Side Platform, Online Advertising, RTB | Comments
Vivaki recently announced it was renewing its partnership with Invite Media. Marco Bertozzi, Managing Director EMEA at Vivaki Nerve Center, spoke to ExchangeWire this week about the implications of the partnership and what we’re likely to see in terms of innovation from Vivaki over the coming months.

FULL ARTICLE ON EXCHANGEWIRE CLICK HERE

Vivaki announced that it is renewing its partnership with Google for another two years. Does this mean that Vivaki will just exclusively use Invite Media to trade inventory? Or is there more to the deal?

MB: As I mentioned in my blog, the best friendships / partnerships come with time. Google and Vivaki have been working together since 2008 and have a close working relationship at a product development level and not just at a media level. It was our collaboration that encouraged them to purchase Invite. On that basis we feel that working with one partner, who in our view is the leader in this space is going to deliver better results than working with a whole range of partners who all have different processes and approaches, we will learn together and they are more likely to work to our needs as we are a large customer of theirs.

All that said of course it is incumbent on us to make sure we have a view on the marketplace and understand different systems. On that basis we have trialled different DSPs so to that extent it is not exclusive. As an aside the deal as you call it, I prefer a partnership as that is closer to the truth, is a Google one, not just an Invite one. Invite are one important part of our discussions.

What effect will the deal have on the European arm of the Vivaki and the Publicis agencies here?

MB: The US has been market leading in many areas of digital and ad exchange trading is no different. They are a good 12 months ahead of the UK in terms of maturity, understanding of the marketplace and scale. Therefore in EMEA we have always benefitted from that forward thinking work from the US and deals like this just add to that and help us mature more quickly in the EMEA markets. I believe this will create for us some very good first mover advantage in the areas we are focusing on such as video and mobile in the exchange space.

In a recent blog post you spoke about how the partnership with Google will focus more on mobile and video. What opportunities does Vivaki see in those channels from the perspective of data-driven ad trading?

MB: We see the whole ecosystem as being display whether its mobile, video or traditional display. The growth in spend is in these areas, the interest from agencies and clients is in this space so for us will come the need to be able to deliver an efficient and targeting solution in the form of exchanges across these different channels. We will want to have data that crosses channels and helps us discover out audience regardless of screen and this partnership will help us get there in the quickest time but at scale. There will always be small PR led partnerships around mobile and video but they are not at scale and often a lot of hot air, our approach is to do it right and to do it at scale.

Will “The Pool” initiative be part of this video and mobile strategy?

MB: The Pool is a slightly different approach where we are identifying the optimum ad format with in the video space. In the UK, Spain, China and US we are well underway with all of that work and it’s exciting to see the results. Although we will not be directly linking these, of course when the video ad exchanges take shape, our Vivaki built ASq model will be part of the formats available on the exchanges. I think more broadly Vivaki and SMG have really owned the video innovation space and so we would see these two areas being complimentary.

What are the key objectives you would like to achieve in the next two years with your renewed partnership with Google? Is it more automation across display, mobile and video?

MB: I think it’s pretty straight forward, we want to work with the Vivaki brands to accelerate all ad exchange trading but most importantly in the space of video and mobile, this will be a key battle ground and we want to be leading the market in this space, our work with Google and Invite will be a big part of this. Let’s not lose sight of why we are looking at all of this though, it’s to target the right audiences, minimise wastage and deliver strong targeting solutions and strong commercial results for our clients.

What currently differentiates Vivaki’s exchange strategy from those of other European holding companies?

MB: We have a purist approach to ad exchange trading and are not looking to create an ad network or exchange right now. The most important development for us is fine tuning the best approach to trading on exchanges and delivering an expertise to our clients, if the focus was on creating a marketplace or network I think the ambition is too centred on margin management and not on the best solutions. On top of that, the sheer scale and experience we now have from the US and more latterly in the UK in particular means we can use that experience to the benefit of our clients. Practical experience over the last 18 months gives us a head start on the other agency groups, some of which are still grappling with technical or organisational issues.

Since joining Vivaki do you think the European exchange space has evolved? Or are we still in the early stages of development?

MB: It’s slow but steady. On the one hand it feels as though everyone is talking about it but then you realise that it’s still very much under radar, I think all the people connected with this industry know each and other and interact, some limited teams in the agencies are aware but generally it’s still nascent. That said I am having more conversations with publishers who are waking up to the possibility that exchanges are an opportunity rather than a threat and that can only be a good thing. We are also slowly seeing the migration of US companies into EMEA but that remains surprisingly slow, so all in all I think things are growing but we are not mainstream yet!

Google and Publicis/Vivaki renew partnership

/ Author / 3 Comments

Oh yes there will be those who start to pick away and question this partnership, some ask what this partnership is about, but you need to start at the start. Maurice Levy set out a strategy for the Groupe to be the leading digital group in the marketplace. He has achieved that ambition, but how do you get a huge organisation to move in one direction? Well firstly you show them you mean business and invest. Look back at what he has done. Maurice bought up Phonevalley in mobile, Performics in search and SEO, the big one was Razorfish and others, this has created no doubt about his intentions. So what else would a digital organisation of this size do?

Well you should have some close friends that are themselves giants of the digital business. Enter Google partnership in 2008 and Microsoft a little later on, both significant relationships, both the first partnerships of their kind and both giving an insight and opportunity to the clients of Vivaki that noone else could offer. This approach make so much sense and cannot be open to criticism.

Now the thing with friendships, the longer they are the more fruitful they are, the partnership with Google is now into its second term and third year. The senior teams in the VNC and digital teams of the group have been working with product and commercial guys from Google in a more integrated and collaborative way for some time and it’s this that drives the value and the reason, you cant undo a long friendship.

The announcement today of the renewal is significant a) because it has been renewed! We have worked well together and we want that relationship to continue and b) our renewal comes at a time when others are just creating their first deals and they are basing them on very spend related terms rather than strategic and product led. These deals are designed to create opportunity for the clients, not deliver a low cpm. Its an exciting space and the VNC will be working closely with Google on creating some of the most advanced strategies around exchange technology in video and mobile so this can only be a good thing.

Read the announcement here

I look forward to working with Google over the next two years and can proudly say that Vivaki really does have a couple of great BFs.

Battle for the living room. Apple vs Windows vs Google.

/ Author / Leave a comment

These three companies are battling it out in a number of arenas, phones, TV, PC/mobile operating systems and each time one of them launches something the others follow, they take turns. Well I was thinking about the launch of the new Windows phone 7 the other day and how it compares to the iPhone and the same thing came back to me..I am all in with Apple, so even if it’s brilliant I won’t get one.

It goes further too, at home I have 3 sets of speakers for Apple, I have Airport Express, an iPad and close to getting Apple TV so if Apple actually allowed me to seamlessly link this all up, which they don’t, then that’s my house completely apple-fied. I am talking hardware and systems I guess, the actual programs and sites they carry whether it be Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter etc should all be universally accessible but the systems that carry them? Some believe that eventually all these platforms will communicate, that consumer pressure will make it so, but I am not so sure. Apple has not bowed to pressure from it’s own customers to get its equipment talking to itself, so what chance getting it to talk with Android or windows. Further proof of this is the fact that Windows Live is aggregating FB feeds and messenger from Yahoo but point blank refuses to include Gtalk.

So actually these brands are not fighting for a phone marketplace, they want your home! Microsoft have the phone, PC and Xbox. The Xbox is basically a home entertainment centre with streaming movies, music, links back to the phone as well as catch up TV and Facebook messenger etc so they have a great foot hold. This all leaves Google without the physical foot hold on your room until that is Google TV. So in a few years I think you will need to choose who your team is, that way you will have a seamlessly linked home and mobile experience.

Question is, which team are you backing? I am in too deep with Apple now so that’s easy, but who knows, maybe Apple will let me pull up my itunes music on my Xbox? No chance!!

The world would be a better place if more companies were like Apple

/ Author / 1 Comment

Gordon in Brand republic comments on http://www.brandrepublic.com that Apple does not even like its customers and sites some bad PR from Jobs to a student..this is my view

That is the least of it. I am a fan. I have bought 7 ipods in its various guises, three iphones, one ipad, one Mac. Not to mention all the accessories. I am also annoyed that they continually update, that one charger wont fit the next gadget, they wont take flash on ipads and so and so on. Apple treat their customers like s*** and their products are a means to a greater battlefield Steve has with the wider marketplace.

That said, the products are generally very good. We forget that before them, PCs were very dull, we had walkmans and the phone was a functional accompliment and nothing more, there was no buzz in this sector so without them the rest would still be producing dull products.

And thats what they do well, good products. Yes they / he annoys me but I have given up caring, all this anti Apple stuff is boring and repetitive, they make good stuff and changed a market.

My last point is this; if more companies took the route Apple has taken ie great products, great design, attention to detail, quality packaging, wads of innovation, the world would be a far better place.

Google Zeitgeist, inspiration in a day.

/ Author / Leave a comment

There was more passion from the speakers and less from the audience compared to the EMEA version, that was my overriding impression. I expected more whooping but instead found a very reserved audience.

So I missed the first day, by all accounts a roller coaster of a day where the economists depressed everyone and Ted Turner inspired everyone. I arrived in time for dinner and Cirque de Soleil. I was surprised how little enthusiasm there was for the show, people were clapping politely when they should have been going crazy, the Europeans were far more excitable, I thought it was meant to be the other way round! That theme of restraint continued into the next day except for Geoffrey Canada – anyone heard of this guy? No probably not in EMEA, he is a US inspiration, he is a social activist and educator who campaigns for better education for the ethnic minorities with a focus on Harlem.

Geoffrey was one of the best speakers, most entertaining, intelligent and passionate speakers I have seen for some time. I have been to 5 zeitgeist and it was the first time there was a standing ovation, it felt strange for me, a bit like the judges getting up and down for X factor but he deserved it, look him up, there are not many presenters like him.

The crowd did not ask questions, there were limited interactions, in europe they are queuing up, to be fair mainly spanish, Italian opinionated people happy to tackle anything, perhaps the Americans are more respectful and don’t want to challenge everything, the Europeans love it! This was what surprised me the most.

Geoffrey was great. Later in the day Lance Armstrong was on stage, he clearly is an inspiration, I found him a little dull if I am honest, he sparked up when he talked about cycling, part from that it all felt a little emotionless for me, it’s a personal thing but I can’t help but feel when i see famous sportsmen that i want to hear about amazing anecdotes about their sport not their website, albeit a worthy cause. By the way he reconfirmed that he never took performance enhancing drugs, I believe him.

One man who was very impressive was the CEO of Verizon. He runs a company of 120billion dollars and employs 220k people! That is a staggering number of people to be responsible for, he was impressive, very impressive. The shame of the session was he was subjected to banal questions that came from a very subjective perspective. One man stood up and recounted how his wife waded through bills and would it not be easier to simplify the process? To be fair to him, he answered diligently. He was clearly a man who ran a serious business, he joked with Eric Schmidt of Google with a kind of ‘ I know you are big and powerful and Google, but my company is big stuff even against your operation, kind of way.’ That session ended with one man banging on about his contract and how T-mobile did it differently. At last his patience ran out and he tersely replied – we are not T-mobile and shut him down like the annoying man that he was. There is only so much of that shit you need to listen to. I was amazed at how low level, subjective, experience led the questions were, there was not a single weighty question asked of him..strange. By the way 4g is coming in a serious way for Verizon by end of year.

Will.I.am was brilliant. Simply brilliant, these musicians are now so talented in so many other ways, business people, innovators, entrepreneurs. He was very funny, but clearly was leading the way in how to change the music industry. This is a guy who would be happy to shut out the music label industry. He was joined on stage by the CMO from coke which made it feel a little more dirty to me, he was talking a very purist story, it felt diluted by her intervention.

I have gone on for a while now. I want to end on a more serious note. The CEO of Canter Fitzgerald, Howard Lutnick was invited to talk about he coped with 9/11 and the impact it had on his business. Let’s hear the facts. Honestly I can’t remember them all it was too shocking but roughly it was something like this..650 of 900 members of his team were killed. Because he had always encouraged family and friends to be employed by existing employees it was something like 17 sets of brothers and sisters were killed, he lost his own brother..9 years after the event he was still struggling to deliver his speech without tears. The story was unbelievable, his clients rallied to them, the LA office gave up profits to pay for the families of the dead, he ran the business at cost and gave the rest to the families of the dead. It brought tears to everyone’s eyes, it was incredible. I am glad I was there just for that. Read more here

There were no questions after that session.

I found the content and speakers far more inspirational and interesting than the UK this year, they appeared to come with more passion than in the UK and I found myself addicted to what was going on, the only thing that let things down was the audience.

Finally I found the relentless and ruthless networking quite distasteful, the thousand mile stare as they try to see your badge and decide if you are important or not. One thing you realise is just say you have a UK or EMEA role and they switch off, oh, that little island , no, you are not worth anything to me..it’s painfully transparent.

Google Zeitgeist – US experience.

/ Author / Leave a comment

I think I am one of a few people lucky enough to go to both Zeitgeist conferences. I always enjoy the UK experience but to get to go to the US version is a treat. I was only let into the holy experience because I was in the same hotel anyway for a Board meeting of The Vivaki Nerve Center but it does mean I intend to follow very carefully what goes on.

I find myself working with the US more and more in my role, we do truly live in a global world and in many areas they do indeed lead the digital world, not by far but they do, the sheer number of companies operating means there will be faster development in all things technology. Look at the data space, the number of companies that saw the opportunity in the US vs the UK or Europe is significant, even now EMEA is playing a huge catch up game in that space.

So it is with this background that I am excited to be in the heart of thought leadership in the US and will be tweeting and writing up what I see, albeit just one of the two days. Come back for more as I go through the day.