Earlier this month at the Forrester eBusiness Forum in Chicago, we were honored with a Forrester Groundswell Award in the category for Mobile Marketing (Business-to-Consumer). The Forrester Groundswell Awards recognizes excellence in the effective use of social technologies to drive business success, and the mobile marketing award category looked specifically at companies that best used mobile tools to accomplish business and marketing goals. YuMe was awarded for our work on the justWink Mobile Flip Campaign for American Greetings.

Last September, American Greetings wanted to create awareness for justWink, its newest line of user-customizable greeting cards, and drive interaction with the justWink app. No question, our Mobile Flip ad was a perfect choice to generate buzz around the new product! Mobile Flip leverages interactions specific to smartphones and tablets; its full-screen branding experience enables a tap or a swipe to switch between video ad and branded display, and allows for multiple interactivity options, all within the ad experience. For the uWink campaign, we delivered 10 million mobile ad impressions, a 74% video completion rate, and more than 700,000 ad interactions. Thousands more used the ad to locate a store where they could buy justWink cards, downloaded the brand’s mobile app, and shared the ads through Facebook.

With roughly 150 submissions from around the world, we’re proud to have been recognized by Forrester with this award!  To learn more about our award-winning Mobile Flip ad and other YuMe capabilities, check out our ad gallery.

Last week we rolled out the next-generation solutions of the YuMe platform, YuMe’s Audience-Aware SDK™ with Audience Insights and enhanced Audience Amplifier™. Our latest version SDK captures first-party data in order to boost our ability to find the right audiences across our Connected Audience Network – benefiting both publishers and brand advertisers.  Publishers and app developers now have access to Audience Insights, the most accurate picture of their audience’s demographics and interests.  Our enhanced Audience Amplifier utilizes first-party and SDK data to create distinct Audience Segments of the most receptive and attentive audiences, and all at TV-like scale, so that our brand advertisers can get the best brand results for their digital video ad campaigns.

To better understand how YuMe’s Audience-Aware SDK is powering our Audience Insights and enables us to generate Audience Segments, we held a short Q&A with our product marketing managers, Tyler Hampton and Nikki Heyder.  Tyler works on the latest YuMe solutions for advertisers and Nikki works closely with our data sciences team on the platform side.

Q: The latest YuMe Audience-Aware SDK collects first-party data, but what exactly is first-party data?

Nikki: Most people have probably heard of third-party data, which is data collected across the web from various sites and data providers. It typically represents a tiny sample of your audience, at best, with only 5-15% accuracy for targeting.  Lesser known is second-party data, which commonly takes form as registration data purchased directly from the source. When registration data is required, versus opted-in, there is an issue of accuracy; for example, filling out a form randomly for the sake of gaining access to content or services. There’s also a recency issue – typically, users provide registration data at sign up, and are not required to update their info over the course of their membership, as circumstances (such as income, marital status, etc.) change.

First-party data is collected from your users, on your site and is therefore the best data source for any type of audience targeting.  Whereas first-party data has traditionally consisted of users’ browsing behavior, it has not been especially relevant for marketers.  YuMe’s first-party surveys are designed to get at the type of behavioral and intent based traits that marketers want to target.  Our data collection is opt-in, and therefore highly accurate– a user is most likely to respond honestly to an optional survey they feel compelled to, than being forced to. And it’s safe.

Q: Why should advertisers or publishers care about first-party data?

Tyler: In today’s world of fragmented content and screens, it’s challenging for brand advertisers to reach an attentive and receptive audience (and to do it at a scale large enough to make an impact).  In order to achieve this, it’s necessary to gain an understanding of a brand’s audience, and that is where first-party data comes in.  Most of the industry relies heavily on third-party cookie data, which can go stale and is dependent on users NOT deleting cookies.  Our first-party cookie-less data is a combination of direct survey data and observed data, collected through our embedded Audience-Aware SDK; allowing us to form Audience Segments, as a brand sees it. Reaching the right audience will help drive core brand metrics, and at TV-like scale, so with YuMe’s Audience-Amplifier, we assure that the right audience is reached at TV-like scale.

Nikki: With the shift of the TV advertising dollars ($193B market) to digital video ($4B), first-party data creates a huge opportunity for publishers.  With better insights into your audience demographics and interests, publishers are able to align their audience with who consumers brand marketers care about reaching.  Because interest-based, TV-like segments are valuable to advertisers in YuMe’s ad network, publishers benefit from improved CPMs and better fill.  And since first-party data yields a highly accurate data set, publishers reduce waste caused by inaccurate targeting.

Through YuMe’s Connected Audience Network (CAN) publishers have immediate access to a network of brand advertisers and campaigns that are looking to target TV-like audiences at scale.  Whereas a single publisher may return only a small subset of a desired audience segment, YuMe for Publishers (YFP) is able to match a small set of target users from multiple sites with a campaign that spans across YuMe’s ad network.

Q: So how does the YuMe Audience-Aware SDK work to generate Audience Insights and Audience Segments?

Nikki: Our embedded Audience-Aware SDK combines unique in-player survey data with additional data points collected by the SDK (can also leverage second- or third-party data if desired), which we use to generate highly accurate, psychographic audience segments. Using data sciences, we are able to use a relatively small number of surveys to model a highly accurate audience model of your site.

Tyler: As Nikki mentioned, our enhanced Audience-Aware SDK collects first-party data that allows us to know who the target is (via in-player surveys) and the what/when/where about their digital and device usage (browser version, screen res, time of day).  Through Audience Insights, we can measure the attentiveness of the audience.  YuMe’s data-science software continually identifies patterns in the data collected, then matches these patterns to the numerous data points coming in through our SDK.  As a result, we can generate scalable segments of relevant audiences, or Audience Segments.

Q: What else can Audience Insights and Audience Segments be used for?

Nikki: Outside of improved monetization through the Connected Audience Network, first-party data can also provide valuable insights for your business – for example, by understanding your viewer demographics you can optimize your content programming so it is better tailored to your audience makeup.

Tyler: With Audience Insights, brand advertisers can develop a deeper understanding of their audience, and garner key brand performance metrics.  We have the ability to cross reference traits of the many different segments we create, allowing us to point out additional attributes of an advertiser’s targeted segment; for example, did you know that your target audience also has an interest in luxury cars?

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Big thanks to Nikki and Tyler for taking time with us to talk about the latest YuMe solutions for advertisers and publishers! To learn more about our Audience-Aware SDK, Audience Insights and enhanced Audience Amplifier, visit: http://www.yume.com/technology.  Also, check out our latest whitepaper on the benefits of first-party insights which can be downloaded from our whitepaper resources library at: http://www.yume.com/insights/video-advertising-whitepapers.

This post was originally published on Portada on October 25, 2013; written by Jorg Nowak, Head of Latin America and US Hispanics at YuMe.

More Hispanics live in the US than Canadians live in Canada – avoiding that reality it is not even an option anymore if you want to maximize the growth of your business. As this market continues to grow, Hispanics purchasing power will continue to influence and impact the economy – their purchasing power growing by 50% from $1 trillion in 2010 to $1.5 trillion by 2015 (Nielsen, State of the Hispanic Report, 2012).

Major brands and agencies are realizing that US Hispanics are where their future is. Don’t find yourself caught on the sidelines.

With one medium in particular, digital video, marketers are already seeing the benefits of targeting general audiences. However, with the current growth of Hispanic consumer’s digital video consumption and purchasing power, it is even more vital to engage with this channel.

As we move into 2014, let me offer four recommendations around Hispanic media buys and online video.

Keys to Successful Online Video Hispanic Media Buying in 2014:

1. Hispanics are rapidly consuming content on mobile; plan for all screens

US Hispanics are leading the market as early adopters of emerging technologies. 60% of Latino households own at least one Internet-enabled cell phone and spend 68% more time watching digital videos than non-Hispanic Whites. Be sure to take advantage of this opportunity to capture Hispanic’s attention on mobile devices in addition to your traditional online buys. (Nielsen, State of the Hispanic Report, 2012).

2. Hispanic content is rare, so make the most of it

As marketers, we face a dilemma – online video for the Hispanic consumer is premium and often scarce. In order to capitalize on this medium, we suggest custom ad units with more interactivity and engagement.

3. Think outside of pre-roll video

There is much more to experience than just pre-roll video, and many consumers are taking notice. Consumers are actively engaging with custom ads via social elements or ‘learn more’ functions, like never before. Why not capitalize on the opportunity to grab a consumer in an interactive and compelling way?

4. Broaden your sights and your network

In the past, ad networks have often gotten a bad rap. That is rapidly changing, especially in the Hispanic space where publishers struggle with unique user numbers that don’t provide the reach and frequency that advertisers desire. Ad networks solve this dilemma with unparalleled reach and the added bonus of allowing interaction with the user vs. exposure only.

I’ll leave you with this:

If you choose to forgot any or all of these 4 points, keep in mind, you may be missing out on a huge opportunity: There are currently 55.5 million (plus 9 million undocumented) Hispanics in the US, 17.4% of the total US population . . . up from 50 million in 2010.(U.S. Census and Geoscape AMDS report 2013). At the same time, online video spend is growing aggressively, outpacing the rest of the market (more than doubling since 2012). (AccuStream Research)

These numbers can no longer be ignored, especially for those looking to win in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

Jorg Nowak is Head of Latin America and US Hispanics  at YuMe, Inc, a provider of digital video brand advertising solutions. Nowak was previously Senior Vice President & General Manager at Univision Interactive Media.

More and more, consumers are using tablets to consume video content, and 2013 saw major growth in tablet usage and penetration. With studies showing that tablets are particularly effective in driving brand lift, advertisers are now seeking tablet inventory to deliver engaging brand experiences to these device users.

Despite the massive growth in mobile ad spending, app developers and publishers have yet to fully monetize their tablet inventory.  In our latest whitepaper, Plug, Play, Payday, we explain how easy it is for developers to integrate and run YuMe’s lightweight software development kit (SDK) to quickly monetize their apps.  With our SDK, publishers and app developers are provided with our ad-serving technology and have access to a network of 450+ TV-brand advertisers – ensuring targeted, TV-quality video ads to complement the app users’ experience.

To learn more about the benefits of our SDK, visit www.yumeplugplaypayday.com to download a copy of the whitepaper.

In July of this year, we held a roadshow tour across New York, Chicago and Los Angeles to present our latest research results in partnership with IPG Media Lab & Millward Brown Digital.

With IPG Media Lab, we conducted primary research regarding the tablet as the ultimate view viewing device, looking at tablets in comparison to TV, mobile, PC and in-browser versus in-app by exposing respondents to various in-context stimuli.

When studying consumers across environments and while viewing video content on TVs, PC, smartphones and tablets, we found that ad recall is often higher with tablet viewing, with unaided recall at 57% compared with 49% for smartphones, 47% for computers and 45% for TVs.

“Videos ads on tablets often grab a viewer’s attention more because tablets are highly personal devices and consumers are usually holding them in their hands,” says Kara Manatt, VP, Consumer Research Strategy at IPG Media Lab in an interview with Beet.TV. The study reveals that tablet users tend to watch videos in relaxing environments, such as at home, in bed or on vacation, and that they are less likely to multitask on tablets. As a result, tablet viewers have better ad recall.

With Millward Brown Digital, we looked at creating a comprehensive set of best practices for online video advertisers. The study quantifies which video ad formats produce the strongest in-market results in terms of ad and brand awareness, message association, favorability, and consideration. Some best practice takeaways include:

• When repurposing TV spots for online video, add interactivity to improve the performance & audience engagement
• Keep it short – remove secondary messages
• Thoroughly brand your video campaign
• Short-form videos are typically more memorable, but long-form is better for awareness

To download copies of the research reports, visit our Research Studies page. Also check out interview highlights from the YuMe Research Roadshow on Beet.TV.

Throw away your screen-by-screen media planning rule books. In this study we will show you how consumer behavior is changing the way you should plan to market across screens. We started this study assuming the tablet was the ultimate media consuming device. At the Guardian Mobile Business Summit in late 2012 we convened a panel of mobile industry experts from both the supply and demand side to discuss open questions in the industry about mobile advertising and the idea for this study was born.

We learned that screen type matters much less than environment and content type. We, as consumers are screen-agnostic when it comes to the content we consume, but where we are located drives a lot of what we choose to consume. Screen size is a driver in the amount of time a consumer is willing to spend consuming media, with the smartphone being the perfect compliment to stackable short session length content while on-the-go. The tablet and laptop are used more for longer session lengths at home. We are consuming more at home across all screens and are more responsive to advertising messaging in the comfort of our own homes. The tablet is more akin to the laptop than a smartphone and therefore should not be considered a “mobile” device by media planners.

Our old pre-conceptions about lean forward vs. lean back mode being tied to screen type are debunked with these results as well. On-the-go is indeed more commonly associated with lean forward and smartphones are the most used across screens while on-the-go. Tablets and laptops are used to consume more media at home than on-the-go … so labeling them a lean forward medium is simply not accurate. Lean forward is a more complex mode because it is a function of location, content, and screen. Media opportunities are not simply a function of screen; they are multi-modal functions of environment, content, and screen.

This study revealed the power of pre-roll video – showing pre-roll as a far superior ad unit type to banners for all brand metrics. Publishers – make sure you put video content on your tablets and smartphones too. Your consumers want to see it here, creating a great revenue opportunity!

Multi-screen consumer use trends are not splitting the media opportunity, they are unifying it. Through subtle but important nuances within consumer trends, we are realizing unique opportunities to reach a targeted audience in different contexts with ad units of different lengths and interaction modes. It is not all about the screen. All screens have the potential to work for the number one spot for relaxed medium consumption – the home.

For more on the results of this study, as well as a copy of the report please visit our research section.

Last night, at the opening of the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s (IAB) Annual Leadership Meeting in Phoenix, YuMe was named winner of the 2012 IAB Sales Excellence Long Term Achievement Award for a small-to-mid-sized digital sales organization. The award recognizes exceptional customer service, knowledge of technology innovation and excellent sales experience as judged by agencies and brands, surveyed by the IAB.

If that weren’t enough, today, at the same gathering in Phoenix, YuMe is again being recognized by the IAB as a winner in the 2013 IAB Digital Video Rising Stars competition.

The IAB determined five creative Digital Video Rising Star ad unit categories. After evaluating more than six dozen entries based on user experience, branding, functionality, integration and adoption, YuMe’s Mobile Flip ad unit was selected as a winner in the competition’s “Full Screen” category.

The evaluation process included quantitative scoring to narrow down the finalists, followed by thorough qualitative discussions to determine the final winners. With consumers increasingly captivated by digital video programming, the Digital Video Rising Stars competition fosters digital advertising creativity and boosts larger advertising spends across multiple screens.

“We’re certainly honored to be selected as part of the IAB’s ongoing efforts to define industry standards in digital video advertising,” noted Ed Haslam, Senior Vice President, Marketing, with YuMe. “This recognition validates our leadership role in the industry, as we continue to innovate and deliver cutting-edge digital video advertising solutions across multiple screens for top brands.”

All of the winning companies will work closely with the IAB Agency and Ad Ops Working Groups throughout the year to define, build and implement the industry’s first-ever digital video ad format standard.

We are thrilled to announce that YuMe’s Connected Audience Network has been awarded the Advertiser Perceptions Highest Rated Media Brand for Advertiser Satisfaction in the U.S.

This year’s Advertiser Perceptions Highest Rated Media Brand Awards were based on an average of the Advertiser Intelligence Reports (AIR) Waves 15 and 16 ratings (Spring and Fall 2011) survey of thousands of media decision-makers, both marketers and agencies, who advertise with the leading print, television, digital, ad network and mobile media brands. The opinions of those surveyed provide the basis for insight metrics used to gauge media brand and company performance. The awards recognize media brand achievement in categories such as brand strength, sales knowledge, customer service, and advertiser satisfaction.

We believe this recognition is a strong validation of how our technology-driven Connected Audience Network coupled with our world-class customer service delivers unmatched advertiser satisfaction. YuMe’s Connected Audience Network delivers all 8 essentials elements for successful video advertising on all connected screens – PCs, mobile devices and connected TVs.

When it comes to YuMe’s world-class customer service promise, our Innovation Lab thrives to deliver the best video advertising performance for each and every advertiser we partner with and combines YuMe’s unique technology with best-practices from thousands of video advertising campaigns we have proudly run for world’s largest brands.

That is how we deliver ultimate customer satisfaction. Innovation never stops here at YuMe and such recognitions definitely fuel us to raise the bar by knitting technology, research and brilliant minds here at YuMe.

We also would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our advertisers. At the heart of our success are our clients and we’re extremely thankful for your business.

Scot McLernon – CRO

“TIME!” The judges voice rang out like a fire drill to the dizzied contestants. Faces were flush, hearts raced, and competitive juices were soaring. Some were injured, but they had pressed forward through blazing heat and tense moments. Like true gladiators, they persevered, and pressed on to the final moments of battle.

World Cup final you may ask? Lakers vs. Celtics for the NBA title? No, but close. This was the 2011 Iron Chef Challenge hosted by YuMe, and the kitchen scene was like a battle field in Braveheart. The Northwest sales reps gathered their most fearless clients to the Blue Ribbon Cooking School in the East Lake district of Seattle for a night of stove tops and wine, to see who could impress in the confines of the kitchen. After being divided into two teams, and being assigned two separate proteins (steak and shrimp respectively), the two teams jumped right into strategy and planning.

Each team was responsible for laying out a main course, side dish, and a dessert, so you had to take into account time, resources, the skill sets of your team members.

Within only moments it seemed, the teams had broken up into miniature cooking staffs, fighting their way through giant buckets of salt, flour, and any other unique ingredient they could grab before the opposition could make a move. Both teams quickly compartmentalized into prep groups, focusing on different aspects of the meal. As the clock ticked, both teams leveraged the experience of Blue Ribbon’s own masters of culinary arts to guide the teams through the menus they had planned. As each team’s meal began to take shape, you could see leaders emerging on both sides, and the participants true competitive nature was starting to show.

When Blue Ribbon manager (and judge on the evening) Mike Duppenthaler called for time, we all knew we had put everything into it. Team steak concocted “Seattle” Cheese Steaks, a dedication plate to their Philly predecessor. As a side, it was homemade tator tots. Dessert was carnival style funnel cake, infused with pumpkin spice, and topped with raspberry compote and crème fraiche. Team shrimp made hand rolled ravioli, filled with the shellfish and garnished with a fantastic cream sauce. Stuffed mushrooms and a chocolate pudding finished it off, and made for a difficult decision for Judge Duppenthaler. When the funnel cake was deemed the best dessert Blue Ribbon had ever seen, team steak knew that victory was theirs.

All in all, it was an amazing time had by all. As if it were any of our home kitchens, it was good wine, good friends, and a night of memories we won’t soon forget.  But if we do forget, we’ll have this video to remind us:

YuMe’s Iron Chef Challenge in Seattle

An article penned by our SVP of Emerging Platforms, Frank Barbieri, appeared in TechCrunch today and is also featured below.

Every five or so years for the past two decades the introduction of an Internet connection to a new device type has created a boom in disruptive businesses.

Most of these booms – computers followed by mobile phones, and then gaming consoles and now tablets – have been clearly successful. Others (remember the Network Computer?) have been ill-timed.

Now manufacturers, and a growing ecosystem of partners to support them, are betting big that consumers are finally poised to accept an Internet connection in their most cherished living room technology mainstay, the television. Players from Samsung to Sony are bringing the so-called ConnectedTV (CTV) to market in mass, and you’ll see a big push this holiday season. There are already upwards of fourteen million CTVs in North America and sixty five percent of TVs sold in 2012 will be CTVs.

With every platform change new companies and nimble traditional companies have lined up to try and capture a share of the redistribution of rewards that inevitably comes when consumers change their habits. North American television advertising is certainly no exception as a host of companies, old and new line up to try and capture their share of that $62B annual advertising feast.

While there has been some preparation to date, incumbents have an incredibly hard time cannibalizing established revenue streams for growing, but yet to mature, new revenue streams. We’ve seen this with everything from books to brokerages. And in the TV world, we are seeing it on display with the recent stutter of Hulu, the pioneering archetype, catching arrows in their back from erstwhile incumbent partners as they bravely forge ahead.

Such is the nature of distribution when the business advantage is built primarily on pricing and bundling, and carefully restricted access, not on real consumer demonstrated desires and behaviors.

Technology has always been on the side of the consumer, especially in the realm of television viewing. You may not remember now, but broadcasters bitterly fought the arrival of cable in the 70s.

And while it seems absurd now, given it has created hundreds of billions of revenue, studios fought against the arrival of DVDs in the late 90s. The early titles were a handful of B movies released by Warner Brothers in conjunctions with Toshiba. It was all Toshiba could get at the time.

We may be seeing another disruption today. With a new wave of CTV content applications, the pricing and access advantage of cable television may dissipate. Imagine downloading a TNT program application directly from Turner rather than paying a cable company for access to Turner content. Content providers themselves now, or will soon, have the tools to reach their audience directly on the big screen. Turner could pocket 100% of any subscription fee and advertising revenue rather than having to share with a distribution partner.

The traditional distribution players are betting, but not banking, on the fact that new television distribution will look substantially similar to old television distribution. They are expanding their services to include on demand viewing and hoping much will continue as before with consumers paying a fee for content bundles.

But what if that’s not the way it goes down? What if like mobile phones and the PC before them consumers choose to snack on content delivered directly to them by the content providers themselves, effectively removing the pricing, bundling and access advantage of traditional cable and satellite television distribution. In that world the power of delivery, and we’ll say advertising insertion, shifts directly to content providers, device manufactures and the ecosystem of direct Internet connected business partners they surround themselves with. In that scenario online advertising businesses have a distinct advantage over traditional distribution businesses as they are already in the market pumping billions of video ads through existing devices like PCs, mobile phones and tablets.

Sure distribution incumbents like Comcast could make IP connected set-top boxes that consumers use to access content directly, unbundled or al la carte, but that erodes their existing revenue model around cable pricing. The industry calls folks who end run cable to get their content directly from content companies, “cord cutters.” A recent Morgan Stanley report concluded that cable companies would have to double the internet access fees of so called “cord cutters” to make up for the lost revenue on cable TV packages.

There is change brewing. Years in this business and witness to booms and busts have taught all of us to be cautious of absolutist rhetoric opining the end of any particular distribution channel. Consumers have shown a remarkable ability to expand their entertainment appetites, and new consumption habits largely prove additive, not cannibalistic (except for my poor print friends of course). So be suspect of anyone who claims that all programming or advertising is going to be wholly delivered in a particular way. But the numbers themselves are so enormous, and the opportunity so large that even a ten percent swing in consumer viewing habits from cable and satelite to ConnectedTV applications and cord-cutters will represent a shift in $6.2B of advertising spend. That, to me, is a scenario worth preparing for.

Sources include GFK Market Analysis, Piper Jaffray, and DeutscheBank.