Articles highlighted in yellow are a must read

1. Articles
Sept 2013 - Nov 2013
Brian Crotty
Babelfish.Brazil@gmail.com
Babelfish Articles Sept 2013 - Nov 2013 21-11-13
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2. Summary
Changing Lanes: Solving the Decade-Old Problem of Cross-Channel Ad Attribution ................................................................................................................. 8
Cross-Platforms, Crossing Goals for TV and Online Video ................................................................................................................................................................ 9
YouTube's $&@%'n Biden Moment ......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 10
Interpublic Strikes Deals Automating Buys With 5 Media Giants: Covers TV, Radio, Outdoor, Display, Video, Mobile ...................................................12
11 simple, science-backed ways to boost happiness ...........................................................................................................................................................................13
Multi-screen viewing behaviour ................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 15
Time For A Trading Desk? Consider These Factors ........................................................................................................................................................................... 19
Define It - What Is Real-Time Bidding?.................................................................................................................................................................................................. 20
Define It - What Is RTB?............................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 20
Define It - What Is Big Data? .....................................................................................................................................................................................................................21
Define It - What Is An Algorithm? ............................................................................................................................................................................................................23
How Do Companies Make Any Money in Digital? ............................................................................................................................................................................... 25
How RTB Enables Lifestage Marketing ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 26
ROI Measurement For Sponsorships Found Lacking ...........................................................................................................................................................................27
Audience Data Management Is Key To Performance-Based Advertising .....................................................................................................................................27
Brands go it alone on programmatic ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 28
Mobile usage grows in Brazil ................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 29
Agencies reject RFPs.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 29
Australian content marketing grows ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 29
8 Video Types to Add to Your Content Marketing..............................................................................................................................................................................31
British Airways Billboard Ads Interact With Planes ............................................................................................................................................................................32
Time-shift viewing could be the norm .....................................................................................................................................................................................................32
Confessions Of Agency CTO: Ready or Not, Programmatic Future Already Here .................................................................................................................... 33
Down The Not-So-Transparent Rabbit Hole ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 34
Programmatic Coming To A Living Room Near You ........................................................................................................................................................................... 34
Comcast to target ads to individual subscribers watching linear programming .........................................................................................................................35
Charter, Cablevision exit Canoe Ventures consortium ......................................................................................................................................................................35
Are Programmatic And Branding Mutually Exclusive? ....................................................................................................................................................................... 36
Agencies: RTB Vendors Don't Want Transparency ............................................................................................................................................................................ 36
Brands Swing onto Vine for Advertising ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 36
Cross-Device Tracking Will Expand Mobile Advertising ................................................................................................................................................................... 37
Beyond the Digital Screen......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 38
Digital To Drive 20% Of Local Media Ad Sales, Hit $23B In 2013................................................................................................................................................ 39
GfK fecha parceria com 4 emissoras .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 40
GfK e TVs assinam carta de intenções .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 41
GfK to Measure TV Audiences: Four broadcasters close deals with the company, which will start offering a service provided exclusively by
Ibope at present............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 41
Veículos precisam se adequar a novo cenário .................................................................................................................................................................................... 42
GM trabalha pela fidelização dos clientes: De olho no pós-venda, companhia oferece benefícios e aprimora suas ofertas ...................................... 42
Tablet Prices Down, Sales Up; Tablet sales shot up by 228% in 2013 whereas prices fell by price 42% ....................................................................... 43
34% dos brasileiros assistem TV móvel, estima Motorola Mobility ............................................................................................................................................. 44
Brasileiro está assistindo mais de modo móvel, diz pesquisa ........................................................................................................................................................ 44
At Least Half of Marketers at a Loss When it Comes to Determining Marketing ROI .............................................................................................................45
Why planning is the 'hardest job in the agency': insights from the Jay Chiat Awards 2013 .................................................................................................. 46
Babelfish Articles Sept 2013 - Nov 2013 21-11-13
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3. Nissan’s Passion Genome Maps Shared Likes ................................................................................................................................................................................... 48
Brasil é rígido com publicidade infantil .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 49
What if Details Determined Good Communication? ........................................................................................................................................................................... 49
Mobile Advertising Ecosystem - BI........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 51
Online TV and video to 'take off'............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 51
Facebook Isn't Failing Marketers -- Marketers Are Failing Marketers .......................................................................................................................................... 52
Programmatic buying to triple ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................53
Media convergence challenges marketers ............................................................................................................................................................................................53
Lowdown: Collaborative consumption .....................................................................................................................................................................................................53
J&J shifts ROI tracking ...............................................................................................................................................................................................................................54
Coca-Cola embraces “new school” shopper marketing.....................................................................................................................................................................54
Developments in ecommerce: Insights from Waitrose, Unilever and Amazon.............................................................................................................................56
2013: The Breakout Year for Mobile Measurement - What every marketer needs to know about push notifications, SMS and mobile email
messaging in 2013....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 58
Please Don't Stereotype Your Personas .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 64
D-Day: The Cookie is Crumbling ..............................................................................................................................................................................................................65
ANA Survey: Half Of Media Budgets Will Be Multiscreen In Three Years ................................................................................................................................... 66
The Myths And Realities Of Advertising Algorithms ......................................................................................................................................................................... 67
Most digital ads are unseen ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 70
Ad-tech eco-system confuses marketers ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 71
013 Digital marketing is "almost dead"................................................................................................................................................................................................... 71
Three-screen use grows among affluent ...............................................................................................................................................................................................72
Brand journalism: Brand narrative ............................................................................................................................................................................................................72
5 PPC Iterations You Ignore at Your Peril ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 74
2013: The Year of the Touchscreen PC .................................................................................................................................................................................................75
Big Data vs. Better Data: Marketing Beyond Hunting & Gathering ............................................................................................................................................... 76
Stop Whining About Real-Time Marketing............................................................................................................................................................................................ 77
From achieving video virality to optimising on the customer journey: five seconds can make all the difference ............................................................ 78
Ideation outsourced to India ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 80
Repucom - Ibope invests in sports marketing in Brazil ..................................................................................................................................................................... 81
Facebook muda interface de gestão anúncios. Novas ferramentas permitirão às agências vincularem peças e campanhas a objetivos
específicos, como conversão e engajamento ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 82
10 trends in Latin America ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 82
Kantar Media Debuts TV Metrics Service ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 84
The future of shopper marketing: 10 steps to shopper centricity................................................................................................................................................. 84
The Millennial Male Is Not Who You Think He Is - Marketers should take note ........................................................................................................................ 86
Sites like AwesomenessTV driving the next industry revolution, says Brian Robbins ............................................................................................................. 88
Visa learns vital lessons from Latin America ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 88
How content marketing works ................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 90
Efficient frequency management............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 92
Point of view: The long and short of it .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 94
O Instagram é pop........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................95
Programmatic ads set to gain share ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 96
Volkswagen faz Road Show nas capitais brasileiras e deve realizar 4 mil test drives ........................................................................................................... 96
Fanscape’s Facebook Promotions Guide............................................................................................................................................................................................... 97
Under the influence: Consumers trust in advertising ......................................................................................................................................................................... 98
Babelfish Articles Sept 2013 - Nov 2013 21-11-13
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4. The follow-back: Understanding the two-way casual influence between Twitter nd TV Viewership.................................................................................... 99
How Twitter drives TV Engagement ....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 99
IPG's Publicom War Room ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 100
O “fenômeno” Itaú no Rock in Rio 2013 ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 100
Measurement hampers Indian OOH ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ 101
Eis um mapa do mundo ajustado pela população na internet de cada país ............................................................................................................................... 102
Recreating Brick And Mortar Online Via Real-Time Chats; My Friday Afternoon Internet Adventure ................................................................................ 102
Making the case for TV as a supporting medium.............................................................................................................................................................................. 103
WPP will become a more horizontal business if the Publicis –Omnicom merger goes through, according to WPP CEO Martin Sorrell. ................. 104
Mobile Rivals PCs for Brazil’s Internet Audience .............................................................................................................................................................................. 105
Visions of the digital future: Insights from dmexco 2013 ............................................................................................................................................................... 106
Unilever aims to combine content and ecommerce ........................................................................................................................................................................... 107
How behavioural insight can boost effectiveness ............................................................................................................................................................................. 109
Digital media use in Latin America: New trends and insights ........................................................................................................................................................... 111
Content marketing falling short ............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 112
Brandopolis Blog Introduction .................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 112
Even moderate weight gain increases heart attack risk .................................................................................................................................................................. 118
Marketers need 'systematic retooling' .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 119
80% of smartphone users prefer to read content on a desktop. Seven in ten smartphone users expect the same quality of content experience
across all devices, according to new research from Vibrant Media .............................................................................................................................................. 119
Publishers must optimise for all devices ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 120
Leading Retailers On YouTube Become More Visual ........................................................................................................................................................................ 120
It's A Fickle Thing, This RTB Stuff .......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 121
Automation Will Run Your Entire Ad Campaign ................................................................................................................................................................................... 121
Who Killed the Magazine App? 97% of Newsstand apps are now free ................................................................................................................................... 122
Platform Providers Bring Digital Ad Buying To SMB Market ......................................................................................................................................................... 124
Storytelling Tips from the Roller Derby Queen .................................................................................................................................................................................. 125
Ship Tracking Hack Makes Tankers Vanish from View ................................................................................................................................................................... 126
The Top 7 Reasons Why Mobile Ads Don't Work ............................................................................................................................................................................. 127
Real Time Marketing Is Bull...................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 127
WPP's Sorrell: 96% Of The Inventory Goes Down The Elevator At Night, The Rest Goes In A Database ....................................................................... 128
Online TV and video to 'take off'............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 129
Banking Apps & the Move into Mobile Shopping .............................................................................................................................................................................. 129
Shoppers Spend 22 Minutes in Stores; Some Leave in 5 Minutes .............................................................................................................................................. 130
The Future: What Businesses Need to Know ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 130
YouTube: Os 6 maiores erros das marcas na plataforma de vídeos ............................................................................................................................................ 131
The Circle Of Life: Innovation In The Circular Economy ................................................................................................................................................................... 132
Does the Future of Targeted Marketing Require Progressive Personalization? ...................................................................................................................... 133
Data is Great, But the Value is in the Insights ................................................................................................................................................................................... 134
How Location Data Is Being Collected, And Why It's Transforming The Mobile Industry ....................................................................................................... 135
120 Marketing Tactics for Blogs ............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 135
TV networks decline in China .................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 136
8 Shocking Content Marketing Research Findings ........................................................................................................................................................................... 137
Record e Twitter fazem parceria inédita Primeiro acordo envolvendo uma rede de TV aberta deve oficializar a troca de audiência entre meios
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 138
How Do B2B Marketers Engage on Twitter? ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 138
Babelfish Articles Sept 2013 - Nov 2013 21-11-13
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5. Radio Restoration? ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 139
6 Marketing Trends to Watch in 2013: New Research .................................................................................................................................................................... 140
These Invisible Blind Spots Can Completely Derail Your Work ...................................................................................................................................................... 141
Sorrell Discusses Impact on WPP of Publicis-Omnicom Merger ................................................................................................................................................... 142
How Big Data Will Transform Our Media Experiences (In a Good Way) -- Say Media ........................................................................................................... 143
Six Undeniable Reasons Why Listicles Have Jumped The Shark ..................................................................................................................................................144
10 old letter-writing tips that work for emails ....................................................................................................................................................................................144
8 Shocking Content Marketing Research Findings ........................................................................................................................................................................... 146
Social Media Strategies............................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 147
Unleashing cross-platform: The tip of the spear media and entertainment ............................................................................................................................... 147
Supermarkets Offer Personalized Pricing ...........................................................................................................................................................................................148
The Future Of Commercials: A Mix Of Forced Viewing And Fast-Forwarding? ......................................................................................................................... 149
OMG Unveils New Global Data Platform .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 150
The Evolution of Content In A Big-Content World............................................................................................................................................................................. 150
Netflix, YouTube Dominate Traffic; Football Strong for Video Ads ............................................................................................................................................... 151
Predictive Modeling, Analytics Becoming Focus For Ad Industry In 2014................................................................................................................................... 152
Tremor Earnings Trigger Sell-Off In Ad Tech Shares, Sector Plummets .................................................................................................................................... 152
Consumers Know Their Data Value, Demand Brand Rewards ........................................................................................................................................................ 153
Os dez sites campeões de audiência no Brasil Google Sites lidera o ranking, de acordo com ComScore ...................................................................... 154
Facebook Really IS Committed To Making Marketers Successful ............................................................................................................................................... 154
5 Questions to Consider Before Investing in Your Next CRM System ....................................................................................................................................... 155
FT´s Lionel Barber memo to staff on reshaping the newspaper for the digital age ................................................................................................................ 156
Connecting Consumers and The Offer ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 156
Take Me To Your Leader? While the traditional "influencer" model seemed plausible, it doesn't reflect how people make real-life decisions.
There is no one leader that will spread the message....................................................................................................................................................................... 157
Can 3MS Drive Unparalleled Growth In Digital Marketing? ............................................................................................................................................................ 158
Consultants muscle into digital ............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 159
Insert an inaccurate (and possible hilarious) hypothesis upon arrival? ........................................................................................................................................ 159
The tricks big brands use to lure you in............................................................................................................................................................................................... 160
Google reportedly testing technology to track real-world consumer behaviour........................................................................................................................ 161
Magazines Are Dead, or Why There's No Such Thing as a (Mere) Magazine Company Anymore ....................................................................................... 161
Digital subs stop the rot for Fairfax, The Tele takes a hit.............................................................................................................................................................. 163
The New Mobile Advertising Ecosystem Explained........................................................................................................................................................................... 163
Insights Are For Brands, Data Is For Direct Response: The IMP Is Born .................................................................................................................................... 164
India 'most open' among BRICS .............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 165
Pivotal Research - Memo to Owen ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ 165
How Online Engagement Can Inspire Offline Action (Research Findings).................................................................................................................................... 166
Facebook Changes Age Of Consent, Lets Teens Post Publicly .................................................................................................................................................... 167
Find the right social data .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 167
Burberry: its flagship store in London combines the brand's physical and digital achievements ......................................................................................... 169
The power of music ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 170
The future of shopper marketing: The future is Omni channel ...................................................................................................................................................... 172
Connect with the Mobile Shopsumer .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 174
Publicis Groupe Rebrands Production Ops 'Prodigious' ................................................................................................................................................................... 177
How I Hire: Three Questions, No Resumes .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 177
Nielsen Consents, Agrees To Divest PPM's Cross-Platform Measurement Tech ................................................................................................................... 178
Babelfish Articles Sept 2013 - Nov 2013 21-11-13
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6. Native Video: The Industry’s New Darling Devil ................................................................................................................................................................................. 178
Gaining Better Insights Through Segmentation.................................................................................................................................................................................. 179
YouTube to Add Offline Viewing to Mobile Apps ............................................................................................................................................................................... 181
Counting Offline Conversions from Online Advertising, Made Easy ............................................................................................................................................. 181
Marriage advice from divorced people ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 182
Tesco builds for digital future ................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 183
17 Things You Should Never Say to Your Boss ................................................................................................................................................................................. 183
Define It - What Is Programmatic Buying? .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 185
Define It - What Is Programmatic Selling?...........................................................................................................................................................................................186
7 Deadly Sins Of Digital Media............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 187
Man vs. machine, the advent of electronic buying and the death of the media buyer ............................................................................................................188
Is A DMP Right For You? Don't Be Fooled...........................................................................................................................................................................................189
Xaxis Axes DSP, Calls Trading Platforms 'Commoditized' ............................................................................................................................................................. 190
Agency Trading-Desk Evolution To Accelerate ................................................................................................................................................................................... 191
VivaKi AOD Ends Reliance On Google's Ad Stack ............................................................................................................................................................................ 192
Marketing automation delivers leads .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 193
NextEntenda termos como RTB, DSP, SSP e AdNetworks ............................................................................................................................................................ 194
Making Online Video More Attractive................................................................................................................................................................................................... 194
How Does Social CRM Work for Brands? ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 195
Big Data, not Magic Data ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 196
News Corp. Unveils Global Programmatic Exchange: Says 'Third Parties No Longer Invited To The Party' ..................................................................... 199
Today’s Burning Question: Reaction To News Corp’s Ad Exchange Launch ............................................................................................................................. 200
Is Channel Attribution Like A Snipe Hunt? .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 201
Global Ad Buys Might Finally Become a Reality ................................................................................................................................................................................ 202
Google Brings Skippable In-Stream Video Ads to Online Games ................................................................................................................................................ 203
Google, Facebook, Apple e Netflix terão de pagar mais caro para operar no Brasil.............................................................................................................. 204
Interpublic Names Adap.tv Preferred Video Provider, Will Adapt Into Television Soon......................................................................................................... 204
Study: iPhones, iPads Have Distinct Usage, Users .......................................................................................................................................................................... 205
The future of PR and RTB ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 206
A Look at How Agency Compensation Has ChangedShops are getting squeezed ................................................................................................................ 209
Media buyers hail EMMA sectional data ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 209
How to Get From Analytics to Insight - Tom Cunniff ....................................................................................................................................................................... 210
Reaching Consumer Targets With Effective Marketing Strategies ............................................................................................................................................... 211
The Road From Liquidation To Liquidity................................................................................................................................................................................................ 212
Snacking Your Content ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 213
Exchanges Now A 5% Solution On Madison Avenue, Supplanting Ad Nets .............................................................................................................................. 214
Big Ad Tech: Channels, Publishers, Partners, Or Competitive Threat? ....................................................................................................................................... 214
Wealthiest, Most Educated Are Most Turned Off By Continued Retargeting ........................................................................................................................... 215
The Top 4 Tips for Dealing with Marketing Complexity .................................................................................................................................................................. 216
Banner Ads On Internet-Connected TVs Might Actually Work ...................................................................................................................................................... 217
Why Brazilians Oddly Blame The Globo Media Empire For The Country's Misfortunes ......................................................................................................... 217
Hulu, ABC Testing Programmatic Video Ad Selling (Updated) GroupM's Xaxis rolls out TV-style buying offering ........................................................ 219
GroupM Trading Desk Unveils Programmatic TV Audience Buying, Claims Xaxis TV First To 'Sync' Digital Campaigns With TV Ads .................... 219
EU Programmatic Online Video Market To Grow 77% A Year Through 2017, Account For One-Third Of Ad Revenue............................................... 220
Mindshare Appoints Ivins Chief Data Officer ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 221
Babelfish Articles Sept 2013 - Nov 2013 21-11-13
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7. 18 Top Sites For Trend Spotting ............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 221
Ranking das agências brasileiras nas redes sociais ........................................................................................................................................................................ 222
This Article Was Generated By A Machine ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 223
Online Video Advertising: Tips For More Effective Targeting & Measurement ........................................................................................................................ 226
Finally, The Decoupling of Content and Distribution ........................................................................................................................................................................ 228
Geração Y não acredita em publicidade.............................................................................................................................................................................................. 228
How a Digital Veteran Plans to Lead GfK MRI Into The 21st Century......................................................................................................................................... 229
Tracking the Multiscreen Shopper........................................................................................................................................................................................................ 230
More Effective Data Solutions: Bridging CRM and Digital Marketing ......................................................................................................................................... 230
It's Complicated: Cross-Platform Behaviors Emerge ........................................................................................................................................................................ 231
3 Things Auto Brands Need To Know About Social Media Marketing ....................................................................................................................................... 232
Mobile Banking along the Path to Purchase....................................................................................................................................................................................... 233
Digital drives Brazil's luxury brands ..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 233
Native advertising evolves ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 234
Did You Miss the YouTube Creator Playbook, Too? ....................................................................................................................................................................... 234
Google To Build Online Education Platform With MIT, Harvard..................................................................................................................................................... 235
More Effective Data Solutions: Bridging CRM and Digital Marketing ......................................................................................................................................... 235
How Does Social CRM Work for Brands? .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 237
Google, Facebook, Apple e Netflix terão de pagar mais caro para operar no Brasil.............................................................................................................. 238
Interpublic Names Adap.tv Preferred Video Provider, Will Adapt Into Television Soon......................................................................................................... 239
Study: iPhones, iPads Have Distinct Usage, Users .......................................................................................................................................................................... 240
A Look at How Agency Compensation Has Changed Shops are getting squeezed ............................................................................................................... 240
Reaching Consumer Targets With Effective Marketing Strategies .............................................................................................................................................. 241
Retargeting Growing Pains ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 242
Don't Hide Behind a Chief Digital Officer: As CMO, It's not Enough to Just 'Get Digital' ..................................................................................................... 242
What Digital Agency Clients, Staff and Leaders Say in Private. These Shops Market Themselves as Hip, but They're Actually Pretty Old-School
........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 243
Are Advertisers Spending Too Much On Online Video? The Data Says Web Video Viewership Is Still Very Low........................................................244
Grant: WiFi is the New Cookie ............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 245
Tecnologia desafia agências .................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 246
Analytics Gone Wild .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 247
Brazilian government plans national 'anti-snooping' email system ..............................................................................................................................................248
Google Glass consegue patente para medir quando e quanto os usuários olham propagandas ........................................................................................ 249
TV Dying? More Alive Than Ever. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 250
Why Cable Networks Will Keep Paying Through the Nose for Broadcast Reruns................................................................................................................... 250
Babelfish Articles Sept 2013 - Nov 2013 21-11-13
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8. Changing Lanes: Solving the Decade-Old Problem
of Cross-Channel Ad Attribution
May 16th, 2013 - 12:05 am By AdExchanger
―Data Driven Thinking‖ is written by members of the media community and contains fresh ideas on the digital
revolution in media.
Today‘s column is written by Kim Reed Perell, CEO of Adconion Direct.
Recent debate surrounding deficiencies in today‘s media attribution models is a positive indication that the industry is
finally ready to move forward from its antiquated, decades-old measurement system. In theory and in concept, most
agree that our rapidly changing media landscape demands a more dynamic, comprehensive value system. Yet we are
still too far from a ―perfect world‖ to realistically apply fractional attribution models across all types of media.
Ad attribution is not a new concept; for years, industry leaders have analyzed exactly what it means and how the
concept can reach its potential. But now that the industry is ready to take this discussion to the next level, I‘d like to
address the real roadblocks preventing us from switching to a new system, discuss why these inefficiencies still exist
in 2013, and propose a realistic solution to start improving them.
For most companies and digital marketers today, fractional attribution across multiple touch points and channels – or
the idea of distinguishing the impact that each touch point plays in the success of an advertising campaign – is simply
an academic dream. In reality, advertisers are still struggling to even recognize view-based attribution credit, which six
years ago became the next advancement above last-click attribution.
This lack of progress is not advertisers‘ fault; on the contrary, the reluctance to adopt a new attribution model easy to
understand.
Common sense tells us that any media touch point has influence, good or bad, on a potential consumer and their
purchase decision. However, in the absence of clear impact – a way of determining exactly how much influence each
touch point has toward a purchase – it‘s easier for brands to ignore that influence, in terms of attribution, and stick with
the status quo of a last-view or last-click model.
Advertisers still have every right to be skeptical. If the industry can‘t convince them to attribute value toward a single
banner in a single channel, from consumers viewing or clicking that one particular ad, convincing them to buy into
fractional attribution across all touch points will be very challenging.
But this is where we sit today. We know intuitively as marketers that multiple media touch points should all be
connected and attributed to the performance of an ad. But nobody has put together a compelling enough case to
convince advertisers or their agencies, at least in any significant scale, of the right model. The industry has yet to
make fractional attribution the default; last-click attribution continues to hold that title.
There are two primary hurdles to convincing executives, decision makers and brands of the need, value, and potential
of fractional attribution: 1) the need to centralize disparate distribution channels and media buying onto a unified
platform; and 2) a way to effectively track and report the impact all touch points have on a campaign using common
industry metrics.
Recently, Harvard Business Review published a thought-provoking article titled ―Advertising 2.0.‖ In it, the authors
describe current digital marketing efforts as occurring in ―swim lanes,‖ with media across different platforms running
parallel to each other but never crossing over into neighboring lanes. Yet in today‘s market, this ―swim lanes‖
metaphor exists not because media buyers are working right next to each other without communicating or strategizing
– or even because the technology isn‘t there to merge them together scientifically – but because the efforts aren‘t
even happening in the same pool.
Many advertisers still work with specialists or platform-specific providers, a hangover from 2010 and LUMAscapes of
old. The result: the piecemeal aggregation of distributed media, execution partners, ad technology systems, agencies,
and media channels – on which most advertisers rely for a comprehensive media plan – restricts even the most
forward-thinking agencies. How are we to expect media planners to swim in the same pool, much less in parallel
lanes, when media is still segregated and disjointed with respect to display, mobile, social media, video, and email?
Ruling out and ignoring the immeasurable touch points (beyond the digital landscape, what about the impact of offline
branding like billboards?) is incomplete at best. I think most of us know it. The challenge is getting us collectively past
this way of thinking, because today we‘re far from where we can be as industry. Different media-buying partners
across different platforms, using different reporting and tracking systems, equate to a challenging if not impossible
cross-channel dream.
However, unifying digital spending is a way for most advertisers to begin aligning their attribution capabilities. Simply
put, if your media campaigns aren‘t served, managed and distributed from a single platform for a single user, you can‘t
know the impact of one touch point to another for any given user and therefore can‘t make meaningful attribution
models.
What are some other realities and solutions? More importantly, what are meaningful solutions that advertisers can use
today?
First, companies should be weaning off the last-click model within a single channel, a channel where spend and ad
serving is unified to begin with. Next, companies should take small steps toward full-funnel attribution even within that
single channel. Start with a smaller marketing effort or campaign that doesn‘t have to disrupt the current business
model. What were all the possible touch points that simply led a new user to land on your site in the first place? Look
at these new users and how they use direct navigation, in addition to what they click, and start to create attributes
Babelfish Articles Sept 2013 - Nov 2013 21-11-13
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9. around them. This is one example of how to gain transparency into user-action impact to prove that viewing an ad has
an effect. This will lay the groundwork for larger view-based attribution, which will then pave the way for fractional- and
then cross-channel-based credit.
Is my suggestion a perfect solution for advertisers still buying media and analyzing impressions the old way? No, but
it‘s a viable start. Are there other variables that aren‘t being accounted for? Yes, of course. But this approach would
lay the groundwork for demonstrating that a last click isn‘t the only media result that drives action, and it would begin
to wean us all off our decade-long crutch. These small changes will start proving that some media creates and drives
real impact, while some doesn‘t. And, as they do, these changes will provide the initial shove to move us out of our
collective pools and into a broader media ocean, where we can effectively confront the tides pushing us away from
true media efficiency.
Follow Adconion Direct (@Adconion_Direct) and AdExchanger (@adexchanger) on Twitter.
Cross-Platforms, Crossing Goals for TV and
Online Video
This week, Nielsen published its "Cross-Platform" report for 2Q13. Traditional TV continues to hold up well - and
dominate - among all audience groups vs. other forms of video, as it remains the broadest reaching medium with the
greatest amount of inventory tonnage. As has long been the case, the data included in Nielsen's report highlights the
nature of traditional TV as the medium best able to satisfy reach and frequency-based media goals against broad
populations. It bears repeating that the marketers who tend to rely on TV also tend to be marketers who need to reach
broad population groups.
The data indicates, among other considerations, that:
•
Total time consumers spent viewing "traditional" (i.e. live-only) TV was flat year-over-year, per person
•
Viewing of TV by kids 2-11 was also flat per-person during 2Q13 (although down in aggregate year-over-year
largely because of Nielsen's reduced population estimates)
•
Online video viewing reported by Nielsen equated to 2.3% of total TV viewing among the whole population,
although unmeasured tablet and connected viewing should add to this amount.
•
Traditional TV remains relatively broadly popular, while online video and internet use in general remains
concentrated among relatively smaller groups of the population. To point, even the quintile of people who are the
lightest users of traditional TV consume 8x as much TV as online video; but the 20% of the population who are the
heaviest users of online video account for 94% of all online video viewing.
While there will be certain marketers who assess video-based media owners with indifference towards the devices on
which their content appears, they need to get comfortable with the means by which they measure their audiences
(potentially involving "franken-metrics" of merged data sets from comScore and Nielsen, or including prospectively
duplicative audiences as measured by Nielsen's OCR paired with its traditional TV-based panel). They also need to
get comfortable with workflows which may be costlier (buying traditional TV costs less per impression than does
buying online video). Put together, the data illustrates why traditional TV will continue to dominate ad budget
allocations from large brands.
This is important to note as web-based media owners such as Google, Facebook and others attempt to capture
traditional TV budgets. We continue to view the primary market for these media owners as the general online display
marketplace: online video has become the "new" premium display, in many ways, helping to satisfy the same
"engagement"-based goals that other online advertising generally helps large marketers to satisfy.
But it is not as if this means that traditional TV is necessarily robust in all areas, even as it remains dominant in
absolute terms for the largest brands. The forecast we published for growth in national TV media owner ad revenues
called for 4.4% growth during calendar year 2014 (although up from our expectation of 3.1% for 2013) with cable
growing 5.5% during 2013 and 6.7% during 2014, much better than our -0.8% forecast for network TV during 2013
and +0.4% during 2014. In support of these estimates, we have heard repeatedly from buyers that growth in volumes
during the Upfront was down by more than mid-single digits for the largest networks, but flat if including football, which
has become increasingly important to the health of TV. But it is worth noting that any expectations for double digit
growth in scatter pricing during the upcoming broadcast season remains more of a consequence of these volume
changes rather than the driver of volume changes.
Meanwhile, media owners with online video properties still have a significant opportunity for growth as they continue to
gain share inside the broader online display ecosystem. Our view is that nationally-oriented digital media (primarily a
sub-set of total online advertising, which excludes local digital media and direct digital media) should grow by 19.2%
this year to total $13bn in ad revenue, with online video accounting for a third of that total, or $3bn in ad revenue. In
total, we expect the total market for online video advertising should grow by 32% this year and 26% next year. Given
broadly comparable media objectives (i.e. "engagement"-based goals), workflows, and similar groups of buyers and
sellers, our view is that online video advertising should primarily grow as advertisers shift their digital display budgets
to online video. Certainly some of the gains from online video will occur as traditional TV sellers bundle their online
properties with traditional inventory to help satisfy traditional TV buying goals, but overall we expect that growth in
online video retains the capacity to grow independently of its share of video audiences.
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10. YouTube's $&@%'n Biden Moment
Brian Wieser
back in March, 2010 when the Affordable Care Act was set to become law (and not just the beginning of an
unsuccessful IT project), Vice President Joe Biden uttered specific words to President Obama regarding just how big a
deal it was. Epochal changes warrant amplified language to appropriately characterize the scale of those changes,
and Biden's words, profane as they may have been, were in some ways appropriate. We can only imagine if the Vice
President were employed by YouTube or Nielsen he may have said the same thing when news broke regarding
YouTube allowing tags from Nielsen's Online Campaign Ratings (OCR) service.
OCR is important to this sector because it provides nationally-oriented or global advertisers with metrics that are
generally comparable (if not perfectly matched) with those used to buy traditional national TV advertising from
broadcast networks, cable networks and syndicators. Nielsen remains the unquestioned standard for audience
measurement in this field with its National TV Ratings (NTR) panel, used for measuring TV ratings and commercial
viewing. OCR provides GRPs, reach and frequency for consumers' online media consumption against demographic
target groups which are categorized in a manner which is generally comparable to those used in the television sphere.
Until last week, one of the key factors limiting the acceptance (or at least commercial scale) of OCR has been that one
of the largest sources of online video inventory - Google's YouTube - refused to accept OCR tags with ads,
significantly limiting the efforts of advertisers who wanted to work towards holistic measurement of video across the
web using Nielsen's products.
Whether because Google did not wish to empower a third party as big as Nielsen via its platform, or because they did
not want to risk providing data around its video properties to Nielsen's partner and underlying source of OCR data,
Facebook, or because Google wanted time to develop its own measurement service, there were clear consequences
for a broad range of industry participants that followed from their position.
For starters, comScore held an advantage over Nielsen as tags associated with their competing measurement service
vCE (Validated Campaign Essentials) were allowed on YouTube. Beyond pricing or other deal terms, many large
agencies and advertisers chose to use vCE because it worked on YouTube and also because vCE could better
capture viewing activity across a broader array of video-based digital media as a result. We believe that at the
individual media agency level Google left as much as tens of millions of dollars in annual media budgets were "on the
table" with their previous position. This collectively might mean hundreds of millions of dollars that could have gone to
Google's YouTube haven't been making their way to date. Advertisers who embraced OCR were effectively indicating
they only wanted to buy properties which could eventually support consistent measurement across screens (meaning
a service that would be consistent with Nielsen's NTR television ratings panel) and those advertisers may have been
selective in spending money with YouTube over the past few years.
So the news that Google will in fact allow OCR beginning in the first quarter of next year will probably accelerate
YouTube's growth. We estimate YouTube generated perhaps 40% of the $3bn in online video ad revenue we think the
industry will account for this year, not including the display revenue it generates. It will also help Nielsen improve the
value of OCR and weaken one of comScore's primary advantages. It might also cause a shift of budgets away from
video ad networks including Tremor Video, YuMe and properties owned by AOL, as these sources of online video
inventory were likely among the beneficiaries of money that Google essentially turned away. Of course, there are still
many reasons for advertisers who are customers of Tremor, YuMe and AOL to continue buying the products these
companies offer, whether because of good prices, good sales efforts or unique product attributes. By evolving their
products, they may also be able to expand the total market faster than might otherwise be the case. And other
measurement services and approaches will also likely live on. For example, comScore's more robust mobile
measurement capabilities and integrated digital measurement will continue to be an advantage for them in their sales
efforts for many advertisers; many publishers will also find advantage in providing supplementary metrics from other
third parties which run parallel to Nielsen's, but which allow for more depth in a particular field of measurement.
However, the competitive intensity each of these companies now face is likely amplified as the potential of Nielsen
and Google is more fully realized.
OCR on YouTube is a big deal for online video at a strategic level because it removes a pretty significant barrier
(albeit not the only one) preventing the flow of most traditional TV budgets onto different platforms where inventory is
not associated with a traditional TV network. It is notable that while a "gate" has been opened, it's unlikely to be a
floodgate for some time. OCR is unlikely to mean that budgets will flow directly from television onto the web at this
time in any meaningful way, except if those budgets were already moving, as is the case when they are assigned to
traditional TV inventory with online extensions. Thus, for now our expectation remains that YouTube will in the nearterm benefit primarily from budgets which most directly flow from other suppliers of online video inventory and
indirectly from other digital media budgets.
It's worth reviewing why we think this will be the case.
First, traditional TV budgets are generally allocated in order to optimize against cost and reach and frequency-based
metrics for a given volume of desired gross ratings points (GRPs), with an intention of driving awareness of a brand's
attributes, distinctions from another brand or some other characteristic, if there is even an intended marketing goal to
begin with. Further, a brand will generally place a higher value on reaching an individual at least once rather than
reaching the same people multiple times and leaving some individuals un-exposed. Thus reach is generally the more
important (or at least scarcer, and thus more valuable) attribute of TV buying. Perhaps it goes without saying, but the
self-selecting group of advertisers who dominate TV advertising (perhaps less than 200 account for around 60% of all
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11. TV and 90% of network TV) are particularly focused on these types of goals vs. other advertisers whose media goals
will differ substantially.
With this starting point, these reach/frequency-centric advertisers start their budgeting process by finding the media
which most efficiently (or which "least inefficiently") satisfies their objectives.
Because advertisers cannot cherry-pick individual impressions from traditional TV inventory, and neither can they
choose to buy only individual programs (they must buy packages of programs from individual TV networks which
include collectively guaranteed levels of GRPs over the life of a campaign), the most efficient budget allocation
process will usually involve network TV inventory, as their packages of inventory will generally have the broadest
reach vs. alternatives. This is because even in an era with lower aggregated viewing levels of network TV, virtually
everyone still watches some network TV over a multi-week period. Given this relatively unique value, networks are
well-positioned to insist that advertisers accept identical inventory that is delivered on different platforms, such as is
delivered through online video players including Hulu (although happily for the networks, most advertisers and
agencies willingly accept this convention).
Large advertisers then typically consider cable networks and nationally syndicated properties, where the primary
objective is to round out reach and frequency goals while reducing a campaign's average cost per thousand (CPM)
impressions. As with network TV, advertisers are generally willing to accept comparable online video inventory in their
packages. It is worth noting that cable networks often receive press indicating that their agreements have been made
ahead of network TV. Our view is that even under circumstances where agreements have been made with cable
ahead of network, the buyers and sellers generally know where they will come out with their network volumes and
pricing, and made their deals with cable networks accordingly.
As it stands now, we think that YouTube might be considered among third-tier cable networks for a TV buyer. Using
the broader definition of the share of the population who consumes some Google-related video, as YouTube stands
now it could rank somewhere among the top dozen-or-so networks. Our best estimate (we generally believe that
comScore data overstates online video consumption while Nielsen data likely understates it) is that in terms of
tonnage, YouTube consumption probably equates to the equivalent of 2% of total TV consumption. Despite these
advantages, YouTube falls apart because the reach of its ad-supported properties is somewhat lacking today (per
data from comScore for September 2013, that Google's video ad properties reached 36.4% of the population, it would
rank as the 33rd widest reaching cable network (using reach data from Rentrak) just after National Geographic and
before Bravo). Reach would certainly be higher among younger audiences, but then if we considered this metric
against the share of "acceptable" inventory for an advertiser to juxtapose their brand with, the reach figure would likely
be much lower. This is because most advertisers who buy traditional TV wish to avoid the proverbial cat-onskateboard content that accounts for so much of YouTube's "programming" at present.
YouTube does have some properties that satisfies large brands' content interests, and so there will certainly be some
advertisers willing to place modest "TV" budgets on YouTube because of their use of OCR. But for the most part,
Google will need to invest substantially more on content than it does presently in order to be competitive. With
programming spending in the low hundreds of millions of dollars at best, YouTube would need to multiply its budgets
many times over in order to more fully compete with what is available to advertisers on traditional TV programming.
For now, the bulk of ad budgets that go to YouTube will continue to originate as budgets managed by digital buyers
with media goals that are often different than the goals of traditional TV buying. Digital buyers tasked with a goal of
brand "engagement" against a narrow audience looking at different digital media vehicles to satisfy this engagementbased goal will undoubtedly buy YouTube more now than they would have without OCR in the mix, as metrics will be
somewhat comparable (if not fully integrated) with traditional TV-based video buying metrics. Presuming that buyer
wants a "one-stop shop" for their online video buying needs will be positioned well to go to one media owner - Google
- and potentially start the process of managing a campaign by buying YouTube before layering on additional sources
of supply from stand-alone online video ad networks or other publishers. Of course, that same advertiser may also
choose to buy video from an exchange or another source which can reach the bulk of the online population, but many
advertisers will continue to prefer to work with media owners via direct sales channels, and for those advertisers
YouTube will likely be a very efficient starting point.
But at some point it would seem likely that Google will be able to address many of the aforementioned issues which
will still constrain TV budgets for the near future. Significant content investment would not seem much of a stretch for
Google given Netflix' success with the first-run "TV" programs it has licensed. They may also find that they need to
ensure that YouTube's separates more of its "quality" content and increases the reach of that quality content to
greater number of consumers within individual countries.
All of these tactics will take several years to execute against and to make work well given the industry conventions
which are likely to stay in place. Any new system needs participants who can evolve their offering in order for the new
order to thrive, perhaps not unlike healthcare reform. But years from now, if YouTube is producing original content that
is capturing real TV budgets and competing for at least a small share of a traditional TV network's ad revenues, last
week was the one where an observer could point to, saying YouTube enabling Nielsen's OCR was a big $&@%'n
deal.
Click to read this article on the MediaPost.com website.
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/213562/youtubes-n-biden-moment.html
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12. Interpublic Strikes Deals Automating Buys With 5
Media Giants: Covers TV, Radio, Outdoor,
Display, Video, Mobile
by Joe Mandese, Aug 20, 2013, 8:14 AM
On the heels of last week‘s deal naming Adap.tv its primary automation platform for targeting and buying TV and video
inventory, Interpublic this morning unveiled a spate of similar deals to automate its transactions with five big media
suppliers traversing TV, radio, out-of-home, mobile and online video and display.
Details about how the deals would be structured and how they would work were not disclosed, but Interpublic said it
now has agreements with TV programmer A&E Networks, cable operator Cablevision, out-of-home and radio operator
Clear Channel, local broadcaster Tribune and online portal AOL, which is in the process of acquiring Adap.tv, to
supply assets ―not previously available through automated buying systems.‖
The initiative, which was developed by Interpublic‘s Mediabrands unit, is dubbed the Magna Consortium, and is part of
the agency holding company‘s mission to automate 50% of its media-buying by 2016.
Interpublic has said it is making the push for several reasons, including both greater operating efficiency for its
agencies and its clients as media-buying becomes hyper-fragmented and hyper-complex, as well as greater precision
in targeting audiences it says will result by shifting from conventional audience-buying data (ie. Nielsen ratings, GRPs,
etc.) to estimates that co-mingle so-called first- and second-party sources of data in a manner similar to the way
agency trading desks utilize DMPs -- or data management platforms -- to trade online audience buys.
―The good news is that our charter members were quick to sign on to develop a plan forward,‖ Magna Global
Worldwide CEO Tim Spengler stated, adding: ―Our goal is to ignite real change in the way media is transacted for the
industry.‖
While programmatic trading systems are growing fast in the online display marketplace (Magna estimates this is
currently about 25% of all online display advertising), the growth has come largely from the emergence of an oversupply of online inventory and auction-based media-buying models like ―RTB,‖ or real-time bidding, that many
―premium‖ suppliers are loath to embrace for fear it will ―commoditize‖ the value of their inventory.
However, some of the most premium online publishers now participate in programmatic exchanges, and many of
those deals are not necessarily auction-based, but function more like private exchanges where sellers can set pricing
―floors‖ and buyers can set ―ceilings" to ensure that both sides are in control of the process -- even if it‘s being
processed by machines faster than humans can manage such deal-making.
According to Frank Addante, CEO of Rubicon Project, one of the biggest suppliers of media-buying automation
technology, the speed of such transactions is accelerating and is now down to 30 milliseconds of processing time for
the average online buy. That‘s an improvement from 300 milliseconds a year ago, and three seconds three years ago,
all thanks to improvements in data-processing technologies.
The advances of such technologies, and the shift among advertisers and agencies to use them to improve their
efficiency, as well as the data-driven effectiveness of reaching their audiences, has sparked a gold rush among media
and advertising technology suppliers, many of whom are now going public. One of the fastest-growing and most
sophisticated of those developers -- Rocket Fuel, which utilizes artificial intelligence and robots that can assess and
bid for media value faster than any human can -- is the latest to file for an initial public offering.
In its filing late last week, Rocket Fuel noted that advertisers are flocking to its technology, and that its revenues more
than doubled last year -- and more than tripled during the first half of this one, thanks to a surge in the number of
advertisers using its platform. The filings said Rocket Fuel currently has 784 advertisers (up from 341 last year), and
that many of its existing advertisers continue to increase the volume they trade via its systems.
The greatest impediment to Interpublic‘s goal of automating 50% of all its media buys by 2016 is convincing the most
premium suppliers of media inventory -- especially the major television networks -- that they won‘t lose control, or
value, by doing so, which is why A&E Networks' direct involvement is so significant.
That said, at least a portion of all of the most premium TV suppliers inventory already is being sold through
programmatic exchanges. While it‘s not being sold directly by the national TV networks themselves, the trading desks
of at least two agency holding companies have already begun utilizing AudienceXpress, a programmatic audiencebuying exchange spun off from target TV-ad serving developer Visible World. The portion being traded by
AudienceXpress comes from the two minutes per hour that networks give to local cable TV operators as part of their
carriage agreements. While the cable operators are supposed to sell that commercial time to local or regional
advertisers, AudienceXpress effectively pools their national reach into unwired network buys.
Since it became operational in late January, AudienceXpress Founder and CEO Walt Horstman estimates the two
agency trading desks that have been beta testing it have bought 2 billion TV advertising impressions through it.
The reason why AudienceXpress has been successful where others, including Google and Microsoft, have failed,
says Horstman, is that its platform is designed to give suppliers 100% control over the floors they set for selling their
inventory, while giving buyers the ability to analyze more data that will enhance the value of buying those audiences
from their perspective.
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13. As with online publishing, the supply of unsold TV inventory also continues to expand due to the emergence of socalled ―long-tail‖ networks that are not yet rated by Nielsen, as well as a torrent of free video-on-demand audience
impressions.
7 comments on "Interpublic Strikes Deals Automating Buys With 5 Media Giants: Covers TV, Radio, Outdoor, Display,
Video, Mobile".
1.
Darrin Stephens from McMann & Tate
commented on: August 20, 2013 at 10:12 a.m.
Hey, Interpublic clients, hope you like your ads running in crap!
2.
Bobby Campbell from Adkarma
commented on: August 20, 2013 at 11:11 a.m.
Its a good idea but will technology outpace this with everything becoming connected and the changing viewing habits
of people especially the Millennial gen...
3.
Larry steven Londre from Londre Marketing Consultants, LLC and USC
commented on: August 20, 2013 at 4:22 p.m.
Get real. Use better, more relatable figures. Really...AudienceXpress founder and CEO Horstman estimates
....(during) beta testing it … bought two billion TV advertising impressions through it.
4.
Corey Kronengold from CKPR
commented on: August 20, 2013 at 4:43 p.m.
Don't Interpublic clients want more than the 2 minutes of spot/local available in the system? gonna be hard to get to
50% of their media buying if only 2 mins per hour of TV are available to automate. Still a solid deal, though.
5.
Joe Mandese from MediaPost
commented on: August 20, 2013 at 5:09 p.m.
@Larry Steven Londre: What kind of figures would you relate to? @Corey Kronengold: I think their plan is to get more
than that.
6.
Michael Lynn from Storandt Pann Margolis
commented on: August 20, 2013 at 6:22 p.m.
Somebody has to be first. And being a pioneer can either get you killed or put you so far ahead of the competition they
never catch up. Hopefully it's the latter for them. I wish them the best.
7.
David Smith from Mediasmith
commented on: August 20, 2013 at 7:36 p.m.
It will be interesting to see what is disclosed of margins for this technology or whether it just becomes a whole agency
(at least 50%) involving arbitrage...
Read more: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/207108/interpublic-strikes-deals-automating-buys-with-5m.html?edition=63638#ixzz2ejwgG8VM
11 simple, science-backed ways to boost happiness
BELLE BETH COOPERnews.com.auAugust 24, 2013 2:27PM
Happiness is a science. Picture: Thinkstock.
EVERYONE has different ideas about happiness, what it is and how to get it.
I'd love to be happier, as I'm sure most people would, so I've found 11 ways to achieve this that are actually backed by
science.
1. EXERCISE FOR 7 MINUTES
You might have seen some talk recently about the scientific 7 minute workout mentioned in The New York Times . So
if you thought exercise was something you didn't have time for, think again.
In a study cited in Shawn Achor's book The Happiness Advantage three groups of patients treated their depression
with either medication, exercise or a combination of both.
While all three groups experienced similar improvements in their happiness levels to begin with, the results after six
months were radically different.
38 per cent of those who had taken medication alone had slipped back into depression. Those in the combination
group were doing only slightly better, with 31 per cent relapsing. Only 9 per cent of the exercise group relapsed.
A study in the Journal of Health Psychology found that people who exercised felt better about their bodies, even when
they saw no physical changes.
2. SLEEP MORE TO AVOID NEGATIVE EMOTIONS
We know that sleep helps our body recover and repair, helping us focus and be more productive. But it's also
important for our happiness.
An article in NutureShock explains how sleep affects our positivity. Negative stimuli get processed by the amygdala;
positive or neutral memories gets processed by the hippocampus. Sleep deprivation hits the hippocampus harder than
the amygdala. The result is that sleep-deprived people fail to recall pleasant memories, yet recall gloomy memories
just fine.
A study in The BPS Research Digest proves sleep affects our sensitivity to negative emotions.
Commutes are even worse when you have to stand the whole way. Picture: Thinkstock.
3. MOVE CLOSE TO WORK - IT'S WORTH IT
Most of us commute to work five days a week so it's unsurprising that it would take a toll.
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14. According to The Art of Manliness, a long commute affects us dramatically.
"People never get accustomed to their daily slog to work because sometimes the traffic is awful and sometimes it's
not."
Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert says "driving in traffic is a different kind of hell every day".
We tend to try to compensate for this by having a bigger house or a better job, but two Swiss economists who studied
the effect of commuting on happiness found that such factors could not offset the misery created by a long commute.
4. SPEND TIME WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY - OR REGRET IT
Staying in touch with friends and family is one of the top five regrets of the dying.
Social time is so valuable, even for introverts.
"We are happy when we have family, we are happy when we have friends and almost all the other things we think
make us happy are actually just ways of getting more family and friends," says Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert.
George Vaillant, the director of a 72-year study of the lives of 268 men, says he's learnt that the "only thing that really
matters in life are your relationships to other people".
He told The Atlantic the men's relationships, at age 47, predicted late-life adjustment better than any other variable,
except defences.
Good sibling relationships seem especially powerful: 93 per cent of the men who were thriving at age 65 had been
close to a brother or sister when younger.
A study published in the Journal of Socio-Economics found that our relationships are worth more than $100,000.
Actual changes in income, on the other hand, buy very little happiness.
The Terman study, which is covered in The Longevity Project, found that relationships and how we help others were
important factors in living long, happy lives.
Those who helped their friends and neighbours, advising and caring for others, tended to live to old age.
If only family time was always so idyllic. Picture: Thinkstock
5. GO OUTSIDE - HAPPINESS IS MAXIMISED AT 13.9°C
In The Happiness Advantage, Shawn Achor says time outdoors improves happiness.
A study found that spending 20 minutes outside in good weather not only boosted positive mood, but broadened
thinking and improved working memory.
A UK study found that being outdoors, near the sea, on a warm, sunny afternoon was the perfect spot for most. In
fact, participants were found to be substantially happier outdoors in all natural environments than they were in urban
environments.
The American Meteorological Society published research in 2011 that found current temperature has a bigger effect
on our happiness than variables like wind speed and humidity, or even the average temperature over the course of a
day.
It also found that happiness is maximised at 13.9°C, so keep an eye on the weather forecast before heading outside
for your 20 minutes of fresh air.
6. SPLASH CASH, BUT NOT ON STUFF
Spending also makes a difference, but not in the way you might expect.
Research into the spending habits of more than 150 people found that money spent on activities - such as concerts
and dining out - brought far more pleasure than material purchases.
Spending money on others, called "prosocial spending", also boosts happiness.
Research by the The Journal of Happiness Studies also found participants who bought something for someone else
reported feeling significantly happier immediately after this recollection. The happier participants felt, the more likely
they were to choose to spend a windfall on someone else in the near future.
Being generous with our time has a similar effect.
A study of volunteering in Germany explored how volunteers were affected when their opportunities to help others
were taken away and found that volunteering creates higher life satisfaction.
In his book Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being University of Pennsylvania
professor Martin Seligman explains that helping others can improve our own lives.
"We scientists have found that doing a kindness produces the single most reliable momentary increase in well-being
of any exercise we have tested," he said.
In fact, 100 hours per year (or two hours per week) is the optimal time we should dedicate to helping others in order to
enrich our lives.
Is this smile big enough? Picture: Thinkstock.
7. PRACTICE SMILING - IT CAN ALLEVIATE PAIN
Smiling itself can make us feel better, but it's more effective when we back it up with positive thoughts.
A new study led by a Michigan State University business scholar suggests customer-service workers who fake smile
throughout the day worsen their mood and withdraw from work, affecting productivity. But workers who smile as a
result of cultivating positive thoughts - such as a tropical vacation or their child's ballet performance - improve their
mood and withdraw less.
Smiling makes us feel good which also increases our attentional flexibility and our ability to think holistically.
A smile is also a good way to alleviate some of the pain we feel in troubling circumstances.
8. PLAN A TRIP - BUT DON'T TAKE ONE
As opposed to actually taking a holiday, it seems that planning a vacation or just a break from work can improve our
happiness.
A study in Applied Research in Quality of Life showed that the highest spike in happiness came during the planning
stage of a vacation as employees enjoyed the sense of anticipation:
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