Chinese Digital Spend Soars

A number of recent reports strongly indicate that digital adspend in China will overtake both newspaper and outdoor advertising by the end of this year. Furthermore the gap is set to widen during 2009, according to GroupM. The media group’s ‘This year, next year’ forecast predicts that the combined spend for internet and other digital advertising (principally mobile and LCD screens) will reach $3.6 billion this year, and $5.2 billion in 2009. In contrast newspaper adspend is projected to show steady, if modest, growth from US$3.2 billion in 2007 to $3.6 billion in 2009.

The shift that we are seeing here is due to a decline in tv's share of total media. While tv remains the dominant medium in terms of actual advertising dollars (projected to rake in almost US$20 billion in 2008 and $23 billion in 2009), its share of total media is set to decline, from 65 per cent in 2007, to 63 per cent in 2008 and 61 per cent in 2009.

Source: www.brandrepublic.asia

Software as a Service

I recently did a Web 3.0 presentation in work, and I thought it would be fitting to feed back some of my learnings here. So today I'm going to quickly talk about Software as a Service (SaaS). As technological development and penetration increases, both through hardware, software and transmission channel, there will be an inevitable shift to 3.0, or Semantic, utilisation of the internet.

Software as a service (SaaS) first appeared in mid 2000 in reference to a new business model that saw software applications being accessed over the Internet, as opposed to being purchased and run locally. This is perhaps most obvious with Digital advertising software such as metric analysis and adserving. With SaaS, a business pays a usage fee to access software over the Internet, with no installation, no upgrade costs and no maintenance or troubleshooting. The advantage is that all users are always using the same, most up to date, version of software and as their initial expense is limited to a months licence fee, it is possible for businesses to access the latest business applications more easily.

According to Wikipedia, “many types of software are well suited to the SaaS model, where customers may have little interest or capability in software deployment, but do have substantial computing needs”. SaaS has gained a foothold in applications like CRM, HR, accounting and email. It is also ideally suited to digital advertising analysis.

Ralph Lauren introduces Digital Window

So what do you do when you're out for the night and you happened to spot something in a shop window that you just have to have? Usually you tell yourself you'l come back and pick it up, but realistically that's never goinjg to happen. Obviously aware of this, the people over at Ralph Lauren have taken Window-shopping to an entirely new level: the digital one.

Shoppers now have the ability to buy that item immediately - thanks to RL's new interactive window display in their New York store. All you need to do is download a QR code to your phone (check if your phone is compatible here: m.ralphlauren.com). Once you have the code and are at the store you can use it to scan any of the QR codes on the RL store touchscreen. Your phone will then be redirected you to the same item on their website and you can buy it immediately.

So if you're ever passing by and the store is closed or if you just don't want to go into the shop, there's nothing stopping you spending to your hearts content. To further this, QR codes are to be implemented in all RL stores and print ads as well.

Friday Funny

It's a bit old, I'll admit, but it's great stuff none-the-less. Check out this great American Express ad:

Esquire & eInk - 3 Minute AdAge Report

I posted an update recently on the unvieling of the Esquire 75th Anniversary front cover, which features an eInk display. The edition has now hit news stands and it is even better then previously imagined. Check out this AdAge 3 Minute report: