When Evan Krauss joined Shazam in November 2010, the London-based company was known for its music-recognition mobile app. Now Shazam is positioning itself as a “media discovery company,” building partnerships with television brands and advertisers. Last month, for instance, it signed an exclusive U.K. deal with the broadcaster ITV. With 200 million users in 200 countries. Shazam has a big advantage in the race to link TV with the second screen (laptops, mobile phones, tablets).
We talked to Krauss while researching our May trend report, “10 Ways Marketers Are Using the Second Screen.” He talked about what the company is learning from its foray into television and what to expect next.
How did Shazam evolve from a music recognition tool to become part of the second-screen TV experience?
The company’s older than most people think—it’s 11 years old. Before the whole smartphone craze, Shazam was a short code or a phone number you would dial. The phone would listen and hang up, and it would send you back a text message. When the App Store started, [Shazam] was actually marketed by Apple because they thought it was a great representation of how cool these new phones are.
One of the early parts of the vision of the company was to be discovery, music being the most fundamental perceived broadest need. But the founders had a vision that the mobile device is always with us; there’s lots of things that it can help us discover. As we became more and more successful, the company started thinking, How do you take this huge user base, and what do we do with it?
We did some research and found out a huge percentage of the Shazam activity around music is not what we call “name that tune.” It’s around what people already know, but they almost want to “bookmark” it out of the air because they want to buy it later or look at videos or check out the lyrics. So we were we were learning this and asking the question around TV at the same time, and it became clear, if people use us to explore stuff they already know, it does seem to make sense that TV would work. We’ve done now 30 different TV programs and tests with pretty much all the major networks and most of the major cable folks.
-The AP examines the “outsize role” Twitter is expected to play in this year’s U.S. presidential election.
-The Economist looks at why Google may be the “single biggest private-sector influence on Africa.”
-In a book excerpt, author Daniel Gross examines the idea that “Americans are getting used to the idea of renting the good life,” focusing on the country’s shift “from a nation of owners to an economy permanently on the move.”
-China’s super-rich expect premium pampering from the brands wooing them, report The Economist.
-The New York Times looks at the various competing paths to a mobile wallet that are getting implemented.
-USA Today reports that many new grads are adopting online registries as a way of ensuring they’ll receive gifts they like.
-The Wall Street Journaltakes a look at new cinema technologies aimed at motivating moviegoers to leave the comfort of their home screens.
-The New York Times spotlights nine startups with the potential to be the next big thing, from Airtime to Uber.
Social media now permeates our lives—even our most intimate moments—and it seems that even those who embrace it the most (Millennials) may feel worse for it. JWT Singapore surveyed 900 consumers aged 19 to 26 in China, Singapore and the U.S. to understand their attitudes toward social media, finding that more than half feel that keeping up with their social media commitments is too time consuming and stressful. This results in a fear of missing out (FOMO)—for example, 72 percent of working Singaporeans feel left out in the real world if they don’t check social media, according to the findings.
Perhaps in an attempt to deal with FOMO, some young adults bring their social networks into previously intimate moments with a partner or date. More than 1 in 10, for instance, log on while in bed with their partner. The effect, however, may simply be more stress. More than half feel jealous or otherwise bad after glimpsing other people’s lives on social sites.
To address social media stress, brands can help ease, aid or even induce FOMO to drive engagement. For Kit Kat, JWT Singapore created a Social Break desktop widget that helps people “tune out from the stress of social networking whenever you feel you need a break,” automatically sharing, retweeting or liking whenever a user is tagged in a post. For more on FOMO and how brands can address it, download our March trend report here.
In our recent report “Gen Z: Digital in Their DNA,” we explore how the fledgling generation following the Millennials are communicating, socializing and shopping online. As part of our ongoing research into this cohort, we spoke to Christian Kurz, vice president of research, insights & reporting at Viacom International Media Networks, the media conglomerate whose portfolio includes brands like Nickelodeon and Comedy Central. Among other things, we discussed how connectivity is shaping the values of today’s kids and young adults, how parents feel about their use of technology and how these young consumers are influencing household purchasing decisions.
Would you agree that Gen Z is the most connected generation yet?
[Gen Z is] the most connected generation, and I think particularly for this group, they’re growing up or they’re born into an environment where the digital technology is just so much more prevalent than it ever has been.
What role is mobile playing for them?
With this generation we’re finally going to see the U.S. catch up with the rest of the world [in terms of mobile penetration]. And we are seeing more and more ownership of mobile phones among younger and younger populations within the U.S. and Canada.
A little anecdote that we found in focus groups with very young kids is that some of them were preferring an iPod Touch to an iPad. Simply because the screen was smaller and their hands were still so small that an iPad was just too big for them. So small screens are particularly useful for younger kids, and then you see in nations or cities where you have a lot of driving, this “hand back the phone” effect, so the parent is giving their own phone to the child in the back seat.
The “second screen” (smartphones, tablets, PCs) and the ways in which it can complement the first screen (TV) have become hot topics over the past year, though the concept isn’t new: Nielsen was reporting on Internet/TV multitasking four years ago, and one of our 10 Trends for 2009 was the idea of Distraction as Entertainment. But today the spike in connected screens, and services that link them with the big screen, is creating interesting new possibilities for TV broadcasters and marketers alike.
Our May trend report examines how marketers are currently tapping into the second screen, spotlighting a range of examples. It also includes highlights from interviews we conducted with five experts and influencers in television (full-length Q&As will be posted here in the coming weeks). It’s early days—and we expect to see more innovative experiments and approaches cropping up in the months ahead—but so far it’s clear that the second screen offers brands the promise to turn what could be a negative (media multitasking and distraction) into a positive: an immersive brand experience.
Extending stories over various platforms isn’t a new concept, as we noted in our 2011 trend report Transmedia Rising. But transmedia is becoming more pervasive as content creators find new ways to extend their properties and as consumer attention toggles between screens and devices. We’re seeing more of it in TV, where shows like Lost and Heroes were among the first to experiment with the idea. As part of MTV’s new “storytelling without borders” strategy, its Teen Wolf series is spinning off “Teen Wolf: The Hunt” next month on Facebook and elsewhere. This will offer an original storyline while also “serving as a complementary online experience,” with fans able to “friend” and interact with the characters in real time, according to MTV.
Meanwhile, the Syfy channel is prepping Defiance for 2013, a TV series that will launch concurrently with a massively multiplayer online game from Trion World. Promotional material explains that “the dramatic tapestry of the series and the intense action of the game will exist in a single universe, where their respective narratives will inform one another and evolve together into one overall story.” In a different vein, Bravo ventured into transmedia with its most recent season of Top Chef, adding Last Chance Kitchen as an online series in which contestants booted off the TV show compete for a chance to return.
As transmedia entertainment becomes more mainstream, brands will have new opportunities to mesh organically into content in various forms, as multi-platform story extensions are generally built in early on. For more background, download Transmedia Rising here.
-“The Future Belongs to the Flexible,” says consultant and author Ian Bremmer in The Wall Street Journal, arguing that in “this new decentralized global order,” countries that come out ahead will be those that can pivot quickly.
-The Philippines looks to be on a “sustainable upward trajectory,” reports Bloomberg Businessweek.
-Foreign Policy releases its first “Sex Issue,” dealing with “how and why sex—in all the various meanings of the word—matters in shaping the world’s politics.”
-“Is big tech replacing the big banks and Wall Street as the corporate villains du jour?” asks Time.
-The New York Timesassesses the progress of “The Post-Cash, Post-Credit-Card Economy.”
-In India, mobile Internet use is set to exceed fixed-line PC access by the end of 2012, according to statistics published by TheNextWeb.
-A new study finds that with more ways to communicate via an online connection, people are both talking and texting less on the phone.
-The Wall Street Journal examines “Tweens’ Secret Lives Online,” spotlighting some of the social sites popular among kids. For more on this cohort, check out our recently released trend report on Gen Z.
-The Pew Research Center finds that more American teens are using video chat to keep up with friends, Mashable reports.
-The AP looks at the multi-screen experience that TV watching now entails.
As their kids spend more time on social networks, parents are still trying to figure out how they feel about this habit. This week, a segment on BBC Radio 4—featuring JWT’s director of trendspotting, Ann Mack—explored whether parents are overreacting when it comes to kids’ use of tech and social media, and The Wall Street Journal explored the issue in “Tweens’ Secret Lives Online.”
While researching our April trend report on Gen Z, the youngest generation, we surveyed 400 parents in the U.K. and the U.S. about their approach to social networks, among other things. Although the majority of parents trust their child to act responsibly on social networks, many are concerned, especially those with tweens. Around 8 in 10 parents of tweens feel they need to supervise their child’s use of social networks, and 7 in 10 feel that social networks pose a danger. Parents do see the upside, appreciating that sites like Facebook help their kids stay in touch with friends, but our data also show that only about half feel social networks will help their child be a better adjusted adult.
With parental anxieties running high, brands must address safety concerns, persuading parents that their practices and tools are rigorous and reliable. Disney’s Club Penguin, for instance, limits kids to certain words and phrases and integrates other controls into the site.
In an increasingly digitized world, with many objects now replaced by digital/virtual counterparts, tangible items are taking on a new allure. This fetishization of the physical and the tactile is one of our 10 Trends for 2012; we termed it Objectifying Objects. A range of new services now allows people to get to grips—literally—with their social media output, turning it into real-world items.
MOO Inc. offers business cards created from Facebook users’ Timeline images and data, using the same fonts and layout; it includes the person’s Facebook URL. As a default, the back of the card features a quote from the customer’s Favourite Quotations field. Apparently intended for the most prolific tweeters, the Twitter Poster re-creates the customer’s profile picture using his or her own tweets (in itself an interesting interpretation of the modern-day portrait). And Instagram users can decorate their homes with their creations using Stitchtagram, a service that crafts handmade pillows using fabric printed with Instagram shots.
The more people embrace the digital format, the more they also miss what it can’t provide: something to have and to hold, to display or frame. Expect more novel services that transform our virtual information into real-world stuff.
-With the ranks of Brazil’s wealthy continuing to balloon, the country will see more pressure for efficient government, says The Financial Times.
-The Economistexamines the rise of e-commerce in India (one of our Things to Watch in 2012).
-For the first time decades, net migration from Mexico to the U.S. has zeroed out, according to the Pew Hispanic Center. The Guardian takes a look at why many younger Mexicans no longer see the U.S. as a land of opportunity.
-The Economist spotlights a new study that spotlights just how far ahead Africa is in terms of mobile money.
-With an advanced “mobile wallet” infrastructure, Canada is “in the lead in developing a system that could one day make cash obsolete,” reports Reuters.
-The World Bank’s new Global Financial Inclusion initiative examines why about half the global population lacks a bank account and why, as Businessweek reports.
-Nigeria continues attracting multinational investment despite recent violence in the country’s north, reports Bloomberg Businessweek.
-Yet another report warns of worse-than-expected extreme weather caused by global warming, this one from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California.
-Ad Age asks whether mascots like Ronald McDonald will go the way of Joe Camel as the obesity epidemic spurs activists to target kid-focused marketing.
-MIT’s Sherry Turkle examines today’s “Flight From Conversation,” arguing that our mobile devices “are so powerful that they change not only what we do, but also who we are.”
In a post last October, we looked at innovative ideas for crowdfunding movies. The new film Iron Sky, a sci-fi comedy involving Nazis on the moon, was financed both by traditional crowdfunding (from some 10,000 contributors) and crowd-investing (around 200 people are shareholders and stand to benefit from any profits, according to Wired.co.uk). And Finnish writer-director Timo Vuorensola, who amassed fans with a low-budget Star Trek spoof, also involved the crowd in the creative process—e.g., to help with historical research, props and visual effects. This had the added benefit of creating evangelists, he told The West Australian: “When people are contributing to a film, they take ownership of it and spread the word.” Iron Sky is playing around Europe, in Australia and a few other markets, and has a North American distributor lined up. —Marian Berelowitz
More flat surfaces are becoming screens, and more screens are becoming interactive, as we note in our 10 Trends for 2012 report. In one recent manifestation of this trend, the upscale Hong Kong Jockey Club installed several 10-by-4-foot touch-screen tables, where members can view videos and see updated race results, as well as gamble, using RFID-enabled smart cards to place bets. The tables, which each accommodate eight players, can also interact with members’ digital devices.
The Club is looking to install the tables at other tracks around the world, according to Possible, the WPP agency that created them. “Designed to resonate with the always-on tablet and smartphone generation,” screens such as these will increasingly replace formerly static flat surfaces. —Will Palley
While some are questioning how much potential remains in the Facebook gaming market, a batch of celebrities are turning out their own apps for the social network. Oprah’s Thank You Game, which aims to “help spread gratitude around the world,” was designed by game maven Jane McGonigal’s SuperBetter Labs. Jay-Z’s new Empire is based around his rise to fame, with players creating a Sims-like avatar before running empires of their own. Another famous rapper is behind 50 Cent’s Blackjack, basically a version of the casino game. And Jersey Shore’s Snooki beat them all to the punch with Match Game in February. —Will Palley
Brands are increasingly using Twitter in innovative ways—e.g., via “micro-affiliates” or for e-commerce. To help manage demand for sought-after new sneaker editions, Nike recently debuted a Twitter RSVP process that allows customers to reserve a shoe at any of a dozen U.S. stores, avoiding long lines and mayhem. Sneaker fans must follow the Twitter account of their local store, which sends a tweet at a random time on the designated day. Consumers must then direct-message the store within 60 minutes, including the product-specific hashtag, their name and shoe size. Shoes are awarded on a “first respond, first serve” basis and can be picked up on the launch day. —Will Palley
Launched in late 2011, BackBid.com is a booking site that pits hotel against hotel to gain a client’s business—in the end helping the consumer to win out above all. Here’s how it works: Users book a room and post the details to BackBid.com. From there, other hotels in the area can outbid the current booking, offering lower rates or room upgrades and more amenities. Users can then accept one of the offers and rebook at the competing hotel. The model offers hotels an opportunity to fill empty beds without resorting to heavy discounting—which could ultimately cheapen the brand’s image. Instead, hotels can make savvy travelers feel like VIPs by offering a seemingly personalized discount package. But it’s a potential catch-22, since those beds might be empty due to would-be guests defecting to competitors with better bids. —Jessica Vaughn
It’s one thing for a brand to have millions of followers on Twitter; it’s another to have that army doing some work for you. American Express recently started offering a credit to customers who tweet an Amex-related promotion (e.g., #AmexWholeFoods, to receive $25 off a $75 purchase at Whole Foods). U.K.-based Park Resorts, similarly, is offering savings and credits to brand followers who share promotional links.
“It’s simple and frictionless,” as Ed Gilligan of American Express told The New York Times. The ease of getting consumers to send a brand’s message certainly saves on media costs, and the message is more likely to be noted (Nielsen reports that 92% of consumers around the world trust recommendations from friends and word-of-mouth more than any other form of messaging). “Micro-affiliates,” as these consumer participants are sometimes termed, is an idea that fits well in a post-Groupon world, where deal-loving consumers respond to offers to save money they may not have spent otherwise. —Aaron Barr
With businesses like TOMS Shoes and Warby Parker, we’ve seen the rise of the “Buy One, Give One Away” business model—a strategy we highlighted in our 2011 100 Things to Watch List. Now, we’re seeing more brands linking customer purchases to tangible do-good initiatives. Apparel maker United by Blue, a certified B Corp, says it has “one hand in the apparel industry and the other hand in waste management.” That’s because UBB vows to remove a pound of trash from oceans and waterways for each item sold (since launching in 2010, they’ve removed some 83,000 pounds of junk). The company proudly “does its own dirty work,” as the UBB website lays out, and the brand-organized cleanup events serve as organic community-building experiences for the volunteers, typically local residents. With more cause-minded products and CSR activities launched every day, socially focused efforts will increasingly need to promise tangible results so that customers associate each purchase with a measurable benefit. —Jessica Vaughn
TV networks aren’t the only ones experimenting with complementary mobile apps. Big-screen producers are seeing potential in the second screen, with movie apps that go beyond the outtakes and commentary of classic DVD extras. A $4.99 iPad app that debuted along with the Blu-ray edition of Monty Python and the Holy Grail yields the screenplay, Michael Palin’s diary and more. And if synced with a Blu-ray player, the app doubles as a remote control and surfaces pertinent extras at key points. Kids flicks are a particularly good fit: Warner Bros.’ free Happy Feet Two app, for instance, helps viewers “sing, dance, and play along” in sync with the Blu-ray. Disney offers free second screen apps for Bambi, The Lion King and Lady and the Tramp that include extras like stills, storyboards and flipbooks along with Blu-ray syncing. These apps provide a window into a future where viewers access augmented content across synced screens. —Deanna Zammit
Formerly known as Miss Bank$, 20-year-old rapper Azealia Banks has been garnering significant attention since she released her debut single, “212,” in December. She topped NME’s 2011 cool list and came third in the BBC’s Sound of 2012 countdown. The New Yorker’s first EPis set to launch April 17, and she’s working on a full-length album, Broke With Expensive Taste, while collaborating with Kanye West and Lana Del Rey. —Will Palley
Hang on to your popcorn. Another “dimension” is being added to the theatrical experience: physical effects. In some cases, theaters are installing seats that shift, rumble and otherwise move in sync with the action. “We are trying to reflect everything you would feel in real life without crossing that line of being like a theme park ride,” Guy Marcoux of high-tech seat manufacturer D-BOX told The Guardian. Around 3,000 D-BOX seats have been installed in theaters across North America, Japan, Germany, the U.K., Australia and New Zealand. Other 4D experiences incorporate “in-theater special effects,” like Broadway 4D, a permanent musical theater attraction planned for a long-vacant historic Times Square theater.
It seems the entertainment industry is working ever harder to create experiences that manage to entice viewers away from the big screens and high definition they already have at home. —Deanna Zammit
When Evan Krauss joined Shazam in November 2010, the London-based company was known for its music-recognition mobile app. Now Shazam is positioning itself as a “media discovery company,” building partnerships with television brands and advertisers. Last month, for instance, it signed an exclusive U.K. deal with the broadcaster ITV. With 200 million users in 200 countries. Shazam has a big advantage in the race to link TV with the second screen (laptops, mobile phones, tablets).
In our recent 
