Tech Talk: Weekly wrap-up

IWC invites the world to be a virtual skywriter

IWC Schaffhausen has just launched the global digital campaign called Skywriter, which invites online audiences to digitally write a message in a virtual sky and share it with third parties.

Users are able to select one out of four vintage airplanes associated with the four IWC Pilot’s Watches universes, and the personalized message appears in the sky after virtually flying the airplane along a given path.

The Skywriter feature is available in ten languages and its programming technology is based on WebGl, which allows users to experience the platform in full 3D-graphics on any browser and device without the need to download an app.

Oracle and Snapchat measure impact of Snap Ads on sales

Oracle and Snapchat have announced a partnership to measure incremental store sales resulting from marketing campaigns run on Snapchat.

Oracle Data Cloud also released new research analysing the in-store sales lift from 12 CPG campaigns run on Snapchat for leading cosmetic, personal care, cleaning, packaged food, and beverage brands.

Among the findings:

• 92 percent of the Snapchat ad campaigns drove a positive lift in in-store sales
• Snapchat ad campaigns exceeded Oracle Data Cloud norms on all key metrics with sales lift being the primary driver.

Said Eric Roza, senior vice president, Oracle Data Cloud"

We are delighted to be working with one of the fastest-growing platforms in history to help Snapchat advertisers understand and improve the effectiveness of their campaigns. By combining offline sales data with cutting-edge analytics, we can help Snapchat advertisers maximize their return on investment and drive higher profits.

Unmetric Discover to change how actionable ideas are found

Unmetric, has launched Discover, a new product that is touted to enable brand content creators and strategists to research, discover and share new ideas in real time. It is intended to solve a growing challenge that faces marketers: the need to consistently come up with new and compelling content ideas.

Unmetric Discover draws from a constantly growing database of historical and real-time content published by more than 40,000 brands on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Said Lux Narayan, CEO of Unmetric:

The need to generate and validate fresh, engaging ideas at a rapid cadence is a challenge that faces every content creator today. We developed Discover to fill an unaddressed market opportunity for brand content ideation. Our mission is for Discover to become the de facto engine for content inspiration, synonymous and complementary to Adobe's tools for design execution - allowing content creators to use social signals to explore and share ideas at the speed of culture.

Ooyala reports jump in programmatic video activity

Ooyala’s recently released Q1 2016 Global Video Index, which draws insights from more than 3.5 billion video analytic events per day from 220 million viewers across the world [get the full report here].

The report found the between Q4 2015 and Q1 2016, there was a 22 percent increase of premium content made available across the global user base of its Pulse SSP, the company’s programmatic trading platform for premium video.

Combined with continued growth in programmatic activity from premium buyers, this led to a 74 percent increase in paid impressions. As a result, average CPMs in private marketplaces increased by 13 percent, notable as CPMs typically decrease in Q1.

Other report highlights include:

• Mobile viewing now represents 48 percent of all online view starts, up 14 percent from a year ago and up 129 percent from 2014.
• Nearly one in five (18 percent) of all mobile views are now on tablets, marking the third consecutive quarter of growth for tablet viewership.
• After being served recommended content, viewers will average a 10 percent organic lift in video viewing thereafter, leading to a 6-23 percent uptick of time spent on site.
• During weekdays all devices ramp up in viewership synchronously in the morning, PCs outpace tablet and smartphones combined, but at night tablets and smartphones increase as PCs decrease.
• During the weekends, interestingly, all devices share similar cycles: ramp up in the morning, maintain steady usage throughout the day and dip in the evening.

Sizmek promotes Imran Masood to country manager ANZ

Sizmek has announced that sales director Imran Masood has been promoted to country manager for Australia and New Zealand, after six months at the company.

Sizmek Asia-Pacific VP, Jordan Khoo said that Masood would lead the company’s mission to increase growth in four strategic areas: video, mobile, data and programmatic across Australia and New Zealand:

Clients want access to technology that can activate their data and deliver personalised, relevant messages to drive exponential performance everywhere; across all screens, devices and channels. That is our focus in Australia, New Zealand and around the world.

Emarsys debuts mobile suite to tackle regional m-commerce market

Emarsys has launched its mobile suite to enhance mobile app engagement and optimise customer journeys to further increase customer retention.

Connected to its B2C Marketing Cloud, the suite features Mobile Engage that powers retailers’ and brands’ ecommerce mobile app engagement strategies, designed to bring users back to the mobile app through personalised content.

Said Benjamin Glynn, managing director, Emarsys Southeast Asia:

A mobile strategy will be crucial for marketers who want to engage audiences in the Southeast Asia region. Through insights gathered from mobile apps, marketers can better understand their customers and thereby have more personal interactions with push and in-app messages. Emarsys’ push to mobile is in line with mobile usage habits of Southeast Asians, ensuring that businesses can target consumers where they are most active – their mobile devices.