‘Hidden Figures’ Inspires PepsiCo To Launch A STEM-Inspired Scholarship

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The forthcoming film Hidden Figures—the story of three African-American NASA employees who turned around the Space Race in the ’60s and served as the brains behind the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit—will debut in theaters Jan. 6.

The movie inspired PepsiCo to partner with 21st Century Fox and the New York Academy of Sciences to launch a scholarship contest designed to help uncover the next generation of female leaders in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

“The Search for Hidden Figures” contest was designed to support emerging female STEM visionaries by awarding over $200,000 in scholarships and other prizes like a trip to the Kennedy Space Center to over 20 winners between the ages of 13 and 19, and professionals 20 and older. Winners will be announced Jan. 12.

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Hidden Figures stars Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monae and was produced by Pharrell Williams—who also will serve as one of the four judges.

The contest was complemented with a national TV and digital media campaign, along with a collection of STEM mobile and web games, quizzes and challenges for students and fans of the film to test their skills.

Jeff Boron, PepsiCo’s senior director of digital, joined [a]listdaily to detail how the food, snack and beverage corporation is deepening their commitment to science and technology and investing in today’s emerging talent.

Why was Hidden Figures a specific project PepsiCo wanted to get behind? What is the message you are trying to convey to consumers?

We’re committed to promoting STEM education both inside and outside of the company at PepsiCo—especially among women and girls who may be considering careers in STEM-related fields. With the special story associated with the upcoming film, it’s our hope that this contest will empower those who are making strides in STEM, while also inspiring the next generation of female visionaries.

How does promoting women and girls doing unheralded work in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) tie in with PepsiCo’s Performance with Purpose?

As part of its Performance with Purpose 2025 agenda and goals, PepsiCo recently announced a commitment to improve the lives of 12.5 million women and girls by 2025. Given that women represent only 24 percent of the STEM workforce, PepsiCo is particularly committed to expanding and encouraging STEM opportunities among female students and professionals.

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Why was The Search for Hidden Figures the perfect film to launch with? How do you decide which movies get incorporated with PepsiCo’s marketing plans/budget?

The Search for Hidden Figures tells the ‘untold’ story of three African-American female NASA mathematicians whose achievements not only supported the country’s Space Race, but crossed gender and race lines. After learning about this inspiring story, we saw a powerful parallel—the film would deliver a one-of-a-kind platform for PepsiCo to further support the discovery of STEM talent and the development of STEM skills in the workforce.

How is PepsiCo planning on further marketing and branding the film with the digital media campaign that’s tied to the initiative? What’s going to be your social media strategy? Do you plan on working with influencers?

To help encourage participation in the contest, we’ve created a digital media campaign featuring the film’s lead actress, Taraji P. Henson, as well as messages of encouragement from additional film stars. As part of these efforts, we’ll also be releasing exclusive behind-the-scenes footage from Hidden Figures directly to consumers through the contest’s website.

What are the mobile and web games, quizzes and challenges designed to accomplish? What can consumers expect?

As you know, STEM skills are the foundation of many of the world’s most important industries, and will continue to grow in importance as we soar into the future. These fun, interactive games were created to sharpen basic STEM concepts that are the building blocks of many STEM-related career tracks. Consumers will be challenged to think outside the box and, hopefully, discover hidden STEM talents of their own.

Pepsi played a prevalent role in Empire last year. Does PepsiCo have any plans for product integration with The Search for Hidden Figures?

Not at this time.

How will PepsiCo support the discovery of STEM talent and the development of STEM skills in the workforce moving forward?

As part of its ongoing STEM efforts, the PepsiCo Foundation has given a $1 million grant to support the New York Academy of Sciences’ Global STEM Alliance, which inspires high school students to pursue STEM careers. PepsiCo also sponsors mentorship programs including STEMconnector’s Million Women Mentor program, a global initiative to increase the interest and confidence of girls and women to pursue and succeed in STEM programs and careers. Lastly, we strengthened our partnership with STEMconnector, a US-based organization focused on promoting and expanding the teaching and learning of STEM skills, on ‘Career Accelerator Week.’ Every year in October, PepsiCo hosts hundreds of students from grades 8-to-11—approximate age range of 12-to-18—across PepsiCo headquarter locations—including educators and parents with the goal of exposing young talent to career possibilities with a STEM education.

How do you wish consumers respond to the overall campaign? How will you measure success?

Success will be measured by our engagement with emerging leaders throughout STEM, and in doing so, we hope to secure a significant number of applications to “The Search for Hidden Figures” contest. In the end, this contest will enable us to empower and recognize young girls and women interested in STEM and we look forward to learning about each of their stories.

Follow Manouk Akopyan on Twitter @Manouk_Akopyan

 

Study: The State Of In-Game Advertising

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In-game advertisements. Those who play free mobile titles have come to expect them, but publishers seem to adopt the practice reluctantly. According to a recent survey by analytics firm deltaDNA, 51 percent of game publishers consider in-game advertisements to be a “necessary evil,” but only 17 percent see them as “worth it.” In fact, comparing results from last year’s identical survey, deltaDNA found that respondents were on average less confident in their mobile advertising efforts than last year.

Meanwhile, 38 percent of publishers surveyed view in-game advertisements to be an important monetizing opportunity, 29 percent see them as a way to monetize non-payers and 25 percent consider them as vital to the game economy. When asked to describe their approach to integrating these ads, however, only three percent were confident with their efforts.

The survey revealed a slight increase in targeting the mid-core market—31 percent compared to 30 percent in 2015. While casual players are still the most sought-after at 58 percent, both casual and hardcore players saw a one percent decrease in ad targeting compared to last year at 59 and 11 percent, respectively.

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“What audience does your highest monetizing F2P mobile game mainly reach out to?” (Source: deltaDNA)

Action games were named as the highest monetizing free-to-play (F2P) mobile games among respondents at 37 percent, a one percent decrease over last year. Strategy games made a major leap to 29 percent, compared to just sixteen percent in 2015. Casino titles, meanwhile have become less targeted for in-game ads at just one percent compared to nine percent in 2015.

While interstitial ads were the most popular type last year among publishers, 50 percent now prefer banners, followed by Rewarded Video ads at 44 percent. Like all advertising, there is no hard and fast rule on what works—but when choosing the frequency of displaying such ads, the biggest concern among publishers was “less player engagement” at 39 percent, followed by “lower levels of player enjoyment” at 29 percent.  Is it really possible to make ads enjoyable to the player? One game developer, Hyper Hippo, was pleasantly surprised by its efforts.

Mobile game, Adventure Capitalist integrates rewarded advertising by allowing players to watch up to five rewarded ads a day, providing a double-income boost for four hours. During a 2015 GDC presentation, the game’s producer Anthony Pecorella said that when Hyper Hippo launched this new feature, players were even reporting bugs with the rewarded ads because they wanted to take advantage of the offer. “There’s no better to way to know that we did the ads well than to have people say, ‘Hey! We can’t watch your ads. Fix it,’” he said.

Featured image source: Hyper Hippo

Versus Systems Uses Prizes To Connect Brands With Games

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As the tremendous rise of eSports has demonstrated, video games gain an extra sense of excitement when stakes are involved. However, developing the right prizing system requires a considerable amount of time and investment. Versus Systems looks to ease the process with a prizing platform that integrates directly into games, giving players seamless access to prizes that range from in-game add-ons to soft drinks and food, to live events such as concerts.

Versus works with developers and publishers for the prize structure and adhering to laws, which can be exceptionally tricky at times. In short, Versus handles all the work of managing prizes and competitions while leaving developers free to make the best game possible. At the same time, it identifies player characteristics such as age, location and in-game behaviors and matches them to digital and real-world prizes. Meanwhile, players select from a range of prizes, improving both engagement and enjoyment.

Versus announced today that it filed multiple patents that expand its “existing portfolio of prizing, promotion, and financial technologies that enable brands to reach the rapidly growing competitive gaming audience of players, spectators and broadcasters.” The platfrom is expected to launch later this year with a focus on PC and console games, but it’s platform agnostic, so mobile game integration may not be far off. Matthew Pierce, founder and CEO of Versus Systems spoke with [a]listdaily about the benefits of the prizing platform and how it can significantly improve engagement with games.

Matthew Pierce, Versus Systems founder and CEO
Matthew Pierce, Versus Systems founder and CEO

How would you describe the Versus platform and how does it work? 

Versus Systems has developed a prizing and promotions platform that enables game developers and brands to offer prize-based matches to players at home. It is a B2B enterprise solution, integrated directly into games, that enables publishers, developers, and brands to schedule and manage promotions and campaigns in-game with Dynamic Regulatory Compliance, rewarding players with targeted, contextual prizing that they want.

What are the advantages of using the Versus platform compared to hosting an in-game event or partnering directly with a brand?

There are three key advantages to the Versus platform: first, Versus makes games more fun for players and spectators for the long-term. Developers and publishers can work with brands to create and manage regular, changing and evolving campaigns—keeping both the game and the prizes fresh for players and spectators—driving engagement for all involved.

Second, Versus provides Dynamic Regulatory Compliance (DRC) so developers and publishers can focus on what they do best: creating the best possible game experience for the people that love their games. Our system addresses player verification, as well as the ever-changing regulations around prizing eligibility and distribution, taking that burden off the shoulders of publishers and developers.

Third, the Versus platform is simply easier to work with from a brand and developer standpoint. We have a dashboard that allows developers to choose prizes, manage inventory, and collect rich data about player preferences. The platform flexibility allows for regional prizing, and adaptive campaigns that can adjust to player behavior. This system allows brands and developers to avoid the long lead times and the hassles of the one-off deals and minimum requirements that have historically been hallmarks of the brand-developer relationship. We can be faster, more flexible, and more adaptive to players’ needs with this platform.

Finally, the Versus platform is an integrated prizing and promotions solution. It’s not just overlays, banner ads and interstitials that create friction. It’s offering players the opportunity to play for prizes that they want, making the brand’s merchandise more exciting and aspirational, while keeping the players and spectators in-game and immersed in the experience. It’s a way for brands to interact with players and spectators organically with targeted, contextual prizing.

What kinds of games can best make use of Versus?

At Versus we love the passion that players have for their favorite games. The avid fan bases and specific match structures of competitive multiplayer genres like first-person shooters, MOBAs, and fighting games make those games ideal for the existing platform, but we are already hard at work writing IP and creating functionality for single player and sandbox games as well. We’re building solutions for any game that features engaging sessions of play showcasing individual skill.

How can Versus be used to promote games and brands on broadcast platforms like Twitch and YouTube?

Both players and spectators love it when games have stakes. We are simply more likely to watch games where there’s something on the line. We are currently in discussions with broadcast platforms about creating prizing opportunities for spectators, but in the near-term, we believe that our platform will help to make certain matches much more exciting for spectators who want to see how players react when there’s something to play for.

Do the prize companies get to choose which games they’re associated with and vice versa?

We help bring brands and developers together. In the case where a developer already has existing relationships with a brand or brands, we make those interactions richer by facilitating more player engagement. In the cases where the developer does not have existing relationships, we enable them to choose from a variety of prizing partners based on whose products they believe will resonate most with their players. Brands get the opportunity to offer prizes to specific games and specific players, and Versus does make those conversations easier—especially given that the platform allows for short term and limited time engagements. But the ultimate decision of which prizes are available in which games rests with the publishers and developers of the games.

How is the winning criteria determined? Will players have to compete as hard for DLC and soft drinks as they would concert tickets or money?

Developers and publishers set the win conditions to give players the best possible experience. While it is likely that competition for high-value prizes will attract the most attention, and the most competition, the platform has been developed to allow players of all skill types to play each other for stakes. This is most clearly seen in invite-only matches where players can invite specific friends to play rather than trying to take on the whole world. We know that sometimes players don’t want to be the best player on earth, they just want to be the best one in the house/office/friend circle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGtMHQTxygI

What are the challenges of offering prizes on a global scale?

Regulations governing regional rewards distribution is a complicated problem that has always prevented brands from providing players the promotions they want and need. Versus exists to solve the challenge of supporting developers, publishers, and brands that serve global audiences. We recognize that what players are into winning is as unique as the games they are into playing. While we’re launching in the US initially, where brand partnerships are more common, the Versus platform will make it possible for games to engage with regional brands and provide prizes worldwide that are aligned with the best interest of their players.

Apart from money, how do you ensure that prizes such as event tickets match the player’s tastes? 

The Versus platform allows players to make the choice of what prizes they want to play for. Prizes with regional emphasis, like tickets to concerts or live eSports events, are made possible by prioritizing those options to players who are within a specific travel distance, based on a location-verification system. That said, there are fans who might fly across the country to see a certain team or show, so our platform provides players with the ability to find any match where they are eligible for the prize, which may be somewhere outside the area that they live or play in.

In what way will Versus help improve engagement with games and how does it enhance their existing rewards systems such as unlockables?

People love playing for real stakes. They practice more, they play more, they talk more—they engage more—when something is on the line. This is true with some existing rewards systems, but it’s even more true with Versus. Our system allows players to invite other players to matches featuring certain prizes. We also allow help to enable publishers and developers to create and manage even larger matches and tournaments featuring higher stakes.

We believe that prize-based matches are going to become a standard in the industry, but until then, games with this functionality will be more interesting to players than games that don’t. Games that have interesting prizes that change over time will have more opportunities to engage with players than games that don’t. Our goal is to help publishers and developers to turn non-players into players, players into active players, and active players into daily active players.

No matter the game, fresh prizing provides players something new to play for—a new reason to play—whether it is on a monthly, weekly or daily cycle. Campaigns supported by this platform can work in concert with promoting in-game expansions, season of eSports, new licensed merchandise, new brand partners, etc. In that way, the Versus platform can be a discovery engine, enabling larger publishers and developers to offer DLC and licensed goods of other games that are under the same publisher or developer banner, cross-selling and cross-promoting those items.

Our team understands that the nuances of player engagement are specific to each game and subject to the evolving cultures around gameplay. Versus provides developers and publishers a suite of tools to identify and refine what works best for their players by game, mode, and region with the flexibility to evolve over time to serve their community.

Inside The Record-Breaking Sales For This Year’s Black Friday

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Post-Thanksgiving shopper madness is stompingly underway, and while the Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday tradition is starting to catch on outside the US, American shoppers are spending more than ever this holiday season—a lot more. Adobe and the Consumer Technology Association both report record-breaking figures for the year so far, poising retailers for a shopping event to remember.

Record-breaking sales

More than $5 billion was spent online over Thanksgiving and Black Friday, a 17.7 percent increase year-over-year, according to a weekend report by Adobe. Black Friday itself set a new record by surpassing the $3 billion mark for the first time at $3.34 billion, a growth of 21.6 percent YoY.

Black Friday also became the first day in retail history to drive over $1 billion in mobile revenue at $1.2 billion, a 33 percent growth YoY. Conversions improved over holiday averages, reported Adobe, with smartphones at 2.4 percent, tablets at 4.6 percent and desktops at 5.5 percent (compared to holiday averages of 1.3, 2.9 and 3.2 percent, respectively). The average order value (AOV) on iOS smartphones ($142) was higher compared to Android smartphones ($130).

More shoppers

According to the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), the number of US adults shopping during the week starting on Black Friday has increased six percent over the last year to 135.9 million. The National Retail Federation says 122 million Americans plan to shop online on Cyber Monday, up from 121 million who planned to do so last year.

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Still Flocking To Stores

Despite all those disturbing images of Black Friday crowds, Americans still prefer to buy in-store. Of the 25 percent of Americans planning to buy tech this week (surveyed by the CTA), 76 percent were doing so in physical stores, while 57 percent shopped online and some did both. It seems ironic not to use tech to buy tech, but CTA attributes this trend to a need for physical contact and analysis before buying.

What people are buying

The CTA’s 2016 Post Black Friday Survey also finds it was a record year for tech with 61.7 million American adults (25 percent), an increase over last year, that have bought or plan to buy tech products over the course of the holiday shopping week.

Adobe reports this year’s hottest items to be: 

Toys: LEGO builder sets, Razor electronic scooters

Tech: Apple iPads, Samsung 4K TVs

Video Games: Pokémon Sun and Moon, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

Consoles: PlayStation 4, Xbox One

Play Hard: 2016, The Year Of Video Game Hardware

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2016 is the year of new video game hardware, particularly in the realm of virtual reality. While some brands look to the future to attract tech-savvy consumers, nostalgia has never been far from other marketing campaigns.

Oculus Rift

From its humble Kickstarter beginnings to the cover of TIME magazine, Oculus Rift paved the way and kicked off a virtual reality “space race” to bring the emerging technology to market. Oculus has come a long way from being a project in creator Palmer Luckey’s garage to becoming one of the biggest entertainment devices for 2016. Purchased by Facebook in 2014, a major focus of the Oculus Rift is to support the ecosystem it helped jumpstart and of course, keep more people logged into Facebook. During the Oculus Connect in October, for example, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg demonstrated virtual reality chat sessions in which avatars could all see and interact with one another in real time. Insomniac Games has become a major partner for developing games for the Oculus Rift, with three titles released in 2016.

“We’re big VR enthusiasts,” Insomniac Games studio director, Chad Dezern told [a]listdaily, “and we have really liked working with Oculus as a publisher because we feel like we’re in this new experimental situation where we’re learning new mechanics just as the hardware is coming online. There’s a spirit of working together to figure it out and see what we can do with this new technology.”

The Oculus Touch launches in December, bringing with it new games and ways to interact with these virtual worlds.

HTC Vive

Despite being associated with Valve and Steam, the HTC Vive isn’t limiting itself to video games. In fact, the virtual reality platform is making it possible for developers and entrepreneurs to build businesses around the technology. Rikard Steiber is the senior vice president of virtual reality for HTC, managing the global Viveport VR app store business and mentoring Vive X companies. “We believe VR will change the world for consumers and business alike,” Steiber told [a]listdaily. “We want to make VR available for everyone. I think the initial content has been focusing on games and entertainment, so it’s become widely available. What we want to do now is help all the other developers and creators to reach out globally with their content and build a business.”

Viveport, in particular, has created not just a store, but a community. Available in over 30 countries, Viveport serves as a first window into virtual reality with a wide variety of content. Last month, HTC unveiled its Viveport Arcade system—creating a revenue-sharing marketplace for public entertainment centers to access the latest interactive titles. Pilot programs for Viveport Arcade have already been deployed in a number of locations over the last few months and according to HTC, will soon expand to hundreds of gaming centers, amusement parks and karaoke bars across the globe. The company even released its own Vive-branded VR cafe in Shenzhen, China at the end of October.

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Xbox One S

Microsoft’s latest console was a big hit with fans—accounting for nearly a third of all hardware sales in August while its controller became the top-selling gamepad that month at 79,000 units. At PAX 2016, Microsoft revealed eight custom Xbox One S 2TB consoles, which convention-goers could snap a picture of and share on social media for a chance to win. Giveaways from Doritos, Mountain Dew and Pizza Hut assisted in building hype before and after the console’s launch, continuing a long tradition of food and video game brand partnerships.

The addition of Play Anywhere titles and big exclusives like Gears of War 4 and Halo Wars 2 helped bolster sales and attract die-hard fans of these franchises. The Xbox One S, which is slimmer and 40 percent smaller than the current Xbox One console, features HDR gaming and support for 4K Ultra HD video, a 4K Blu-ray player and a redesigned, Bluetooth controller.

PS4 Slim And PS4 Pro

Sony’s latest PlayStation 4 lineup consists of two consoles: the PlayStation 4 Slim at $299 (replacing original PS4 model with a smaller size and lower price) and the PS4 Pro, a PlayStation 4 with substantially improved graphics and CPU, capable of displaying 4K/UHD (Ultra High Definition) and HDR (High Dynamic Range) games, for $399. Sony said that all PS4 games will be playable on all PS4 models (original, Slim, and Pro), and a patch updated existing consoles with HDR capabilities for supported games.

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End bundle was the month’s best-selling hardware, accounting for 17 percent of total hardware units sold in the month. While the PS4 Slim offers accessibility to those who had been meaning to pick one up but were concerned with the price point, the PS4 Pro is betting on 4K TVs to become mainstream. We will be anxiously waiting to see what sales have been in November.

PlayStation VR

PlayStation’s entrance into virtual reality has been hyped since last year’s E3, and fans are finally getting their hands on PlayStation VR (PSVR) technology. Sony has no shortage of competition, but a smaller price point and trusted video game brand are working in the company’s favor. “When you look at all the activity in the VR space, 2016 is the year of VR. It all came together at the same point in time, and that’s good. It’s raising awareness for VR,” Shawn Layden, chairman of Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios explained to [a]listdaily.

In September, Taco Bell teamed up with Sony for a PSVR pop-up arcade in New York City. The two-day event included demo stations and free food, as well as a special GIF-making station perfect for sharing on social media. In addition to the arcade, hungry gamers could enter to win a PSVR of their very own by purchasing a Taco Bell Big Box before October 19.

Nintendo Classic Edition

While Sony is looking forward, Nintendo is looking back with its newly-released NES Classic Edition. This pint-sized version of the original ’80s console made no promises of cutting-edge graphics, but rather sold out with nostalgia on its side. Pre-loaded with 30 retro games like Super Mario Brothers and The Legend of Zelda, the NES Classic Edition needed no special marketing—just great memories, and consumers bought them all up within seconds of its launch. Hopefully, Nintendo can capture imaginations the way its original console did when its Nintendo Switch launches in the spring.

YuMe: Branded VR Content Yields More Emotional Engagement

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Can experiencing branded entertainment in virtual reality elicit a stronger emotional response from consumers compared to other mediums? And can you simply convert existing commercials into VR to get the same result? Technology company, YuMe, Inc. partnered with the good folks at Nielsen to find out and the results are fascinating.

In the study, 150 participants were shown content from an entertainment advertiser and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA). The content was designed to be viewed in a highly-immersive platform. These experiences were shown on a variety of platforms including VR on a headset, mobile VR, 360-degree video on a flat screen and flat, two-dimensional TV screens. As they watched, emotional responses were gauged by Nielsen’s neuroscience team through eye tracking, a biometric monitoring device measuring electrodermal response and heart rate changes, as well as behavioral-coding methods.

Above: The Los Vegas Virtual Reality App.
Above: The Los Vegas Virtual Reality App.

Consumers elicited 27 percent higher emotional engagement in the branded content when viewed in VR compared to 2D, and 17 percent higher emotional engagement than a 360-degree video on a flat screen. VR viewers are emotionally engaged 34 percent longer than when they view the same content in 2D and 16 percent longer than when they view the same content in 360-degree video on a flat screen.

Overall, consumers enjoyed the virtual experiences more than static ones, but allowing viewers to control their own experiences through exploration poses new challenges for brands.

“Advertisers need to artfully balance freedom of exploration and storyline flow in new immersive environments to deliver highly engaging viewer experiences,” said Stephanie Gaines, VP of corporate marketing for YuMe in a press release. “As an industry, we’ve spent a lot of time deep in the conversations about virtual reality. Now is the time, however, to move from hype to action—and this report clearly shows the path to incorporating these powerful new formats.”

YuMe says that VR requires a new breed of content directors to rise to this challenge, noting that the use of audio and language are critical for guiding viewer attention and narrative flow. In addition, guided exploration is critical, which YuMe stresses in the report for brands to convey their message and leverage branding opportunities.

A number of brands are exploring virtual experiences, particularly in the travel industry. The applications are limited only to the imagination, and the use of VR has extended to car dealerships such as Audi and Chrysler and even retailers like North Face and Ikea. While VR may be ushered in by the video game industry, A recent Juniper Research study predicts that hardware revenues from VR headsets, peripherals and 360-degree cameras will reach over $50 billion by 2021.

Twitter Appoints New COO; IGN Hires Chief Programming Officer

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Women represent 19.6 percent of the staff at the top 25 tech companies, according to a study by hiring firm HiringSolved, and this week’s hires further hint on the diversification in today’s workplace. Here are some of the top personnel moves in marketing over the last week.

Laura Dames will now oversee all facets of Turner Studios after she was promoted to executive vice president and general manager of Turner Studios. Turner Studios collaborates with more than 70 departments across all Turner divisions, including ELeague.

Telemundo appointed Daniela Chaparro Vegas as its new vice president of marketing. Chaparro Vegas will be based in Miami and be responsible for marketing strategies to help grow Telemundo’s brand and expand the networks within the US Hispanic market. She worked as vice president of marketing and digital at NBCUniversal International Networks Latin America for the last six years, and marketing director for Sony Pictures Entertainment Latin America before that.

Specialty apparel chain New York & Company appointed Michelle Pearlman as its new chief marketing officer and new executive vice president of eCommerce. Pearlman will be responsible for marketing and visual aspects of New York & Company’s integrated omni-channel strategy and strategic initiative to further evolve as a broader lifestyle brand.

“Under Michelle’s leadership, we expect to more fully capitalize on New York & Company’s differentiation in specialty retail by elevating our key assets, exclusive merchandise, sub-brands and celebrity partnerships while furthering our strength in eCommerce,” Greg Scott, New York & Company’s CEO, said in statement.

New York & Company has 483 retail stores specializing in women’s fashion apparel and accessories.

Twitter appointed Anthony Noto as its new chief operating officer. Noto replaces Adam Bain, who stepped down from his position to pursue new opportunities earlier this week. Noto, previously the social media network’s chief financial officer, will manage the live content business and revenue-generating organizations, including global advertising sales, data, revenue product, global partnerships and business development, effective immediately.

“Anthony is a passionate leader who has shown an unmatched depth of financial expertise as our CFO,” Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s CEO, said in a statement. “He’s also a stellar operational leader, and consistently shows a capacity to take on more. [He] gives us confidence as we drive towards our goal of GAAP profitability in 2017 to ensure Twitter continues to serve more and more people.”

IGN Entertainment is expanding its video operations by bringing in Wade Beckett as chief programming officer. Beckett, who previously was chief programming officer and senior vice president of production at Fusion, will lead the video game and entertainment media company’s cross-platform video initiatives from their Los Angeles studio.

“Advertisers are increasingly looking to go beyond pre-roll with custom programs while platforms and content distributors are seeking differentiated original programming that speaks to the fan culture audience,” Peer Schneider, general manager and co-founder of IGN Entertainment, said in a statement. “The combination of IGN’s 20-year brand credibility in gaming and entertainment coupled with Wade’s experience in delivering original programming will cement IGN’s position as a leader in video for games and geek culture across all screens.”

IGN programs games and entertainment content for 132 million monthly users across 12 platforms, including mobile devices, Apple TV, Roku, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Veteran sports and entertainment industry executives Happy Walters, founder and former CEO of Relativity Sports, and Josh Swartz, former president of Relativity Sports, announced the launch of Catalyst Sports & Media, a new vertical designed to take advantage of the shifts in media consumption in basketball, global football and eSports. Bryce Blum will lead its eSports division.

“Happy first identified the opportunity in eSports several years ago through our investment in Major League Gaming,” Swartz said in a statement. “We have spent a considerable part of the past year building a first class team with deep expertise in both endemic eSports and more traditional stick and ball sports. ESports represents a vast and still untapped opportunity for marketers to reach an audience that is not consuming sports content the same way it has over the last 25 years.”

“The financial opportunities in the burgeoning world of eSports are infinite and we believe we at Catalyst are uniquely positioned to take advantage of them,” said Blum. “I am thrilled to be working alongside such sports and media industry powerhouses as Happy, Josh and Brad, and look forward to helping transform the face of the eSports world for the betterment of all stakeholders. We are also excited to add other talented, eSports industry veterans in the coming months.”

Tiziana Barrow has been appointed vice president of marketing for RiskLens, a provider of purpose-built cyber risk quantification solutions, to accelerate the company’s growth, awareness and thought leadership in the information risk management market.

“Tiziana has a proven track record for recognizing gaps and identifying ways to do more with less, striving to achieve positive ROI and creating exponential value,” RiskLens CEO Nicola Sanna said in a statement.

Have a new hire tip? Let us know at editorial@alistdaily.com.

The Future of Virtual Reality Marketing And Advertising

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The virtual reality market continues to expand with new hardware and software pushing the boundaries outward. The end of this year will see millions of more VR hardware installed, and hundreds of applications. Millions of people are now experiencing VR for themselves on a regular basis, and thus the market as a whole is beginning to get more real. The Interactive Advertising Bureau gathered a report on the subject, titled Is Virtual the New Reality?: A Market Snapshot of VR Publishing and Monetization.

Defining VR properly is still a matter for concern, with 360-degree videos somewhat confusing the issue—partly because those are a popular way to try and present VR content to someone who doesn’t have VR hardware.

“I think we need to clearly distinguish the two, because when we’re talking to advertisers or partners, we need to clarify which one offers just a point of view and means of looking around, and which one is more immersive,” said Time Inc.’s Chris Hercik. “360 VR experiences are great on-ramps to VR and for acquainting consumers with the medium, but the platforms that offer more immersion and interaction—especially in room scale—are undeniably compelling,” added Time managing editor Mia Tramz.

The report noted that VR experiences can be categorized by the level of immersion and complexity involved—which also tends to reflect the cost of creation, and the cost of the hardware necessary to deliver the experiences. That dictates the audience available, which of course is a key factor in what marketers are looking for when thinking about VR. Thus, 360 video (which can be found on YouTube and Facebook) has the largest available audience, while the full-on PC VR that is delivered by Oculus Rift and HTC Vive is a much smaller audience.

The New York Times has found great success with its VR app with more than a million users at launch and a subsequent 950,000 downloads. Users spend an average of over six minutes in the app, with 58 percent of users returning every month.

VR Goes Live

One of the strong growth areas for VR lies in the realm of live content, which right now is often centered around sports. Turner Sports, in partnership with Oculus VR, has begun livestreaming sporting events like NCAA basketball to Samsung Gear VR users.

“What better way to give people access than to than to put them in the live game itself,” says Mark Johnson of Turner Sports.

Fox Sports is also a believer in live VR content, working with NextVR to create live VR sports experiences.

VR Draws Marketers

Part of the strong attraction VR holds for marketers is the deep immersion that it brings. That tends to emphasize any message, and when properly presented, the emotional impact of VR is much greater than simply viewing something on a screen (or even interacting with things on a screen). While creating VR content is more difficult than working in traditional media, the payoff could be much greater engagement.

“Publishers we spoke with agreed that agencies and advertisers have been very interested and active in pursuing VR and 360 video opportunities, often as components of larger digital campaigns,” noted the IAB report. “The challenge for sellers is simultaneously qualifying and educating buyers on what’s actually possible—while it’s being invented.”

Still, it’s not easy developing content for VR, and that’s a big consideration for marketers who contemplate using VR in marketing efforts.

While VR still has a long way to go to approach the flood of data available with mobile advertising, several firms are already working on supplying information to marketers about VR advertising efforts. “We’re able to track a wide range of events that enable clients to do their own engagement calculations,” said CEO Mihir Shah of VR adtech firm Immersv. “At the end of the day, it’s all based on a video view. We’re seeing an 81 percent gaze-through rate on our campaigns, which means the user gazed all the way through the video. And network-wide we’re seeing a 35 percent conversion rate.”

VR/AR Standards On The Way

Standards for advertising formats are under construction by IAB, in an effort to help publishers and advertisers prepare for the various formats that are becoming new destinations for advertising.

This will include guidelines for 360 videos and photos as well as AR and VR. This will provide marketers with some help in figuring out where to start when creating assets for use in these formats. One of the important areas will be guidelines for reducing viewer discomfort, because that can be caused by improper camera movement in VR.

The Immediate Future Of VR

Surveying industry insiders about the next two years in VR, IAB found that there’s a lot of optimism. “It feels like every month we’re seeing something new, a different angle on it, a different company with a different technology,” said Johnson.

New and better VR technology at lower prices will help spread VR widely. We’ll also see more successes (and failures) among content, helping publishers and marketers refine their offerings. New ad formats will probably emerge, and we’ll see more and better data about how these formats work.

One thing that most agree on is the potential for AR, or mixed reality, and some overlap/crossover with VR.

The success of Pokémon GO is just a beginning for AR, and we’ll see plenty more in the future. Surprising successes like that will help determine future directions for VR and AR, and thus there’s going to be plenty of opportunities for creative content and creative marketing to have a huge impact.

VR Arcades Usher In A New Age For Interactive Entertainment

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Virtual reality, while still in its novelty stages, succeeds in wow factor but struggles with the idea of being social. Facebook hopes to change this at least in terms of group chat, but between cost and convenience, it’s not always possible for friends to experience VR as a group. While some amusement parks have already adopted this technology to enhance rides, China is leading the way with another method of public enjoyment—arcades.

China is currently experiencing a boom in the VR lounge/arcade industry, allowing consumers to try out the technology without investing in expensive hardware. EMAX, for example, hosts 179 VR kiosks across mainland China, South Korea and Taiwan. The Shenzhen-based startup makes its own headsets and software, opening retail shops for VR around the market. Currently, EMAX’s lounges do not offer VR games, but rather experiences like traveling through outer space.

VR Lounge, on the other hand, mimics the popular karaoke parlor business model by swapping microphones and songs for VR headsets and games. Customers sign up with a membership card and pay 100 yuan for a half-hour of play time. The company has even integrated its own user interface so that customers can select their own games, along with specially designed chairs to make certain games feel more immersive.

"AUSTIN, TX - MARCH 12: Festival goers experience Samsung Gear VR at The Samsung Studio at SXSW 2016 on March 12, 2016 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Rick Kern/Getty Images for Samsung)"
Festival goers experience Samsung Gear VR at The Samsung Studio at SXSW 2016 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Rick Kern/Getty Images for Samsung)

Arcades offer an alternative revenue source for hardware manufacturers, developers and of course, entrepreneurs. Analysts expect the market for virtual reality in China to grow to $8.5 billion by 2020, benefiting largely by the $1.1 billion global VR spending spree.

Last month HTC unveiled its Viveport Arcade system, creating a revenue-sharing marketplace for public entertainment centers to access the latest interactive titles. Pilot programs for Viveport Arcade have already been deployed in a number of locations over the last few months and according to HTC, will soon expand to hundreds of gaming centers, amusement parks and karaoke bars across the globe. The company even released its own Vive-branded VR cafe in Shenzhen, China last week.

“VR has found a home with Chinese players as the majority of the market do not have the capability to support home based VR and already are happy to play their PC games in LAN Game centers sometimes called PC Bang sites,” Rikard Steiber, president of Viveport and senior vice president of VR at HTC, told Polygon. “Amusement venues and location-based entertainment sites have also grown in popularity in the Asian Dragon market—so it was logical that VR Arcades would be embryonic within this incubator.”

While the idea of an arcade may not have been the original plan for virtual reality, it just might be the industry’s saving grace if consumers can’t or won’t bring the technology into their homes.

China, in particular, is more than happy to pay for group experiences, creating memories, and therefore establishing brand loyalty through nostalgia.

Nielsen: Brand Loyalty Grows With ESports Involvement

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It’s no secret that eSports are here to stay. The industry has become a revenue-making machine—$892 million and rising—so brands from all industries are taking notice. Nielsen has released its 2016 eSports Report, offering insight into the world of eSports enthusiasts; who they are, what they watch and what other things they’re into.

US ESports Fans: Who Are They?

Nielsen reports that 14 percent of all Americans 13 and over are eSports fans—a major increase from eight percent last year. Of these fans, 77 percent are male and 61 percent are millennials. Just as the video game industry has matured in technology and sophistication, its fan base has matured as well, particularly when it comes to competition. While movies like Tron and The Last Starfighter made children dream of becoming the best video game players around, eSports has finally made that dream come true and the world is watching.

This rising fan base is giving whole new meaning to “The Big Game,” as eSports fans are twice as likely to stream traditional sporting events online as non-eSports fans. In fact, 52 percent of these avid gaming fans are just as enthusiastic about the NFL. Nielsen notes a parallel between video game and traditional sports fans, particularly in the realm of combat/fighting sports, racing and US/European soccer. “The eSports audience is at least three times as likely to be an avid fan of these three sports,” Nielsen said in the report, “which is noteworthy given that these parallel three of the most popular genres of sports video games.”

NielsenTables
Source: Nielsen

ESports fans devote a lot of time to their passion—roughly four hours per week on related activities or entertainment. Of those that participated in Nielsen’s study, 71 percent stream events online, 40 percent have viewed an event on TV and 23 percent have attended an event in person. Today’s fans are more connected, particularly millennials—a fact that may have nurtured eSports engagement.

“While we do not necessarily see a heavy trend toward consumption of eSports livestreaming on smartphones,” Nicole Pike, director of games at Nielsen told [a]listdaily, “one thing that has increased notably this year versus 2015 is the number of different content types eSports fans are consuming. Whereas last year it was common for many fans to only engage with eSports in a singular way (say, just viewing or just reading news), in 2016 the number of touch points a given fan has with eSports is higher. The ‘anywhere, anytime’ convenience of smartphones is certainly a contributor to this, with the end result being a more engaged, dialed-in fan base.”

For brands that want to reach this demographic, there’s good news—fans of both eSports and traditional sports appreciate direct involvement in their passion. Opinions of brands that participate in traditional sports rose 12 percent in Nielsen’s study, while purchase intent rose seven percent and brand loyalty rose eight percent when brands integrated eSports.

As the popularity of competitive gaming continues to rise, traditional sports players and team owners are investing in the future. While eSports have generally been associated with first-person shooters or MOBAs, mobile developers are getting in on the action, too. Meanwhile, from within the industry, publishers are stepping up their game even further with Nintendo’s hopeful new console and Activision Blizzard’s just-announced Overwatch League.

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