Virtual reality is an extraordinarily hot topic right now in media and technology circles. We've seen some amazing developments in recent years, but for the purposes of marketers, technology has not caught up with needs. Beyond functioning, we need it to scale and affect consumer behavior. This will likely happen in time, but many years from now. To understand why there is so much buzz in adland about VR and why expectations need to be contained, it's worth taking a look back. Andy Maskin Illustration: Alex Fine In the 1990s, there was a spike of interest on the subject. Books like Snow Crash and movies like The Lawnmower Man ignited the imagination, and virtual reality games started popping up in arcades. And then, unlike most major innovations of that era, it seemed to fizzle out. Fast forward to 2012, and the advent of Oculus Rift reawakened the sleeping giant. Since its legendary Kickstarter campaign, other players have rushed into the market including Samsung. The acquisition of Oculus Rift by Facebook caught many off guard and has many wondering whether this time VR is for real. The original wave of VR excitement was really built on metaphor. The idea that computers could connect to each other was relatively new to most outside academia and the military. Just as the physical world concept of folders holding documents was borrowed to explain how computer files were organized, people shopped in online stores and met in chat rooms. Once it clicked for people... Continue reading at 'AdWeek'
[ AdWeek | 2015-09-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, owners of Macmillan Science and Education, and BC Partners, owners and fund advisors of Springer Science+Business, have reached a merger agreement to join the two groups. Holtzbrinck, whose portfolio includes Nature and Scientific American, will hold 53 percent of... Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2015-01-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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For most magazine companies, 2014 was a difficult year. Backs against the wall, publishers looked beyond print for growth -- to digital media, live events, consumer products and TV deals.Vice magazine is way ahead of them.The free magazine founded in 1994 as Voice of Montreal has grown into one... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2015-01-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A late spending frenzy was not enough to end a difficult year for German booksellers on a positive note.While sales during Christmas week were up 26% year-on-year, December as a whole was down 2.1% year on year, according to figures provided by trade paper buchreport. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-01-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bleacher Report founder Bryan Goldberg writes that the major digital publishing narrative in 2015 will be revenue. Everything else will be a function of how publishers thrive or struggle to monetize. The post Coming in 2015: reality check for VC-engorged digital media appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2015-01-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Reedsy is a self-publishing startup that currently offers its users access to a marketplace of skilled freelance book-production professionals. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-01-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The print book market for 2014 is down just 1.3% by value year on year, the full year's statistics from Nielsen BookScan reveal. Just under £1.4bn was spent on print books for the 52 weeks ending 27th December, generated from 180.6 million book sales. Year on year the value of the print book... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-12-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Fueled by new ad formats and acquisitions from Facebook, Twitter and brands, mobile marketing finally began to step up to its potential this year. From messaging and video to ultra-targeted ads and simplified shopping, smartphones and tablets became a major focus for most digital brands players... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2014-12-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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It feels like we've all been talking a lot about content marketing for the last two years, even though the concept isn't really new. We just used to call ads that looked like content "advertorials," but what we're seeing today is a lot more than that.What has changed, and in dramatic fashion, is... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2014-12-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Here are this week's 10 most intriguing numbers from the digital marketing space, including data about what's currently on the minds of brand marketers and a few eyebrow-raising social media stats. 1. Facebook's video spigot has apparently opened dramatically in recent weeks. In September, the... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2014-12-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In 2012, Cali Dawson and Gordon Ross, a pair of expats living in Bangkok, made plans to start a new publishing company in Thailand. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-12-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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ALM, formerly known as American Lawyer Media, is the largest B2B publisher in the legal market, but it's branching out with its latest acquisition. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2014-12-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Less than four weeks after Advent appointed the investment bank Macquarie to find a buyer for its German bookselling operation Thalia, the US investor has reportedly taken the chain off the market because none of the interested parties was prepared to pay the asking price. According to... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-12-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The first Nielsen Children’s Book Summit convened in New York on Friday (12th December) at the McGraw-Hill Auditorium in midtown, saw over 150 participants attending the day-long meeting organized by Nielsen Book Americas SVP Jonathan Stolper and Bookigee’s Kristen McLean. They worked to be... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-12-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook has been courting content companies for years because it wants content companies to bring more of their content to Facebook. Here’s a new example: A set of tools that will make it easier for publishers to share their stuff ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2014-12-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook's new search feature will give users a more active role in media discovery, and likely change how brands and publishers use the platform. The post What Facebook’s search feature means for brands, publishers appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2014-12-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bonnier's Blink Publishing is launching a new imprint, Blink Reality, to focus on "compelling true stories and relevant real life issues". The imprint will be headed by newly appointed publisher Emily Thomas, and will begin releasing titles in summer 2015. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-12-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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That didn't last long. Verizon Wireless has pulled the plug on its newest content marketing venture, a web publication called SugarString, a little over two months after it launched.The website was designed to rival tech-savvy magazines, like Wired, from Conde Nast, and Motherboard, from Vice.... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2014-12-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Russell Brand described schools without a library as a "disgrace", and said public libraries closures were driven by a "fundamentalist philosophy of profit", in an entertaining and enthusiastically received Reading Agency Lecture last night (Tuesday 25th November). The comedian and author told... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-11-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Egmont UK is cutting two roles in its marketing team following last year’s merger of its two book businesses. Sales, marketing and PR director Ingrid Gilmore confirmed that two employees will be made redundant, saying: “The restructure means that the marketing team will now consist of five... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-11-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The recent news that musicians in Europe are making more from Spotify royalties than via iTunes is a big deal for all content producers. It may be a defining moment in the ongoing competition between subscription services and pay-as-you go digital downloads in the West. The same struggle is... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2014-11-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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