Social TV: How Marketers Can Reach and Engage Audiences by Connecting Television to the Web, Social Media, and Mobile by Mike Proulx, Stacey Shepatin

The Internet didn't kill TV! It has become its best friend. Americans are watching more television than ever before, and we're engaging online at the same time we're tuning in. Social media has created a new and powerful backchannel, fueling the renaissance of live broadcasts. Mobile and tablet devices allow us to watch and experience television whenever and wherever we want. And connected TVs blend web and television content into a unified big screen experience bringing us back into our living rooms. Social TV examines the changing (and complex) television landscape and helps brands navigate its many emerging and exciting marketing and advertising opportunities. Social TV topics include: Leveraging the second screen to drive synched and deeper brand engagement Using social ratings analytics tools to find and target lean-forward audiences Aligning brand messaging to content as it travels time-shifted across devices Determining the best strategy to approach marketing via connected TVs Employing addressable TV advertising to maximize content relevancy Testing and learning from the most cutting-edge emerging TV innovations The rise of one technology doesn't always mean the end of another. Discover how this convergence has created new marketing opportunities for your brand. Editorial Reviews Amazon.com Review From the Authors: Tips for Taking Advantage of the Connected TV Space Take Action: Connected TVs There are a number of ways for your brand to take advantage of the connected TV space. The following are a few points we especially want to underscore: 1. Match the message to the audience. The user base of connected TV devices can vary widely. You must be careful, for example, not to run creative targeted at women on a primarily male-dominated platform. Approach this space with the mind-set that each connected TV solution is a unique opportunity and assess it accordingly. 2. Emphasize the connected part. Although the word TV appears in connected TV, you are doing yourself and your audience a disservice if you simply run traditional TV commercials. Design your creative with engagement and interactivity in mind. This is the real power that comes from the convergence of television and the Web. 3. Make it your own. An app on a connected TV is a bit like a channel on traditional TV. If your brand has compelling content to share in a consistent serial format, consider creating your own channel that can appear (through partnership integrations) across a variety of connected TV devices. From the Inside Flap When Beyoncé revealed her baby bump live at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, 8,868 tweets burst into the Twitterverse over the course of a single second. When Jeff Probst began live-tweeting during the Spring 2011 season of Survivor, the volume of tweets per episode was, in most cases, five to seven times higher than the previous season. And the charming Volkswagen Darth Vader commercial, where a boy thought he used the Force to start his dad's Passat, inspired people to go online and view the 60-second spot 45 million times on YouTube. The Internet didn't kill TV! It has become its best friend. Americans are watching more television than ever before, and we're engaging online at the same time that we're tuning in. Social media has created a new and powerful backchannel, fueling the renaissance of live broadcasts. Mobile and tablet devices allow us to watch and experience on-demand television whenever and wherever we want. And connected TVs blend Web and television content into a unified big screen experience, bringing us back into our living rooms. Social TV takes a fresh look at television as it sheds its traditional media stigma and helps brands navigate TV as a fertile new media filled with many emerging opportunities to reach audiences. Advertisers can no longer count on TV programs alone-they must redefine television as a cross-channel media experience to ensure that their brand transcends devices, applications, and screens. Social TV shares proven advice on how to: Leverage the second screen to drive synched and deeper brand engagement Use social ratings analytics tools to find and target lean-forward audiences Align brand messaging with content as it travels time-shifted across devices Determine the best strategy to approach marketing via connected TVs Test and learn from the most cutting-edge innovations in television The rise of one technology doesn't always mean the end of another. Discover how the convergence of television and the Internet has created new marketing opportunities for your brand. From the Back Cover Praise for Social TV We are at the beginning of social TV's impact on the way audiences experience television and how networks create, market, and measure shows. If you are a TV executive, a content creator, or a brand marketer seeking to engage and understand your audience, Social TV is must read. Mike and Stacey share an essential road map to help you navigate the radically changing landscape of television as it blends with social media. ?Chloe Sladden, Director of Content and Programming, Twitter At the intersection of television, social media, and mobile lies a rapidly growing opportunity for brands to engage with their target audience in powerful and innovative ways. Mike and Stacey could not be more timely and relevant with Social TV as a guide for CMOs and other marketing professionals making their way through a new era of TV to differentiate their brands and drive sales. ?John Costello, Chief Global Marketing and Innovation Officer, Dunkin' Brands This book captures a critical moment in time, when social TV exploded, changing the relationship between TV networks and their audiences forever. TV is no longer a one-way communication; it is a two-way experience for fans and celebrities to participate, share, and grow the conversation around shows and brands as never before. ?Lisa Hsia, Executive Vice President, Bravo Digital Media In Social TV, the authors have taken on a task akin to documenting a hurricane while flying through it. And they have emerged with a book worth every page or ePage it takes up. This book not only documents TV's past and its volatile present, it presents the many possible paths the industry could take. Whether you're in the boardroom or the classroom, you won't get a more complete and more compelling view of TV's changing nature than this. ?James McQuivey, VP and Principal Analyst, Forrester Research The intersection between TV and social media is changing the way we experience entertainment and advertising. Mike Proulx and Stacey Shepatin provide an invaluable, in-the-trenches look at this transformation. Read this and you'll never look at your TV the same way again. ?Todd Wasserman, Business Editor, Mashable About the Author MIKE PROULX is a Senior Vice President and the Director of Social Media at Hill Holliday, leading a team with a focus on cross-channel integration and emerging media. He has spoken at dozens of events and contributed to a number of publications including BusinessWeek. He conceived, produced, directed, and cohosted the TVnext Summit, which took place in early 2011 and 2012. You can follow Mike on Twitter at @McProulx. STACEY SHEPATIN is a Senior Vice President at Hill Holliday and leads the national broadcast buying and strategic media partnerships practice for the agency's portfolio of clients, including Dunkin' Donuts, Chili's, (RED), T.J.Maxx, Marshalls, Liberty Mutual, John Hancock, and HomeGoods. She has won multiple awards for her work and creativity, including the Advertising Age Media Maven award and MediaWeek's Media Plan of the Year.