Moving pictures are ubiquitous in modern media. They are part of

CONTENT
MOVING IMAGES
THE
EVOLUTION
OF MOVING
PICTURES
Moving pictures are ubiquitous in modern media.
They are part of our culture, part of the way we
communicate and have the power to linger long in our
memories. But how have moving images evolved?
And what lies ahead in the future?
By MediaCom Germany
Illustrations by Ciara Phelan
24
MEDIACOM | BLINK #2
BLINK #2 | MEDIACOM
25
CONTENT
MOVING IMAGES
The evolution of the moving picture is a global success story.
Today, the world speaks about cinema, TV and video as the
most natural of things.
Big movies such as Tron Legacy
excite audiences around the world.
Commercials have become an inherent
part of our (pop) culture. Computer
games use sequences of moving pictures
as a matter of course, and smart phones
have turned into small TV sets.
material is uploaded to YouTube and the
amount of new content on the site in
60 days outweighs the number of hours
that the three largest US networks (ABC,
CBS and NBC) have produced in 60 years.
On top of that, YouTube itself is viewed
more than two billion times a day.
In the 19th century, however, at the
These figures prove one thing: moving
beginning of the evolution of the moving
image, even the developers of this new
technology were sceptical about its
future and success:
pictures/videos have become an integral
part of our communication culture.
But as we travel on a journey into the
universe of the moving picture, we need
to consider the following questions:
“The cinema is an invention without a
future,” stated Louis Lumière, one of
the earliest film makers.
Like many predictions, Lumière’s was
quickly proven to be inaccurate. Since the
dawn of the first movie theatres, moving
pictures have captivated and excited.
From the movie theatres to living rooms,
offices to smart phones, moving pictures
can be found all around us.
MORE THAN WE CAN EVER SEE
n the 21st century, the appeal of moving
pictures has continued to increase.
Every minute, 24 hours of new video
•What are the milestones in the
evolution of the moving picture?
•Why are consumers so fascinated by
moving pictures?
•What opportunities and challenges does video give brands and
advertisers?
•Where will the next steps of this
evolution take us?
EVOLUTION LANDSCAPE
26
1880
KAISERPANORAMA
IN WIEN
MEDIACOM | BLINK #2
1895
CINEMA
For the first 125 years, moving pictures
reached their audience in a similar way
to radio broadcasts. As there were only a
limited number of distributors/broadcasters, it was easier for them to reach large
audiences with their messages. One of the
first inventions to take advantage of these
opportunities was the Kaiserpanorama,
launched at the end of the 19th century.
It was a popular mass medium, which
allowed up to 25 people to see a stereoscopic series of images at the same time.
The next step in the evolution came
around 1895, when cinema brought
photography to life. At this time, nobody
could predict the evolution of television,
which took moving pictures into billions
of households. First presented at the radio
show in Berlin in 1928, it wasn’t until
the 1950s that TV became a successful
mass medium. However, it was as early as
1940 that the first TV commercial aired
in the US. Watch company Bulova paid
US$9 for a 20-second spot which showed
the picture of a watch on a map of the
WHAT ARE THE MILESTONES
IN THE EVOLUTION OF THE
MOVING PICTURE?
Whilst the history of painting dates back
many thousands of years, photography
125 YEARS OF BROADCASTING PRODUCERS WORLD: ONE TO MANY
has only been around since 1840, with
moving pictures evolving only over the
last 130 years.
6 YEARS OF CO-CREATION REVOLUTION PROSUMERS WORLD: MANY TO MANY
1940
BERLINER
TV PREMIERE
1940
2005
FIRST TV ADVERTISING
(BULOWA WATCHES
AND JEWELLERY)
USER GENERATED
CONTENT UPLOADS
ON INTERNET
UM 1930 EINFUHRUNG ERSTER
(FIRST YOUTUBE VIDEO “ME AT THE ZOO”)
VIDEOS
GOES
PERSONAL
VIDEOS GOES
PERSONAL
THINKING FACTS REASON LANGUAGE
MEMORY ANSWERS ASSOCIATIONS MINDS EMOTIONS MOTIVATIONS
It is decisive for the success of communication to reach the autopilot
US, accompanied by a voice over stating
“America runs on Bulova time.” It was
the beginning of a very unique and long
success story that remained unparalleled
until the dawn of the internet.
In the last six years we have seen a new
development in the evolution of moving
pictures, with the launch of video portals
such as YouTube. These portals allow
consumers to produce, distribute and
interact with videos in ways that have
never been seen before. We are slowly
beginning to understand the impact that
this fundamental change in distribution
structure has had.
WHY ARE CONSUMERS
SO FASCINATED BY
MOVING PICTURES?
Today’s consumers are bombarded with
a new brand messages every 15 seconds.
They come via more channels than ever
before. The consumer’s brain can however
only process a fraction of this information,
so the goal for advertisers is to close the
gap between information overload and
processing capacity in people’s brains.
MOVING PICTURES
ADDRESS THE AUTOPILOT
In most countries, the FMCG market is
oversaturated, meaning brands have
to work harder to ensure that they are
anchored clearly in potential consumers’
minds. Nowadays, the product-related
USP (Unique Selling Proposition)
According to neuroscientists, our brain
has two centres that are relevant for product communication: the so-called “pilot”
and “autopilot”. For communications to
speak to the consumer successfully, they
have to reach the consumer’s autopilot.
Rational thinking, the consideration
doesn’t help to differentiate a product
in a sustainable way that much. Many
products do not differ in their basic
characteristics: all detergents wash
clothes and all toothpastes clean teeth…
what’s key for successful brands is the
perceived brand value a consumer has:
what makes this detergent unique in the
consumer’s eyes? Promotional communications have to be able to answer
this question and position the brand in
a way that adds value in the world of
the consumer. Often, a good 30-second
spot can do more to reach that goal than
other forms of advertising: the abstract
brand values of emotional characteristics
can only be explained via TV.
of facts and usage of language happen
in the conscious pilot, while the larger
part of our brain, the autopilot, focuses
on emotions, associations, memories,
attitudes and basic motivations so that it
can quickly act in a “correct” way.
Many decisions are made unconsciously
or “implicitly” in our brain’s autopilot.
And it is that part of our brain that is
responsible for 90% of all final decisions
for or against a brand.
This small exercise will help you discover
the extent to which the autopilot and its
implicit processes influence our actions.
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CONTENT
MOVING IMAGES
RECIPROCATION CAN MAKE US THANK
THE SENDER FOR A WELL TOLD STORY
- BY BUYING THE BRAND
EXERCISE:
MOVING PICTURES – TELLING STORIES
Read out the table loud – only the colour of the words (implicit)
not the words themselves (explicit). Who wins, the implicit
autopilot or the explicit pilot?
What’s your favourite TV spot?
Think about it… What makes this spot special? How can a
20-30 seconds movie get into your memory in a way that you
not only like to think about it, but that you probably also tell
your friends about it?
YELLOW
YELLOW
BLUE
BLUE
YELLOW
GREEN
GREEN
GREEN
RED
YELLOW
GREEN
WHITE
YELLOW
BLUE
RED
BLACK
RED
RED
YELLOW
BLUE
RED
BLUE
RED
GREEN
RED
Normally, the implicit and explicit system harmonise well with
each other. This example shows you how important the implicit
system is and how it can overcome to the explicit perception.
Neuromarketing experts have identified four different codes that
can be used to reach the autopilot:
1. Symbolic codes (protagonists of advertising, brand logos etc.)
2. Linguistic codes (characteristics of language in ads)
3. Sensory codes (colours, forms, sounds etc)
4. Episodic codes (the stories)
The stories and their orchestration as a picture story provide a
frame, which facilitates our interpretation of what’s happening,
and that way provide us with a feeling of security.
WHAT OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES DO
VIDEO SPOTS GIVE BRANDS AND ADVERTISERS?
These four different elements show the strength of advertising
with moving pictures: unlike all other forms of advertising, video
allows brands to connect all four codes. Moving pictures use all
It is very natural for humans to get good feelings from things
that are familiar and recognisable. German Marketing professor Franz-Rudolf Esch speaks of “Mental convenience against
consumer confusion”. The apparent registration/understanding
of a fact makes people take “advertising as information”, and
therefore the consumer doesn’t feel any conflict when it comes
four codes to get the brand image into the autopilot.
to making a decision.
SYMBOL
28
It’s very simple: it has an impressive story. No matter if it is
funny or sad, slow or quick, with lots of dialogue or just images
with music. What’s important is the story behind it. Stories not
only connect information and emotions in a unique way, they
also reduce complexity. The phrase “a picture tells more than
a thousand words” refers to the fact that (moving) pictures
can activate our autopilot much faster than any other form of
communication.
MEDIACOM | BLINK #2
STORY
SENSOR
SPEECH
If we easily understand the story of a commercial, the
“advertising” (which we tend to resist) transforms into
“product information” (which is readily taken in). Moving
images are the easiest way to make a story understandable,
because they can make use of episodic codes. Moving images
can also be thanked for the ability to create good feelings of
mental convenience with the ability to even make the receiver
feel obligated to give a favour in return for the message. This
effect, called reciprocation, can make us thank the sender for a
well-told story – by buying the brand!
A spot for Canal+ which can be seen on [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWcc2hCwsWM]
shows how the power of stories can be used.
Or use this 2D barcode
MOVING PICTURES & MOOD MANAGEMENT:
IT’S ALL A QUESTION OF MOOD
The media also delivers what can be called ‘mood management’. Cinema is typically an escapism medium that takes
the viewer on a two-hour journey away from their own lives.
A 30-second TV spot shares this ability to take the audience
into another world. Even online, a cleverly executed 10 second
pre-roll or homepage takeover has the ability to tell a story that
takes the audience into an exciting, entertaining world, if only
for a very short time.
By using moving pictures, it is possible to actively improve
consumers’ moods. Depending on the content, two strong
archaic user motives can be served: social downward and
social upward comparison. If the consumer is presented with a
world in which the protagonist is worse off – because they use
the “wrong” brand, for example – the consumer is left feeling
better because they don’t have to repeat that error. This is a
theme often used by detergents, because the failure of using
the wrong product can be clearly shown.
If the audience is presented with a dream world - attainable
or not - it is an “upward comparison”. It will still generate a
positive mood because of the potential to be part of that dream
world. This comparison is popular with FMCG luxury products
such as chocolates or champagne and high involvement
products such as cars.
CO CREATION IS KING
“In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15
minutes“ – Andy Warhol
What Andy Warhol anticipated in 1968 is more real now than
ever before. The decisive game changer was the introduction
and rapid expansion of the internet. Offerings such as video
portal YouTube - where video content worth 46.2 years in total
is being watched every day - and other social networks such as
Facebook have structurally changed how we consume moving
pictures. And this content does not have to be ready for an
Oscar in order to become famous for a few minutes. What is
still important, however, is the story and the authenticity.
Alongside the web, which offers the infrastructure for sharing
multimedia content, devices like flip cams and mobile phones
with cameras allow for the uncomplicated production of videos
that are still high quality.
Today, everyone can be a producer, director and actor all in
one. The YouTube channels with most subscribers are currently
administered by private individuals. High quality and entertaining movies can be created relatively simply. NigaHiga, the
publisher of the YouTube channel with most subscribers – more
than three million – is a good example. What would – at the
most - have been shown to friends on a Hi8 video 10 years ago
has already reached more than 8 million people. In total, the
contents of this page have been viewed over 660 million times!
The scientific basics of mood management, perceived value,
mental convenience and implicit autopilot, all back up a very
important finding:
The brand that entertains wins (us as customers)!
This principle has successfully evolved from a one-to-many
into a many-to-many world in recent years. At the same time,
this world also means new challenges for brands and their
communications with their customers.
NigaHiga is a private YouTube channel
with more than 3 million subscribers
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CONTENT
MOVING IMAGES
MAKING A QUICK ESCAPE INTO ANOTHER
WORLD FULL OF IMAGES IS BECOMING A
MAINSTREAM ACTIVITY
Since 2010, YouTube has become an
integral part of online campaigns
with the site offering much more than
pre-rolls. Decisively, people are more
inclined to believe messages when they
are sent by friends as opposed to by the
brand itself. These messages are also
considered more relevant as well.
“People understand brand communica-
- and more than 30,000 smart phone
users (iPhone and Android) used the free
“voice apps” which allowed people to
record the song. Following the high reach
teaser on TV, the website of Deutsche
Telekom received 13,000 uploads from
all over Germany. Afterwards, Thomas D
compiled all of the recordings to produce
a new remix of the song. Uploaded video
tion. But they really trust their friends’
brand experiences.”
material was used to produce more TV
spots for the campaign – which made
many participants famous for a few
seconds, if not for 15 minutes.
CO-CREATION
INCREASE CREDIBILITY
A successful example of how consumer
co-creation can help a brand’s message
can be seen in a recent commercial for
Deutsche Telekom. For the commercial,
the German telecoms company recruited
Thomas D, a well-known rapper from
German band Die Fantastischen Vier, to
help them create the largest online choir
of all time. In the TV spot, the rap star
reached out to the nation, encouraging
viewers to log on to a special website
and record a version of “7 Seconds“ by
Youssou N’Dour and Neneh Cherry.
This example shows a mixture of
broadcasting and co-creation. In the first
phase, the critical mass was addressed
via a well-established TV channel and
then, in phase two, consumers were
asked to participate online in Thomas D’s
remix. The third phase involved using
this user-generated content to create a
new TV ad. This intelligent mixture of
moving pictures in classic and digital
media successfully promoted the brand’s
message “Life is for sharing”.
As a result, 1.3 million people visited the
online platforms (Facebook and landing
The Deutsche Telekom example shows
how reach and involvement can be combined. New digital advertising material
page) - generating 6.7 million page views
even takes the next step: by personalising
SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN
TO INVOLVE INTERESTED
TARGET GROUP
REUSE OF CONTENT IN TV
TO INTEGRATE PARTICIPANTS
ON A BROADCASTING PLATFORM
MEDIACOM | BLINK #2
The success of the concept lies in the
fact that the publisher defines a frame
as regards to content and form and the
consumer is asked to contribute within
this frame. By integrating his or her photo,
name and peer group, the consumer
becomes the co-director of the story and
feels proud of his/her achievement as a
publisher. This makes him communicate
the results independently among friends,
effectively distributing the brand message
to more and more people.
Ideally, these will be people who, in
return, will like the content and chose to
distribute it themselves. These involved
users can help brands deliver content to
specific target group, easily and efficiently.
1.000.000,0
900.000,0
800.000,0
700.000,0
600.000,0
500.000,0
400.000,0
300.000,0
200.000,0
100.000,0
-
OTHER OS
WINDOWS PHONE
IOS
RIM
ANDROID
SYMBRIAN
Source: Gartner 2010
2009
30
Personalised videos have existed for a
few years. The technology behind it is
being improved constantly so that it’s
really easy today to integrate your own
photos or those of your friends, e.g. via
Facebook Connect.
FORECAST: MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS DEVICE OPEN
OS SALES TO END USERS BY OS (THOUSANDS OF UNITS)
DEUTSCHE TELEKOM - CO-CREATION USED SUCCESSFULLY IN ADVERTISING
TV COPY
TO GAIN HIGH REACH
video, consumers are encouraged to
forward videos even more.
2010
2011
2014
Personalized videos can create
increased distribution
WHERE WILL THE
EVOLUTION TAKE US?
Market research company Gartner
estimates that the number of smart
phones will increase by 325% by 2014.
Sophisticated handsets ensure that video
is a constant companion - 24 hours a day,
seven days a week.
Imagine a typical situation in a subway.
You will probably see various people
typing short messages on their mobile
phones, maybe listening to music via
their iPhones or watching vodcasts on
their smartphones.
The use of a mobile device in situations
where you would traditionally have
New tablet devices will boost mobile
consumption of video to yet new levels.
In 2010, more than 17 million tablets
were sold globally. Apple’s iPad was the
pathfinder for this exciting development,
with a market share of over 87%.
had to wait for something has become
habitual. The following visual shows
that the usage of video content has the
largest growth. Making a quick escape
into another world full of images is
becoming a mainstream activity.
The ubiquitous availability of moving images is more than just hype.
Entertainment will always be available
with these mobile devices, be it as games,
movies or short videos via platforms like
YouTube. Even the traditional telephone
call is now enriched by video. Apple’s
Facetime application and cameras that
are built into these smart phones allow
for the production and distribution of
videos on the go.
The ad industry will have to understand
how ad messages and brand benefits can
be integrated into this intelligent form
On tablets and other mobile devices
it’s not just ‘lean-back’ entertainment
that people use. This is complemented
by active ‘lean-forward’ entertainment.
The usage of tablets builds on learned
cultural techniques – such as print
(turning pages instead of scrolling) – and
enriches them with moving images. By
using touchscreens, the recipient can
engage with what’s happening in the
video and can become part of the story.
Watch the example of the Volkswagen
magazine DAS: http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=z7cx3WCsiow to see how these
of dialog.
can be used in advertising.
Mobile video consumption is reaching a new level
ESCAPE TO AN
ENHANCED REALITY
The best stories are those that happen to
us. By using a mobile phone camera and
a software programme (such as Layar,
Junaio, Wikitude etc.), Augmented Reality
can enhance real environments with
digital content and form new stories told
in moving images.
The contents of these services are
completely geared to the location of the
user and therefore offer not only locationbased services but also location-based
advertising (delivery of ads right next to
a POS).
Location tracking helps guarantee that
ads are delivered at timely moments
in a user’s journey, at times when they
might be truly receptive. Moreover, these
ads might attract consumer interest
by surprising them with moment of
creativity, perhaps in the form of a short
sequence with moving images. Ultimately,
Augmented Reality can tap into one of
the dominant character traits that we all
share as human beings: curiosity.
Augmented reality can form new stories
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ILLUSTRATION CIARA PHELAN
CONTENT
MOVING IMAGES
32
MEDIACOM | BLINK #2
(Le Bar Guide,
Stella Artois)
WHEREVER YOU ARE,
THERE’S A STORY
Brands have already started using these
new possibilities. On one hand, they invite
consumers into the brand world and to
let them experience stories to exchange
with their friends, on the other they help
activate the consumer to show him the
way to the product.
Brand communications need to adapt
to mobile phones as this medium offers
unique challenges. Mobile is one of the
few media channels that can be both
intimate and public at the same time,
allowing for private text messaging and
live broadcasting. But as we are only just
beginning to explore these new opportunities, we need to keep learning to ensure
the continued growth of broadcasting,
interaction and co-creation on the mobile
device.
OUTLOOK: NEVER-ENDING
STORY OR BIG HYPE?
perspectives: technology, consumer
psychology and effectiveness research.
Doing to Our Brains, Nicholas Carr critically challenges the influence of “new”
1) Technology
Augmented Reality and mobile phones
offer new technical opportunities for
moving pictures and provide unique
story-telling techniques and ways to get
consumers involved. Quite how moving
pictures will succeed on these devices is
as yet unclear, and will only be discovered by trial and error. To help, agencies
and brands need to create cases that
demonstrate successful communication
techniques.
media on our brains. Using internet-based
media makes us faster at processing
information but also more superficial
when it comes to handling it. Studies on
ads with moving images on the internet
prove that pre-roll ads are most effective when they are 8-15 seconds long.
Intelligent market research tools need to
help make the creation and placements
of these ads efficient. Research tools
such as eye tracking help to measure the
efficiency of ads with moving images
and need to be involved in the process of
creating ads at an earlier stage.
Another major trend is 3D: 3D technology has jumped into the lives of children
with the launch of Nintendo’s 3DS
console, although it still remains to be
seen if the 3D technology will provide
even better access to consumers’
autopilots for moving pictures.
2) Consumer psychology
New technological developments mean
new opportunities to involve consumers.
However, it is important to consider how
much active lean-forward engagement
consumers can bear on a permanent
basis before a longing for passive leanback engagement develops. Some brands
have already had good experiences with
co-creation offers (www.mymagnum.com
placed the consumer as the protagonist of
a Hollywood-like commercial) and paved
the way for more user-generated video
content.
Eyetracking-Heatmap of a Commercial
for the company RWE shows a strong
focus on the brand logo on the left side
and also a strong awareness of the actor,
who is well-known in Germany.
Eyetracking-Heatmap of a Commercial for the
Company „RWE“ (see on the left side a strong focus
on the brand logo and also a strong awareness for
the actor, who is well-known in Germany)
CONCLUSION:
Video is a silver bullet into the minds of
When we think about the future of
moving images, we can be pretty sure
that they will remain fascinating for
another 130 years. Moving pictures are all
around us and have entered landmark ad
spaces in big cities, shop windows and on
our mobile devices. They accompany us
everywhere in our daily lives. The success
of moving images and our cultural
affection for ad spots tells us that video
provides a powerful way of influencing
consumers.
On the other hand, the success of Hulu
and other platforms demonstrate that
involvement still hinges around one
thing: Video on Demand – content that
users can receive whenever they want
it. Brands should not over tighten the
screw of interactivity. Instead they should
remember that one the biggest strengths
of moving images is their ability to
reduce complexity and increase the
good feelings that consumers feel when
someone else explains how the world is
working.
The future of moving pictures can
be looked at from three different
3) Effectiveness research
In The Shallows: What the Internet Is
consumers. Video uses all four elements
to reach people’s autopilots and to
generate a mental convenience for the
consumer. Good video advertising is
seen less as advertising and more as a
rousing story.
Innovative research tools will help us
analyse many new opportunities from
augmented reality to mobile video in
order to deliver such ads with a maximum efficiency and effectiveness.
Bright prospects for brands lead to
bright prospects for consumers.
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CONTENT
MOVING IMAGES
MOVING IMAGES
QUICK READER
WHAT ARE THE MILE STONES IN THE
EVOLUTION OF MOVING PICTURES?
The evolution of moving images, which started 130 years ago, is
happening faster than ever. Having started as an attraction in amusement
parks, moving images soon found their way into cinemas and from
there into our living rooms. With the launch of internet and the new
opportunities of distribution, production and interaction that follow, a
new chapter was opened in the history of the moving image.
WHY ARE THE CONSUMERS
FASCINATED BY MOVING PICTURE?
Every day, consumers are faced with lots of information and are forced
to make lots of decisions. This information overload makes consumers
use implicit knowledge when they need to make decisions. A perceived
brand value is often more important than the USP of a product and can
be conveyed to consumers via video and the stories they tell.
WHAT OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES
DOES VIDEO GIVE BRANDS AND ADVERTISERS?
Moving images can manage moods: consumers’ moods can be
influenced by communicating social downward and upward comparisons.
New media offers the chance to actively involve consumers in the
creation of video. This kind of co-creation increases the credibility of a
brand’s message and potential for it to be forwarded. Brands can create a
framework that increases consumer involvement and guides creativity in
a preferred way.
WHERE WILL THE EVOLUTION TAKE US?
Mobile will be a strong driver in spread of moving images, as video will
be available everywhere and at any time – on demand. At the same
time, new opportunities for usage and control offer new opportunities
to interact. While it is possible to generate eye-catching wow effects
at the moment, one must not forget that mobile is the most intimate
of all media and that advertisers must continue to communicate in an
adequate way.
http://mashable.com/2010/12/09/innovative-viral-videos-2010/
34
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ILLUSTRATION CIARA PHELAN