Last week, Mark Kroese, who heads up advertising in our Entertainment & Devices Division, kicked off the Microsoft workshop at Cannes Lions 2010 - delivering an interesting session on the transformation of advertising in TV and how it will become more personalized through unique experiences that are largely driven by you. Really…you and your friends—what Microsoft calls the red thread that connects all of you, your social breadth will change and influence the content you see.

Mark called it the four Ps: Participate, Predict, Prove and Play. Throughout the workshop he encouraged audience participation and rewarded those brave souls willing to share their insights on advertising. Sharing the microphone were folks from partner companies:  Tim Hong from EmSense, Bridget O’Toole from comScore, Gerardo Guzman from Nielsen Games, and Scott Ferris with Microsoft.

Gerardo Guzman of Nielsen called it anytime, anywhere media measurement with content continuing to be separated from the device. What does that mean for marketers and the media industry? It means new ways to deliver content and expanded opportunities to communicate with your customers.

Dramatically, TV usage by younger demographics is going down—Nielsen research shows that these audiences are opting for the best screen available whether it’s online, mobile or TV. My favorite stat shared by Nielsen: an astounding 44% (short-form video) viewing occurs at work. A little video viewing at lunch, anyone?

The workshop was well attended—standing room only. A robust Q&A ended the workshop followed by an audience-led demo of Kinect.

Throughout it all the speakers continued to weave the message around the four Ps: Participate, Predict, Prove, Play. However, they forgot one P: Prizes. A few chosen audience members who submitted written answers to the question: what do you think TV will be like in the future? went home with a crystal ball that said “I saw the future of TV on Xbox LIVE – Cannes 2010”.

Given interactive TV, on-demand viewing, DVRs, TiVo, Hulu, Canoe and TV Everywhere—the landscape for capturing your audience is complex, but with digital in the mix there is always an opportunity to measure and focus the delivery of your message.

In March Mark wrote a blog post on the same topic, and below you can see an interview Mel Carson did with him right after the workshop:

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Thanks,

Kelley