Digital Lifescapes

British consumer products advertisers have been looking forward to the London 2012 Olympics. The total media advertising spend is set for a significant increase in new growth this year -- due partly to Olympics related promotional activities. eMarketer now estimates that with total spending forecast to reach $24.21 billion -- it's increased by about 4.5 percent. In a tough European economic environment, that's considered to be a big bonus. And, according to the results of a recent market study, a record amount of that ad spending will be online. eMarketer estimates that fully one in three ad campaign spending in the UK will be digital this year -- a figure that will rise to nearly one in two by 2016. Mobile ad spending is on an even stronger growth trajectory, estimated to be up by 70.3 percent this year after a record rise of 144.8 percent in 2011. Mobile spending is still growing from a small base, however, and as total spend increases, growth will moderate. By 20...

The upcoming summer Olympic Games in London, England will set a precedent for the use and application of advanced digital technology -- that's from the perspective of both multimedia content producers and consumers. The BBC says that London 2012 will be the first truly digital Games. They will ensure audiences never miss a moment, delivering unprecedented coverage across multiple digital platforms -- so that sports fans can stay up to date wherever they are, whenever they want to view the action. The BBC will give audiences more choice, with access to: Every Olympic event, sport and venue live, on-demand and interactive on bbc.co.uk/sport , with up to 24 live HD streams and 2,500 hours of coverage. Pages for every athlete, sport, venue and country, enabling detailed access to real-time updated Olympics data, statistics and news. High quality coverage that’s personal and social, enabling audiences to follow and favorite every athlete, sport, event and country and get tailore...

I'm attending the Digital Shoreditch Festival, later this month when I visit London, England (my home town). One of the storyline topics that I'll be researching is how the savvy local digital media talent will be capitalizing on the upcoming London 2012 Summer Olympics event coverage. According to the latest assessment by eMarketer, in 2012 the total advertising spending growth within the UK will outpace the rest of Europe and the U.S. market for one reason: the highly anticipated global media buzz that will surround the London Olympics. In February, Strategy Analytics forecast that total ad spending in the UK will increase by 4.2 percent, compared to 3.7 percent in Europe overall and 2.7 percent in the U.S. marketplace. The boost from the Summer Olympics will push the UK closer to the worldwide average of 4.9 percent, which is buoyed by fast growth in emerging markets like China, Brazil and India. By comparison, eMarketer estimates that UK total advertising spendin...

The upcoming London 2012 Summer Olympics is being billed as the most connected sporting event the world has ever seen. The United Kingdom has one of the world's most developed digital ecosystems -- the ICT, software and digital content sectors are estimated to be worth £100 billion combined. According to the latest market study by eMarketer , the UK is considered a leading Digital Nation -- measured by the percentage of the British population that accesses the internet regularly, and the amount of time spent online by those internet users. A near-ubiquitous, multi-layered web infrastructure drives increased adoption. Internet usage is expanding to all demographic segments and it's being accessed via a wider variety of wired and wireless digital devices. "For the three-quarters of the UK population who are web users, the internet is everywhere," said Karin von Abrams, eMarketer senior analyst. "British consumers are accustomed to managing several web-ena...