BIA/Kelsey Analysts Identify Local Media Trends to Watch in 2015

December 3, 2014
Press Releases

Predictions about Apple Pay, same-day delivery and local programmatic bidding among those being presented today at BIA/Kelsey’s LEADING IN LOCAL: Interactive Local Media conference, in San Francisco

CHANTILLY, Va. (Dec. 3, 2014) – BIA/Kelsey has released three of its top trends to watch in local media in 2015. Each year, BIA/Kelsey issues a report of the developments it anticipates the year will bring in local, social, mobile, directional, vertical and video advertising and promotions. This year’s top 10 will be presented to BIA/Kelsey clients today at its LEADING IN LOCAL: Interactive Local Media conference, taking place through Friday, in San Francisco.

“Our annual predictions are more than an entertaining crystal-ball exercise,” said Tom Buono, CEO, BIA/Kelsey. “They represent the culmination of our forecasting and analysis, centered on helping clients get a bead on the year ahead so they can approach the market with the right combination of resources and strategies.”

Prediction #1: Apple Pay Doesn’t Change the Game (Yet)

Michael Boland, BIA/Kelsey’s Chief Analyst and VP, Content, predicts, “Apple Pay will not ‘mainstream’ mobile payments at the retail point of sale (POS) in 2015. It will however cause a dent in in-app payments for offline fulfillment (a la Uber). The numbers don’t work out for POS payments given that the iPhone 6 will not reach ubiquity until late 2015. And merchants will not be incentivized to upgrade POS hardware without that critical mass. It’s an issue of compatibility and network effect. Further, neither consumer nor merchant will be incentivized to adopt unless there is a more compelling value proposition for Apple Pay, such as saving consumers time or skipping store lines.”

Prediction #2: New Era of Same-Day Delivery Deferred

Peter Krasilovsky, BIA/Kelsey’s VP and Chief Analyst anticipates, “A new era of same-day delivery will be slowed down by economic realities and poor synergies with existing products. eBay is already pulling back on its efforts, and we’ll see others – Amazon, Walmart and Google – also begin to pull back from early tests. Same-day delivery might ultimately be reserved for just a few of the largest cities.”

Prediction #3: Programmatic Goes Local

Rick Ducey, BIA/Kelsey’s Managing Director expects, “The explosion of data individuals push out through apps will drive increasingly efficient and effective ad targeting and engagement. Data management platform (DMP) providers will oversee aggregation and curation of increasingly rich data that will fuel programmatic and real-time bidding (RTB) activity in both open and private ad exchanges.”

The full 2015 predictions report is available for download to clients of BIA/Kelsey’s advisory services. For information on becoming a BIA/Kelsey client, please contact spasswaiter@biakelsey.com.

About BIA/Kelsey

BIA/Kelsey advises companies in the local media space through consulting and valuation services, research and forecasts, Custom Advisory Services and conferences. Since 1983 BIA/Kelsey has been a resource to the media, mobile advertising, telecommunications, Yellow Pages and electronic directory markets, as well as to government agencies, law firms and investment companies looking to understand trends and revenue drivers. BIA/Kelsey’s annual conferences draw executives from across industries seeking expert guidance on how companies are finding innovative ways to grow. Additional information is available at https://www.bia.com, on the company’s Local Media Watch blog, Twitter (http://twitter.com/BIAKelsey) and Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/biakelsey). Stay connected by subscribing to the firm’s bi-monthly newsletter.