 | John GaffneyJohn Gaffney has been part of the Internet marketing world since the mid-90s via executive positions at Perot Systems and Yahoo, and as an award-winning journalist at Revolution, Mediapost, Business 2.0, 1to1 Media and DemandGen Report. |
DigiRant: Steve Jobs For PresidentWednesday, September 1, 2010Apple's debut of Ping is the right move at the right time for social media regardless of what company you are. Social media will spread out and allow different brands. Facebook will be the WalMart of the category, which is great for them but also leaves a lot of room for innovation and specialization. Kind of like Prince sang back in the day: “You can be the president; I’d rather be the Pope.” Marketing, SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
DigiRant: Retargeting Needs Some 411Tuesday, August 31, 2010Retargeting sounded like a good idea when I first heard of it. It was an efficient use of data. A logical progression of behavioral targeting and serving the right ads at the right time. I still believe that. But like a lot of people in the digital marketing and content business, I miscalculated the most important thing: The Customer Experience. Media, TechnologyRead more | Comments (3) |
Digital Content Today: Gray Wave Goes SocialMonday, August 30, 2010The “gray wave” is hitting social media. While most companies are approaching social networks with Millennials in mind, older consumers have doubled their use of social media over the past year, according to Pew Internet research. Although email continues to be the primary way that older users maintain contact with their professional and personal networks, almost half (47%) of Internet users ages 50-64 and one in four (26%) users age 65 and older now use social networking sites. Marketing, SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
DigiRant: Refreshing Social Best PracticesMonday, August 30, 2010Here's a look at three best practices Pepsi and others have established in the spate of social media promotions that started pre-Super Bowl and have continued through the summer. These practices have gone beyond the “give’em something to talk about” philosophy that has defined the age of advertising engagement. Outrageous car crashes and bizarre 30 second spots have been displaced by more compelling long-term social strategies. Marketing, SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
BtoB Connects With New Digital ScaleFriday, August 27, 2010BtoB companies and publishers are finding that quantity may actually give way to quality where niche businesses are at stake. Smaller scale is becoming a marketable commodity in the BtoB business. A good example can be seen at Canon Communications. The company is a leading producer of exhibitions and media brands for technology-based manufacturing industries. Earlier this month it launched a new platform that enables behavioral targeted advertising and content opportunities across its 45 business-to-business websites. [...] Marketing, MetricsRead more | Comments (0) |
Digital Content Today: Good News For eHealthThursday, August 26, 2010Two new reports out today show that eHealth solutions are being used by doctors and are finding favor with consumers. A comScore report found that 81% of physicians online visited Health Care Professional (HCP) content sites in Q1 2010, claiming the most-visited health-related content category among physicians. HCP sites also captured 48% of physicians’ overall time spent on health-related sites, the largest share of any category. And a Deloitte survey has found consumers want to be connected to their personal healthcare and information by mobile devices. [...] Marketing, MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
DigiRant: Death Of The Long TailWednesday, August 25, 2010By now you have read enough about Matt Richtel’s series in The New York Times about what constant digital interaction will do to our attention-addled brains. I believe this series is first, extremely well reported and written, and two the culmination of a trend that has been brewing for a while. The recognition about the destructive forces of always on digital information will have a big effect on the workplace. It will be a tipping point for personal work habits. However, this is not a management journal. [...] Marketing, MediaRead more | Comments (6) |
PointRoll Takes Ford To Video TrackWednesday, August 25, 2010We know from recent studies that consumer’s want to play on their social networks, play games, and check email. In order to be successful with today’s distracted target audience, digital campaigns need to bring as many points of attraction as possible. This week PointRoll took the wraps off a new campaign with Ford that integrated online video, expandable ad units, contextual placement, and multiple creative executions. Its success could provide some clues as to how the automotive category will approach digital marketing. [...] Marketing, MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
Digital Content Today: Online Local Set For GrowthTuesday, August 24, 2010It was Tip O’Neil who said, “all politics is local.” Maybe online advertising is too. Borrell Associates is predicting a bold growth rate for online ads in 2011, led by local advertising. The company’s latest predictions place total online ad spending to grow almost 14%, from $45.6 billion, in 2010, to $51.9 billion, in 2011. The fastest-growing segments, it says, will be local, targeted display, and “everything” involving social media. Marketing, Media, SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
Evenflo Taps Into Breastfeeding Social PassionTuesday, August 24, 2010As August winds down, so does National Breastfeeding Month. That fact may spur some wiseguy comments from the peanut gallery but it is a serious and passionate issue for many women and the subject of an innovative new digital marketing effort form Evenflo. Evenflo’s subsidiary Ameda, which makes breast milk pumps and accessories, has capitalized on the passion and information need around breastfeeding with a social media campaign that started at the beginning of August, called “I Breastfeed Because. [...] Marketing, SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
DigiRant: Five To Watch For After VacationSunday, August 22, 2010As the summer fades and the inevitable back-to-work anxiety builds, it's time to consider the balance of what has turned out so far to be a typically unpredictable year in Internet content and advertising. This is not a lame year in review. But it is the five trends and stories to watch as the rest of 2010 plays out. Marketing, MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
Facebook Places Faces Privacy ConcernsThursday, August 19, 2010Facebook Places debuted to a typical hoot and holler reaction yesterday. The hollers came from the millions of Facebook users that wanted the geo-location applications that Foursquare and others have made so popular. The hoots came from privacy advocacy groups, with the California ACLU posting an informal complaint on its website. Marketing, SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
DigiRant: Handling The Truth About Digital MediaWednesday, August 18, 2010Let’s face it digital media conferences are not meant to surprise and provoke these days. They are meant to generate ideas and innovation, and at their best, turn you out with a better understanding of the possibilities for your business. But twice during Monday’s DIGIDAY:Apps conference, I was stopped in my tracks. First by Robin Steinberg; next by Kevin Hyson. Marketing, MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
More LiveApps: Finding The Social LinkMonday, August 16, 2010There’s a reason the app world is exploding and appssavvy CEO Chris Cunningham says it’s simple. In migrating to new social platforms, brands are driving app growth by finding the new center of customer engagement. His luncheon keynote at DIGIDAY:Apps gave evidence of this trend through customers and new research showing that 33 percent of consumers interact most intensely on the web and 27 percent on mobile. Other media were also-rans. Marketing, Mobile, SocialRead more | Comments (1) |
LiveApps: New Models For Print ContentMonday, August 16, 2010In the end it all comes down to the business model. Even in the face of the dispersion of the audience and the flagging numbers surrounding print, business models came front and center at DIGIDAY:Apps on Monday in New York City. Although apps will not save print content, panelists were almost unanimous in their belief that it provides new opportunities for growth and engagement. Marketing, Media, MetricsRead more | Comments (0) |
DigiRant: Place Your Bets On Internet GamblingMonday, August 9, 2010Internet gambling will be a legal reality by this time next year. Maybe sooner. And it will have major ramifications for Internet content and advertising as companies that you might not have taken ads from in September 2010, start to look legit in September 2011. In fact, I think the major issue concerning Internet gambling is not whether it will happen, but whether you’re company is ready. Marketing, MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
FCC Bails On Net Neutrality TalksFriday, August 6, 2010And on day two the FCC bailed. That was the major news on day two of the Google-Verizon saga, a day in which Google also denied that the two companies were close to a deal that would neutralize the net neutrality debate. According to a report in PC World the FCC has called off negotiations on a network neutrality compromise scheduled for the coming days, saying the talks have not been fruitful enough. Earlier yesterday a Verizon representative said that reports around the Verizon-Google negotiations “fundamentally misunderstands our purpose. [...] Marketing, MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
Digital Content Today: WeShop And We Opt-OutFriday, August 6, 2010Consumer data and targeting continued to take center stage this past week, with two major moves to protect consumer profiles. WeShop, a one-year-old New York-based start-up operating in private beta, announced some high-profile investors, and ReputationDefender announced a paid model for consumers to take their data private. Marketing, MediaRead more | Comments (1) |
Content For iPad Makes New StridesThursday, August 5, 2010Content created specifically for the iPad benefited from a few major announcements this week. Zinio announced an innovative new package from its partnership with Rolling Stone magazine, and Sideways announced what could be the first actual readership study from an iPad specific content property. Marketing, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Google And Verizon Go In Through The Out DoorThursday, August 5, 2010Sometimes you wake up in the morning and nothing is the same. Welcome to one of those mornings. Looks like Google and Verizon will try to put together an arrangement that finds a loophole in net neutrality and potentially changes the economics for digital publishing and consumption. And all this time the attention was on the “real” action, at the FCC. MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
