 Google vs. Microsoft: Let the 2D Mobile Barcode Wars Beginby Eric Wilson on Wednesday, July 28, 2010 Marketers like Calvin Klein are jumping on the 2D barcode bandwagon, giving mobile phone users access to exclusive content, discounts and other goodies. It's an emerging market, but there's already showdown shaping up in terms of barcode formats, and the players are the usual suspects: Google and Microsoft. Find out how Microsoft's Tags stack up against Google's QR Codes in the follow up to Eric Wilson's first feature post. Mobile, TechnologyRead more | Comments (2) |
Name That App: TRONby Matt Kapko on Tuesday, July 27, 2010 There are thousands of apps in the App Store, Android Market and BlackBerry App World -- but not all of them are worth your time or money. So how do you cut through the clutter? Every Tuesday, digiday:DAILY gives you the rundown on the app that should be on your radar. This week's app: TRON Mobile, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
The Fuel: What Parents Need To Know About Social Mediaby Holly Pavlika on Friday, July 23, 2010 As part of a continuing series on social media and Moms, it's time to take a look at the darker side of the interactions online. Parents need to know their “denial” is a predator’s best friend. Nine out of 10 parents will never know there was any inappropriate contact made on the Internet. But they don't need to be so clueless. Marketing, SocialRead more | Comments (2) |
Improving Email: Crafting an Effective Communications Strategyby Nick Godfrey on Friday, July 23, 2010 Email may not be the "sexy" new marketing tool, but it can be one of the most effective methods for reaching consumers in an increasingly fragmented and frenzied online landscape. It's also easy to track, which means determining the ROI is less difficult than with some of the shinier new channels. Still, an email is only good if your target clicks through to read it. In the first installment of DIGIDAY:DAILY'S Improving Email series, Nick Godfrey explains why better email -- with a higher open-rate -- starts with a well-crafted strategy. [...] MarketingRead more | Comments (1) |
The Marketing of Marketing: Or Why We Need Better Messages, Not Better Tacticsby Joey Reiman on Wednesday, July 21, 2010 Mass marketing. Direct marketing. Guerrilla marketing. Viral marketing. The name of what we do changes, but we're still pushing the same kinds of messages at consumers. There is no root for the word "marketing," which should be a hint as to whether it has any purpose at all. But if we change the intention behind our efforts toward a more sustainable future, maybe the messages will reach consumers without so much effort. MarketingRead more | Comments (2) |
Find And Reward Your Biggest Brand Fansby Jon Siegal on Tuesday, July 20, 2010 Every brand knows instinctively that its biggest fans are worth their weight in gold, but just how much is an online fan actually worth today? Industry research shows that top fans can influence over 30% of a brand’s overall sales just by recommending the company’s products and services to their wider social networks. As a brand marketer, your job is to find these fans, continually reward them for their loyalty, and make it easy for them to share the latest deals and information about your products. [...] Marketing, MobileRead more | Comments (0) |
Name That App: Wazeby Matt Kapko on Tuesday, July 20, 2010 There are thousands of apps in the App Store, Android Market and BlackBerry App World -- but not all of them are worth your time or money. So how do you cut through the clutter? Every Tuesday, digiday:DAILY gives you the rundown on the app that should be on your radar. This week's app: Waze. Mobile, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Bought the Farm: Handicapping Google's Big Investment in Zyngaby Seana Mulcahy on Sunday, July 18, 2010 Google has reportedly invested at least $100 million in Zynga, effectively cementing Zynga's status as the number one social gaming company in the market. Seana digs into the myriad benefits this partnership could have for Google and Zynga -- but also for digital marketing execs trying to reach targeted audiences on behalf of their brand clients. Marketing, SocialRead more | Comments (1) |
The Fuel: Five Social Mistakes To Avoidby Veronika Harbick on Sunday, July 18, 2010 Social media is a consumer’s closest connection to a brand. There are many companies out there doing it right, but for those who are still developing their strategy and building resources – and for those who want a refresher – here’s a look at the top five mistakes brands are making. SocialRead more | Comments (1) |
The Harvard Sailing Team: To Brand or Not To Brandby Annie Stamell on Thursday, July 15, 2010 Taking a change of course, this week The Buzz is looking at a series of web shorts that lacks brand sponsorship, in an attempt to discern how a branded partnership could benefit the humorous stylings of sketch comedy group The Harvard Sailing Team, and how in turn, this crew of comics could benefit the right brand. Marketing, MediaRead more | Comments (1) |
AdOps: Stop Running from the Ugly Truthby Rob Beeler on Wednesday, July 14, 2010 Are you using Excel as your ad operations management platform? Is your sales team struggling to create custom packages because they don't actually know what inventory is available and when? DM2PRO.com and Operative asked AdMonsters to help reach out to our community of ad operations professionals to complete a survey on the issues facing Ad Operations -- and we found that there were plenty. But they're not without solutions, it just requires everyone to acknowledge that there's a big problem, first. [...] Marketing, MediaRead more | Comments (1) |
Name That App: Junaio 2.0by Matt Kapko on Tuesday, July 13, 2010 There are thousands of apps in the App Store, Android Market and BlackBerry App World -- but not all of them are worth your time or money. So how do you cut through the clutter? Every Tuesday, digiday:DAILY gives you the rundown on the app that should be on your radar. This week's app: Junaio 2.0. Mobile, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
The Fuel: Brands Should Consider Taking The Tumblby Juliette Richey on Sunday, July 11, 2010 Why aren't more brands testing the waters with Tumblr? Too personal? Is the open forum to edgy and scary for some brands to handle? Or could the Tumblr ecosystem be an opportunity for brands to show a more human face? Tumblr has become the place to get behind-the-scenes information, details on deals and enter contests. SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
Branding Spotlight: Mobile-Social Content Leads to Commerce for Steve Maddenby Brandon Gutman on Thursday, July 8, 2010 In this Brand Innovator Spotlight, Andrew Koven, president of e-commerce and customer experience at Steve Madden, shares how the fashion retailer's mobile strategy mix is driving revenue and provides advice to peers getting into the game. Marketing, Media, MobileRead more | Comments (0) |
DigiRant: Watching The Black Swansby John Gaffney on Wednesday, July 7, 2010 A new version of what is fast becoming a business book classic focuses on no brilliant algorithm and suggests no genius breakthrough in management strategy. It simply proves beyond a reasonable doubt that the swings in business are caused by random, unpredictable events. The Black Swan is worth considering as the digital content and advertising business heads through another summer and into a critical fourth quarter. MediaRead more | Comments (2) |
Name That App: DC Comicsby Matt Kapko on Wednesday, July 7, 2010 There are thousands of apps in the App Store, Android Market and BlackBerry App World -- but not all of them are worth your time or money. So how do you cut through the clutter? Every week DIGIDAY:DAILY gives you the rundown on the app that should be on your radar. This week's app: DC Comics. Media, MobileRead more | Comments (0) |
The Fuel: Listen To Your Social Mom For Corporate Responsibilityby Holly Pavlika on Friday, July 2, 2010 Social media has changed the world we live in. The collective power of women and Moms and the voice it has given them is changing the way companies do business. No longer is it enough to make great products and stand behind them. Social responsibility is becoming a differentiator among brands. And even the recession didn’t affect most company’s corporate responsibility budgets. It’s important for establishing trust and reputation in today’s connected world. Moms, in growing numbers, are embracing brands and companies that are helping to create a better world for the next generation. [...] SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
World Cup Hustles To Capitalize Brand Partnershipsby Annie Stamell on Thursday, July 1, 2010 The USA-Ghana World Cup match-up on June 26 drew the largest U.S. audience for a soccer game – ever. 19.4 million Americans watched their countrymen fall in defeat, and while the game ended the USA’s presence in South Africa, there’s no doubt that popular interest in soccer has reached new levels. It comes as no surprise that now would be the ideal time for brands to capitalize on the success of the superstar athletes of World Cup 2010, and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo is the first to very publically (and quite aggressively) make his social media debut amidst the World Cup buzz. [...] Marketing, Media, SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
As E-Readers Present New Opportunities, Publishers First Must Know the Audience Storyby Jason Oates on Thursday, July 1, 2010 Digital publishers are facing enormous challenges. From a recession to increased competition online, generating value from your inventory has never been more difficult. But there is hope. This article will explore some of the opportunities that publishers can leverage to maximize their monetization efforts. From following the lead of retail companies and how they manage and measure their audience, to the e-readers that are re-writing the rules of the way we consume content, this article will help digital publishers better understand the current landscape. [...] Marketing, Media, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
The New Metrics: How Not to Be a Jackassby Melinda Gipson on Wednesday, June 30, 2010 For publishers to succeed in digital media, quality publishers have to move the conversation away from metrics and redefine success for their brand clients. That was the rather unexpected conclusion from DPAC’s panel of experts on analytics last week, and we found it so insightful that it’s our featured video in today’s DAILY. MetricsRead more | Comments (0) |
Name That App: Shanghai WOW City Guideby Matt Kapko on Tuesday, June 29, 2010 There are thousands of apps in the App Store, Android Market and BlackBerry App World -- but not all of them are worth your time or money. So how do you cut through the clutter? Every Tuesday, digiday:DAILY gives you the rundown on the app that should be on your radar. This week's app: Shanghai WOW! City Guide. Mobile, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
How Outside Magazine Turned Lance Armstrong's Twitter Fail into Big Subscription Salesby Stephanie Jackson on Wednesday, June 23, 2010 Lance Armstrong aired out his disgust with Outside magazine over its airbrushed cover image of him on Twitter. The Outside brand could have taken a huge negative hit -- but by using social media and digital publishing tools, the mag actually turned the bad buzz into an increase in subscription sales by nearly 170 percent. Marketing, Media, SocialRead more | Comments (2) |
Name That App: NYTimes The Scoopby Matt Kapko on Tuesday, June 22, 2010 There are thousands of apps in the App Store, Android Market and BlackBerry App World -- but not all of them are worth your time or money. So how do you cut through the clutter? Every Tuesday, digiday:DAILY gives you the rundown on the app that should be on your radar. This week's app: NYTimes The Scoop. MobileRead more | Comments (0) |
Featured Video: David Lang Keynote at VIDEO UPFRONTTuesday, June 22, 2010 David Lang, North America president of Mindshare Entertainment, asked the question at our DIGIDAY:VIDEO UPFRONT: "If video content is king, who is the queen?" It was a great discussion about the marriage of art and commerce, content and distribution, popularity and advertising, and it's our featured video on DIGIDAY:DAILY. MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
The Fuel: Brand Love In The Time of Choleraby Mike McGraw on Sunday, June 20, 2010 As brands continue to dip their collective toes deeper into the murky waters of social marketing, one of the more comforting developments is the strengthening notion that Facebook fans are not just a “nice to have” indicator of nebulous popularity, but could very well hold the key to unlocking social media’s real value. Up to now this question of proving a tangible linkage between the current social phenomena and hard core ROI has kind of been our industry’s equivalent to proving the existence of UFO’s. [...] MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
The Buzz: Toyota Tries for Brand Transformation with the Swagger Wagonby Annie Stamell on Thursday, June 17, 2010 This past fall and winter was a difficult time for car manufacturer Toyota, after millions of vehicles were recalled, casting a tarnish over the well-respected and typically consistent brand. In their efforts to reconnect with consumers and shift the public perception, Toyota has focused efforts on new marketing for its minivan, the Sienna, using a comedic branded content format to recharge their image. Marketing, SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
Name That App: Rdioby Matt Kapko on Monday, June 14, 2010 There are thousands of apps in the App Store, Android Market and BlackBerry App World -- but not all of them are worth your time or money. So how do you cut through the clutter? Every Tuesday, digiday:DAILY gives you the rundown on the app that should be on your radar. This week's app: Rdio. Media, MobileRead more | Comments (2) |
Maximizing the Value of Data in Behavioral Targetingby Adam Cramer on Monday, June 14, 2010 Marketers have more data than ever and might take that as some comfort that they have the goods they need when they add behavioral targeting to digital campaigns. But accurate and actionable data goes beyond the algorithm. A broad set of principals that goes beyond technology and methodology is needed. Marketing, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
The Fuel: Branded Altruismby Juliette Richey on Sunday, June 13, 2010 It's all about collaboration. The world of social media marketing is helping to create relationships for everyone: whether you're a brand, non-profit foundation, or consumer there is a space on the Internet that encourages collaboration. In the last few months some high-profile socially driven projects have been unveiled to create awareness for brands and to fundraise for social and environmental change. Marketing, SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
Survey: Targeting Impacts Display Ad Spendingby Melinda Gipson on Friday, June 11, 2010 Virtually all agencies predict display spending will rise an average of 20 percent over 2009 this year, but publishers actually predicted increases of more than 60 percent in our Audience Targeting State of the Industry Survey. Audience targeting does play a role in publishers' bullish forecast -- more than 70 percent of publishers responding say they offer at least some form of audience targeting -- but only agencies appear to grasp the full range of targeting options available to them today. While there is a strong acceptance of targeting across sectors, there exists a clear need for better measurement and more transparency in the implementation of targeting practices. [...] MetricsRead more | Comments (0) |
How Technology is Helping Digital Publishers Fight Backby Kara Weber on Wednesday, June 9, 2010 It may seem counterintuitive to argue that the Web, with its endless growth, is in grave danger. Despite its all-encompassing impact on every sphere of daily life, the Web is actually facing a pervasive threat to its relevance and quality. The threat arises from the economic realities of creating advertiser-supported Web content that is good enough to attract desirable audiences. Marketing, TechnologyRead more | Comments (3) |
Name That App: StoryCorpsby Matt Kapko on Tuesday, June 8, 2010 There are thousands of apps in the App Store, Android Market and BlackBerry App World -- but not all of them are worth your time or money. So how do you cut through the clutter? Every Tuesday, digiday:DAILY gives you the rundown on the app that should be on your radar. This week's app: StoryCorps Mobile, SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
DigiRant: Playing In the Apple Sandboxby John Gaffney on Monday, June 7, 2010 The Apple story should not be about achieving dominant market share. It should be about brand participation, customer value, and the emergence of 4G technology. Customers don’t care about market share. They care about pricing, product, experience and service. Marketing, MobileRead more | Comments (0) |
The Fuel: Too Young To Network?by Holly Pavlika on Sunday, June 6, 2010 I make my living creating social media campaigns and living in social spaces like Facebook and Twitter. But as a Mom, I have to admit the idea of young children on the web is a bit disturbing. It’s one thing to be playing games online, but practicing social networking? What happened to play dates and playing in the backyard? Marketing, SocialRead more | Comments (1) |
Mobile Video Not Likely To Decline Under Metered Rate Plansby Melinda Gipson on Friday, June 4, 2010 What will the demise of AT&T's unlimited data plan do to the consumption of mobile video? Reaction by mobile marketing and media pros to AT&T’s new usage pricing plan ranges from “un-phased” to “had to happen.” At least one provider of mobile video marketing solutions actually seemed buoyed by the move. Jumptap CMO Paran Johar’s reasoning goes like this: because consumers will be clock-watching their broadband usage, mobile video ads will of necessity become more targeted, or users will discontinue the services that carry them. [...] MobileRead more | Comments (0) |
Branding Spotlight: Using Digital to Innovate A 100-Year-Old Brand Called Rubbermaidby Brandon Gutman on Tuesday, June 1, 2010 In this Brand Innovator Spotlight, Rubbermaid VP of Interactive Marketing Bert DuMars talks about how breaking down the silos and collaborating with consumers is keeping a century old company successful in the digital age. Marketing, SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
The Fuel: Big Brands Bring A-Game To World Cupby Monika Ratner on Monday, May 31, 2010 The 2010 FIFA World Cup kickoff is just days away. Soccer and social media are powerful, global uniters and sometimes dividers. Brands in the know are paying close attention to this influential audience and creating content that will have soccer fans [kitschy soccer metaphor deleted] returning the favor. Marketing, SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
New School vs. Old School Loyalty Marketingby Keith Rose on Friday, May 28, 2010 Loyalty marketing is a $4 billion industry – with airlines, banks, retail chains, and hotel groups all inviting customers to join their card-based loyalty programs. However, the entire premise of the “collect now, redeem later” model is under fire. For years, consumers have collected hundreds of thousands of points, only to find out that they're worth less than they thought. Marketers, meanwhile, have grown frustrated that their bloated, legacy loyalty programs are failing to boost consumer allegiance or grow revenues in a cost-effective way. [...] Marketing, Social, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Props For Mark Zuckerbergby John Gaffney on Thursday, May 27, 2010 It was starting to look like this business couldn’t police itself after all. It was starting to look the whole Wild West mentality of the Internet, which has been passed on to an even more calculating and smarter generation than the founders of 20 years ago, was getting wilder. Zuckerberg, like it or not, played it brilliantly. Marketing, MediaRead more | Comments (1) |
The Buzz: Colgate Teams Up With VEVO to Connect Fans with New Rising Starsby Annie Stamell on Wednesday, May 26, 2010 This week’s “Buzz” takes a look at a new branded series that provides a behind the scenes glimpse on some up-and-coming musical acts. A partnership between VEVO and Colgate’s new MaxWhite toothpaste gives music fans get a treat with “Charging Up the Music” -- but does it deliver a positive brand experience for Colgate? Media, SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
Name That App: Tripitby Matt Kapko on Wednesday, May 26, 2010 There are thousands of apps in the App Store, Android Market and BlackBerry App World -- but not all of them are worth your time or money. So how do you cut through the clutter? Every Tuesday, DIGIDAY:DAILY gives you the rundown on the app that should be on your radar. This week's app: Tripit Mobile, TechnologyRead more | Comments (1) |
The Fuel: Steve Jobs Battles The Pink Robotsby Erin Doyle on Sunday, May 23, 2010 Android is not the new bot on the block, but all of a sudden it's getting a whole lot of face time, and that presents some huge challenges for developers. Just last month, reports of Android’s exponential app growth had many mobile marketers predicting that it would soon give Apple a run for their money. Apparently by “soon” they meant, “oh wait, today.” Blackberry still rules with 36% market share, but Android is clocking second with 28% vs. Apple’s 21%. Marketing, Mobile, SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
Branding Spotlight: HopStop CEO Joe Meyer Offers Directions to Brand Central Stationby Brandon Gutman on Friday, May 21, 2010 In this Brand Innovator Spotlight, Joe Meyer proves that a big budget isn’t necessary to deliver a stellar consumer experience, grow brand ambassadors and go head to head with Google. Marketing, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Five Tips When Considering a Private Label Panelby Matt Dusig on Thursday, May 20, 2010 Online publishers and retailers are sitting on a gold mine of customer opinion data, and private label panels are one way to tap into that data without triggering privacy concerns. More interactive than UGC, these panels reward consumers for sharing their opinions, and help build brand loyalty. Marketing, TechnologyRead more | Comments (1) |
Almost Eaten by the MAILER-DAEMONby Melinda Gipson on Thursday, May 20, 2010 Sometimes, it’s what you don’t know that can kill you. In this case, an overloaded email inbox and an unending loop of automated customer service systems almost led to a seasoned marketer's meltdown. MarketingRead more | Comments (0) |
It Takes A Human: Converseon and ChatThreads Lead New CHORUSby Melinda Gipson on Tuesday, May 18, 2010 Given the rise of social media marketing, combined with the economic necessity for marketers to know “what works” in their efforts to impact brand favorability with potential consumers, is it any wonder that agencies and brands seek increasingly sophisticated ways measure their marketing in social media? How surprising would it therefore be to learn that Converseon, the social agency that turned online listening into a science, thinks it takes humans to know why sentiments change? MarketingRead more | Comments (1) |
DigiRant: Stealing Search And Social Facetimeby John Gaffney on Monday, May 17, 2010 Because of the complete void Google and Facebook's missteps have opened, it's time to attack. For search engines it’s time to make a brand out of promising more information security. In the social space, the opportunity is to carve out branded networks and niche networks. Marketing, Media, SocialRead more | Comments (3) |
The Fuel: How To Become An Overnight Social Media Superstarby Juliette Richey on Sunday, May 16, 2010 It was the week of Greyson Michael Chance. Andy Warhol said it best, “Everyone wants that 15 minutes of fame.” Social media is making that 15 minutes more accessible. YouTube and other video player platforms have opened doors for performers, comedians, and artists. Every click represents a new follower, fan, or potential consumer. Marketing, SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
The Boucher Bill: Right On Timeby Shawn Riegsecker on Thursday, May 13, 2010 With all the weeping and gnashing of teeth in our industry over the proposed Boucher bill to regulate consumer privacy on the Internet in the last week, one would think we’re on the verge of industry Armageddon. This viewpoint couldn’t be further misguided and, when history is written, this bill, if passed, will have served to protect consumers, clean up our industry from nefarious practices and companies, drive innovation, bring more dollars to the Web and unleash more creativity in online advertising. [...] MarketingRead more | Comments (2) |
iPad is No Slouching Deviceby Melinda Gipson on Wednesday, May 12, 2010 Rishad is wrong. (Not about much, mind you.) But at a recent Audience Targeting Summit in Las Vegas, Tobaccowala called the iPad a “slouching device” and predicted the “greatest wave of buyers’ remorse” ever for Apple early adopters, to whom acquiring the latest device he likened to a religion. But my octogenarian mom has another word for it: INVISIBLE. MobileRead more | Comments (0) |
Own Your Expertise: The Benefits of Branded Communitiesby Neil Rosen on Monday, May 10, 2010 Are companies devaluing their in-house experts by having them blog, tweet and otherwise interact through social media without a clear strategy? Neil Rosen explains that the goals of generating acquisitions and/or delivering transactions should be at the forefront of these "how do we go social" discussions. Marketing, SocialRead more | Comments (2) |
DigiRant: Newsweek Needs A Better Coachby John Gaffney on Sunday, May 9, 2010 Never underestimate the importance of executive diligence and innovation in the digital content business. Look no further than the announcement last week that Newsweek is up for sale. The actual sale is not surprising, but the complete admission of failure at the executive ranks is shocking. Marketing, MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
Convenient, Capable and Connected: Why Today's Mobile Consumer is Ready for the 2D Barcode Boomby Eric Wilson on Wednesday, May 5, 2010 Companies like Google, JAGTAG and Layar are working to make mobile barcode-based content consumption a reality for the masses -- but previous efforts to scale mobile barcode usage into the "real world" have failed. Sidebar CTO Eric Wilson explains why consumers will engage now, what has changed in the marketplace, and why the time is ripe for even more advertisers to invest in 2D barcode-based campaigns and other initiatives. Marketing, Mobile, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
DigiRant: Engagement Remains The Sameby John Gaffney on Sunday, May 2, 2010 In the digital content business it all comes down to the amount of time, interaction, and frequency of visits that a reader is willing to give to a content property. And that’s the only viable long-term strategy for anybody that plans to stay in business. Ask Martin Nisenholtz. Marketing, MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
The Fuel: Checklist For Marketing To Momsby Holly Pavlika on Sunday, May 2, 2010 Mother's Day 2010 is fast approaching. What does your brand, agency, or family have planned? It is never too late to consider the basics when planning social media for the most valuable customer group. To market to Mom, you must first think like a Mom. Here is a checklist to consider, forward to your team, and keep handy for the back-to-school season and Mother's Day 2011. Marketing, SocialRead more | Comments (3) |
Waiting On The E-Book Best Sellerby Ken Horowitz on Thursday, April 29, 2010 How long until we have “e-book originals”? Yes, I know there have been e-book-only titles, but I’m thinking mainstream, reasonably well-known authors. And will they have need of publishing houses then? How long until there are enough e-book devices and apps in use to make it profitable to skip the paper book (hard- or soft-cover) entirely? Marketing, MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
The Buzz: With Annie Stamellby Annie Stamell on Wednesday, April 28, 2010 Web Therapy, the Lexus-sponsored web series starring Lisa Kudrow, is thriving online. Users can watch episodes at LStudio.com and on Hulu, and now it's headed to TV. But is the content ready to keep TV audiences laughing and tuned in? Read more | Comments (0) |
DigiRant: Not Sure I Like Thisby John Gaffney on Wednesday, April 28, 2010 Yes, Facebook users opted-in and can opt-out, but this whole "Like" plan smacks of a very dishonest use of business leverage and technology. If any other company on the planet tried to do this they would get blog-stoned to death. Marketing, Media, SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
Open Graph: Marketers Want More Engagementby Melinda Gipson on Monday, April 26, 2010 In all the discussion about whether Facebook’s new “Open Graph” is “a good thing” for anyone but Facebook, it’s possible that what’s important to digital media and marketing pros is getting lost. Marketers in particular are surprisingly consistent in all our State of the Industry Surveys: they say they want engagement, but they measure ROI through clicks to their own sites, or to activity in which they wish the user to participate.
So, while initially it would appear that Open Graph creates a kind of distributed Facebook where users can participate in sharing activity without leaving a contextually ad-supported publisher’s destination site, when it comes to the users themselves and their profile information, the site that derives the greatest benefit is Facebook itself. [...] Read more | Comments (1) |
DigiRant: The Four Power Principlesby John Gaffney on Monday, April 26, 2010 Companies need to return to the basics of sustainable business models, solid money, customers, and products because the power principles in the digital marketing and publishing business are changing. Marketing, MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
The Fuel: Staff Thoughts On The Future Of FacebookSunday, April 25, 2010 Depending on who you Tweet with, Facebook used the last week to either prove its brilliance, invade the privacy of mankind, or take social media to another level. Here's a virtual staff meeting to get some opinions. Marketing, SocialRead more | Comments (1) |
DigiRant: The Display Ad Comebackby John Gaffney on Thursday, April 22, 2010 As LL Cool J said back in the day: “Don’t call it a comeback; I’ve been here for years.” Display ads are back with the same bravado. After being counted down and out as a victim of the recession and search obsessive online budgets, recent successes have changed the display profile and even the entire digital marketing landscape. Marketing, MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
Keys To Executing Cross-Platform Dealsby Lorne Brown on Wednesday, April 21, 2010 Recent research has shown that brand marketers plan on devoting nearly 40 percent of their budgets to cross-platform campaigns -- up from just 25 percent. But to take advantage of this increased interest and spend, publishers need to first understand what cross-platform really means, and then take steps to organize their teams and technologies to improve execution. MarketingRead more | Comments (1) |
DigiRant: Show Me The Moneyby John Gaffney on Monday, April 19, 2010 The past ten days have seen the introduction of new ad models that give the advertiser a new opportunity to reach segments of the Internet audience that it consider valuable and the content owner has a chance to monetize content instead of chasing the pipe dream of “free.” But where in an economy that’s still rickety is all this ad money going to come from? Marketing, MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
Ioffe Articulates The Visionaire Thingby John Gaffney on Sunday, April 18, 2010 After resurrecting the home page takeover in April, the founder of The Visioniare Group takes on display ads, video ads, and all things digital, including his secrets to an innovative approach. Marketing, MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
The Fuel: To Tweet Or Not To Tweetby Erin Doyle on Sunday, April 18, 2010 In which our slightly frustrated actress reminisces about her career gone askew, the Bard in 40 characters, and the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune on social media. Marketing, MediaRead more | Comments (1) |
Five Ways To Keep Email Sharp For Publishersby Stephanie Miller on Friday, April 16, 2010 Customers and prospects use search engines as well as Internet services (including email) as resources for learning, researching purchases and finding new friends. Customers are moving fast, but marketers want them to slow down and spend time with us. We want them to learn, but to be convinced of the value of our products. That is the difference between research and recommendation. Search can find make it easier for customers to find you, but email is the way to nurture them. Marketing, MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
The Fuel: Social Media Storytellingby Juliette Richey on Sunday, April 11, 2010 Social media allows a brand to tell a story. How can you use branding, social media and storytelling to market yourself, your company, or your project? First, have a clear plan about what kind of message your story tells. Read more | Comments (0) |
Analytics Measures Up For Digital Marketersby Guy Powell on Wednesday, April 7, 2010 The recent MeasureUp conference in Chicago showed the importance of analytics and raised some questions about social media. Analytics and measured insights are becoming more and more important in marketing decision making, and marketers are finally using them to their advantage. Marketing, MetricsRead more | Comments (1) |
The Power of Content as Advertisingby Justin Choi on Wednesday, April 7, 2010 Creating a content history online can be far more effective than the pay-as-you-go model of display advertising. A study of sponsored forum posts shows click-throughs average 33 percent in the first week, and increase an average of 100 percent after a year. MarketingRead more | Comments (0) |
Bubble Wrap On The Ground: iPad Comes Homeby John Gaffney on Monday, April 5, 2010 Depending on who you talk to the iPad is either the end of content creation as we know it, the ultimate gaming platform, or the eReader of choice. Regardless of what happens, digital consumer behavior has a new laboratory. Marketing, MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
The Fuel: Freestyling At DIY Daysby Monika Ratner on Monday, April 5, 2010 New York City's DIY Days have become New York City "a roving conference for those who create." For anyone with days full of conceiving, creating and/or distributing content they have become essential. Co-founder, Lance Weiler compares the conference to, "a lightning rod," saying "I think that really demonstrates the power of community...the fact that people are willing to share their time and talents...". Marketing, SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
DigiRant: Back To Realityby John Gaffney on Sunday, April 4, 2010 When digital content and advertising executives come back to work today they're still have to get content onto the devices people will access, getcompelling ad messages in front of those people, and finally get paid for the effort. All the iPad did was get portable content devices on the evening news. Marketing, MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
Beyond Social: How Businesses Can Reap the Rewards of Location-Based Servicesby Shawn Bose on Wednesday, March 31, 2010 Location-based technology is shaping up to be one of the key marketing "buzzwords." But are there real applications for location-based data and services that go beyond social media? uShip's Shawn Bose says yes. And his examples center on solving customers' real-world needs or problems. Marketing, TechnologyRead more | Comments (1) |
The Fuel: Social Media Timing Is Everythingby Jessica Giantonio on Monday, March 29, 2010 Many companies underestimate the time commitment required to build brand awareness, connect with consumers and continue to grow their fans and followers.
With the tremendous volume of content being shared each week and the speed with which this content is shaping and changing the social media landscape, here's how a brand can reach the right audience in the most effective and efficient way. Marketing, SocialRead more | Comments (2) |
DigiRant: Makes Me Wonder How I Keep From Going Underby John Gaffney on Wednesday, March 24, 2010 Content, whether its "War and Peace," your last email, or a Malcolm Gladwell article in The New Yorker, takes time and attention. Time and attention is under attack. But it must be supported to save the business. MediaRead more | Comments (1) |
Screw the News: YouTube And Its Damning Email Trailby Melinda Gipson on Monday, March 22, 2010 Let's all hope YouTube founders saved some "lunch money" for the lawyers. Viacom's Motion for Summary Judgment reveals a callous, cavalier attitude behind YouTube's copyright violations, including this gem from the founding triad's Karim: "let’s just leave copyrighted stuff there if it’s news clips." MediaRead more | Comments (2) |
The Fuel: Secrets To Being Social And Localby Veronika Harbick on Sunday, March 21, 2010 Usually, small businesses don’t have extra time to spend online. Concentrating efforts on other activities that they believe create the most awareness and generate ROI without significant effort is paramount. Maybe that activity is newspaper ads, or local public relations, or community charity efforts. Here's three social efforts that can work. Marketing, SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
DigiRant: Business Models Breakingby John Gaffney on Wednesday, March 17, 2010 Unless newspapers can find the scale to pay experienced reporters, drive ad revenue, and collect subscriptions online content will not be about news. TV will maintain news. Print will not. But online content will be the province of ecommerce, search, social media, and very long tail niche content. It is a business model problem. Read more | Comments (1) |
Ogilvy Report Shows New American Dreamby John Gaffney on Monday, March 15, 2010 The report paints a new picture of what appears to be a less ambitious consumer. Marketers would be better served through more engaging creative ideas, possibly , creative that takes more time to deliver and follow the message. And it just might engage a dialogue if it works. Marketing, SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
DigiRant: Mobile Meltdown Dead Aheadby John Gaffney on Sunday, March 14, 2010 Consumers won’t wait for that little hourglass on the screen to stop. Mobile customers want that app, want that video, and email now. But the industry has a lot of smart and aggressive people in leadership positions at many points in the mobile chain that can save mobile from a bandwidth debacle. Marketing, MobileRead more | Comments (1) |
Social Media And The Future Of Filmby Juliette Richey on Sunday, March 14, 2010 Independent filmmakers are creating, promoting, and screening their films by utilizing new forms of digital camera technology, social media, and digital distribution bypassing the hurdles of traditional filmmaking. They have tapped into broader audiences, higher levels of engagement, and ultimately found homes for their stories. Marketing, SocialRead more | Comments (3) |
Automated Content Can Avoid Commodityby Peter Berger on Friday, March 12, 2010 If we resist the “race to the bottom” idea of commoditization of original content, and instead think about its highest possible state, Peter Berger believes writers and publishers adding great original articles online that offer equally useful information about topics that are being searched for. Marketing, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Five Reasons Why Companies Should Not Block Employee Access to Social Networksby B.L. Ochman on Thursday, March 11, 2010 Last week, a client told me that they don't allow employees to access YouTube at work. "Do your employees carry cellphones?" I asked. The answer was "yes," of course. "Well then, most of them already have access to YouTube," I replied. "Right in their pockets." The fact is, resistance to social network access at work is futile. Read on for five reasons why. SocialRead more | Comments (1) |
The Secret To Online Brandingby Jeff Einstein on Thursday, March 11, 2010 The problem for online advertisers, publishers and content producers alike is that the Internet compels us to lean in when all we really want is an excuse to lean back. MediaRead more | Comments (4) |
The Death Of Social Disruptionby Stephanie Miller on Tuesday, March 9, 2010 If the goal of social marketing is engagement, then the story and storytelling become its centerpoint. How does that influence the need to tell a story without being annoying or disruptive? Execs from leading digital, creative and social media agencies hashed out the issue at digiday:SOCIAL LA. Marketing, Media, SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
Palmieri Calling: Millennial CEO Sees New Opportunitiesby John Gaffney on Monday, March 8, 2010 With AdMob and Quattro now owned by Google and Apple, the Millennial CEO has wasted no time establishing his company as the independent and platform-agnostic leader in the mobile marketplace. Marketing, MobileRead more | Comments (0) |
The Fuel: New Looks At Social Teen Brandingby Holly Pavlika on Sunday, March 7, 2010 Creating digital tools to connect teens and moms is not as, like, crazy as it seems. Moms are influenced by the teenagers as their “digital mavens” to join social networks and are using the networks as a new place to engage them. Marketing, SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
DigiRant: Local Blogs Are Snake Bittenby John Gaffney on Sunday, March 7, 2010 Digiday's senior editor finds a horror show in the aftermath of two local crimes. The lesson is that providing slanderous and hateful comments is not in the best interest of your business, especially if you’re a newspaper trying to make a living online. It’s still a newspaper’s brand that hosts that counts. Media, SocialRead more | Comments (9) |
Einstein's Theory Of Media Irrelativityby John Gaffney on Thursday, March 4, 2010 Jeff Einstein has never been known to shrink from a good harpooning of media. In a recent interview with CMO Club founder Pete Krainik he lanced the white whale of media performance, killed the notion of media measurement, and said consumers don't care about social media marketing. Got a problem with any of that? Marketing, MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
Why The Online Ad Community Needs To Redefine Reachby Jaffer Ali on Wednesday, March 3, 2010 Digital marketers need to ask an inconvenient question: Why haven’t online ad dollars kept pace with audience growth? We know that we can reach a lot of people online, and theoretically, ad dollars should accompany that reach. So maybe we need to revisit our definition of reach. Marketing, MetricsRead more | Comments (0) |
New Book Hits Marketers Where Their Facts Liveby John Gaffney on Wednesday, March 3, 2010 A new book from a University of Michigan professor says four out of five senior marketing executives have not adopted best-practice marketing campaign management. As a result, many marketing departments are struggling to get real results and make the value of their efforts transparent to the rest of the organization. Marketing, MetricsRead more | Comments (0) |
Momma Needs A Break. Wanna Help?by Holly Pavlika on Sunday, February 28, 2010 New research shows Moms will take a vacation this year, but it will be different than past years. They're worried about finances and security, and surprisingly, they're not using social media for planning. That needs to change. Marketing, SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
Tremor Media Ramps Up Targeting Techby John Gaffney on Friday, February 26, 2010 The company says this addition to its Acudeo technology in conjunction with leading data providers, will organize audiences in real-time and deliver relevant ads on the first impression, dramatically increasing scale and precision in targeted, online video campaigns. Marketing, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
DigiRant: AdMob's iPad NumbersFriday, February 26, 2010 AdMob is a great company. So is Quattro. But they both have different owners than they did a year ago, and would be better served by not researching each others' parent companies. Marketing, MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
Listening To Social Mediaby John Gaffney on Thursday, February 25, 2010 It's the existential approach to social media. If a tree falls on Facebook, and no one is around to hear it, did the tree really fall? Marketers can't afford to let that happen, and many say the philosophy of treating social media as a one-way station needs to be abandoned. Marketing, SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
Social Media Is Finding Customer ConnectionThursday, February 25, 2010 A Babson College survey shows that companies that use social media for customer communication tend to have better sales results. These companies also say they are putting more sweat equity into retaining customers, and social media is one way to keep in touch with clients. Metrics, MobileRead more | Comments (0) |
Reading Into The Vudu That Wal-Mart Doby Ken Horowitz on Wednesday, February 24, 2010 Wal-Mart watchers are trying to figure out what a company that has scaled back its DVD inventory is going to with Vudu. Maybe, says our columnist, it will reclaim some movie studio leverage. Marketing, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Kia Helps Zinio Complete Unity Platformby John Gaffney on Wednesday, February 24, 2010 Kia will be the first advertiser to leverage Zinio's publisher advertising network, which is the first cross-publisher ad network for the digital magazine industry. The network will reach more than 45 digital magazines across several categories, including business, men’s lifestyle, news, sports and technology. Marketing, MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
Yoo-Mee Babe. How About It?by John Gaffney on Tuesday, February 23, 2010 Hooked Media announced today a new a gaming platform aimed at the over 200 million people who play casual games. It has a funny name and a very innovative way to tie publishers and content owners into social media. Marketing, Mobile, SocialRead more | Comments (1) |
Amazon Beats The Field In New Trusted Brand Reportby John Gaffney on Monday, February 22, 2010 Amazon rules a new "trusted brand" report from Millward Brown, one of only two digital brands in the top ten. Branded content, says an analyst, plays a key role in consumer trust. Read more | Comments (0) |
The Fuel: Social Media Works Its Way Into Hearts And Walletsby Heather Rook on Friday, February 19, 2010 Here's how a true social media match made in heaven came to happen with some free stuff and good data for good measure. SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
Remote Meets Cell Phone With FiOSThursday, February 18, 2010 FiOS TV is matching the cell phone with the TV remote they're hoping innovation will follow. Verizon will expand this service, Verizon FiOS Mobile Remote, to additional mobile phones in the coming months. MarketingRead more | Comments (0) |
Admit It. Steve Jobs Pissed You Offby John Gaffney on Wednesday, February 17, 2010 He said mobile ads suck, and you don't like that. But maybe that little bit of trash talk has the mobile ad space doing a bit of healthy self-examination. Marketing, MediaRead more | Comments (4) |
Nielsen Sees Opportunity For Paid Content Modelsby John Gaffney on Tuesday, February 16, 2010 No surprise that the vast majority of Nielsen's global survey respondents prefer that free content remain free. But the survey found some opportunity in music, movies, and maybe even some newspaper and magazine payment models. Media, MetricsRead more | Comments (2) |
TagMan Picks Pixels On Purposeby John Gaffney on Tuesday, February 16, 2010 The company that nabbed $1.3 million in first round funding yesterday is trying to simplify tags, the code which agencies and advertisers use to track online ad campaigns. TagMan claims to give marketers more visibility to into conversations, and how to shift spending toward the most productive channels. Metrics, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Woody Allen And The Dying Spirit Of Innovationby Jaffer Ali on Tuesday, February 16, 2010 Digital marketing was supposed to be a model of innovation. But our columnist is concerned that it is filled with too many companies content to pursue that “most sincere” form of flattery better known as imitation. MarketingRead more | Comments (0) |
New Report Prescribes Digital Approach For Pharmaby John Gaffney on Friday, February 12, 2010 Ernst & Young claims that most pharmaceutical companies are unprepared for Pharma 3.0, which will require them to find more interactive ways to reach out to patients, doctors and a new breed of business partners. Marketing, MetricsRead more | Comments (0) |
Why Brands Should Conquer Their Social Media Anxietyby Holly Pavlika on Friday, February 12, 2010 For too many brands, social media is still a strategy approached with a spirit of caution rather than purpose. This week's social media column breaks down a few myths that unfortunately still strike fear into the hearts of otherwise brave brand marketers. Marketing, SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
Happy New Year: A Belated Social Media Outlookby Chris Cunningham on Thursday, February 11, 2010 The CEO of appssavvy says the events of January have necessitated a new 2010 outlook. He's not being shy about what the year will bring and where he was wrong about 2009. The key and challenge for all companies involved in social and mobile apps is still simple – add value. Read more | Comments (0) |
Exelate Data Tracks iPad Echoesby John Gaffney on Thursday, February 11, 2010 Behavioral targeting company eXelate has launched a new report culled from its consumer data resources, adding to the trend of digital companies sharing some of their information with the industry at large. Marketing, MetricsRead more | Comments (0) |
WalMart and P&G Strike Branded Content Dealby John Gaffney on Thursday, February 11, 2010 The biggest forces in advertising and consumer packaged goods marketing have teamed up to produce and promote a family-oriented movie for April. WalMart and P&G says the partnership is just beginning. Marketing, MediaRead more | Comments (1) |
Tweet This: Google Buzz Isn't Killing Anyoneby John Gaffney on Wednesday, February 10, 2010 Google Buzz will not be a Twitter-killer. It won't be a Facebook challenger either. Publishers should pay attention to the new social app's Gmail connection, because if Google wanted to be Twitter it would have bought it already. Read more | Comments (3) |
ESPN Poll Says In-Game Ads Are Activatorsby John Gaffney on Wednesday, February 10, 2010 Sports sponsorships take more than half of the total ad dollars spent in the US. With avid fans on the rise, and video game penetration increasing, the study shows that three out of four sports fans say that in-game advertising plays a part in reinforcing a company's real-world sponsorship of sports. Marketing, MetricsRead more | Comments (0) |
Why Technologists Need Brand Translatorsby Brandon Gutman on Wednesday, February 10, 2010 Digital technology companies need to be smarter about the companies they pitch. The result will be more business for everyone involved and a better customer experience. MarketingRead more | Comments (0) |
MocoSpace CEO Challenges Brandsby John Gaffney on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 Justin Siegel wants advertisers and agencies to understand their customers better than they understand their technology, or they might just get a break-up message. Mobile, SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
ComScore Report Bullish On Video And Display Adsby John Gaffney on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 ComScore's report contains a few surprises left over from last year, and an encouragement for digital content and advertising executives to innovate in social and display media. Marketing, Media, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Will Justice Be Done In the Google Books Case?by Ken Horowitz on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 Our intellectual property analyst says the DOJ is still going too easy on Google and that next week's hearing is an important turning point for publishers who need to start paying closer attention. Marketing, MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
Office Depot EVP Stays True To Customersby John Gaffney on Monday, February 8, 2010 More than 15 years into its Internet life, Office Depot is in the third week of its “Heroes” campaign, and has big online for social media plans for its SMB "Heroes." We caight up with Monica Luechtefeld, EVP of Direct Marketing, to discuss. Read more | Comments (0) |
Forrester: Marketers Lack Confidence In TVby John Gaffney on Monday, February 8, 2010 To paraphrase Jim Mora in that Coors Light commercial: "Super Bowl? Don't even talk about the Super Bowl. Super Bowl? Are you kiddin' me?" That seems to be what Forrester Research has found in marketing attitudes toward TV. Marketing, MetricsRead more | Comments (0) |
The Fuel: Gimme Four (Or Why I Love Poken)by Monika Ratner on Friday, February 5, 2010 Welcome to the world of Poken, where business cards are cute, and your best leads won't get left on the floor at some Social Media Week soiree. Media, Social, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Benetton Says It's Time For ARby John Gaffney on Friday, February 5, 2010 Benetton is taking its experiment with augmented reality technology to a higher level, with a new international print and online campaign and model competition starting Monday. Marketing, TechnologyRead more | Comments (2) |
Digital Content Today: Real-Time Super Bowl RatingsFriday, February 5, 2010 With everything else in the digital marketing business headed for real-time measurement, it only follows that Super Bowl ads are next. And they are. Flemington, NJ-based HCD Research announced today that as an added feature to its annual Super Bowl ad testing study, viewers will have the ability to access real-time preliminary testing results during the game. MobileRead more | Comments (1) |
How Not To Get Lost In Translationby Swamy Viswanathan on Thursday, February 4, 2010 The global marketplace demands that marketers think in many languages. Yet they don't think in terms of how those languages will translate to customers. Here's a primer to the upside of proper automation when words carry more than meaning. Marketing, TechnologyRead more | Comments (2) |
Forrester Calls For Move To Dynamic Media Buyingby John Gaffney on Thursday, February 4, 2010 In a new analysis of the display market, Forrester Consulting endorses a change in the way online ads are bought and sold. Runaway inventory growth, it says, necessitates a move away from the CPM model. Media, TechnologyRead more | Comments (2) |
Wharton Profs Weigh In On NYT And iPadThursday, February 4, 2010 The New York Times announced its metered content policy just days before the iPad was announced to make those kinds of business models more attainable. That chain of events didn’t escape the post-event analysis of two of media's sharpest minds, Wharton professors Peter Fader and Stephen Kobrin. Both called attention to the timing of the events, and their affect on digital publishing’s future. Marketing, MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
PubMatic Report Quantifies RTBby John Gaffney on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 The ad revenue optimizer company says that in 2009, less than 1% of online ads were purchased via Real-Time Bidding. This is expected to grow to 3-5% in 2010. It also has evidence that CPMs can increase as well. Marketing, Metrics, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
New Lotame Research Director Has Stellar Backgroundby John Gaffney on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 He has been associated with NASA, protein analysis, and machine learning. Now Dr. John Thomas is focused on generating new kinds of data for digital marketers. “As an industry we do a lot of optimization by click-thru rates and conversions and some other metrics than can be improved on,” he says. Social, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Tackling Brand Protection and Privacy with Semantic Technologyby Amiad Solomon on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 Interest in semantic targeting solutions is on the rise, partly because companies that have been spending money on search are finally making the connection between search and the power of semantics. Semantic targeting also has the ability to avoid the issues of privacy and brand protection -- but only if the providers take steps to make it so. Marketing, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Myxer Gets On The Mobile Radarby John Gaffney on Tuesday, February 2, 2010 For more than four years, Myxer has collected data from downloads of music, apps and personalized features like wallpapers to more than 1,800 handset models. Usage now tops 30 million users with 85 million downloads a month. More than one billion downloads into its lifespan, it expects to double that number by the end of the year. And it might be the biggest under-the-radar mobile company in the world. MobileRead more | Comments (0) |
Return Path Shows Slight Delivery Dropby John Gaffney on Tuesday, February 2, 2010 Marketers may think they're hitting 95 percent response rates, but the new report puts that number closer to 80 percent and below. But the number is improved over the first half of last year. Marketing, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Thistle Farms: Marketing With Hope, Love & Social Mediaby B.L. Ochman on Tuesday, February 2, 2010 Sometimes, the use of social media is a rather frivolous afterthought in marketing campaigns. In the case of Magdalene House and Thistle Farms, hope, love, and social media sell redemption. Let them show you what social media really can do. MarketingRead more | Comments (0) |
Curatemedia Enters Social Shopping Frayby John Gaffney on Monday, February 1, 2010 The social shopping business continued its consolidation today as ThisNext announced the acquisition of Stylehive, a leading fashion and beauty social-shopping site. The company also launched a new parent company, Curatemedia, a corporate brand that will operate ThisNext and Stylehive. Marketing, SocialRead more | Comments (1) |
An Ode To Corporate Frictionby Jaffer Ali on Monday, February 1, 2010 As is my habit, I like to begin each of my articles with a quotation that goes to the heart of what comes afterwards. Today we borrow from the 18th Century poet, William Collins, who said: “That willingness to slow down and examine the mysterious bits of fluff in our lives, that is the poet's interest.” MediaRead more | Comments (1) |
Finding Online Ad Bargains At The Super Bowlby John Gaffney on Friday, January 29, 2010 Depending how you look at it, the price tag of nearly $3 million for every 30-second ad on the Super Bowl is a bargain. One analyst, Wake Forest University marketing professor Sheri Bridges, says that most Super Bowl campaigns this year are serving as the foundation for online and social campaigns, and will be critical traffic drivers long after the winner takes the trophy.
"Believe it or not, advertising on the Super Bowl can be downright economical," says Bridges, an expert on branding and advertising. [...] Marketing, MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
The Fuel: Ongoing Struggle Between Social Budgets and ROIby Heather Rook on Friday, January 29, 2010 As a finance director, I know money. I know budgets. I know allocations. I know how to tighten the belt during a tough economy. I know how to keep the kids in line when the economy picks up and the money comes back in. (Kidding, co-workers, kidding!) You’re all very mature adults who would never run out and buy an iPad on impulse and claim it as a research expense. Right?
I also know that all budgets need ROI evaluations. So how would I evaluate the ROI on a social media budget? Is there even any way to do this?
Fortunately, I work at Big Fuel, so I’m familiar with active social media programs and understand the need to budget for them. [...] Media, SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
DigiRant: Keith Richards Vs The iPadby John Gaffney on Thursday, January 28, 2010 My questionable proofreading skills might lead you to believe I am a home-schooled journalist. I swear I’m not. In fact my adviser in journalism school at the University of New Hampshire was the esteemed Don Murray. He won a Pulitzer as a columnist at The Boston Globe. He was a charming, knowledgeable guy who didn’t intimidate with knowledge or hoard it. He had rules. If you broke one, he stopped being charming. One of his main rules: “Judge and prioritize news by the most significant departure from normal. [...] Media, TechnologyRead more | Comments (3) |
Millennial Report Shows Increase For iPhone OSThursday, January 28, 2010 Before the iPad there was this very hyped device called the iPhone. And those looking to the possible future of the iPad might see some of that future in Millennial Media’s December metrics report, which shows that media buyers planned aggressively for the iPhone in Q4 as Apple’s iPhone OS increased 3% month over month and represented 47% of the network’s U.S. Smartphone impressions in December.
iPhone held the leading OS on the network with a Q4 average of 41%. RIM’s OS maintained a 25% share of U. [...] Metrics, MobileRead more | Comments (0) |
Motally Starts The iPad Analytics Businessby John Gaffney on Thursday, January 28, 2010 Steve Jobs stressed in yesterday’s iPad introduction that the device will run the 140,000 applications developed for the iPhone and the iPod Touch, but the company expects a new wave of programs tailored to the iPad. At least one company is already on the case for tracking them. Mobile analytics firm Motally has announced the extension of its user-action tracking services for mobile web and apps to include content developed on Apple’s iPad. Its analytics will automatically work for iPhone apps accessed on the device with further support coming specifically for the iPad SDK once it is available from Apple. [...] Mobile, TechnologyRead more | Comments (1) |
New Thinking On Social Brandingby Roland Smart on Wednesday, January 27, 2010 To build brands on social networks, marketers are experimenting with a wide range of strategies. But which efforts are most effective? A recent study by MarketingProfs shows that branded applications top the chart, but they are under-utilized: less than a quarter of all respondents had created them. Any company that wants to be successful on social media must understand that applications are at the heart of successful campaigns. But it also important to understand that getting the most out of a branded application requires an integrated approach to social networks. [...] Media, SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
BofA Exec Justine Metz Talks About Retirement Campaignby John Gaffney on Wednesday, January 27, 2010 On Monday Bank of America debuted the latest installment of "help(2)retire______" (read "help2retire blank"), a new, online-offline campaign that encourages individuals to "fill in the blank" by identifying aspects of their working and financial lives that they want to put an end to, and help them focus on goals for their retirement. Those goals for many Bank of America and Merrill Lynch customers has changed.
The new campaign will center a large portion of its $20 million budget on TV and print, but is notable for the way it has used customer data to inform the creative, and for the way it will drive customers online for deeper information. [...] Marketing, MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
Zinio Launches Cross-Platform Optimizationby John Gaffney on Wednesday, January 27, 2010 Digital content publisher Zinio has added to its “UNITY” platform by announcing today that it will extend its online design capabilities to mobile apps. Called “design optimization” the solution allows publishers to design once for digital readers and then have that design fit any digital application whether its online or mobile. The announcement follows Zinio’s announcement of the UNITY platform in early January, which enabled the creation of iPhone apps for its customers, including a new deal with National Geographic. [...] Media, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Exelate Partners With Invite Mediaby John Gaffney on Tuesday, January 26, 2010 Behavioral data firm eXelate reached a new partnership agreement with ad network Invite media. The companies claim that the integration will allow advertisers to access and leverage identity, interest and purchase intent targeting data on over 200 million US Targeted users across multiple media exchanges allowing for “instant audience building capability, massive reach and real time performance feedback. Via the integration, Invite Media customers will receive centralized billing and analytics related to eXelate data and have the ability to work within flexible business terms and leverage pricing models that best fit their campaign goals. [...] Media, Metrics, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Peer39 Plays Semantic Defenseby John Gaffney on Tuesday, January 26, 2010 Semantic targeting has opened the promise of true contextual placements for brands and publishers. In this world of octomoms, errant athletes, and cyberterror. Several targeting firms are turning toward stressing their ability to play semantic defense for brands as well as efficient semantic placement. With that in mind, Peer 39 has announced the general availability of SemanticProtect, a solution that leverages semantic targeting to protect brands in real time.
The new product is aimed at avoiding risky, negative and controversial content. [...] Marketing, TechnologyRead more | Comments (2) |
HarperCollins Adds Teen Digital Effortby John Gaffney on Monday, January 25, 2010 Where’s the next Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants coming from? Might be online. HarperCollins Publishers is going deeper into its digital publishing platform with the launch today of inkpop (www.inkpop.com), an interactive writing platform for teens. Claiming that it is the first to be backed by a major U.S. publisher, Inkpop, created by HarperTeen, combines community publishing, user-generated content, and social networking to connect writers in teen literature with talent-spotting readers and publishing professionals. [...] Marketing, SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
DigiRant: Who Dat With A Hole In His Foot?by John Gaffney on Monday, January 25, 2010 A few offline thoughts from the raft of commercials I saw in seven hours of football coverage yesterday. One: When I first saw that WalMart commercial when the father dresses up as a clown and then steps on some kind of long sharp object that pierces his WalMart purchased clown suit, I thought it was disturbing. Second time I saw it I thought “maybe he’s yelling because he has no health insurance.” Third time I thought maybe he doesn’t have health insurance because he works at WalMart. Two: Am I the only person who thinks it rather bizarre that Fox is promoting the great American car race (Daytona 500) with an Irish band (U2) singing a song about heroin (Bad)? Three: When did “how did it feel?” become the exclusive question of sports interviews after a game. [...] Marketing, MediaRead more | Comments (2) |
Casing The Email Changes On Facebookby John Gaffney on Friday, January 22, 2010 As it continues on its unseen growth trajectory Facebook keeps adding nuances and morphing its services, often at a pace too fast for the rest of the business. However, its recent email changes are on the radar and attracting plenty of of attention albeit after its implementation.
Facebook-monitor newsletter All Facebook called the email changes “one of Facebook’s most significant changes to the Facebook Platform since it first launched almost three years ago.” It allows developer access to user emails. [...] Media, SocialRead more | Comments (1) |
The Fuel: Sorting Through The Social Media Pretendersby Holly Pavlika on Friday, January 22, 2010 In a race for survival, agencies have seized upon “social media” and have been scrambling to follow the money and start social media divisions. But these are the same agencies that have been scrambling to fix the broken traditional agency model, and in many cases are still struggling.
First social media is not a fad. It is here and will continue to evolve. The basis of social media – interaction & dialogue – has been embraced by nearly everyone on the planet in various shapes and forms. [...] Marketing, SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
DigiRant: Embarassing Week For Journalistsby John Gaffney on Friday, January 22, 2010 My media exposure is admittedly huge. I’m online all day, and from 6 to 7 every evening I go to the gym where omnipresent TVs blast CNN, Fox, MSNBC, and CNBC. I never knew that speculation about an athlete’s presence at a sex addiction clinic was “breaking news.” I never knew that a meteorologist was qualified to explain an earthquake, which CNN did last week. The all news approach is bad enough. But with all the digital touchpoints this industry has developed we should be doing better in terms of ethics and standards. [...] MediaRead more | Comments (1) |
DigiRant: Please Interrupt My Daughterby John Gaffney on Thursday, January 21, 2010 I have a 14 year old daughter. Nuff said, right? Anyway, I was not at all shocked to read about the Kaiser Family report yesterday that put on paper what any parent knew: Kids are online almost every waking moment. In fact if they’re not in school, they’re online. As a parent I struggle with what that means, and I struggle with how to fight it. I worry about my daughter’s attention span and I worry she won’t understand some of the subtle things in life that pretty much demand some peace and quiet. [...] Media, SocialRead more | Comments (2) |
Social Efforts Coming From Direct Budgetsby John Gaffney on Thursday, January 21, 2010 Digital marketers didn’t need another research project to tell them that social media marketing is a priority. But information about how the competition is paying for it has been rare. Apparently it is being paid funded partially through from direct marketing budgets and aimed at increasing customer engagement. The information comes from marketing services company Alterian in its seventh annual survey. The sample covered 1068 marketing professionals worldwide and found that 66 percent of respondents will be investing in Social Media Marketing (SMM) in the next 12 months. [...] Media, MetricsRead more | Comments (0) |
Augmented Reality Is Ready For Its Close Upby Masha Geller on Thursday, January 21, 2010 It takes a lot to get the techy crowd to go anywhere north of Union Square, let alone Columbus Circle, before 8 a.m. Usually bribery with French pastries and cool gadgets. But Adam Broitman, Founder and Ring Leader of Circ.us, did just that this morning. He threw in a dose of Robert Downey Jr. and Augmented Reality at a location that makes any tech geek drool – the Samsung store in the Time Warner Center.
Broitman was one of the panelists at Sobel Media’s latest Augmented Reality gathering, along with Esquire Magazine’s David Curcurito, Creative Bubble’s Doug Dimon, and ‘innovation catalyst’ David Polinchock – THE thought leaders of the emerging media space. [...] Media, TechnologyRead more | Comments (2) |
Chapell Goes Public On Targeting IssuesWednesday, January 20, 2010 Alan Chapell has had as varied a career as any one in the digital publishing and marketing business. In 1997, he founded the privacy program at Jupiter Research, after which he developed several products in DoubleClick’s research product suite which revolutionized the measurement of online advertising. He founded Chapell & Associates in October of 2003. Since then, he has worked with several top-tier organizations; helping them to comply with existing privacy legislation, auditing their privacy practices, and managing their technology product development programs. [...] Marketing, MediaRead more | Comments (1) |
Pubmatic Report Says CPM Rates Spiked For Q4by John Gaffney on Wednesday, January 20, 2010 Call it what you want, but remnant, non-guaranteed, or extra inventory for online publishers is gaining momentum. PubMatic, which provides ad revenue optimization technology and ad operations support for premium online publishers, today announced the results of its 2009 Year-End Ad Price Index. The research brief indicates that 2009 proved to be a rebound year where ad pricing increased significantly and steadily, but the fourth quarter was off the charts. The study shows that the average CPM of its non-guaranteed inventory rose 111 percent from Q4 2008 to 2009. [...] Media, TechnologyRead more | Comments (3) |
Kee Joins DM2 As Editorial DirectorTuesday, January 19, 2010 DM2 Media announces the appointment of Tameka Kee to the post of editorial director for the leading digital media content hub, DIGIDAY, DM2 Media’s digital properties, as well as content development for their innovative digital media and marketing conferences. She succeeds content director Sarah Schoenfelder, who contributed to DM2 Media’s publications and events from September 2008 - December 2009.
Tameka has been covering the digital media industry with a special focus on advertising, social media and video games for the past three years. [...] Marketing, MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
In Search Of Digital Simplicityby Jaffer Ali on Tuesday, January 19, 2010 As Einstein once said, "I wouldn't give a nickel for simplicity on this side of complexity, but I would give my life for simplicity on the other side of complexity." It has taken me thirty years of my professional life to become a simple guy. Starting in the home video business in 1980 and progressing from analog to digital, in retrospect it seems that business was an ongoing exercise in complexification.
Nowhere is “complexification” more apparent than in online marketing circles. Here, jargon is supreme. [...] Marketing, MediaRead more | Comments (1) |
New Developments Combine Search With Semanticsby John Gaffney on Tuesday, January 19, 2010 Semantic targeting has always grown from a “what if” proposition. What if advertisers could place display ads nearest not just the context but the actual meaning of the words that will be relevant tom their messaging? Now semantic targeting has added another what if scenario. What if advertisers could be advised first on the keywords and they should target and then aim at them?
That “what if” scenario is being achieved as companies integrate more optimization technology. In fact, semantic targeting is becoming an evolution of search optimization with companies such as OpenAmplify leading with new technology to feed publisher adoption. [...] Media, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Social Media Drives Haitian InfoMonday, January 18, 2010 In addition to being a huge source of donations, the Haitian earthquake has been a testament to the power of social media. Nielsen Wire reports that in the wake of Tuesday’s devastating 7.0 earthquake in Haiti, much of what people around the world learned came from social media sources.
Preliminary analysis of data shows that Twitter posts (“micro-blogs”) are the leading source of discussion about the quake, followed by online video, blogs and other online boards/forums. While most online consumers rely on traditional media for coverage of the quake, they are turning to Twitter and blogs to share information, react to the situation and rally support. [...] Media, Metrics, SocialRead more | Comments (10) |
T-Mobile Launches New Campaign With ClaptonFriday, January 15, 2010 T-Mobile is launching its new myTouch 3G next week with help from Eric Clapton and Fender guitars. As part of the myTouch 3G marketing campaign, which has featured a variety of iconic artists including comedians, musicians and sports figures, Clapton's commercial will debut on national TV on January 20, supporting the availability of the device nationwide in select T-Mobile retail stores and online.
In the ad, Clapton will showcase a personalized myTouch 3G Fender Limited Edition. Designed in partnership with Fender, the new limited edition myTouch has a Fender guitar sunburst-finish inspired design. [...] Marketing, MobileRead more | Comments (2) |
DigiRant: Customers Need Attentionby John Gaffney on Friday, January 15, 2010 Customer experience came up again this week, rearing its inconvenient head via the established source for expertise in this area, which is Forrester analysts Bruce Temkin’s annual index. Internet ISPs got hit hard, and e-commerce companies didn’t come up as well as they could have. Amazon, sure. But digital content and marketing executives need to pay attention here because there are a few issues lying in wait that could easily be solved by simply paying attention to customer experience. At the core of it is communication. [...] MarketingRead more | Comments (0) |
The Fuel: Top 50 iPhone Apps For Momsby Holly Pavlika on Friday, January 15, 2010 There are over 6.4 million iPhone users in the U.S. and over 50% of them are women. And women, particularly Moms, love their iPhones. For brands looking to connect with Moms, an iphone app is a must have as a part of a social media campaign.
Greystripe, a mobile brand advertising network, released their quarterly Mobile Advertising Insights Report recently, detailing behavioral characteristics of moms in their iPhone ad network. The report shows:
• 20% downloading educational apps for their kids
• Nearly 60% of iPhone moms depend on their phone to locate the nearest store
• 41. [...] Mobile, TechnologyRead more | Comments (4) |
Unica Bulks Up Email CapacityThursday, January 14, 2010 Analytics giant Unica Corporation is adding to its email capabilities. It announced today that it has purchased privately-held Pivotal Veracity, a leading email optimizer for approximately $17.8 million in cash.
"In a world where virtually all email is filtered, marketers must pay keen attention to how their digital communications are perceived and whether they reach the recipient's inbox," said Yuchun Lee, CEO of Unica. "We believe that email deliverability, which encompasses analysis and management of inbox placement, content rendering, and reputation management, is a mission critical technology for marketers and the entire email technology industry. [...] Marketing, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Google And Microsoft Lead Ad Network GrowthThursday, January 14, 2010 Microsoft and Google were the big winners in December’s ad network report issued today by comScore. The ranking showed that AOL Advertising remains the top ad network, reaching 187 million U.S. Internet users, or 91 percent of the total audience, followed by Yahoo! Network (180.9 million) and Google Ad Network (178.1 million). The fastest growing ad network by audience reach among the top 15 was Microsoft Media Network U.S., which grew 31 percent versus year ago, followed by Collective Network (up 22 percent) and Audience Science (up 16 percent). [...] Media, MetricsRead more | Comments (0) |
Google China Standoff Will Have Loud Echoesby John Gaffney on Wednesday, January 13, 2010 On a macro level the events surrounding Google’s public challenge of the Chinese government have global economic significance. But it also could have ramifications for the day-to-day operations for domestic digital content and advertising executives. Any company serving ads globally, or trying to do business in the world’s most populated market could find that landscape changed.
The first involves cyber-crime. This story, whether Google decides to bail on China or not, shines a bright light on corporate security. [...] MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
DigiRant: Don't Worry About The Governmentby John Gaffney on Wednesday, January 13, 2010 When Carly Fiorina commented during the last presidential campaign that John McCain wouldn’t know how to run a company, she was spot on. And she was ex-communicated from the McCain campaign for her honesty. I’m reminded of her rather astute observation this week because the latest rumblings of government regulation of Internet advertising have to make a sane business person how politicians think.
Take for example Rep. Rick Boucher who is talking about introducing legislation that would give consumers an opportunity to op-out of ad delivery technology or institute third party opt-in and verification. [...] Media, TechnologyRead more | Comments (1) |
Q&A With DataLogix President Eric Rozaby John Gaffney on Wednesday, January 13, 2010 Three months after its rebranding from NextAction, DataLogix is continuing its leadership status as a cross-channel data and targeting provider. Eric Roza joined DataLogix in 2007, and was promoted to President in November, 2008. He has led the company’s transformation from a catalog prospecting company to the leading cross-channel data platform for audience targeting through both traditional and digital media. We caught up with him last week.
Digiday: There’s been a lot of attention paid once again to the data that online campaigns generate, especially with Pepsi opting for a big online campaign over the Super Bowl event. [...] Read more | Comments (0) |
Feds Focus On Distracted Drivingby John Gaffney on Tuesday, January 12, 2010 Texting, mobile calling, and internet surfing have caught the attention of the Feds. With a blitz of morning talk shows and a new website and a new non-profit group, the Department of Transportation is becoming more active to stop what it calls “distracted driving.”
While transportation secretary Ray LaHood told several news organizations this morning he was on a “rampage” against texting and mobile use while driving, so far there is no national legislation being proposed against it. The DOT will support FocusDriven, a Mothers Against Drunk Driving type of national nonprofit organization that will raise awareness about distracted driving. [...] Marketing, Mobile, TechnologyRead more | Comments (1) |
2010: The Biggest Stories Won't Be In The Headlinesby Brandon Gutman on Tuesday, January 12, 2010 As we settle into the second official week of the New Year, and everyone is back cranking on projects big and small, it’s hard not to wonder what’s ahead in 2010. There’s more hope in the air than there was this time last year; a sense that things are turning up in the industry, that the economy is finally showing signs of life. With that in mind, what will be the biggest story in technology in 2010? What will be the most unexpected surprise? And from where I sit, a twist on that question: what should brands be paying attention to as they shape their digital strategy for the coming year? In a constantly shifting space, what will matter and what will just amount to chatter?
While the tech headlines buzz with recent M&A shakeups, I think it’s worth noting that there’s just as much happening—if not more—in companies with fewer zeros behind them. [...] Marketing, Media, Mobile, Social, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Bing Puts On A Show At CESby John Gaffney on Tuesday, January 12, 2010 Anybody that has ever been to CES in Las Vegas knows the luxury of avoiding cab lines and the thrift of a free ride between hotels. However, connecting that luxury to an experiential marketing for a mobile app has been left undone, until this year. As CES 2010 wrapped, Microsoft had managed to introduce and evangelize its new Bing mobile app by giving new and influential customers, meaning CES attendees, a free ride in exchange for a download.
“It was an experiential program to generate awareness about the app and touch influencers on a one-to-one basis,” says Show Media president John Amato. [...] Marketing, MobileRead more | Comments (0) |
Hold Off On That Newspaper Obitby John Gaffney on Monday, January 11, 2010 Despite the blogs, Tweets, posts, fanpages and aggregators, news has to start somewhere. A new study of one city’s news ecosystem has found that it starts where it has always started: The local paper. The study by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism, which looked at the news ecosystem of Baltimore last summer, suggests that while the news landscape has rapidly expanded, most of what the public learns is still overwhelmingly driven by newspapers.
The study, which examined all the outlets that produced local news in Baltimore, Md. [...] Media, MetricsRead more | Comments (1) |
Digirant: Zero To 60 In Five Tweetsby John Gaffney on Monday, January 11, 2010 If there’s one thing I think the digital marketing and content business might overlook it’s the customer experience. And now it looks like we’re all going to overlook the customer driving experience. No one needs any proof that using a mobile phone in a car is dangerous, yet no company has taken the lead in warning against it. Now Ford Sync and other services are pushing internet connections and usage in cars. As one typically snarky Brit put it in covering CES for Telegraph UK: “Car makers believe that the vehicles of tomorrow will be judged not just on how quickly they can go from 0-60mph but how quickly they connect to the internet. [...] Marketing, MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
The Geeks Shall Inherit The Earthby Jaffer Ali on Monday, January 11, 2010 I have spent my entire adult life in media. Buying and selling advertising is only one part of my resume. My real love is creating content. I have written four books, produced nine documentaries, been the CEO of an e-zine company that published 78 e-zines and recently created 21 micro-publications on Twitter. These micro-publications will soon make their appearance on Facebook.
This personal journey started thirty years ago in the home video business. And despite all the twists and turns, I believe there are still a few more miles to travel before I run out of road. [...] Marketing, Media, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
The Fuel: Thinking Beyond Mobile Realityby Avi Savar on Friday, January 8, 2010 It’s always tempting to think one step beyond when it comes to marketing technology. In that light, the much talked about launch of Google's Nexus One alongside reports of the ever increasing stronghold in the market for smartphones motivates any smart marketer to seriously consider the potential of a mobile playground for brands. I generally view my environment and work with brands through a distinctly creative lens, so an impressive development in the mobile space over the past year has me considering a technology for mobile that goes that step beyond. [...] Mobile, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
AvoiditNYC Rages Out Of BetaThursday, January 7, 2010 It might not pay to dis AvoiditNYC. The company announced today today that its website, AvoiditNYC.com, will be released to the public as "New York City's pioneer website for consumers to review restaurants, nightlife, retail stores, doctors' offices, and more to report negative experiences and foster an online social network of people sharing these experiences with one another." Claiming that it is the first and only of its kind, AvoiditNYC.com actually puts a positive spin on its services, saying that it "provides business owners and managers with the unique opportunity to improve their businesses and reputations by seeking negative feedback and reconciling with their customers"
The site's model is both a peer-to-peer consumer advocacy platform, as well as a business-to-consumer portal. [...] Marketing, SocialRead more | Comments (4) |
Pubmatic Thrives In Hybrid Digital Monetization Worldby John Gaffney on Thursday, January 7, 2010 With 21 million users a month, TV Guide.com is the top TV and entertainment site on the web. And right before the holidays it made a big revenue move by signing PubMatic to monetize non-guaranteed ad inventory. Josh Wetzel, VP, Publisher Services at PubMatic, says it was a big win, one which was justified at TV Guide within 45 days of its implementation in terms of increased monetization and the resulting better use of internal sales resources. We caught up with Wetzel last week.
Digiday: There’s a lot of competition in the digital publishing monetization space. [...] Marketing, Media, MetricsRead more | Comments (0) |
AppleQuattro Is Not The End Of The World As We Know Itby John Gaffney on Tuesday, January 5, 2010 By now you know and have likely vented an opinion on why Quattro sold out to Apple earlier today for $275 million. Prevailing opinion in the digital content and publishing community was actually more muted than the Google purchase of AdMob late last year, a deal still being held up by the FTC. This acquisition is much more likely to escape the FTC’s clutches because Apple is not an advertising-based company. Google is. Therefore Google is expanding its market share where Apple is just starting out in the mobile ad network area. [...] Mobile, TechnologyRead more | Comments (1) |
AppMakr Looks To Open Self-Made Marketby John Gaffney on Tuesday, January 5, 2010 Publishers can make their own app in under an hour. That’s the goal of AppMakr, a new service officially launched today that allows any company or any individual to make an iPhone application.
According to Sean Shadmand, Chief Strategy Officer of AppMakr parent PointAbout, Inc. the service enables easy content distribution to the iPhone in a highly monetizable way. iPhone apps often cost more than $10,000 for content and development and take weeks or months to create, making the decision to plan execute a mobile strategy a complex task. [...] Mobile, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Forever Jung: What Makes Social Media Social?by Jaffer Ali on Monday, January 4, 2010 Let’s introduce a new unusual suspect into the social media discussion. His name, C.G. Jung, who said “…there exists a second psychic system of a collective, universal, and impersonal nature which is identical in all individuals.”
Think about that. I’ll come back to our Swiss doctor friend, and I have to tell you that he was in my mind when one of the discussion lists I belong to had a recent and spirited exchange regarding an alternative name for “social media.” The dialogue was festooned with imaginative offerings, but there seemed to be a lot of confusion regarding exactly what social media is all about. [...] Marketing, SocialRead more | Comments (1) |
Automated Content States Its Caseby John Gaffney on Monday, January 4, 2010 It certainly has an Orwellian feel to it, but if you buy into Patrick Keane’s way of thinking, digital content is at a natural intersection of humanity and mathematics. In fact, he says that his company’s data-driven approach to content assignment, generation, purchase, and then publishing is a necessary evolution. “Algorithms,” he says, “are living things.”
Keane’s company, Associated Content is at the forefront of a controversial trend called automated content by some, content factories by others and content farms. [...] Media, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
AT&T Ices iPhone Salesby John Gaffney on Monday, December 28, 2009 In a development that is sure to affect the continuing marketing battle between AT&T and Verizon, iPhone sales were stopped at least temporarily in the New York City over the holiday weekend and into Monday. AT&T, picking up on a crisis management tactic that is gaining popularity in the post-Tiger Woods era, has said nothing. It has offered up only vague explanations behind the decision, leading to rampant press speculation that he New York City AT&T wireless grid was simply not able to handle the amount of phone sales added during the holiday season. [...] Mobile, TechnologyRead more | Comments (3) |
Making The Case for Better Online Listening Skillsby Brandon Gutman on Wednesday, December 23, 2009 We tend to assume that because masses of people are flocking to the Internet, it is, therefore, a mass medium. It is not. In a mass medium, you have an audience that is assembled either because you control air-time (like TV) or because you control space (like a magazine or an amphitheatre). On the Internet you control neither.
Like a crowded street in Times Square, lots of people are spinning through the Internet from different places for different reasons and they control their own time and space. [...] Marketing, Media, Metrics, Mobile, Social, TechnologyRead more | Comments (2) |
Benetton Makes The AR Leap With Flying Colorsby John Gaffney on Monday, December 21, 2009 Esquire Magazine took all the attention around augmented reality technology when it put its November issue on the stands with several print-to-web and back again features. But the riskier AR test may actually belong to Benetton Colors magazine. Distributed in-store, via mail, and online the magazine is known for controversial images that have only a little bit to do with sweaters. (Examples: Passionate kissing, boys wearing skirts, etc.) The October issue of Colors focused on “Teenagers.” We caught up with Erick Ravelo, Editor in Chief/Creative director of Colors Magazine, based at the company’s Italian HQ to discuss the AR strategy. [...] Marketing, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Tell Us: What Matters Now?by Anne Mai Bertelsen on Friday, December 18, 2009Marketing Read more | Comments (0) |
The Fuel: Social Media Lessons From A Train Rideby Monika Ratner on Friday, December 18, 2009 I met up with a friend from college for an early dinner after work last week. Reeling from the day, I barely let him say “how's it going” before blurting out the most incredible thing I just learned at work. "Facebook apps- oh man! Did you know we can now collect more user data before someone accepts the terms of agreement? And after that box is clicked...I think this access is really going in the right direction to help us produce smarter content for people and brands!”
My friend's expression turned to shock then confusion, suspicion and finally fear. [...] SocialRead more | Comments (2) |
Why I No Longer Believe In Advertisingby Jaffer Ali on Thursday, December 17, 2009 The end of the year is always a good time to reflect on the past. The older we get, the farther we travel. The road to our present business has been one of buying, owning and selling media of just about every type. Over the years we have bought and/or sold billboards, radio, newspapers, online e-zines, banners, online video, local cable, national cable, and even catalogs.
I'm sure the above list is not complete, but you get the point. When it comes to media buying and selling, we’ve pretty much tried them all, been there and done that. [...] Marketing, MediaRead more | Comments (1) |
The Last Zynga Piece You'll Readby John Gaffney on Wednesday, December 16, 2009 It may be the 449th mention of Russian VC DST taking a big $180 million position with Zynga. But while the deal is fascinating for its international intrigue and just sheer amounts of cash involved, there are some legitimate and undercovered aspects of this news that will affect content and advertising executives in the digital publishing business. In fact, the deal raises as many questions as it answers. Here are some of them:
The $180 Million Question: Google prints its own money, Microsoft is sitting on a ton of cash, Twitter is sitting on a ton of cash, and now Zynga has a well-heeled investor that has only flashed its wallet. [...] Read more | Comments (0) |
Monty: Enough Is Enoughby Scott Monty on Wednesday, December 16, 2009 The spam and other unsolicited DMs I've been getting on Twitter have finally gotten to me. And I'm going to be taking action.
A Bit of Background
You know the kind of direct messages I'm talking about, all with spammy links in them:
"Is this you on here?"
"I just gave you a High Five! Check it out"
"Hey, I got some free ringtones from here"
"Hey, can you take this quiz thingy?"
"I found out my IQ. You should too."
"I lost a bunch of weight doing this."
And many, many more.
Lots of the direct messages I get are of the automated sort when people first start following me. [...] Marketing, Media, Social, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Automating Myselfby Robert Samet on Wednesday, December 16, 2009 If you are any type of middleman (or middlewoman), agent (from real estate agent, travel agent, even recruiter), or business that disseminates/distributes “information” or “information services”- chances are that your industry, and job- have been turned upside down by the Internet, some being com-modified. Information which was once only privy to the middleman, is now accessible mostly for free online- and in real time. Everyone and every business has had to “evolve” in some way. The world has gone digital- from newspapers/books morphing into the Kindle device- it’s all about turning everything and everyone into “bytes”. [...] Media, Social, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Google: Welcome To The Location Jungleby Alistair Goodman on Tuesday, December 15, 2009 Google recently announced PlacePages, an expanded ‘bubble’ within Google Maps, which is a free navigation system for mobile phones that offers turn-by-turn directions, and is now offering advertising on mobile devices that delivers sponsored links pointing users to nearby locations via the iPhone Maps program. These initiatives are designed to close that elusive last mile in digital marketing: using mobile to drive consumers to physical locations. This is not really about local advertising – though that will come eventually. [...] Mobile, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
DigiHealth Focuses On The Customerby John Gaffney on Monday, December 14, 2009 The year has hardly ended on a good note for pharmaceutical content and advertising. After inconclusive hearings in front of the FDA in Washington the industry was stung once again this past weekend by new lawsuits and accusations regarding Wyeth’s past promotion of hormonal drugs to reverse the effects of menopause. However, some in the industry have started to turn away from the constraints that have been placed on content and advertising and have started to turn toward what will work.
“Healthcare organizations large or small can do a better job of giving patients better resources to make decisions,” says Pat Griffin, CEO of Manchester, NH-based “marketing innovations” company Griffin, York and Krause. [...] Marketing, MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
The Fuel: Bridging Dream Technology With Social Realityby Sam Zises on Friday, December 11, 2009 When Pranav Mistry started his exploration about eight years back, he started with an idea. That idea was to use everyday objects and gestures in the real world and leverage their interaction with the digital world. In the recently posted video on TED, (Technology, Entertainment, Design) "The Thrilling Potential of Sixth Sense Technology," Mistry demos several tools and applications that "bridge" the physical world with the digital world. After watching the nearly 15 minute clip, my first reaction was, "That is super cool! But, who is going to wear a video camera and projector around their neck all the time?" Without taking anything away from Mistry's undeniable genius. [...] Read more | Comments (1) |
NetSeer Looks To Genome For Targeting Modelsby John Gaffney on Friday, December 11, 2009 Lest you think that this business of content and advertiser targeting is a simple matter of Internet coding, think again. At least one company is building its technology modeled on the most complex realms of the human genome itself. The company, NetSeer, says targeting can match human cell biology in terms of complexity and effective growth.
“When you look at the data of how genes regulate proteins you start to get a different sense of connections and groupings,” says John Mracek, recently-named CEO of NetSeer. [...] TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
State of the Apps Industry Survey Predicts Flood of New Mobile Entrants in 2010by Melinda Gipson on Thursday, December 10, 2009 Read more | Comments (0) |
Addressing The Digital Consortiumby John Gaffney on Thursday, December 10, 2009 I was talking to a former employer of mine recently, a guy who knew how to squeeze net-per-page from a magazine so hard that the logger who cut the tree down would scream. I asked him what he would do if he was responsible for squeezing revenue from today’s digital platform. He said pretty quickly: “I’m glad it’s not my problem.”
So it was not completely surprising to me that the biggest companies in the publishing world have adopted then same approach. Digital publishing has proven to be such a difficult issues to matter, and has caused such a crisis of money and ad value, that they are not prepared to tackle it alone. [...] Media, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Amex Dominates DPAC AwardsWednesday, December 9, 2009 American Express “Open” campaign dominated last night’ DPAC Awards in New York, taking home five wards including “Best In Show.” It was also a good night for The New York Times, Bush’s Baked Beans, Showtime and many other brands that were honored for excellence, in the mobile, social and technology areas.
Amex OPEN won awards for best branded website, best branded social media community, and best digital branding campaign. In its campaign, Amex actively engaged small business owners with the new OPEN Forum. [...] Metrics, Mobile, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
How do Regulate Privacy When You Can't Define it?by Melinda Gipson on Tuesday, December 8, 2009 If FTC commissioner Pamela Jones Harbour is worried about the horse having left the barn on privacy, she need only look to the number of people who shopped online this holiday season: 100 million. One third of the population of the United States shared at the very least credit card and shipping information, and probably much more to qualify for special deals, alerts and bonuses from tens of thousands of retailers.
Marketers at Monday’s FTC privacy workshop, while they may agree that consumers are wary of identity theft and spam, maintained that targeted offers, that may arrive when someone is in the right place, at the right time and in the right frame of mind – facilitated by the right information -- are in fact welcome. [...] MarketingRead more | Comments (0) |
BlueKai Adds In-Market Analyticsby John Gaffney on Monday, December 7, 2009 Fill in your own cliché here about the percentage of advertising that’s wasted. But from a publisher point of view trying to show advertisers that their money will not be wasted on your audience is still a challenging. Illustrating the potentially profitable percentage of in-market customers has always been a bigger challenge. A new set of reports from online data exchange BlueKai aims to change that. Today it bowed a purchase intent-focused service called BlueKai In-Market Reports, that provides agencies and their clients with valuable insights into the in-market shopping profiles of advertisers site audiences. [...] Marketing, Metrics, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
A Few Words from digiday:APPS' Emceeby Chris Cunningham on Monday, December 7, 2009 If you missed the first digiday:APPS held in New York City this past summer, you missed a one of a kind event. Nowhere else can you find the top app experts converging with the biggest names in advertising and marketing. If you have an app, are thinking about building one or better, yet, partnering with one, this is a must attend conference. It will change the way you think and the way you connect with your customers.
At the first digiday:APPS, I was honored to serve as the event’s emcee. Well, again, if you missed it, you’re in for a treat, because… I’M BACK! That’s right, Nick Friese has handed over the microphone, once again, to me for this week’s digiday:APPS held on Thursday in Hollywood. [...] Marketing, Media, Mobile, Social, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Social Influence Dominates Holiday Shoppingby John Gaffney on Monday, December 7, 2009 The two biggest retail categories for the holiday season may hinge on word of mouth for final purchase decisions, and that’s good news for social media. Although retailers will try to push the decision-making with online and offline ads, many shoppers won’t commit to buying some gifts until hearing from people just like them that it’s worth it, according to a Retail Advertising and Marketing Association survey conducted by BIGresearch. Word of mouth remains the biggest influence in people’s electronics (43. [...] Marketing, MetricsRead more | Comments (0) |
Match Wits With our DPAC Awards Judges and Win $100by Melinda Gipson on Friday, December 4, 2009 Read more | Comments (1) |
The Fuel: Dads Making Time For Social Mediaby Holly Pavlika on Friday, December 4, 2009 These days all the headlines are about Moms. We read about their spending power, their changing roles, what makes them tick, where they are, what they think, and so much more. With women spending about $5 trillion dollars annually and accounting for 85% of all consumer purchases, it’s not surprising. But what about Dad? Marketing, Media, SocialRead more | Comments (1) |
Power Play: Comcast Holds The Digital Purse Stringsby Melinda Gipson on Thursday, December 3, 2009 Done deal. GE and Comcast have pulled off a very complex set of transactions that basically nets out with Comcast owning the NBC network by a few stock percentage points, with Comcast owning 51 percent and G.E. owning 49 percent. The deal also changes the balance of power in digital content and advertising. What happens with that new power remains to be seen.
At simple face value, the family-controlled Comcast puts Brian Roberts at the helm of the nation’s largest cable operator, in 24 million homes, the country’s second largest internet provider with 15 M customers, NBC-owned broadcast and cable, including 27 TV stations and 11 cable networks, movie studios, and Hulu. [...] MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
On Audience Targeting and Measurement with OMG Digital's Matt SpiegelThursday, December 3, 2009 In this week’s On Audience Targeting and Measurement column, Scott Knoll, Senior Vice President for Datran Media and GM of Aperture interviews Matt Spiegel, CEO, OMG Digital
Scott Knoll: Audience measurement is a nebulous term. What is your definition of audience measurement, and how does it correspond to your definition of digital media measurement??
Matt Spiegel: There is no doubt that audience measurement has become an increasingly nebulous term but it is far from a new concept. I think the reason it is so hot and misapplied as of late is that there is renewed interest in measurement based on today’s innovations and the availability of more sophisticated modes of audience measurement. [...] Media, Metrics, TechnologyRead more | Comments (1) |
Simple Path To Publishing Profitby Jaffer Ali on Wednesday, December 2, 2009 “For rational beings will of course try simple things first and thereafter be driven step by step towards an ever enhanced complexification.”
-Nicholas Rescher, Complexity: A Philosophical Overview
I have been writing and commenting on Internet marketing, online publishing and e-commerce for over twelve years now. It doesn’t take much self reflection to see that the vast body of my work has been a critique of conventional wisdom.
Nowadays, however, faced with an industry panicked and bloated by its own excesses, there is precious little “wisdom” to critique. [...] Marketing, Media, Metrics, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
If I Ran The Googleby Ken Horowitz on Wednesday, December 2, 2009 With all due apologies to the great Dr. Seuss, our intrepid intellectual property and entertainment marketing expert Ken Horowitz takes on the world of Google. What if Google started to get after digital movie rights the way it approached books. In the tradition of Seuss classics If I Ran The Zoo, and If I Ran The Circus, Horowitz takes a creative and humorous approach to a potential nightmare. MediaRead more | Comments (3) |
Talking Measurement With Dynamic Logic's Michelle Euleby John Gaffney on Tuesday, December 1, 2009 Thinking “beyond the click” is arguably the most discussed topic of 2009. It has not escaped the attention of one of the industry’s leaders in ad measurement and effectiveness, Dynamic Logic. Before the Thanksgiving holiday it announced a new product Adometer, an optimization tool that gives advertisers an early indication of a campaign’s performance. The tool is based on real-time measures of “breakthrough” including how memorable an ad is and whether the target audience is being reached. [...] Marketing, MetricsRead more | Comments (0) |
Digital Marketing Scores Big Knockout For Big Weekendby John Gaffney on Monday, November 30, 2009 Let’s talk turkey. While various retail organizations called it about even between 2008 and 2009 Thanksgiving shopping numbers, I saw a knockout for digital marketing and digital commerce. The digital commerce part doesn’t concern us here so much. Plenty of websites will report on that, including what looks to be a huge CyberMonday take. But what went on behind the scenes made CyberMonday happen way before the actual day. It was a huge win for email, social media, and more general efforts to use internet marketing for its targeted purpose. [...] Marketing, MetricsRead more | Comments (0) |
Digirant: Bing And Rupertby John Gaffney on Tuesday, November 24, 2009 I don’t think saber rattling ever works very well in the digital content and advertising business because what comes around goes around so quickly. It wasn’t so long ago that Yahoo called all the shots in search. Rattle the saber now and it sounds hollow in a year or two – that’s my experience in this business. So now that we have Google hoarding all the books, and Apple hoarding all the apps, we have Newscorp and Bing looking to lock up their search content. It won’t work. The very simple reason it won’t work is because the payback would be a bitch. [...] Marketing, MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
Advocacy Journalism- Back To The Futureby Jaffer Ali on Monday, November 23, 2009 The myth of objective journalism has been torn asunder by tens of thousands of citizen journalists who share more with W.E.B DuBois, I.F. Stone and Frederick Douglass than they do with mainstream reporters who feign objectivity.
The three passionate souls mentioned above championed causes. They made no attempt to be “even handed” with the injustices of their day. Bloggers likewise have shed the accouterments of mythical objectivity and assumed partisan positions from every point on the political spectrum. [...] Media, Social, TechnologyRead more | Comments (2) |
Digirant: SocioTargeting; Dell Moves Slowlyby John Gaffney on Monday, November 23, 2009 Like anything else that aspires to exceed economic expectations in 2009, Internet advertising has fallen short. But in this time of social media hype, let’s not lose sight of the targeting factor. Internet advertising has grown and will continue to grow because it can target customers at various points in their engagement and purchase lifecycles. Until social media can do that it will be a fascinating evolution of consumer behavior. A curiosity that defies any logical business model analysis. But it will not be an advertising vehicle of any magnitude or effectiveness. [...] Marketing, SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
Last Chance To Weigh In On Future of Appsby Melinda Gipson on Monday, November 23, 2009 Read more | Comments (0) |
Pharma Still Lacks Social Directionby John Gaffney on Friday, November 20, 2009 The week after the FDA hearings on social media and pharmaceutical marketing has brought little clarity but some good ideas to the forefront. Today, both Business Week and Harvard Business Review weighed in on the topic, with some pointed advice for the FDA.
BW’s Catherine Arnst pointed out that the hearings produced so much interest that the FDA couldn’t accommodate all the requests for seating in the hearing room, and is now collecting comments at FDASM.com. But frustration with short-term guidelines rules the day. [...] Marketing, SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
Tips To Unwrap Sales This Holiday Seasonby Nicholas Einstein on Thursday, November 19, 2009 With the holiday shopping season just days away from full swing, marketers are getting ready to generate 25-40 percent of their yearly sales. With that much at stake, savvy marketers are doing everything they can to maximize the success of their holiday marketing campaigns.
The good news is that holiday cheer is easy to come by if you follow a few key tips to ensure high returns on your marketing investments now and well beyond the holiday season.
Coupons are a Gift Buyer’s Best Friend
It's no secret that consumers are planning on tightening their wallets this holiday season. [...] Marketing, Media, Metrics, TechnologyRead more | Comments (1) |
Social Media Is Making Us More Humanby John Gaffney on Thursday, November 19, 2009 A new Euro RSCG Social Media is introducing more terms, more contrary trends, but in the end evidence of more humanity from the explosion in social media. According to the study, their world is expanding and narrowing at the same time because of social media's hyperlocalization quotient. And "cyberdisinhibition" -- being more willing to behave online in ways they wouldn't in person -- has both emboldened users and led them to inappropriate behavior.
"Word of mouth has always been the most powerful marketing tool; what social media has done is dramatically increase the scale, velocity and immediacy with which people can influence each other and create the biggest revolution to hit our industry since television," said David Jones, global CEO of Euro RSCG Worldwide. [...] Metrics, SocialRead more | Comments (1) |
Millenial Report: Targeting Will Lead Mobile Through Q4by John Gaffney on Wednesday, November 18, 2009 At this point the mobile market is a little more than a year away from 50 percent smartphone penetration. What can content and advertising executives expect from that market? If October’s SMART research report from Millenial Media is on the button it will be a highly engaged audience, and it will be a very competitive race for their attention.
In terms of total audience, the Millenial report pegs the U.S. Mobile Web at a 1.1% increase over September to 64.8M users, which is consistent with recent Nielsen numbers. [...] Metrics, MobileRead more | Comments (0) |
From Recession to Recovery, Re-Inventionby Anne Mai Bertelsen on Monday, November 16, 2009 Even though the economy is recovering, marketers may need to re-invent as they move into 2010 to regain customers. Presenters from the IDEA Conference held on Thursday, November 12, have ideas and stories to share. MarketingRead more | Comments (1) |
Digirant: Esquire's Innovationby John Gaffney on Monday, November 16, 2009 Strictly from a content point of view, I’ve always been an Esquire Magazine fan. When I was in college back there during the Reagan administration it was held up as the journalist’s magazine, kind of like Little Feat was a musician’s band, or Cormac McCarthy was a writer’s writer. If you could write for Esquire, you did the University of New Hampshire proud. Throughout the years Esquire has fought the good fight, even if they did drop short stories. It has, however, thrown some very weak punches at digital publishing. [...] Media, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Google's Failed Midnight Confessionby Ken Horowitz on Monday, November 16, 2009 Minutes before the Friday midnight deadline, an amended Google settlement was offered in New York City and on further review…it’s not enough. Anyone involved in copyright, digital publishing rights and the apparently unchecked run of Google toward owning what it wants without compromise in this plan had to be disappointed if not surprised by Google’s lack of revision in its new filing, especially given its somewhat dramatic timing. Basically, the key point of contention was not changed. Google still wants to maintain a monopoly on the right to “orphan” books, the digital scans it makes of all books, and the right to sell subscription licenses to its library of digital books. [...] Marketing, TechnologyRead more | Comments (1) |
GoogleMob: Not The End Of The World As We Know Itby on Thursday, November 12, 2009 Read the recent flurry of reports about Google’s acquisition of AdMob for $750 million in stock and you might think mobile advertising has “arrived,” after struggling to establish itself as more than an experimental channel. Indeed, this is a very, very big deal and validates the enormous opportunity mobile advertising offers. But frankly, advertising via networks on smartphones is only one of many pretty well established ways to leverage the mobile channel. It is not the only way to leverage the mobile channel even though it has put a huge stake in the ground. [...] Media, MobileRead more | Comments (1) |
Digirant: Square One For DigiPharmaby John Gaffney on Thursday, November 12, 2009 The FDA starts its public hearings today on pharmaceutical advertising and already I think we’re missing the point of it. The point should be to find a compromise area in which pharmaceutical companies can advertise online without having to jump through more hoops than a puppy at obedience school. Instead, I think we’re starting out with a spirit of more regulation.
The IAB has started its input by suggesting a move toward standards that would hopefully make pharma ads accountable to FDA regulations. [...] Marketing, MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
Pew Research Finds Web Won't Cure LonelinessWednesday, November 11, 2009 For every parent who worried that their kid was socially withering in front of the computer screen and for every commentator who claimed the US was isolating in a fog of Facebook posts, now there’s evidence to the contrary. Claiming to be the first ever survey that examines the role of the internet and cell phones in the way that people interact with those in their core social network, the Pew Internet Personal Networks and Community survey has found we’re no more or less lonely than we used to be. [...] Media, Metrics, SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
Digirant Nov. 10: Sign Of The Timesby John Gaffney on Tuesday, November 10, 2009 Apparently The New York Times hasn’t made up its mind yet about charging for website content. Managing Editor’s Bill Keller’s leaked speech to the troops last week indicates that the issue is still open for discussion and that the ad side of the church and state debate is winning for now. The ad state, undoubtedly, wants to keep as much content free as it can. If you don’t have to sign up for the bottom line P&L or report to those nasty NYT board members, it’s easy to fire off about The Times. [...] Read more | Comments (0) |
Game Changer: Google Buys AdMobby John Gaffney on Monday, November 9, 2009 Consolidation. Excitement. Game-changer. Dominance. Welcome to the Google-ized world of mobile advertising. As the rest of the world was watching the company’s expected court filing on its digital book case, Google stepped out and bought AdMob for $750 million in stock. In the process, the landscape for mobile marketing is different than the one that existed Monday morning.
“This is the kind of game-changing event I’ve been predicting for more than a year,” says Jordan Greene, principal of mobile advisory firm Mella Media. [...] Mobile, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Why Charging For Online News Content Won't Workby Jaffer Ali on Monday, November 9, 2009 It happens every time a new type of media emerges. For example, and this dates me a bit, when I entered the home video business, beta was king! Back then, music industry executives-turned video executives treated the video industry as if it were the record industry.
Book distributors also jumped in, and, guess what? Yep, they treated video like books.
Periodical distributors entered the fray and, well, you know what happened…
It is undoubtedly true that we view life through the lens of our own experiences. [...] Media, Social, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Friday Digirant: Cry, Baby, Cryby John Gaffney on Friday, November 6, 2009 Story of the Week: No kidding. A real iPhone app was launched by Spanish company Biloop Technologic called the the Cry Translator . The company says this ground-breaking application is designed to help parents and caregivers learn to understand their baby's first language - their cry. The Cry Translator involves a revolutionary sound analysis technology that quickly identifies an infant's cry, based on one of five emotional or physiological states: hunger, fatigue, annoyance, stress or boredom. These five cries are universal to all babies regardless of culture or language. [...] Media, MobileRead more | Comments (0) |
The Merging of Brands and Publishers (revised edition)by Brandon Gutman on Friday, November 6, 2009 Today the lines have blurred between publishers and brands living in the digital world. Brands are no longer content to merely rent access to their consumers from publishers. Instead they are creating their own slick digital hubs that include entertainment, information, communities and more-- offering an experience where they control and ultimately own the links to their customers.
How will brands and publishers collide and coexist in pursuit of a profitable relationship with consumers? FOCi Group assembled and moderated a panel at DPAC4 to address this topic. [...] Marketing, Media, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Engagement Level Strategy: Part IIby Nick Godfrey on Thursday, November 5, 2009 In my previous column I talked about engagement lifecycle strategy and engagement level strategy. Customer engagement, and engagement level strategy, is holistic, works in tandem with customer lifecycles, and is directly tied to revenue. It encourages companies to understand that customers will engage with a brand or content platform at different levels over time. Let’s explain these levels in a bit more detail for content owners, advertising professionals, and e-commerce companies.
At HIGH ENGAGEMENT, the customer is excited and engaged at the time that they commence their engagement and can be encouraged to stay at this level if they are continually provided what they want, need and find interesting. [...] MarketingRead more | Comments (0) |
Display Can Rescue Your Mojo, Babeby Kathryn Koegel on Wednesday, November 4, 2009 Over the past year, display has been something like the long-in-the-stained-tooth Austin Powers when he lost his mojo. It’s just not sexy anymore. The business media has certainly dumped it in favor of the ingénue allure of mobile and social. The publishers are declaring that display ads just don’t work. At last week’s DPAC IV one prominent publisher panelist declared he didn’t think his media company would even BE in the display business two years from now. Thus, we’re in danger of losing the attention of marketers. [...] Media, MetricsRead more | Comments (1) |
Digirant: Paid Patternsby John Gaffney on Wednesday, November 4, 2009 As my friend Ken Horowitz pointed out in his column yesterday, the patterns of the past can foreshadow the future. He was talking about the e-reader format struggles. I have some similar thoughts about patterns and paid content, but these are aimed at the future.
The current content landscape is brand new territory. Never has any business in history gone from substantial profit to complete inability to charge for its product and then come back again. Forget the time compression factor involved, the content business has had its entire business model melted down like plastic for action figures. [...] MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
Q&A With Pontiflex VP Evan Adlmanby John Gaffney on Tuesday, November 3, 2009 Ponitflex shook up the digital ad world in late summer with its study that showed marketers will pay publishers an average price of $2.27 for each reader they can qualify as a lead. With that as its business model Pontiflex has led advertisers to relevant websites, social networks and mobile apps, in the quest of connecting the right people no matter where they are. We caught up with VP Evan Adlman to talk about the cost-per-lead pricing model and other important issues.
Digiday: There’s certainly a lot out there for publishers to choose from in the world of content monetization tools. [...] Marketing, Media, TechnologyRead more | Comments (1) |
Revenge Of The Format Warsby Ken Horowitz on Tuesday, November 3, 2009 I’ve seen more than a few format wars. Now I’m watching another one coming at the burgeoning category of e-readers and it astonishes me that businesses still have trouble learning a basic precept: Listen to your customer. Customers want simplicity, and a clear path to upgrades, and the comfort that they are not buying into a dead-end technology.
It’s not hard, is it? So why can’t businesses get it right? They have their own history to instruct them. Back at the dawn of the home video era, early adopters had a choice between Beta and VHS tapes. [...] Media, TechnologyRead more | Comments (2) |
Top Five Reasons Why Free is a Good Business Model & How We Plan to Use it to Retire Before We're 90by B.L. Ochman on Tuesday, November 3, 2009 Is free really a good business model? Experience tells us the answer is "yes". If we're right, we get to retire before we're 90. SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
The Real Twitter Revolutionby Jaffer Ali on Monday, November 2, 2009 It is fair to say few people were more critical of Twitter than I. With pithy tag lines like “Join the conversation,” and 140 characters to communicate, it seemed silly. Hell, it was silly.
Amassing large followers for any but a few high-profile celebrities remained a course in round-trip circle jerking. You follow me and I will follow you. This resulted in neither one following what the other had to say. A friend of mine followed over 4000 people and they dutifully returned the favor, creating so much noise that he had to create a new account for the “real” people he wanted to follow. [...] Media, Social, TechnologyRead more | Comments (3) |
Do TV Networks Call Craig Ferguson Remnant?by Kathryn Koegel on Friday, October 30, 2009 The Internet is a medium with infinite content sources and dispersed usage. Here’s the bad news: It has a really crappy way of valuing inventory. Ad networks have a part to play here. They make this broken media easier to use by aggregating inventory and actually making the medium more efficient to buy. What they have negatively produced is a layer of confusion to the marketplace with no one really sure who is representing what inventory.
Inventory is being sold and resold which results in deals that do not deliver or retain latency in the ads actually showing up on the page. [...] Marketing, MetricsRead more | Comments (0) |
The Merging of Brands and Publishersby Brandon Gutman on Friday, October 30, 2009 Today the lines have blurred between publishers and brands living in the digital world. Brands are no longer content to merely rent access to their consumers from publishers. Instead they are creating their own slick digital hubs that include entertainment, information, communities and more-- offering an experience where they control and ultimately own the links to their customers. How will brands and publishers collide and coexist in pursuit of a profitable relationship with consumers? FOCi Group assembled and moderated a panel at DPAC4 to address this topic. [...] Marketing, Media, Mobile, Social, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Digirant: Halloween Weekby John Gaffney on Friday, October 30, 2009 I am a digital tree hugger. I believe that all companies live in the same ecosystem in which they all compete for customers and dollars. As in a natural ecosystem some of them dominate, some prey, some are eaten, and some disrupt the balance of the ecosystem by eating too much or causing disease.
You know where I’m going with this.
The debate about what constitutes unfair or unnatural ecosystem behavior is as old as the printing press. Lately, what used to be fair predators are disrupting the balance. [...] Media, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Today on DM2PRO: Fidelity's Media Mixby Melinda Gipson on Friday, October 30, 2009 Read more | Comments (0) |
Debunking Digital Publishing and Advertising Mythsby Aldon Hynes on Thursday, October 29, 2009 Many great speakers presented many great ideas at the Digital Publishing and Advertising Conference in New York City earlier this week. However, some of these great ideas are myths that need to be debunked. Read more | Comments (0) |
Fragmentation Makes Balancing Marketing Mix More Complexby Stephanie Miller on Wednesday, October 28, 2009Making decisions about where to invest across offline and digital channels is complicated further by the wide fragmentation of both audience and media choices. Some tips from our session yesterday at DPAC4. Marketing, Media, Metrics, SocialRead more | Comments (1) |
Pride In Ownership at DPACby John Gaffney on Tuesday, October 27, 2009 Maybe the Internet content and advertising business is tired of playing defense. Judging from today’s DPAC IV event in New York City, the attitude has become lean and mean rather than serene.
At panel after panel, speaker after speaker the apologies for low click -thrus or recessionary revenue numbers went unexpressed. As Brian Quinn, VP and GM of WSJ told the audience early in the day, parts of his company’s properties are sold out for the month of November and many advertisers have taken advantage of front page takeovers and other sponsorships. [...] MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
New Thinking On Engagement Levelsby Nick Godfrey on Monday, October 26, 2009 Ah, the bright shiny object. From Silicon Valley to Silicon Alley and up to the tech territory of Boston’s Route 128 it is the subject of obsessive fascination and pontification. The newest objects – these days it’s social and mobile media – are blinding companies with their speed and innovation. The money being spent to develop these platforms for branding and awards goes untracked in its effect on consumers and marketing.
All but the earliest adopting segment of customers are left out of the new marketing equation, but agencies and their clients are too dazzled by the bright shiny object to see it. [...] Marketing, MetricsRead more | Comments (2) |
Peeking Behind the Newspaper Numbersby John Gaffney on Monday, October 26, 2009 Being an optimist about the future of newspapers is kind of like rooting for the Washington Redskins. Things are so bad that any news is good news, and when the bad things happen, well, they were supposed to happen anyway. So while the latest numbers from the Audit Bureau of Circulation are hard to get excited about, at the same time they may be showing some promise. Maybe this team will only win a few games this season, but they have next season to look forward to.
Admittedly, these numbers continue to show an undisputed decline. [...] MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
Branding Online and the Silent ClickFriday, October 23, 2009 By Pam Horan, President, Online Publishers Association-
The strength of a brand is and has always been its ability to generate and grow loyalty over a customer’s lifetime. When a consumer makes a choice between Coke and Pepsi, BMW and Lexus or Microsoft and Apple, that decision has been influenced by the continuous strategic planning and foresight of brand marketers.
As consumers continue to shift their time and attention to content online, this creates both new opportunities and challenges for brand builders. [...] Marketing, Media, Metrics, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Using Digital Brand Management With Today's Consumerby Brandon Gutman on Friday, October 23, 2009 You’re not alone. Most marketers are trying to figure out the process of building and managing their brands for the digital age. Even the most sophisticated organizations can fill buckets with what they don’t know about digital and its constantly increasing potential. In this article, FOCi Group defines Digital Brand Management, provides a four step process for DBM and suggests why brands need to own digital.
Digital Brand Management Defined
Digital Brand Management is no longer a subset of marketing. [...] Marketing, Mobile, Social, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Digital Content Today: Oct. 23Friday, October 23, 2009 Call it what you want, but restructuring and layoffs are in the content and advertising air today. Time Inc announced Fortune will publish print editions 18 times next year, down from 25 times this year, with two issues in some months and just one in others. It will ramp up its website with a new design. The MPA reports that in the first nine months of the year, the number of advertising pages in Fortune dropped 35% from a year ago, on par with the declines at BusinessWeek, Forbes and Newsweek.
Conde Nast, recently reeling from icing four titles and 400 staffers, is reorganizing its digital sales force into five groups. [...] Marketing, MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
What if Tim Draper Were President?by Melinda Gipson on Friday, October 23, 2009 Read more | Comments (0) |
DigiRant For Week of Oct. 23by John Gaffney on Friday, October 23, 2009 After reading The Business Insider’s list of 22 magazines that are exceeding expectations, I decided to write a little rant about the importance of content as it relates to success. Wish I could write that. Ladies Home Journal, Woman’s World, Soap Opera Digest – none of these have Pulitzers. The only common denominator I found among the 22 overachievers was leverage. From Muscle and Fitness to Ladies Home Journal to Organic Gardening, these magazines combine solid circ, with editorial edge and tight or innovative design. [...] Marketing, MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
Another Glass Ceiling?by Ingrid Michelsen on Thursday, October 22, 2009 How One Mid-Sized Publisher Competes in the Midst of Unprecedented Clutter and Dominance of Niche and Reach Players.
When I spoke on a late-afternoon publisher panel at digiday:TARGET earlier this year I was immediately notable (to the tweeting crowd anyway) for being the first female panelist of the day. I was blissfully unaware of my special status before-hand, but it definitely occurred to me at the time that I was probably going to have to work extra hard to get a word in edge-wise with my three animated co-panelists. [...] Marketing, Media, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
No Kiddingby Scott Monty on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 I originally wrote this over a year ago, but I think it deserves another go around, as there seem to be even more social media "experts" out there. Please add your suggestion to the comments section or on Twitter with the hashtag #smbulb and let's see how many responses we can get.
Stop me if you've heard this.
Yesterday, I asked a question on Twitter - one that Joseph Jaffe rhetorically asked on his blog - I posed it as a joke and asked for responses.
The question was: How many social media experts does it take to change a lightbulb? My original answer on Joe's blog was: "309. [...] Media, Social, TechnologyRead more | Comments (1) |
Who Are The People In Your Social Network Neighborhood?by Anne Mai Bertelsen on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 Last month Nielsen’s Claritas division released data profiling the users of various social networks — which has been picked up by bloggers, social media consultants, like my friends at ClickMarkets, and now, today, by NPR.
In the piece, produced by Laura Sydell, teenagers talked about the social differences of social networks.
MySpace vs. Facebook
* Sixteen-year-old Nico Kurt (who attends an elite, private high school) lays out his view of the MySpace users this way: “It seems trashy to me. [...] Media, Metrics, Social, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Digirant: Read, Baby, Readby John Gaffney on Tuesday, October 20, 2009 Let’s not lose sight of the most important part of the term “e-reader.” It’s “reader.” We love to talk about devices and speculate on future marker share and who gets exclusives and who buys whom, but in the end the person reading the content has to win. I think the e-reader business is fighting the right fight.
Evidence of the solid competitive foundation here can be seen in Barnes & Noble’s new e-reader introduced today. There’s enough compatibility with other formats to make it reader-friendly (you can even share content) with enough proprietary technology to let B&N carve out a brand. [...] Marketing, MediaRead more | Comments (1) |
Digirant: Watching Foxby John Gaffney on Monday, October 19, 2009 Most announcements like this enter the endless flow of press releases about people moving from here to there, but this one got my attention. “Fox Filmed Entertainment has formed a new digital group called Fox Digital Studios (FDS), focused on development, production and distribution of original and derivative programming for initial release on digital platforms.” What makes this different? Well first of all it hired real hitters to run it. Roger Mincheff will be SVP of Branded Entertainment for digital content. [...] MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
Online Listening Key to Successful Digital Marketingby Brandon Gutman on Friday, October 16, 2009 Hearing what your customers have to say – whether they like or dislike your products or services and ultimately whether they are advocates, evangelists or detractors is the critical first step in laying the groundwork for an effective digital and social media strategy. To be successful today, brands need to understand what consumers are saying, why they're saying it and how their dialogue has the potential to impact business. Here are four steps that FOCi Group follows to help marketers capture, interpret and apply online chatter into actionable and measurable results. [...] Marketing, Media, Social, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
DigiRant For Week of Oct. 16by John Gaffney on Friday, October 16, 2009 Read more | Comments (0) |
Augmented Reality Meets Social Media at Meijer Halloween Siteby B.L. Ochman on Thursday, October 15, 2009 Companies from GE to Popular Science to Doritos have begun incorporating augmented reality (AR) into their marketing, and iPhone and Google Android have begun proliferating. Meijer, the 190-store mid-western retain chain, is merging Augmented Reality and social media on its Halloween site. Will it blend? MarketingRead more | Comments (0) |
DigiRant: Simplifying BusinessWeekby John Gaffney on Wednesday, October 14, 2009 In the absolute deluge of speculation about who was going to buy BusinessWeek (Bloomberg) and then what they would do with it, one big thing has been missing: Assets. BusinessWeek for all its problems, is still an asset. It is not the asset it was five years ago to be sure. But there’s still a lot of expertise on that staff, quality in its circulation, and compelling reasons to advertise to its audience. So without mocking the purchase price (anywhere from $1 to $5 million) here’s what I would do if I was Bloomberg: [...] MediaRead more | Comments (1) |
The WikiReaderby Aldon Hynes on Wednesday, October 14, 2009 In the past, I’ve written about the Kindle. Specifically, I griped about the lack of support for smaller news organizations wishing to use the Kindle and pondered the direction of future eReaders.
Today, I received an email announcing a new device that has the potential to add an interesting disruption to the ereader market, the WikiReader Pocket Wikipedia.
It has a reflective monochrome 240x208 capacitive touchscreen and a 8 GB MicroSDHC card. The card is formatted in FAT32 format and contains a snapshot of Wikipedia. [...] TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
FTC Is Chasing The Wrong Carby John Gaffney on Tuesday, October 13, 2009 A few weeks ago a friend of mine got a ticket on Route 95 for not wearing a seatbelt. Immediately, of course, he was ranting about whether the State Police might have something better to do than pull people over for not wearing a seatbelt. After all, Route 95 is an interstate highway undoubtedly used by people traveling under the influence of various substances, perhaps with contraband onboard, operating at high speeds and at the very least possibly taking processed uranium from New York to Boston and then on to ports unknown. [...] MarketingRead more | Comments (1) |
Asterpix Launches New Content Techby John Gaffney on Tuesday, October 13, 2009 After six months of beta testing, Asterpix has gone live with its SearchLight publisher offering that helps users discover relevant content and helps publishers discover additional revenue. SearchLight’s automated solution uses patent-pending PhraseMatch technology to display contextually relevant search phrases next to publisher content, visually ranked by relevance and user-interest. For each SearchLight display, relevant phrases are dynamically extracted from all related pages on the site to highlight the most relevant search phrases to the user. [...] Media, MetricsRead more | Comments (0) |
Deadline Looms for DPAC Awards: DM2PRO.com Can Helpby Melinda Gipson on Tuesday, October 13, 2009 You know you're among the best in the business. But how do you prove it to prospective clients or advertisers? Don't awards help? The recognition of your peers offers more than bragging rights, or a way to extend the glow of a truly great campaign or publishing effort. It puts you in a unique class of professionals who raise the bar for everyone. That's why DM2PRO.com, the member site of digiday:DAILY, has made the effort to create a treasure trove of winning entries to the MOBI and SAMMY awards. [...] Read more | Comments (0) |
The Audacity of Contentby John Gaffney on Monday, October 12, 2009 It’s very hard to take personality out of the debate. But let’s try. Let’s just say for the sake of this missive, that a head of state received the Nobel Peace Prize last week, although he was in office less than one year. He has no name, no party affiliation, and no country. This person’s actual accomplishments in the arena of achieving political and social change are in their nascent but promising stages. This person has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize because the international community has been moved by the content of his words and character. [...] MediaRead more | Comments (1) |
Convincing Your Company to Go Digitalby Brandon Gutman on Friday, October 9, 2009 There is a primary reason why most brands are not yet taking advantage of the full benefits from digital and social media. It is because senior leadership does not completely understand the value proposition. In this article we’re going to illustrate how a marketer from a major organization packaged and positioned a digital marketing proposal to their leadership team. Not only did it cause a significant budget shift to digital, the digital marketing plan generated results that satisfied the entire organization. [...] Marketing, Media, Social, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
The Week That Was: Facebook Moodsby John Gaffney on Friday, October 9, 2009 Taking One For the Team: I think all the hype about forming social media etiquette for the office, high school team, pro team etc. is absurd. In a sense, what you post on social media represents your organization, if you belong to one. If you can’t do that responsibly, maybe you just shouldn’t work or play there.
Get Small: One of the unexplored areas of social media is in small to medium sized businesses. Seems to me that this area, with some creative exceptions, has lacked the vision Three-quarters of them say they have not found sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn helpful for generating business leads or expanding business in the past year, according to a survey conducted for Citibank Small Business of 500 U. [...] Mobile, SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
The Ninety Percent Clubby John Gaffney on Wednesday, October 7, 2009 Regardless of how the FTC ruled yesterday on trying to police the sincerity of bloggers and social media poseurs, there’s still a lot to be learned from social media feedback. It’s not the purest brand feedback. It’s a bit tainted actually, but brand feedback it is.
I found AdAge’s report released yesterday on social media branding very telling in this regard. The report is notable to most people in the digital marketing business because it involves Microsoft and Apple going head to head, and we do love us some of that. [...] Marketing, SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
Momentum Builds For Healthcare Content Accessby John Gaffney on Wednesday, October 7, 2009 From a thought leadership perspective at least, the past week has been a fruitful one for the concept of e-patients. Empowering patients through control of and access to information has been an overlooked point in the healthcare debate. It is also an important frontier in digital content and publishing.
Two broadsides were fired recently. One of the most influential came from former Harvard professor and management guru Clayton Christensen and his team. In an new article in The Atlantic he calls for a shift from “doctor knows best” to “patient empowerment. [...] Marketing, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Clues to the CondeFutureby John Gaffney on Monday, October 5, 2009 You don’t hire McKinsey Consulting to give lessons on cost-cutting. That’s would be like buying a gold-plated chainsaw and even the CondeNast code of luxury wouldn’t bless it. You hire McKinsey because your company has a problem it doesn’t know how to manage with current resources and because you can’t see the future without some help.
So maybe CondeNast is following McKinsey direction by taking Cookie, Gourmet, Modern Bride and Elegant Bride out back. They are after all secondary and tertiary publications that have a lot of staff, a stronger brand above them, and a tough balance sheet for 2009. [...] MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
Using Content Instead Of Advertising To Deliver Audiencesby Jaffer Ali on Monday, October 5, 2009 “It used to be the Web's only real killer app was communications – email. But these days people use the Internet for content consumption more than anything else.”
-- Business Insider
Some people whisper under their breath. Others like Bob Garfield of Ad Age scream from the top of their lungs. But most choose to stick their heads in the sand when the topic arises. What is this subject that dare not speak its name?
The advertising model is broken across all media.
Is this really a controversial declaration? Not from where I sit it isn’t. [...] Media, Social, TechnologyRead more | Comments (1) |
Mobile and Online Dominate Movie ChoiceFriday, October 2, 2009 Digital marketing is dominating movie audiences. A new research study of nearly 4,000 moviegoers has found that an overwhelming number of people across all age groups have fully adopted digital technologies and increasingly depend on them to gain information about new movie releases and help with their decisions about which films to see.
The study, titled "Moviegoers: 2010," was lead by Gordon Paddison, principal of Stradella Road, and was supported by a consortium of media companies that include AOL, Facebook, Fandango, Google, Microsoft, MovieTickets. [...] Marketing, MobileRead more | Comments (0) |
The Week That Was: Txt Crzyby John Gaffney on Friday, October 2, 2009 Myb I’m Crzy but if I’m Apple, AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile or any other company that plays on the mobile sandbox, why not assign all those bright creative types to some kind of ad campaign that shows texting while you’re driving for the insane activity that it is? Part of the problem is that mobile companies would like customers to think of mobile phones as something other than text devices. But let’s face it, they are texting devices and the highways are less safe because of them. Using mobile devices are cool, off the road. [...] Mobile, SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
B.L. Ochman’s Blogger Outreach Manifestoby B.L. Ochman on Thursday, October 1, 2009 Verily, bloggers are here to stay. When tho reaches out to us, heed thee these rules of engagement, or pay ye the consequences. MarketingRead more | Comments (0) |
Q&A with Lotame’s Andy Monfriedby John Gaffney on Wednesday, September 30, 2009 Connecting social media to audience engagement is something of a marketer’s holy grail these days. While he doesn’t promise any magic in the quest Lotame and its CEO Andy Monfried are on the case. The company’s data-driven marketing platform combines social media interaction with tracking data to assure greater targeting accuracy and audience engagement, and recently announced a partnership with today announced a partnership with Dimestore Media that will inform and improve Lotame’s ability to create campaigns that ultimately lead to better results for its advertisers. [...] Metrics, SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
A Geek's Review of the Starbucks iPhone Appby Aldon Hynes on Wednesday, September 30, 2009 The latest Starbucks apps for the iPhone is generating interesting comments on several different fronts. It seems as if there will always be innovators and early adopters trying out new technology when it comes along, even if it doesn't provide immediate benefits, in the hopes of some future benefit. There will also always be laggards and late adopters criticizing them.
I do not have an iPhone. It is too closed of a platform for me. I still use a fairly old rather dumb mobile phone. However, I have changed my habits even as a result of this older mobile phone. [...] Marketing, Mobile, TechnologyRead more | Comments (3) |
Content: Basic Blunders and Basic Fixesby John Gaffney on Tuesday, September 29, 2009 The Atlantic ran an excellent, finely researched piece on the underperforming media sector in its most recent issue. But I’m afraid all the research in the world can’t get by a very basic mistake with a very basic solution. Content became free and media companies can’t operate with free content.
The Atlantic piece tries to make issues more complex. It lays the current problems at the feet of bad mergers and bad investor relations. It’s tempting to think that if TimeWarner didn’t buy AOL for a stupid amount of money that it wouldn’t have had to lay people off last year, or if Viacom didn’t buy CBS it wouldn’t have had some of its debt problems. [...] MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
Social Marketing Framework: Part Five of a Five-Part SeriesTuesday, September 29, 2009 by Matt Goddard, CEO r2integrated-
In the last part of our series on The Social Media Marketing Framework the focus is on market research. Brands have relied on market research since branding and marketing first became an actual “thing.” As individuals we do market research all the time. Any information we have about how the people around us will react to a statement, offer, or excuse can be invaluable and certainly help with whatever goal we are trying to reach.
Online social spaces are fascinating market research tools because they have taken the old, and very expensive focus group model, and made it super efficient. [...] Social, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
The Right Questions About Twitterby John Gaffney on Monday, September 28, 2009 In the annals of overfunded internet companies Twitter doesn’t even get my attention. This despite the $1 billion week it had recently. Anybody that had a good seat for the late 90s will hardly flinch at Twitter. After all, didn’t Webvan once spend $1 billion one day with Bechtel to build warehouses? Yeah, I think that was the day after they ordered the 115 Aeron chairs.
The right questions about Twitter have everything to do with content and very little to do with funding. Twitter has an audience that displays an almost genetic weakness for using the product. [...] Media, SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
The Way Out For Publishers, Part 2 of 2Monday, September 28, 2009 I must admit that anyone reading Part 1 of The Way Out For Publishers, would be hard-pressed to find therein a prescription for what ails us. That's because I felt it necessary to first triage the patient, who it turns out is much sicker than we thought. The results indicate the need for a radical yet simple restructuring of the media ecosystem.
For publishers, it means admitting the truth behind what the miserable click thru rates suggest: Advertising is no longer a viable intermediary. What does this actually mean?
It means that advertising is no longer a welcome and trusted middleman between audience and advertiser. [...] Media, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
On Audience Targeting and MeasurementMonday, September 28, 2009In this week’s On Audience Targeting and Measurement column, Scott Knoll, Senior Vice President for Datran Media and GM of Aperture interviews Lance Neuhauser, EVP-US Digital Director for PHD.
Scott Knoll: Audience measurement is a nebulous term. What is your definition of audience measurement, and how does it correspond to your definition of digital media measurement??
Lance Neuhauser: Audience measurement is a nebulous term, especially in digital media where we have both linear and non-linear communication with our audience, and the ability for that audience to receive and reciprocate communication through multiple channel lines at once. [...] Media, Metrics, TechnologyRead more | Comments (1) |
How Should Brands Talk to Communities? Listen First...Friday, September 25, 2009 Rob Key, CEO of Converseon, the SAMMY Award winner for best social agency offers an exclusive, in-depth interview on how true innovators are learning to connect with the Internet's consumer tribes and make their companies "listening organizations." Take some time this afternoon to listen to one of the pioneers in social media. It's open as DM2PRO's gift to all digital media professionals -- just to prove we were paying attention. Here's the video. Social, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
WTF?! Is That Really Your Social Brand?by Anne Mai Bertelsen on Friday, September 25, 2009 Read more | Comments (0) |
Three Top Ways to Damage Your Brand With Social Mediaby B.L. Ochman on Thursday, September 24, 2009 These three social media marketing mistakes are made over and over by companies that just don't want to believe that customers really are in control, and that what matters most about your brand is what comes up in Google. MarketingRead more | Comments (0) |
The Top Six Reasons Companies are Still Scared of Social Mediaby B.L. Ochman on Thursday, September 24, 2009 Big companies are dipping their toes into the social media marketing pool in increasing numbers, but they are still scared that social media will bite them. These are the top six corporate fears about social media. SocialRead more | Comments (4) |
The Struggle Towards Effective Mobile AdvertisingWednesday, September 23, 2009 by Daniel Ruby, Research Director, Online Insights, Chitika, Inc-
Recently, we at Chitika ran a study regarding the ad clickthrough rates of mobile vs. non-mobile users across our advertising network. Given the general consensus of the ad industry that mobile ads are extremely effective, I expected to see a noticeable difference between standard Web ads and mobile ones. I was right – but not in the way that I expected.
Comparing the same ads across the same network of websites, mobile Internet users were approximately half as likely to click on an advertisement as a non-mobile user. [...] Media, Mobile, TechnologyRead more | Comments (3) |
E.P. Carrillo Cigars Seeks the Long-Elusive Social Media Mashup Business Modelby B.L. Ochman on Monday, September 21, 2009This just-launched mashup of Google Maps and Twitter from E.P. Carrillo Cigars seeks to add business to the mix by creating an international community of cigar smokers. The current mashup is simply a placeholder for the website, which launches in late October.
Elegantly simple, the E.P. Carrillo mashup features a real-time map shoring the origin of Tweets that mention cigars anywhere in the world. MarketingRead more | Comments (0) |
The Way Out For Publishers, Part 1 of 2by Jaffer Ali on Monday, September 21, 2009 The debate rages on between two content camps. In one corner is “free content”, the monetization of which requires the development of ever more invasive advertising methodologies. And when that fails? Why, simply add more of what doesn’t work, of course.
In the other corner is “paid content”, led notoriously by Steve Brill and Rupert Murdoch. This camp seeks to superimpose a cable television model onto the Internet.
Both camps are locked in a psychological version of Maslow’s oft repeated slogan, “To the carpenter, all problems can be solved with a hammer. [...] Marketing, Media, Social, TechnologyRead more | Comments (1) |
Yes Men Use Social Media to Help Them Pull Off Media Heist with "We're Screwed" Edition of NY Post'by B.L. Ochman on Monday, September 21, 2009This morning, starting at 4 a.m., more than 2,000 volunteers helped the social activist pranksters, the Yes Men, distribute more than one million copies of a fake New York Post special edition about the global warming crisis with the page one headline "We're Screwed!" They made masterful use of social media to organize and execute the stunt. SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
Follow Friday, A Digiday Editionby Aldon Hynes on Friday, September 18, 2009 Read more | Comments (3) |
How Marketers Can Approach Social More Seriouslyby Brandon Gutman on Thursday, September 17, 2009 Social media represents the bulk of next week’s content for Advertising Week. In fact, the theme at OMMA is actually “The New Socialism.” The basis is that many industry watchers believe the answer to online advertising’s oldest problem lies inside social media’s walled gardens: that is, how to bring the estimated $500 billion spent annually on offline brand advertising to the Web. However, it doesn’t appear that most marketers share that belief…yet.
It’s time for marketers to understand that consumers have more control of their brand online than they do. [...] Marketing, Media, SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
Social Marketing Framework: Part Four of a Five-Part SeriesWednesday, September 16, 2009 by Matt Goddard, CEO, r2integrated-
This series continues with the next part of our social marketing framework: How social media execution can help accelerate our message. Message distribution has always relied on sharing; in fact the entire concept of word of mouth marketing was based on peer-to-peer sharing. We also know that word of mouth is very powerful because it typically comes from a credible source. Credibility shrinks the sales cycle.
Social technologies have sharing attributes and features that have changed the way we architect our content. [...] Media, Social, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
The Great TV Expirementby Tina Whitfield on Wednesday, September 16, 2009 128 Days. No TV. And, Life is Great!
There once was a TV show on HBO called “Dream On” staring Brian Benben as the protagonist, Martin Tupper. Martin grew up watching a magic box with moving pictures inside and he faithfully watched this box from his early crawling days. His world was defined by the lessons learned from the characters and events in this box the grown-up world calls television.
Martin and I have a lot in common, and so do kids all over the world. I grew up watching TV in Thailand, Venezuela, and throughout the United States. [...] Media, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
The Secret to Great Subject Lines Is In Your Databy Stephanie Miller on Tuesday, September 15, 2009 Subject lines are the cover art of the inbox. Just as the cover shot determines news stand sales and readership, subject lines are often the subscriber's deciding factor to open vs. delete a message. Unfortunately, they get too little attention from marketers. Especially because the secret to great subject lines (and higher response) is readily available in every marketer's response data.
In my kickoff column, I outlined eight strategies for earning higher revenue from the email channel. This month, we take a deep dive into the seventh of these: Optimizing subject lines. [...] Marketing, Media, Metrics, TechnologyRead more | Comments (1) |
Creativity: The Next Online FrontierMonday, September 14, 2009 By Pam Horan, President, Online Publishers Association-
Albert Einstein once said, “You can never solve a problem on the level on which it was created.” This statement is apropos when discussing the future growth and development of online creative.
Online media has achieved proportions of scale that reach a vast majority of every marketer’s customers. Companies are allotting more of their advertising and marketing dollars to online and, as a result, are looking for new and effective ways to connect with consumers through their online activities. [...] Marketing, Media, TechnologyRead more | Comments (1) |
People of Walmart - A Runaway Hit Wal-Mart Can't (& Shouldn't) Stopby B.L. Ochman on Tuesday, September 8, 2009 People of Walmart is a new blog about weirdly dressed Wal-mart shopper. It's gone viral and there doesn't seem to be a damn thing Wal-mart can - or should - do about it.
The site also defines social media: content that makes people want to share something they like, or dislike. Marketing, SocialRead more | Comments (1) |
Integrating Technologies to Boost Digital Successby Brandon Gutman on Friday, September 4, 2009 Read more | Comments (0) |
Tips on Aging Backwardsby Melinda Gipson on Friday, September 4, 2009 Technically, my headline is a reference to Merlin, the magician, who supposedly knew the future because he aged backwards, not forwards. (Benjamin Button is just a clever rip-off of a very old idea.) For me, it’s a day for growing another day older, so I have to ask: “What are you doing to strive for excellence?”
Don’t list your projects. That doesn’t wash. What I’m going to suggest is that you spend a little time looking at some real winners in the content or advertising categories where you hope to excel. [...] Marketing, Media, Mobile, SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
Please Hammer, Don’t Tweet 'Emby John Gaffney on Thursday, September 3, 2009 He was a great dancer, an average rapper and 80s icon. But now Hammer has kicked out the edges of life on the D-list hard enough to become a social media expert.
According to a report in The Boston Globe earlier this week, Hammer crashed an Ivy League think panel on social media at Hahhhhvad. According to the report “when he took to the podium, Hammer, who was wearing a conservative white shirt, tie, and a dapper vest, was short on specifics, but long on enthusiasm. He urged the audience to follow his example and “get involved’’ with services like Twitter and Facebook, even if there’s no obvious way to make money. [...] Media, Social, TechnologyRead more | Comments (1) |
The Twitterization of Everything and LOL Innovationby Adam Broitman on Wednesday, September 2, 2009 Since the early days of Twitter I have heard many dismissive individuals mutter, “I don’t care what my friends are eating for breakfast, or when they are going to the bathroom." In spite of the naysayers and clichés like the ones in the previous sentence, Twitter has flourished.
The fact that Twitter is now more popular than Elvis should come as no surprise to anyone reading this article, however some may not have noticed that the entire web is becoming Twitterized. Some days I feel like my entire life exists within the confines of 140 characters (i. [...] Marketing, Media, Metrics, Mobile, Social, TechnologyRead more | Comments (3) |
The Kindle: A Viable Platform for Local News Organizations? Not Likely.by Aldon Hynes on Tuesday, September 1, 2009 Since the advent of electronic paper, analysts have written about the potential of this technology to save local newspapers. Amazon’s introduction of the Kindle added to these discussions. However, it is worth taking a closer look. Media, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Taking The Fun Out of the Apps Businessby John Gaffney on Monday, August 31, 2009 The technology business, and the tech side of the Internet marketing business, likes to see itself in a funhouse mirror. It’s real big, even oversized, and it takes up the entire picture. And it is, of course, distorted.
The apps business is looking into a similar mirror. But it needs to lose the distortion because very quickly this business has to define itself in terms of content. The funhouse mirror says developers and wireless device companies are the most important people in the mirror. [...] Media, Mobile, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Your Personal Brand: How The Internet Sees Youby Anne Mai Bertelsen on Friday, August 28, 2009 Last week, Nicholas Patten turned me on to Personas, a component of MIT’s Social Media Group’s Metropath(ologies) exhibit which enables users to visual their online identities. According to the site, Personas “uses sophisticated natural language processing and the Internet to create a data picture of one’s aggregated online identity.”
It’s a brilliant way to look at how the Internet — or anyone who is going to google you — sees you. The site is simple — you enter in your name and Personas scours the web for every instance of your name and attempts to characterize you. [...] Marketing, Media, Social, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Integration 3.0™: The Answer to Delivering Upon a Successful Digital Strategyby Brandon Gutman on Thursday, August 27, 2009 Last week I shared how collaborating with Brand Builders, Digital Strategists and Technologists is a key ingredient in building digital strategies that are guaranteed to deliver. Now let’s discuss how an integration unit can lead this trio of talent to execute the plan towards greater levels of success.
Masters of Integration
Once the plan is complete it is imperative to utilize a core account service team consisting of business and marketing strategists fluent in all advertising and marketing service programming areas. [...] Marketing, Media, TechnologyRead more | Comments (2) |
AOL's Connectivity Biz Goes on Autopilotby Melinda Gipson on Thursday, August 27, 2009 Recent layoffs in the access business have gutted the company's efforts to grow its access business, and more RIFs loom. MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
Saving Newspapers From an Old School Perspectiveby John Gaffney on Wednesday, August 26, 2009 This is in no way a call to go out and read Alex Jones’ new book Losing The News: The Future of the News That Feeds Democracy. The overwhelming majority of people interested in the future of newspapers will find it an endless parade of facts you already knew. Example: did you know fantasy sports leagues are stealing attention span from erstwhile newspaper reading American males?
However, author Alex Jones has come up with two fairly compelling arguments, one for why newspapers need to be saved; the other on how to do so. [...] Media, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Content and The Absence of Evilby John Gaffney on Tuesday, August 25, 2009 I guess we could debate the “Apple as Evil Empire” thing until it gets tired, but it shows no signs of fatigue. In fact the big brick will get thrown this week when RealNetworks throws in its application for a Rhapsody iPhone app.
Prediction: It gets bounced at least temporarily until technology issues get sorted out. I’m starting to wonder if the more relevant conversation about Apple and its stranglehold on the Apps market isn’t content-based. Content isn’t as sexy because it lacks the villain that Apple now represents. [...] Media, Mobile, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Command Of Language Is Key To Success In New Mediaby Tina Whitfield on Tuesday, August 25, 2009 In 2005, Terry Lukach of Armed Forces Press reported on linguistics and war. Language Is Latest Weapon in America's 21st Century Arsenal
Since the days of Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, our communication practices have suffered into mediocrity. Recently, I read an MSNBC.com reporter’s coverage of an eclipse that stated the moon moved in front of the sun. This sentence structure assumes the moon could move behind the sun. I know this was not his/her intent. It is a simple sentence that seems ok to the lazy writer and reader. [...] Read more | Comments (0) |
Digiday:APPS, an Old Programmer’s Recapby Aldon Hynes on Monday, August 24, 2009 Now that Digiday:APPS is over, an old programmer takes a look at these new fangled applications on mobile devices and social media platforms and offers his perspective TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
What We Talk About When We Talk About Drugsby John Gaffney on Thursday, August 20, 2009 Although it has taken a hit like most businesses, it is still a $7 billion vertical advertising and marketing category. But when it comes to social and mobile marketing, the healthcare and pharmaceutical fields have been hobbled by regulation and privacy concerns. There is some evidence that this category may be ready to reconsider their social and mobile diagnosis.
“We’ve done a lot of over-the-counter projects for pharma companies, and talked to them about some more ambitious projects for prescription drugs,” says appssavvy co-founder and president Michael Burke. [...] Marketing, Media, Social, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Social Marketing Framework: Part Three of a Five-Part SeriesThursday, August 20, 2009 by Matt Goddard, CEO, r2integrated-
For those who haven’t read my earlier columns, here are the four parts of any social marketing campaign.
1. Reach out to an existing community
2. Create your own community.
3. Accelerate your message using sharing tools.
4. Market research.
In my last column, I addressed the first part of our social marketing framework. Now we are going to talk about part two – creating your own community.
The first thing I want to talk about is creation of a community; you can’t just create your own community. [...] Marketing, Media, Social, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
A Little Mobile Perspectiveby John Gaffney on Wednesday, August 19, 2009 One of the more heretical ideas I’ve heard over the summer concerns the death of the website. It will never happen, but it’s a good conference topic, I guess. It has been driven mostly by the rise of the mobile app and the growth of mobile content interfaces. The old web site looks moribund in comparison.
Web sites ain’t dead. They’re changing to more of a home base for content, showing users how they can get content in different forms and customize its organization. I would argue that Google Reader and its competitors have changed reader habits more than mobile. [...] Marketing, Media, Mobile, TechnologyRead more | Comments (2) |
Build a Digital Strategy That's Guaranteed to Deliverby Brandon Gutman on Wednesday, August 19, 2009 What marketers don't know about building a successful digital strategy will rock their world! The critical first step in building a winning plan is to define success and establish realistic goals. This might sound obvious; however, our group has found that even the most sophisticated organizations don’t have a clear understanding of what success in digital looks like for them.
How can marketers (and their agencies) follow a plan that doesn’t let them know if they’re winning or losing? I’m going to give up some of our secret sauce by illustrating how using three groups of talent can help set benchmarks and also deliver against them!
Work with Brand Builders
Clients have tagged our group as “a digital McKinsey with the depth and experience to execute. [...] Marketing, Media, TechnologyRead more | Comments (2) |
Study: Companies Are Slow to Adopt Web 2.0 Technology, But Positive Change Often Results for Those Who Doby B.L. Ochman on Monday, August 17, 2009Good news: When corporations bring Web 2.0 tools into their Intranets, and allow changes in their command and control corporate culture, positive change is likely to result.
Bad news: It takes most companies 3-5 years to incorporate collaboration tools into their Intranets. (That's like 10 years in Internet time!) TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
The Sales Specialistby Robert Samet on Monday, August 17, 2009 The True Costs of Hiring The Wrong Sales Executive
When Digital Media companies hire me to help them build out their sales teams-- whether it’s a sales executive or VP/Sales- they always need the same thing. Relevant relationships (solid Rolodex at the agencies and advertisers), stability (for Retention sake- not too much movement), and proven sales achievements (for Ramp- can they actually execute).
How companies “pre-qualify” sales candidates they are considering hiring is vital. In this ultra fast paced world of technology and communication- where texting and twittering are now mainstream-- where you can access information when and where you want it- all in real time- CEO’s and VP’s Sales are still under the same pressure to ramp up their sales efforts and meet their revenue goals. [...] Media, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Bringing Coca-Cola to the Partyby John Gaffney on Monday, August 17, 2009 There was a fascinating little bit of social media strategy revealed on Knowledge @ Emory’s website about Coca-Cola’s recent social media experience. It shows the perfect intersection between the “dude you can’t control your brand anymore” attitude of the past two years and the current reality of social media engagement for big brands.
Since April 2009, a page devoted to The Coca-Cola Company (boasting nearly three and half million devoted fans and gaining an average 75,000 fans each month) has been the top of the Facebook charts. [...] Marketing, Media, Social, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
The Core of the Apple Problemby John Gaffney on Thursday, August 13, 2009 I have a lot of respect for Jason Calacanis, which is of course the obvious signal that I’m about to trash him. Not really though. I need to point this out first because he threw some well-placed bricks at Apple’s Plexiglas house at yesterday’s digiday:APPS conference, and it was ballsy and brilliant. In fact, after going to more Internet events over the past 15 years than I can count, it was arguably the most energetic conference presentation I’ve seen this side of David Verklin when he inevitably gets up and takes his jacket off. [...] Marketing, Media, Mobile, TechnologyRead more | Comments (4) |
Apps and Advertising Is Really That SimpleWednesday, August 12, 2009 By Michael Burke, president and co-founder of appssavvy-
In anticipation of today’s digiday:APPS event, I’d like to share some quick thoughts to the brands and agencies attending and those unable to make it. Before spending anymore time in a conference room racking your brains for the next big thing, I ask you to do this – go back to your brand, remember the reasons you advertise on ESPN or Desperate Housewives. It wasn’t about you, but the quality of the programming around it.
Social Media isn’t that different. [...] Marketing, Media, Metrics, Social, TechnologyRead more | Comments (1) |
digiday:APPS An Old Programmer's Pregameby Aldon Hynes on Wednesday, August 12, 2009 While advertising and marketing gurus gather in New York to talk about advertising in the apps, an old programmer presents a different perspective Read more | Comments (0) |
What Marketers Don't Know Will Rock Their Worldby Brandon Gutman on Tuesday, August 11, 2009 A huge factor of marketing life today is how social media is changing the game for brands and consumers alike. Online crowds now have more to say about your brand than all the world’s ad agencies combined – yet digital marketing is still a sideshow at most companies.
Recently, I witnessed a CEO ask their CMO “what are we doing with digital media?” The CMO answered: “We’re testing some things…it’s hard to get ahead of the curve when technologies and consumer behavior are evolving so quickly. [...] Marketing, Media, Mobile, Social, TechnologyRead more | Comments (3) |
Picking Up Signals with Alexandra Samuelby John Gaffney on Monday, August 10, 2009 Alexandra Samuel has become a distinct voice in the use of social media as a marketing tool. She has had several pieces published recently in Harvard Business Review and has pushed businesses toward a practical, community-centered approach. She is the CEO of Social Signal, a Vancouver-based social media agency. Digiday:DAILY spoke with her recently about her current thinking and strategy as it concerns content.
Q. Lot of talk about merging social media with digital marketing, especially direct marketing. [...] Media, Social, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
You Want Me to WHAT?by Scott Monty on Friday, August 7, 2009 If you were asked to give up your social networking activity, what would you rather give up?
It's an interesting scenario. Given a choice between social media activity and something else - and don't think that time isn't coming - what do you think you would give up before you left your favorite social network?
That's the very question that was put to 711 female internet users in the U.S. and Canada by ShesConnected Multimedia. What do you think they said? Have you selected your priorities yet? I'll give you a moment before launching into the survey results. [...] Media, Social, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Can't We All Just Get Along?by John Gaffney on Friday, August 7, 2009 “Can’t we all just get along?” That’s basically the question Chris Ahearn, President, Media at Thomson Reuters asked in a column printed via Reuters earlier in the week. It would be nice if we all could just get along in the Internet content business, and on the surface we all do. However, to think that a spirit of cooperation and “doing the right thing” will save the business models of the companies that are generating legitimate content is naïve and even dangerous. Ahearn’s suggestions about the future of content sharing lack a tough business edge and lack a revenue focus. [...] Media, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
How WhitePages' Mobile and App Strategy Moved From the Sidelines to the Limelight (in Less Than Six Months)Thursday, August 6, 2009 by Ingrid Michelsen, Director, Advertising Strategy, WhitePages, Inc.-
Over two years ago, before WhitePages launched its first mobile Web site, we were keenly aware of two things: people were actively accessing our Web site on mobile browsers in increasing numbers—and having what can only be called an incredibly bad user experience.
We also acknowledged that the WhitePages’ mobile Web audience was going to keep growing (people were clearly looking for an alternative to paying for 411 from their cell phones), so we launched a simple ad-supported mobile Web site (m. [...] Media, Mobile, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Nurture Your Email Subscribers for Higher ROIby Stephanie Miller on Wednesday, August 5, 2009 Email subscribers want only one thing from us. Help. They want marketers and publishers to help them be more informed, to make better business decisions, to be more beautiful, to get a raise, be a hero to their kids and be celebrated among peers. Given the amount of poorly targeted messages in my inbox, it seems many of us have forgotten this central tenet. Generic is boring. Custom is compelling. Response goes up when messages engage and nurture subscribers.
In my kickoff column, I outlined eight strategies for earning higher revenue from the email channel. [...] Marketing, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Rockin’ In the Free Worldby John Gaffney on Tuesday, August 4, 2009 Being a financial conservative is never cool in Internet circles. But two big thinkers have said some decidedly uncool things recently about Chris Anderson’s new book Free. And just maybe, when it comes to the cool but questionably profitable world of free content, the buck stops here.
Unless you live in a hermetically sealed, nuclear tight undisclosed location you know that Wired editor Anderson authored The Long Tail which came to be true in a big way. His latest book makes the case that “the rise of "freeconomics" is being driven by the underlying technologies that power the Web. [...] Media, TechnologyRead more | Comments (1) |
Social Marketing Framework: Part Two of a Five-Part SeriesTuesday, August 4, 2009 by Matt Goddard, CEO, R2integrated-
1. Reach out to an existing community
My last column outlined four major categories for a social media marketing plan. Despite the many different social approaches to social media marketing, we argued that there are only four real categories:
1. Reach out to an existing community
2. Create your own community
3. Accelerate your message through sharing tools
4. Perform market research
My forthcoming columns will look at each category individually, examining a specific company and the tactics they utilize. [...] Marketing, Media, Social, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Say It Like You Mean Itby Scott Monty on Friday, July 31, 2009 I get a lot of unsolicited email. People looking for information, people with interview requests, people who are selling things. I try to be generous with my time, but it's the last group I don't have patience for.
Let me tell you why.
If I'm trying to make a good impression and I only have a limited amount of space or time to do so, I would think it's important to have my act together. While I certainly understand and can forgive nervousness or lack of polish, when I come across sloppy errors or blatant incompetence, it's the delete file for you. [...] Marketing, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Five Things to Know about Buying and Selling Audience Data, From a Publisher's PerspectiveThursday, July 30, 2009 The economy has had some interesting (and some predictable) effects on online publishers’ monetization and market positioning tactics.
Some online publishers have responded to the explosion of ad networks’ performance-based offerings (and subsequent rate pressures) by developing their own vertical ad networks—attempting to extend the halo of their premium brands to less premium inventory. Some have rejected ad networks entirely, taking the short term revenue hit to reinforce that direct buys are the only way to get their special inventory, in their particular context. [...] Media, Metrics, TechnologyRead more | Comments (1) |
Social Marketing Framework: Part One of a A Five-Part SeriesTuesday, July 28, 2009 by Matt Goddard, CEO, R2integrated-
There are many aspects of social marketing, social media, social tools, social EVERYTHING that we have been working hard to, shall I say, crystallize. After much time and diligence, we finally have something that we are calling our social marketing framework (for lack of a more creative name at this time).
Our social marketing framework attempts to answer the question: “What can I really do with social media?” There are many different approaches and tactics but what am I really doing with social media? And, based on the things I can do, well, do they make sense for my company? Will they work?
You might think there are countless things you can do in social marketing but I would argue that you can only do four. [...] Marketing, Media, Social, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
"Happy Joel" Levinson Makes a Living Winning Video Contests by Marketing His Entries Better Than Companies Market Their Contestsby B.L. Ochman on Monday, July 27, 2009 Video contests continue to proliferate like mosquitoes in a rainy July. Most are run by companies dipping a toe in the social media water and hoping for a cheap way to attract viral buzz. However, like their insect counterparts, the vast majority of these contests, and the lackluster way they are marketed, suck. MarketingRead more | Comments (0) |
Intersection of Apps and Social Media ‘White Hot’: Chris Cunningham of appssavvy Explains WhyFriday, July 24, 2009 Read more | Comments (1) |
Audiences Offer a Revenue Generating Opportunity Beyond Subscriptions and Print AdsThursday, July 23, 2009 By Dave Hendricks, Executive VP, Strategic Sales and Planning, Datran Media-
In the first quarter of 2009, newspaper ad sales plummeted by 30 percent. Given the general economic conditions, this isn’t surprising, but it’s clear that there’s more to the decline than the mere fact that the economy is in shambles. The way that we consume advertising parallels the way that we consume news, and that way is increasingly online.
According to the Pew Research Center, of their panel respondents, “currently, 40 percent say they get most of their news about national and international issues from the Internet, up from just 24 percent in September 2007. [...] Media, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Paid Content Profile: How Zappos Became An Expert On Customer Service Culture, and a Publisherby Melinda Gipson on Wednesday, July 22, 2009 Tony Hsieh didn't just build a billion-dollar online shoe store. He's launched an expert economy website that could Kindle a revolution in publishing. MediaRead more | Comments (39) |
House of Google Designs Emperor’s New Clothes: Behavioral Targeting’s Empty Promise to PublishersTuesday, July 21, 2009 By Jeff Einstein, founder, the Brothers Einstein-
Google’s recent announcement -- that they would supply all of the digital marketing and advertising tools free of charge to every marketer on the planet who asked -- was a foregone conclusion all along, just a matter of time. Google is already the largest single investor in and advocate for behavioral targeting (BT) technologies and mythologies for many reasons, not least of which is the commanding presence of and pressure to sell so much of its own inventory, and the abiding (although misplaced) faith that BT technologies can enhance CPM values en route. [...] Marketing, Media, Metrics, TechnologyRead more | Comments (4) |
Facebook Age Demographicsby Scott Monty on Monday, July 20, 2009 "Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale / Her infinite variety"
--Antony & Cleopatra, Act II, Scene 2.
It's pretty easy to fall into the trap of assuming that Facebook is a young person's game; after all, it was created by a college student and was only available to individuals with .edu email addresses originally. But ever since it opened to the general public in late 2006, the age demographic has been expanding.
According to a report in March of 2009, Inside Facebook noted that there were more Facebook users 26-44 than 18-25 today. [...] Media, Metrics, Social, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Conquering the Digital DivideFriday, July 17, 2009 by Jeanniey Mullen, Global EVP and Chief Marketing Officer for Zinio and VIV Magazine-
I am getting ready to take my kids on a short vacation to California. Last year I took them to Aruba via. a connection in Miami. I had to stop and laugh when my little one asked me what time we land in “Your-a-fornia.”
When I asked her what the heck she was talking about, she said last year we went to “Your Ami” first then Aruba. So when do we land “Your-a-fornia.” When I explained to her that Miami isn’t really My- Ami (although I would not mind be well off enough to own a City) she just looked at me, grabbed her stuffed leopard and walked away as she said “But that’s always the way it’s been. [...] Marketing, Media, Social, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Where Are the Palm Apps?by Tina Whitfield on Thursday, July 16, 2009 During the 1990s, I invested most of my career in software development as a program manager for Internet and wireless products. My job got into the nitty-gritty of code and architecture to ensure our products were delivered in a stable platform to consumers on-time and on-budget. As the division program manager for Eudora Internet Products, during one launch cycle, I had more than 50 versions of the same product needing to arrive on store shelves – brick and online – at the same time. Each version integrated a distinct bundle of 3rd party application (apps) changing the value of the product solution. [...] Marketing, Mobile, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Mitch Joel to Marketers: Burn the Ship!!by Anne Mai Bertelsen on Tuesday, July 14, 2009Digital marketing visionary Mitch Joel exhorts marketers to 'burn the ship' and develop new strategies for marketing in a world where everyone is connected, content is democratized, and the media is disintermediated. Marketing, SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
Email Storytelling Sellsby Stephanie Miller on Monday, July 13, 2009 Gone are the days of the passive subscriber. Consumers and business professionals tire easily when publishers and marketers broadcast to them. It’s the online equivalent of shouting. Our customers and readers want meaningful conversations – and they know they have other options if we don’t deliver. The day of the storyteller has come to digital marketing. There are several ways to take advantage.
In my kickoff column, I outlined eight strategies for earning higher revenue from the email channel. [...] Marketing, Metrics, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Talk About Transparency!by Scott Monty on Friday, July 10, 2009 When you've flown, how many times have you ignored the safety instructions? We've all heard the same boring routine over and over, and let's face it - if you don't know how to fasten a seatbelt, you probably shouldn't be flying alone.
Air New Zealand has done something to ensure they'll have your attention: they've made a safety video where the flight attendants are wearing nothing but body paint. See if you pay attention to the entire announcement now.
That's what Seth Godin would call remarkable. [...] Marketing, Media, SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
What I Did During The Recessionby Anne Mai Bertelsen on Thursday, July 9, 2009 Do you remember the inevitable back-to-school writing ritual: “What I did during summer vacation”? I hated those assignments as a kid. Our family never went anywhere interesting on summer vacation. With seven kids, the best my parents could afford was to pile all seven of us into the station wagon for a week of tent camping on state camping grounds. Nothing glamorous: no exotic locales, no historical sites, no wondrous natural sanctuaries. My essays paled in comparison to my classmates’ stories of beach houses, European jaunts, or adventure camps. [...] Marketing, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Customer ObsessedWednesday, July 8, 2009 By Andrew Marc Goldman, Vice President, Group Planning Director / Solutions Lead, RAPP
Recently my wife told me about an online coupon offer for a shoe boutique in the city. She and three or four of her Grad School friends were going to make it the focus of their post-finals celebratory outing. I asked where she saw it, ever-curious as to the placement and context of digital offers that ‘get us.’
“My friend posted it to our study group’s Facebook page.”
At this time of year, I often think of the broadcast commercial agency team in a rush to get the Holiday spot through editing. [...] Marketing, Media, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Email Still Rocks: 7 Learnings from the OMS Tourby Stephanie Miller on Tuesday, July 7, 2009 I spent much of May and June on the road in eight cities with the Online Marketing Summit Whistle Stop tour. It was great to get out and meet with so many smart digital marketers.
Here’s seven observations/trends for publishers and marketers.
1. Email rocks. It’s still a very important part of the online marketing mix and the most efficient website traffic driver (and usually the largest, topping search). In fact, email this year has been elevated to a sort of celebrity status. Lots of executive attention due to the low cost and high return. [...] Marketing, Media, Social, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
From Hollywood to Madison Avenueby Robert Samet on Monday, July 6, 2009 I have always been around sales, and have great respect for the people that do it the best. My father was a National Sales Manager, my mother owned one of the largest recruiting agencies in the Tri-State area (they are both my mentors and no coincidence that I am HeadHunter). Starting my professional career in the “agent training program” and mailroom at the William Morris Agency in Beverly Hills (check out The MailRoom Fund)- then moving into executive search out in California, and finally New York City- I have been privy to so many different types of sales personalities/executives- people that are not good, mediocre, and the best. [...] Marketing, Media, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Conquering The Digital Divide: Don’t Miss Your Free Preview of the FutureThursday, July 2, 2009 by Jeanniey Mullen, Global EVP and Chief Marketing Officer for Zinio and VIV Magazine-
10,492. That is about how many different prerogatives I have heard about digital publishing’s future over the past 8 months. I started counting these on October 11, 2008. That seems to be the day when, for a number of reasons, the world realized that digital reading was not just an innovation any longer, but a reality.
Professionals from a number of industries: publishing, advertising, technology, research and services have all started pontificating about how digital publishing is going to change the way consumers will access, consume and value (aka. [...] Media, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Updated List of Social Media Gurus on Twitter: a Public Service for CMOs, from What's Next Blogby B.L. Ochman on Monday, June 29, 2009 Companies large and small are scrambling to pick a social media guru to guide them through the wilds of new media marketing. Fortunately, there is no shortage of self-declared social media marketing gurus, experts, consultants, agencies and stars. This list is provided as a public service. SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
iPhone 3GS – The Need for Speedby Tina Whitfield on Friday, June 26, 2009 The big difference between the iPhone launch product and the new 3GS model is all-around speed. Not much else has changed, except the buyer gets more for less. More applications and firmware that need speed like Safari and MMS (multi-media messaging service) support. MMS, for both CDMA and GSM, allows consumers to send images, audio, and video. CDMA owns the market share in North America and GSM leads in the European Union.
The prime technology that drives speed is the central processing unit. [...] Mobile, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Robert Samet Looks Back on digiday:NETWORKSWednesday, June 24, 2009 by Robert Samet, Managing Director, Madison Search Partners Inc.
As I sit here in the W Hotel at the Digiday Networks Conference listening to the various speakers from all sides- publishers, ad networks, agencies- I realized that there was one very important group missing- the advertisers- the ones spending the actual money to advertise online. What do they really want? Well, we know- to sell more stuff. It’s a vicious cycle isn’t it- advertise, spend, consume, advertise, spend, consume (waste). [...] Marketing, Media, Metrics, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
iPhone 3GS How Good Is 3 Megapixels?by Tina Whitfield on Wednesday, June 24, 2009 How good is 3 megapixels? Is it great? How about awesome or just ok? One of the critical – must – activities in marketing technology is to humanize the features with benefits and provide baseline comparisons. This action has to be swift and concise, conveying much with a few key strokes.
Perhaps this is why the new iPhone 3G S focuses on marketing the applications over the hardware. Though, it’s well known in the inner circles of product development that marketing the iPhone hardware might bring accolades to another mobile phone manufacturer; but that’s another story. [...] Mobile, TechnologyRead more | Comments (2) |
Has the Democratization of Content Already Happened?Tuesday, June 23, 2009 by Steve Robinson, CEO of Panache-
Every week I receive a call from major players in the industry to discuss the “democratization of content” and what it means for major entertainment companies. People tell me that content was king, but now consumers are king and ask me what I think.
Before responding whether I agree with this presumption, a follow-up question based on agreeing with the former occurs: Do I think major entertainment companies are doomed because of the Internet? These two questions—who is king, content or consumers, and are major entertainment companies doomed because of the Internet—bring to mind the meaning of “democratization of content,” which I believe to mean first and foremost the right of the people to determine what they want to consume and second, the right to choose how they consume. [...] Marketing, TechnologyRead more | Comments (1) |
Video: Journalist and Author Stephen Baker On "Targeting in The Attention Economy"Thursday, June 18, 2009 Today, Mobile and Friendship networks are the emerging areas of audience targeting. Understanding who we are by the patterns of our movements and the nature of our relationships will become more and more important to content owners and marketers as they both signal what we desire and who we listen to, which are both crucial in the Attention Economy.
Another big issue for marketers is privacy: How should advertisers and marketers aggressively market their privacy policies in a bid to establish trusted ties to customers? Watch this keynote presentation by Stephen Baker, BusinessWeek Journalist and Author of The Numerati discussing these themes and more at digiday:TARGET. [...] Marketing, Media, Metrics, Mobile, Social, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Augmenting Media Marketsby Adam Broitman on Thursday, June 18, 2009 “The real voyage of discovery consists of not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes” -- Marcel Proust-
It should come as no surprise to anyone reading this article that many traditional media vehicles are in decline. Headlines that read “Newspaper circulation decline picks up speed” are becoming commonplace. It should also come as no surprise to readers that advertising dollars that once went to traditional media vehicles have not been proportionately shifted to digital media. [...] Marketing, Media, MetricsRead more | Comments (0) |
The New Data EconomyWednesday, June 17, 2009 by Jeff Hirsch, President & CEO, Audience Science-
The promise of BT, as the targeting technique was named over five years ago, was to reach the right person with the right message at the right time. The idea was a hit – the problem was that there was no scale. When was the last time you heard about scale problems with BT? The landscape has absolutely changed and thankfully, scale is no longer a major concern. What has driven this change? The new data economy.
Behavioral targeting companies, publishers, and some ad networks provide advanced targeting services that can help advertisers reach out to audiences that are most likely to be interested in their product and to eventually make a purchase. [...] Marketing, Media, Metrics, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
And The Beat Goes On At The Boston Globe: The Inside StoryTuesday, June 16, 2009 by Theo Tracy, Newspapers in the Digital World-
Management of the Boston Globe met Monday June 15th with union leaders and representatives from the seven Globe unions. According to management, the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the implementation of the 23% pay cut imposed upon the Guild after they rejected the tentative agreement.
According to published reports, the Guild was meeting with Globe management in the hopes of improving the deal that was original offered on May 6th and rejected by rank and file on June 8th. [...] MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
The Boston Globe – The Continuing SagaMonday, June 15, 2009 by Theo Tracy, Newspapers in the Digital Age-
There are some things I find hard to believe and the latest is the recent actions of the Boston Newspaper Guild. On Monday, June 8th, the Guild, largest of The Boston Globe’s seven unions, rejected a tentative agreement with the Globe’s parent company, The New York Times regarding union concessions. These concessions were part of other concessions that the Globe’s other six unions had ratified in order to save the beleaguered Boston broadsheet. [...] MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
All’s Not Quiet in BostonFriday, June 12, 2009 by Theo Tracy, Newspapers in the Digital Age-
Just when many of us thought that all is quiet on the Boston front after last minute agreements were reached several weeks ago between the Boston Globe’s seven unions and The New York Times to save the beleaguered broadsheet, we now know that all is not quiet in Boston. Like tremors felt from Mt Vesuvius, shockwaves rip through the 137 year old newspaper with the epicenter located within the Boston Newspaper Guild.
With six of the seven unions ratifying the tentative agreements, the seventh and largest of the unions, the Guild, was scheduled to vote on ratification this past June 8th. [...] MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
KISS: The Difference Between Strategy and Tactics - and Why It Mattersby B.L. Ochman on Thursday, June 11, 2009 While there is a huge shortage of social media strategy, there certainly is no lack of corporate online experimentation. Most of the money spending results in nothing happening. So I'd like to do my part to help a few companies avoid spending a huge amount of money for nothing in return. So, let's KISS. SocialRead more | Comments (2) |
Advertising Operations Reality Check: Do You Pass The Test?Wednesday, June 10, 2009 By Benjamin Reid, VP Sales Engineering, Operative-
In April, we went through an examination of strategies publishers can pursue to boost advertising value across the yield curve. We now examine this concept more in-depth by learning how value and efficiency directly tie back to the overall ROI of your company’s advertising operations.
Efficiency and value are two major levers to ROI that publishers must consider. Efficiency is generally defined as a measure of time, cost, and effort. Value is a reflection of an agreement between buyer and seller as to the underlying intrinsic and subjective worth of a piece of inventory. [...] Marketing, Media, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Numerati, Creatives and the Human Conditionby Aldon Hynes on Tuesday, June 9, 2009 Stephen Baker, author of the book Numerati spoke at Digiday:Target about the Numerati and the implication of targeted advertising. Is targeted advertising off target? MarketingRead more | Comments (0) |
digiday:NETWORKS - WHERE ARE THE JOBS?by Tina Whitfield on Monday, June 8, 2009 The Keynote Panel at digiday:NETWORKS gives us insight into job trends. The Keynote Panel: Will Ad Networks Become the Next Ad Agency?
Eric Porres, Founding Partner and COO of Underscore Marketing served as panel moderator to guests Omar Tawakol, BlueKai CEO; Nick Johnson, VP NBC Universal; Steven Kaufman, Media Math; and Matthew Greitzer, VP and National Practice Lead Avenue A Razorfish. Marketing, Media, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
What’s your CPRT?by Aldon Hynes on Friday, June 5, 2009 The art and science of online advertising continues to evolve and CPRT might be a helpful way for you to think about your online advertising campaigns. MarketingRead more | Comments (0) |
Getting Marketing Email Past the Spam Filtersby Stephanie Miller on Wednesday, June 3, 2009 Send email that reaches the inbox. Sounds pretty straightforward, right? Hit “send” and you are on your way to revenue! Not quite so simple, unfortunately. There’s a myriad of spam filters in between you and your subscribers’ inboxes. In fact, about 20% of legitimate, permission-based email marketing and newsletters never make it to the inbox.
This is no tree in the proverbial forest. If your messages don’t reach the inbox, they will not earn a response.
In my kickoff column, I outlined eight strategies for earning higher revenue from the email channel. [...] Marketing, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Does Ovi Matter?by Tina Whitfield on Tuesday, June 2, 2009 First the disclaimer, a few years back, I was a Nokian focused on global initiatives.
If you are an investor, Ovi matters. If you are a consumer in the United States, Ovi matters not so much. The Ovi mobile application store provides products for use primarily on Nokia phones. Thus, if you are a brand builder focused on the U.S. market, also, Ovi matters not so much.
In the summer of 2007, after leaving Nokia, I analyzed the Future of Mobile Advertising in the Americas. Looking at 2006 figures for the United States there were 123M CDMA phones according to the CDMA Development Group and 88M GSM phones according to Informa Telecoms & Media. [...] Mobile, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
No Newspaper BailoutFriday, May 29, 2009 Read more | Comments (0) |
The Slightly Salacious, and Semi-Disgusting, Trend in Fast Food Advertisingby B.L. Ochman on Thursday, May 28, 2009The trend in online fast food advertising is toward the slightly salacious, and relatively disgusting.
Social media component? Other than a really lame try by KFC: none. Long-term strategy? None. Gimmicks: galore. Marketing, Media, SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
Google Adword Trademarks: Stratton Faxon and The Coalition of Immokalee Farm Workersby Aldon Hynes on Wednesday, May 27, 2009 A blogger sides with the Electronic Freedom Foundation over the free speech issues surrounding Google Adwords and Trademarks. MarketingRead more | Comments (1) |
Star Trek Fans: The Ultimate Brand Evangelistsby Anne Mai Bertelsen on Friday, May 22, 2009 Within 10 days of its opening, the movie Star Trek grossed over $147 million in the U.S. and $216 million worldwide according to The Numbers, a box office tracking site. This latest movie has helped Viacom, which owns the movie franchise, gross approximately $1.3 billion while merchandise licensing, owned by CBS and others, has grossed billions more. These numbers are a testament to the enduring power and advocacy of the franchise’s fans over 43 years — a level of evangelism few brands can claim — with the possible exception of Apple. [...] Social, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
How to Pick Your Social Media Guruby B.L. Ochman on Thursday, May 21, 2009 Big companies, as if experiencing a collective Rip Van Winkle awakening, are in a frantic search to hire social media consultants to help them navigate the new online frontier.
Bloggers, including me, have been making fun of all the self-proclaimed social media experts competing for business. The Tweepsearch results, below, will give you an idea why. It shows that among the thousands of social media marketers on Twitter, there are thousands of self-described gurus, experts, strategists, stars, specialists, and a few superstars. [...] Marketing, Media, SocialRead more | Comments (1) |
DNA for a Mobile Marketing Campaignby Tina Whitfield on Wednesday, May 20, 2009 Sunshine… it is vibrant energy that fills us as summer arrives. We look forward to relaxed weekends of shopping, dining, adventure… that which takes us out of the womb and into the world. We want to stretch our legs and minds; we are always in motion seeking new experiences.
If you are a marketer of new experiences, this summer is the perfect season to exhilarate your audience with mobile marketing. To help you take your basic mobile marketing campaign to the next step, I’ve pulled together a guide – let’s call it Mobile Marketing 301. [...] Mobile, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
The Paradigm of Watching TV…OnlineFriday, May 15, 2009 by Seana Mulcahy, Founder, BrandTruth-
If you are reading this then your media habits are probably like mine: you spend the bulk of your time online and love TV but rarely see it live and well err… on TV.
Don’t get me wrong I love TV and as an ad gal I love the ads (especially the bad ones). However, I just can’t seem to see a show when it is actually on. In fact, there are rare occasions when I even want to. For years I’ve relied on my trusty DVR player to keep me up with all my missed shows. [...] Media, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
A Tale of Two Conferencesby Aldon Hynes on Friday, May 15, 2009 In many ways, the Digital Publishing and Advertising Conference on May 12th was two different conferences. It was a conference for publishers and a conference for advertisers. It was a conference for people concerned about the decline of the economy and a conference for people that are hopeful for the prospects of digital advertising going forward. Yet perhaps the two different conferences can best be thought of as being made up of people asking why and those dreaming of something new and asking why not. [...] Marketing, MediaRead more | Comments (1) |
Targeting Consumers: Data for Relevanceby Anne Mai Bertelsen on Thursday, May 14, 2009 by Anne Mai Bertelsen, MAi Strategies-
Advertisers and publishers gathered at DPAC III Conference in New York this week all seemed to agree that data is the “scrap gold” of this recession. They urged each other to become more sophisticated in their ability to mine, augment and leverage data in order to command higher CPMs and generate greater revenues. Media, MetricsRead more | Comments (0) |
#dpac3 Pregameby Aldon Hynes on Tuesday, May 12, 2009 The Digital Publishing and Advertising Conference is about to start. In preparation for the conference, here are a few thoughts about what to look for in the first half of the day. Marketing, MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
Can Google Succeed with Android?Friday, May 8, 2009 by Tina Whitfield, CEO, Equis Global-
“But what if man had eyes to see the true beauty-the divine beauty, I mean, pure and dear and unalloyed, not clogged with the pollutions of mortality and all the colours and vanities of human life-thither looking, and holding converse with the true beauty simple and divine? Remember how in that communion only, beholding beauty with the eye of the mind, he will be enabled to bring forth, not images of beauty, but realities (for he has hold not of an image but of a reality), and bringing forth and nourishing true virtue to become the friend of God and be immortal, if mortal man may. [...] Marketing, Mobile, TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
Never Pay More for Just MoreWednesday, May 6, 2009 By Stephanie Miller, VP, Market Development, Return Path, Inc -
For publishers growing their footprint or advertisers reaching an audience, it’s never been a good idea to pay more just to reach more people. Pay a premium for quality, or recency or behavior. But never just to reach a mass, unqualified audience. Instead, use an engagement measurement approach to your source selections and optimize your response and return. Investing with the wrong sources will both destroy your click to open rates (a key measure of advertiser value) and pollute your sender reputation, the key driver of your ability to reach the inbox. [...] Marketing, MediaRead more | Comments (1) |
Twitter Retention Redux: Lessons from Loyalty Marketersby Anne Mai Bertelsen on Tuesday, May 5, 2009 by Anne Mai Bertelsen, MAi Strategies-
Last week, David Martin, of Nielsen Online, posted data showing that despite Twitter’s meteoric rise, the micro-blogging site is failing to retain 60% or more of its users on a monthly basis. Martin also noted that Twitter’s defection rate is greater than its social networking peers Facebook and MySpace.
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The problem may stem from Twitter’s non-intuitive interface and user experience which expects new enrollees to figure out Twitter on their own. [...] Marketing, SocialRead more | Comments (2) |
Still The Best MousetrapWednesday, April 29, 2009 by Nick Friese, Founder and President, DM2 Media -
Ten years ago I helped launch a digital business-to-business publication for the media industry. At the time, the majority of publishers in the space were building out their web sites and content portals as the ultimate mousetrap for readers and advertisers. They were heavy into building the most dynamic, multifaceted designs, and content layouts to attract readers as a way to pull readers in, hoping that each day readers would be so engaged with their online publication that they would visit it multiple times a day. [...] Read more | Comments (0) |
Marketing to Boomers: The New Black?by Anne Mai Bertelsen on Tuesday, April 28, 2009 by Anne Mai Bertelsen, MAi Strategies-
For many years, marketers have shied away from targeting Boomers — particularly older Boomers, i.e., over 50 — on the theory that they were less affluent, less likely to try new products and less willing to switch brands.
Now, it appears, marketers are having a change of heart driven in part by the recession and in part by changing demographics — a change of heart that Stuart Elliott nicely summarized in his New York Times piece last week. Big marketers such as Target, Chrysler, Kraft Foods, L’Oreal and Procter & Gamble are discovering that older consumers, during this economic downturn, have not curtailed their spending to the same degree as younger consumers. [...] MarketingRead more | Comments (3) |
A New RevolutionMonday, April 27, 2009 by David Honig, Co-Founder of Media6Degrees-
This may sound crazy given the current economic environment, but these may be the best of times for our industry. Consumers continue to migrate online and intelligent firms continue to rapidly innovate online marketing technology. However, even amidst all of this progress, there are still many media buyers who operate in the same way as they did years ago.
In these turbulent times, we all need to embrace new ideas, take risks, demand change and look forward to the inevitable, continued growth of our industry. [...] SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
Mobile and Shopping, What Else Does a Gal Need?Friday, April 24, 2009 by Tina Whitfield, CEO, EquisGlobal -
Subcultures in the US embrace mobile with idiosyncratic zest. Some years ago in San Diego, the gals had gathered for the La Jolla Art and Wine Festival. Seven of us fashionably summerized. Four of the 7 on mobile phones… talking to each other. Yes, we were walking by the gals we wanted to walk by and chatting with our friends several legs over. Typically typical.
Out in LA a few months later, several of us came out of sushi and spied an interesting event across the street sponsored by Glamour. [...] MobileRead more | Comments (0) |
The Social Presence of a BrandThursday, April 23, 2009 By Seana Mulcahy, Founder of BrandTruth
Most brands are doing a crappy job via social media. Maybe I am overstating the obvious, but slapping a logo and some text and calling it a fan page isn’t a social strategy. Nor is creating a Twitter account and simply following others.
I just read a study that over half of retailers have a presence on a social networking site. Among the Top 100 e-retailers, 75 have a presence on Facebook, 48 on YouTube, 24 on MySpace, 21 on Twitter, 8 on StyleHive, 7 on Kaboodle and 1 on ThisNext. [...] MarketingRead more | Comments (1) |
Publisher Spotlight with Gregg Hano, Group Publisher PopSci Media GroupTuesday, April 21, 2009 Gregg Hano loves to talk about the future. Whether he’s launching a new, exclusively digital magazine, selling sponsorship packages for Popular Science’s “Future of the Car” issue or discussing his ideas for expanding the magazine brand to television, his focus is always on what’s new and what’s next. Exactly what you’d expect from Bonnier Corporation’s Group Publisher of Popular Science magazine, PopSci.com, and Science Illustrated.
By the time he assumed the role of Publisher in 2003, Gregg Hano was no stranger to Popular Science. [...] MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
Josh Bernoff Takes on the Term “Social Media”Friday, April 17, 2009 Josh Bernoff thinks little of of term ‘social media.’ In fact, he bluntly says the term “sucks.” Bernoff finds the term confuses people about what the social world is truly about—it makes them starting thinking about the rules that apply to media, a different universe entirely. In his Ad Age Digital Next column Bernoff endeavors to clear things up.
Bernoff, VP-principal analyst at Forrester Research and the author of a recent book about social technology trends says, “Media is something that media companies control, and media is overwhelmingly one-way. [...] SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
Amazon's Silent Mistake in the Face of a Social Media Firestormby B.L. Ochman on Tuesday, April 14, 2009 The cause doesn't really matter. What matters is that Amazon wasn't closely monitoring its brand and took nearly three days to respond to a social media firestorm. No brand can afford to do that today. SocialRead more | Comments (0) |
Social Networking Goes MobileTuesday, April 14, 2009 By Alan Chapell -
Think about all the conversations we overhear. This is a fairly ubiquitous part of life: here in Brooklyn, I accidentally listen in on snippets of talk on the street, subway, in local businesses and pretty much everywhere. Generally I don’t pay too much attention, but every now and then the conversation will be about something I too am interested in – and I might even be tempted to add something that I think the speakers would find curious.
As a simple passerby, I don’t have much incentive to do so (and don’t want to bother people). [...] MobileRead more | Comments (1) |
Understanding Digital Media MeasurementMonday, April 13, 2009 Datran Media’s Scott Knoll Interviews Experts from Carat, Mullen, Rapp and Microsoft -
Audience measurement is a nebulous term for many market stakeholders – even for those who use reporting solutions to identify the audiences reached across multiple media channels. For years now, organizations (including the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4As), the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF), the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), and the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), as well as advertising agencies and brands) have been discussing audience measurement, advancing standards, touting methodologies and offering views on how to roll in fragmented audience measurement approaches and toolsets into a total audience measurement framework. [...] MetricsRead more | Comments (4) |
The Boston T PartyFriday, April 10, 2009 by Theo Tracy, Newspapers in a Digital Age -
During a short visit to Boston last Monday, I was bowled over by a previous day’s headline in The Boston Globe. It was double-stacked banner set in type that was over an inch high. Without reading it, I knew instantly that the story must be huge. The last time I remember reading a banner this big was on the front page of The New York Times when Reagan was sworn in as President while the hostages, held in Iran, were being released. The two events happened simultaneously. [...] MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
Sick of Screens?Thursday, April 9, 2009 by Seana Mulcahy, Founder of BrandTruth
So last night I was able to escape the demands of working Seana and Mommy duties by going to the Seal concert at a small venue in Boston Massachusetts. From the perspective of a pure music fan the concert was amazing. However, from the eyes of a media, social media, and strategy gal it was quite the case of cultural anthropology.
Let me back up by saying I am all too aware of the life we lead; especially in this business. We spent countless daily hours fixated on screens: A laptop or desktop pining over presentations, responding to emails, trying to catch up on news, information, entertainment, communication (be it business or personal); our mobile phones are chained to us as we constant look for new emails, alerts, instant messages, texts…. [...] MarketingRead more | Comments (0) |
The Media Superiority ComplexWednesday, April 8, 2009 By Kathryn Koegel -
Desperate times call for desperate measures. Recent media research studies and press announcements have seemed almost sad in their defensiveness. Last week a study commissioned by CBS in conjunction with Conde Nast concluded that online ads are worth a miniscule percentage of a :30 TV spot or a magazine ad.
The MPA attacked online and the argument that time spent with media should equate to ad spend in some way. A consortium of top publishers has asked Google to change their search ranking system and automatically give higher status to their sort of “professionally generated” content. [...] MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
Four Paths and One Destination: How the Yield Curve Can Foster Digital Ad SuccessTuesday, April 7, 2009 By Benjamin Reid, VP Sales Engineering, Operative -
As overall ad spend continues to decline in the midst of this tough economic climate, digital media publishers are seeking ways to maximize revenue with greater urgency. While ad networks can help sell significant amounts of unsold inventory, smart publishers realize other tactics must be employed in order to generate high-efficiency revenue and retain the value of the brand.
Faced with existing tactics which have ceased to bear fruit, many publishers are unsure as to which strategy would best optimize operational efficiency and increase the value of ad inventories. [...] MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
The Digital Video Frontier: Long Form ProgrammingMonday, April 6, 2009 By Matt Wasserlauf, CEO, Broadband Enterprises
It’s always cold on the frontier. Mix into the equation an unprecedented market environment and you have an Arctic bite at your face. Digital video is meeting this bite with a bite of its own. It’s called ROI and the return on investment it’s generating is now accelerating a move by sophisticated marketers away from traditional media that portends very good things for the industry. At the front of this trend is long form programming, a form of video advertising that will continue to drive the push from 30 second storytelling to a whole another level. [...] TechnologyRead more | Comments (0) |
NYT Execs Threaten to Shut Down Boston Globe Absent Union Concessionsby Melinda Gipson on Saturday, April 4, 2009 The Boston Globe is the most recent metro daily threatened with its own obit. But while eyes in Boston scan the horizon for storm clouds from New York, those inside parent The New York Times Co. may be looking longingly to Hearst for guidance. MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
Finding the DarwinsWednesday, April 1, 2009 by Seana Mulcahy, Founder of BrandTruth -
Daily we hear about all the economic gloom and doom on a global level. On a national level such musings seem like permanent headlines. In a recent Strategy + Business piece by Christopher Vollmer, he says, “In the new marketing and media ecosystem, some will fail, some will thrive, and all will have to evolve.”
I couldn’t agree more. He continued, “Companies across the ecosystem have to acquire or develop three dominant traits to survive: relevance, interactivity, and accountability. [...] MarketingRead more | Comments (0) |
Optimal Email Frequency Is Guided by CadenceTuesday, March 31, 2009 by Stephanie Miller, VP, Market Development, Return Path, Inc.
Nothing fatigues email subscribers like excess frequency. It’s a common driver of complaints to the ISPs and low inbox deliverability. It’s the reason cited by most people who unsubscribe. Some subscribers enjoy more messages than others. Some industries (like publishing and travel) and brands (eBay, Amazon, Expedia, Overstock) send at high frequency with little penalty. Alas, frequency is a fickle guide.
Time for a new way of thinking. [...] MarketingRead more | Comments (0) |
The Day of the Newspaper is OverMonday, March 30, 2009 Read more | Comments (1) |
How to Own a Keyword in 4 Easy StepsThursday, March 26, 2009 by David Fishman, Co-Founder, CastleWave -
My name is David Fishman and I’ve been in the online marketing business for over 10 years. Recently, with 3 other partners, I founded a web traffic management company and the one question I hear day in and day out is arguably the most important in online marketing today:
"How do I attain the top position in a Google search?”
While search engine optimization is an art, the answer to this question is easier than you may think. Follow me as I use one of my clients, Vringo, as an example. [...] MarketingRead more | Comments (2) |
Content: To Be Free or Not to Be Free… Is That a Question? Part IITuesday, March 24, 2009 by Theo Tracy, "Newspapers in the Digital Age" -
As discussed in Part 1 of “Content: To be free or not to be free…is that a Question?”, the issue of whether a publisher should charge for content or not, essentially comes down to “how to” rather than “if we should”.
With newspapers filing for bankruptcy protection and others closing their doors, there seems to be little argument that publishers need to generate additional revenue. But even so, within their ranks, print publishers are still mired in indecision about this dilemma. [...] MediaRead more | Comments (0) |
Brand Speak: Brand Tweak?Monday, March 23, 2009 By Seana Mulcahy, Founder of BrandTruth -
It’s funny I can’t call myself a typical consumer. Certainly I’ve spent my career focused on how to capture the eyes of a consumer. But I know I’m not the norm. First off I’m in the business. Secondly I’m aware of almost all the ads before they launch (online, offline or otherwise).
However, when it comes to the brick and mortar offline world I find myself a genuine consumer from time to time. I was out in the burbs recently. It was a land of strip malls leading to a larger mall complex. [...] MarketingRead more | Comments (0) |
Beyond Borders: Adding Global Social Functions to a Web SiteMonday, March 23, 2009 Read more | Comments (0) |
Breaking Down the Walls in Mobile MarketingFriday, March 20, 2009 Read more | Comments (0) |
SXSW Is Just Like High School With the GradesFriday, March 20, 2009 Read more | Comments (9) |
Not Dead YetThursday, March 19, 2009 By Kathryn Koegel -
All of the conflicting reports about display advertising’s future make me think of the Monty Python bit where formidable knight is attacked and loses each limb but continues to fight with blood spurting as each appendage goes. When reduced to a torso stump, he continues his retort: “Come back, I’ll bite your knees off.”
I think of online display as hacked to bits by the proliferation of ad networks, search, inventory glut, format and measurement challenges. As an industry we’ve lost the spirit of the knight and have heaped what is essentially an economic downturn onto display ads. [...] MetricsRead more | Comments (3) |
Content: To Be Free or Not to Be Free… Is That the Question?Wednesday, March 18, 2009 Read more | Comments (2) |
Connections, Friends and FollowersTuesday, March 17, 2009 Read more | Comments (0) |
Registration Form Alchemy: Making the Most of Your Online Consumer LeadsWednesday, March 11, 2009 Read more | Comments (1) |
The Wrong Question Being Asked About Digital MagazinesTuesday, March 10, 2009 by Jeanniey Mullen, Global EVP and Chief Marketing Officer for Zinio and VIV Magazine -
Wow! There is a renewed chatter happening about digital magazines recently. And most of it seems cynical. Why?
Six months ago, the publishing industry saw digital magazines largely as a novelty for their business. They were fun to offer to customers, and even drove revenue. But the initiative and effort for digital magazines, for the most part, remained an unmemorable element of ABC and BPA reports. MediaRead more | Comments (19) |
The Sound of Buzz Isn’t (Always) Ca-chingMonday, March 9, 2009 By Seana Mulcahy, Owner / Founder of BrandTruth -
I’ve spent the bulk of my career building digital acquisition strategies for B2C and B2B markets. I eat, sleep, stay up at night and breathe brand building ideation. I Tweet, ReTweet, ping, email, write, blog and rattle off all the latest greatest buzz-generating media, campaigns and brands. I’ve become an eFluencer that others want to influence. In this case I wear my own hat.
Let’s face it, if you are reading this you want to create buzz. [...] MarketingRead more | Comments (16) |
Op Piece by B.L. Ochman: Manners In a Wired WorldFriday, March 6, 2009 Digital media maven B.L. Ochman shares a “few things that really me going” with AdAge. Ms. Ochman offers cues for web etiquette, and a reminder that manners still count-- even in our uber-wired but often impersonal age. Read more | Comments (16) |
CEO Spotlight: Mojiva's Dave GwozdzThursday, March 5, 2009 by Kate Berg VP, Corp Communications, Mojiva - So you want to get into the mobile ad game? Well brother, it’s a pretty exclusive club filled with tech-laden acronyms, big promises and a host of confusing messages about how mobile is going to save the world.
That’s what Dave Gwozdz thought a few months back when he was considering the CEO spot at Mojiva, a mobile advertising company that launched in May, 2008 in New York.
He also thought that the whole thing felt very familiar, with endless statistics about how huge the market was going to be ($10-12 billion by 2012!), hyperbole about the emerging technology (the tools! the insights!) and of course, obligatory claims about the contextual nature of it all (so you’re walking past this Starbucks, see, and you receive this text message. [...] MobileRead more | Comments (23) |
Segmentation Simplified: 5 Tips to Improve Email ResponseTuesday, March 3, 2009 |
A Matter of ScaleMonday, March 2, 2009 The immediate opportunity in online video is TV in reverse: specific information for a self-selecting audience that aggregates one click at a time in a controlled environment.
Attention, pundits. You’ll never see TV scale on the Internet.
That’s right, I said it. That anyone is crying “blasphemer” explains why there’s anxiety around the online video space. Every week, there’s more conjecture or “evidence” regarding the scope of the online opportunity for sight, sound and motion. [...] Read more | Comments (15) |
The Mobile Ecosystem: Overcoming Turbulent DisconnectsFriday, February 27, 2009 The Mobile Ecosystem:
Overcoming Turbulent Disconnects
By Tina Whitfield, CEO, EquisGlobal
Recently, I came across waves of start-ups, agencies, and longtime companies dropping into mobile. As I look out over the surging waves, I see many executives flailing their arms about trying to ride the surf like a pro only to pearl into the turbulence of the rabid unforgiving breaks that can beat down the best of us. Read more | Comments (15) |
Consumers Are Proud to Bypass Marketersby Stephanie Miller on Thursday, July 29, 2010Jim Taylor of Harrison Group keynoted today's DPAC4 with some provacative challenges to the nature of online marketing. What does that mean for engagement and publishing? Marketing, Media, Metrics, SocialRead more | Comments (16) |
