Media Bites January 2011

Adneedle.com Makes Digital Media Planning a Breeze

Chrissie Van Wormer

Michael J Massey

One of the biggest challenges for any business these days is to figure out what is the best method to advertise your goods or services and more importantly where. Certainly the newest and most exciting advertising avenue is digital media. As proponents of all things digital, we have not been surprised that digital placement has grown like wildfire and is currently on track, according to Forrester Research, to reach nearly $55 billion by 2014. This will represent 21% of all marketing money spent as marketers shift dollars away from traditional media toward search marketing, display advertising, email marketing, social media and mobile marketing. For business owners and entrepreneurs, we know from personal experience and from the experience of our buying clients that digital placement is by far the easiest form of media to create, to launch and most importantly to track with real time statistics.

During Forrester Research’s study on how technology can help interactive marketers better integrate search and display media (December 2010), one of the key findings was that respondents to the survey feel that if they could find an online ad management platform that would facilitate measurement and streamline ad campaign processes, the online experience would be less cumbersome and easier to quantify. Well, we’re excited to have one up on the marketers that Forrester’s surveyed. We know there is just such a product and even more exciting than that, it is locally developed and operated.

Adneedle.com is a start-up that, in our opinion as experienced media planners and buyers, is about to change the way online advertising is purchased and reported. Adneedle has been developed over the past year by two young and very talented programmers both of who areGoogle certified along with two very experienced and uniquely qualified marketers. We were thrilled to find out that this forward thinking team has figured out how to blend Facebook and Twitter with google analytics. The really great thing about this product is that the online advertiser is able to view the effectiveness of an entire blended campaign right in Adneedle’s dashboard rather than having to move from google to check a report, to yahoo to check a report, to bing to check a report, to facebook to check a report, and then over to twitter to check yet another report. The analytics from each one of these platforms shows right up in Adneedle in your campaign analysis report. With the capability to view the effectiveness of an entire blended campaign in one single place, the advertiser has the opportunity to make better decisions and ultimately increase response. The system is even designed to deliver media suggestions and offers keywords and strategies for better advertiser results. There is a cool digital meter on the report page that displays how effective your campaign might be as you make your media choices. Adneedle’s unique targeting technology delivers ads to potential customers using a combination of behavioral and geo-targeting. And yes, Adneedle does handle mobile media placement. Beyond everything else we’ve mentioned, it also handles placement across multiple channels which include search, banners, and video ads. You can check Adneedle out for yourself at www.adneedle.com. Sign up and register. There is no fee and there are contracts. An added plus is that since the product caters to small and medium sized businesses, there is technical support available 24 hours a day for anyone who may need additional help in setting up an online campaign. Or maybe you’re not ready to set up a campaign. That’s great, too. Just go in and check it out. Ask questions. Request a demo. And keep in mind that this is a local company who has done something that so far the big boys haven’t figured out.

We’re excited when we come across products like Adneedle and will continue to share these opportunities as we find them. Please check out Your Ad Here: De-Mystifying the Business of Media and Advertising for additional media resources.

Media Bites - January 18 2011

Tweets for a Cause

Michael J Massey

Chrissie Van Wormer

I’m a pop culture and TV fanatic. I’ve even been called the king of useless information. In any conversation about a television show or film I'll feed you an obscure fact about one of the actors, directors or producers that I know you will never have heard before. My standard reads are The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, and Ad Age. But my fascination with Hollywood and the entertainment business doesn’t mean I have any respect for it. I’ve never gotten Lady Gaga and no matter how many times I've watched Keeping Up With the Kardashians, I still haven't figured out exactly what it is they do with their lives.

Well, on December 1^st, 2010, that all changed when Lady Gaga, the Kardashians, Justin Timberlake, Katie Holmes and Usher launched Digital Life Sacrifice and blanked out their social media profiles vowing not to return until they raised one million dollars for AIDS charities. As part of the campaign, some celebrities were photographed in coffins simulating their own deaths in order to draw awareness and donations to the cause. Leigh Blake, president of Keep a Child Alive was ecstatic with the results. She notes in a recent interview, "We're sort of trying to make the statement that why should we care so much about the death of one celebrity when millions and millions are dying all around us.” “In fact,'” she continues “Lady Gaga has made an enormous contribution already, attracting seven million Twitter followers and twenty four million Facebook fans.” And fans equal charitable donations. The current total to help fight HIV/AIDS in Africa and India currently stands at $1,111,885.

According to the buylife.org, these funds will go a very long way. In Durban, South Africa, $20 buys one hot nutritious meal. In Uganda, $50 buys food for an entire month and in India, $250 buys educational supplies for 50 children for a month.

So let’s think about this. There is most definitely a way to monetize all those Facebook fans and Twitter followers. If we add the Twitter followers for Selena Gomez, Ashton Kutcher, Kim Kardashian, Ryan Seacrest, Demi Moore, Jimmy Fallon and Khloe Kardashian and ask each one to contribute just $1 dollar, there would be a fund totaling $21,606,150. Imagine how impactful and meaningful that would be.

Here's a challenge for you. Look to your own Twitter followers and Facebook fans. What if you asked each one of them to contribute $1 to the charity that is near and dear to your heart? Make it easy for them to do so by setting up a Twitpay account for donations.

As for me, the next time I find myself resenting The Kardashians or wondering what the heck Lady Gaga is trying to stand for, I'll look back on the Digital Life Sacrifice Campaign humbly and hand over some money to Autism Speaks.

Related articles:

Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, Alicia Keys, and Usher will quit Twitter for AIDS charity

About the Death of Alicia Keys, Lady Gaga and Kim Kardashian

Media Bites-December 23 2010

Why you need to care about net neutrality and the never ending discussion about content

The FCC recently passed the net neutrality rules that basically dictates how phone and cable companies treat the ever increasing amount of web traffic. This prevents cable providers from restricting broadband access to competitors. Sounds like it would be beneficial for everyone involved, right. Consumers can get the content they would like from where ever they'd like and producers can distribute on multiple platforms.

Not so fast.

What this is really about is charging more for usage and downloads. Comcast, Time Warner, Cox and any other carriers that have a bundled plan charge everyone roughly the same to watch the content on TV and to download music and videos via broadband access.

Now the service providers will have the opportunity to charge more for heavier usage. Want to watch the YouTube video from Aunt Sally-that will be $5,00. Need to access some videos from the New York Public Library for your daughter's social studies project-$10.00. And that's not all. This will impact writers, producers and other creative development professionals that make a living through the power of TV and on line entertainment. The Writers Guild of America East was recently quoted as saying, " our members write most of what people watch on TV and increasingly, on line. This ruling diminishes their ability to create and distribute innovative content." And the opponents extend to both private and public sectors.

Commissioner Robert McDowell commented in a Wall Street Journal article that, " this is an unprecedented step to expand government reach into the internet by attempting to regulate its inner workings." Many watch dog groups, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation have cause for concern.

No one knows for sure exactly where this is going. But you can bet that at some point it will affect your wallet.

Have an opinion about net neutrality? Post a comment or send a tweet to @mediaman64

Media Bites-November 23 2010

Digital Media 101

Michael J Massey and Chrissie Van Wormer

Digital media is new, exciting and changing so rapidly that can be confusing even for the most seasoned advertiser. If you decide to look up the Wikipedia definition of digital media, your eyes will likely glaze over after the first sentence. Suffice it to say that digital media includes electronic mediums such as website placement, mobile marketing and all wireless technologies.

The most sensible place to start, when trying to understand digital media, is with web placement. Web placements are the headers, footers and dancers who seem to be gyrating across our screens each time we log in. There are standard sizes that all media properties will adhere to based on standards set by the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB). Those sizes in the digital world are known as skyscrapers, leaderboards, and peel backs. Let’s take a look at each one for a better understanding of what each will do for you as an advertiser.

As you can imagine, a skyscraper is a tall and narrow banner ad usually placed to the right of content on a Web page. Standard dimensions for a skyscraper ad are 160 X 600 pixels. Like another popular type of Internet ad, the leaderboard which is defined below, the skyscraper offers an advertiser a large space for a message. The nice thing about the skyscraper ad is that it remains at least partly visible as the viewer scrolls down the page. One of the other things that make it nice is it can be either static, meaning there is no movement or animated. When the user clicks on the ad, it will take them to your site.

Leaderboards are a popular type of banner placement and can also be static or animated. They have a standard dimension of 728 x 90 pixels. A leaderboard is the width of the page and typically lies between the masthead (the title area at the top of a Web page) and content. Leaderboards are thought to offer advertisers a great deal of space in a prominent position without intruding on content. Internet advertising borrows leaderboard from sports, where it refers to a sign board displaying the rankings of participants.

Peel backs are the placements that break away from the corner of the page when your mouse is scrolled over them. Peel back ads invite users to “peel” the publisher’s homepage to reveal the advertisement underneath. Initially, when the page is loaded, the user sees only a small “teaser” triangle on the upper corner of the page. Using their mouse, the user will “peel” the publisher’s page to uncover the content. The nice thing about peel backs is that they give advertisers high visibility. When the ad expands fully, the content lays over the page content and really focuses more attention on the marketing message. Advertisers can then deepen their message with rich messaging with includes things like video and animation. Peel back ads are a rarity and therefore manage to engage users a little more easily. Plus they appeal to the user’s natural curiosity to uncover what is hidden beneath them.

Drop down ads are those ads that when you scroll over them with your mouse, will drop down to reveal the ad. And then of course there are the fixed footers and headers that are approximately 960 x 30. These are not as prevalent but are great because they keep your ad message front and center while the user is scrolling down the page.

The last one that everyone is aware of is the “pop up” ads. These can be annoying and many computers are set to block them so you’ll want to consider that before you decide to go in that direction.

Pricing for web ad placements are normally done on a Cost Per Thousand (CPM) impressions. A cost per thousand impressions is simply the amount it will cost the advertiser to reach 1,000 viewers. To explain further, let’s say you’re looking to place an ad on your local CBS affiliate website. A skyscraper ad on the site offers a guaranteed delivery of 100,000 impressions. What that means is that your ad will be seen 100,000 times during a specified period of time. Be sure to communicate your goals and needs to your account executive to ensure you’re getting exactly what you need.

The best way to know if you’re getting the 100,000 impressions is if your web platform will charge you on a Cost Per Click (CPC) basis. A cost per click means you’ll be charged each time someone clicks their mouse on your ad bringing them to your site or page. Unfortunately, there are very few sites that will price their inventory that way. Cost Per Click ads will give you a much better indication of the success of your web campaign. So to insure that you’re getting what you paid for, be sure to ask for the click through rate for every ad position you buy. The click through rate is obtained by dividing the number of users who clicked on an ad on a web page by the number of times the ad was delivered (impressions). For example, your ad is “delivered” each time a user enters the publisher’s website. Let’s say that on Sunday afternoon, 100 users saw your ad and of those 100 viewers, 2 of them clicked on it. In that case the click through rate would be 2%. The site you are considering advertising on will have the data you need and from there you can determine whether or not you want to continue advertising in that spot or with the web entity at all.

An article about digital media cannot be complete without talking about rich media. Rich media are the added opportunities web advertising offers. For instance, maybe you have a television spot or a radio ad that you would like to add to your web ad. Or it’s possible that you’d like to lure potential buyers in with a game they can play that offers a coupon or a higher percentage off merchandise. Each one of these opportunities will enrich the experience you are offering your target audience and in turn pique their interest in your product more than a static (stationary) ad.

If you are considering placing web advertising, there are three things you really need to do. First and foremost is to do your homework. Know what the pricing structure will be. No one likes surprises and they can be costly. Second, know how many impressions will be delivered. It’s important to know how many people are looking at the website you’re considering using. And third, understand the reporting. Be sure to find out when you will be receiving the analytics. You may need to ask for it.

Media Bites November 15 2010

Love, Advertising Style

Michael Massey & Chrissie Van Wormer

The character Don Draper on Mad Men finally gives up on his futile attempt to hide and be someone he isn’t. In an unexpected twist, early on in the life of the series, it is revealed that Don Draper is really Dick Whitman, a name discarded when he took on the identity of a Korean War buddy who was killed in action.

In a brash move during a trip to Disneyland with his kids, Don (or is it Dick?) asks his secretary to marry him before he has even broken up with Faye, his current significant other. Once he finally mans up and tells Faye about his upcoming nuptials, she retorts, “I hope you let her know that you only like the beginning.” And ever since Ms. Blankenship keeled over at her desk, Megan has made herself indispensable to Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. Yes, indispensable in ways you’ll love to imagine.

This season served up less of the psychotic ice princess ex-wife Betty Draper. Divorcing Don and marrying Henry may have been Betty’s way of finding happiness; but instead, she seems to paddle along a never ending stream of hatred for Don in a quest to find herself.

Peggy Olsen has gone from the meek, mousy secretary of Don Draper to the no holds barred, marijuana smoking, hard drinking copy writer who isn’t afraid to tell it like it is. In the episode, “Suitcase”, she and Don spend a long evening together drinking, eating, smoking, sharing intimate and as yet unknown details of their lives while working on a campaign for Samsonite. While Peggy is busy sleeping off the buzz on the office couch, Don conceives a campaign and shares the executions with Peggy when she wakes in the morning. His surprise and, can that be respect?, register on his face when she points at each one in turn and states, “This one won’t render in print.” “How can we shoot a TV spot with this copy?” “If we say this, don’t we really mean that?” His response? “Why do you have to shit all over this?” Peggy knows at that moment that the tables have turned. He knows Peggy has his back and Peggy knows she has Don’s respect.

This juicy, saucy, sexy series continues to seduce young and old alike to the ad business. Mad Men makes being ad men (and women) realize that what gets done at the office, stays at the office.

Media Bites - November 11 2010

Trends in Mobile Marketing

Michael J Massey and Chrissie Van Wormer

Imagine a world where you don’t need to carry your cash, credit cards, debit cards or even your wallet. You stop in Starbucks to order a double soy latte with a shot of chocolate and a dollop of whipped cream, pull out your smartphone, point it at the counter reader, and the sweet treat is charged to your credit card. On your way down the street, you see a pair of shoes in the window that you’ve had your eye on and they’re on sale for 45% off. Just as you had hoped, they are a perfect fit. You tap your phone on the sale tag, run it over the counter reader and your bank account is debited. Another sweet deal made even sweeter by the ease of payment. This all sounds a little like Minority Report, but mobile is rapidly changing the way consumers will do business in the digital age.

Mobile is growing at an astonishing rate. Even though mobile advertising is still in an experimental phase at this point, revenues are predicted at over $150 billion for 2011. It is also predicted that there will be over 975 million mobile web users by 2012. According to a survey by CTIA, the international association for the wireless telecommunications industry, 285 million connections were recorded by December 2009. According to a report by ABI Research, the mobile commerce market will grow to $119 billion by 2015 and will represent eight percent of the total e-commerce market.

Mobile shopping grew from $396 million to over $1.2 billion 2009 in the United States alone. This number, although huge, is nothing when compared to the mobile shopping network in Japan which tops $10 billion and the European market is expected to outgrow the U.S. by the end of 2010.

Let’s explore the opportunities that mobile offers from two very unique perspectives. First, as a consumer, the world will literally be at your fingertips. You’ll have the ability to program your DVR from your phone when you realize today is Thursday and you don’t want to miss tonight’s episode of Mad Men. While taking the train to work, you pass by an RFID embedded street sign that sends a signal to your phone to download an app. Walk through the door of your local drugstore and RFID tags embedded in the signs at the entrance let you know there’s a big sale on cold medicine as well as it reminds you to get your flu shot. On your way home, you realize you’re hungry and at a loss of what to have for dinner. You click on a foodie app and get a coupon for your favorite Asian Restaurant which happens to be just around the corner. You pick up your fragrant meal and pay for it with your smartphone. The possibilities are endless.

Now imagine this from the perspective of an advertiser. As a group, they are salivating over the limitless possibilities. This is literally an untapped market. Think about the fact that the majority of consumers read mobile messages with four minutes of the time they are received. Add to that that all carriers can receive an SMS (short message service) message. And the big plus here is that advertising messages can only be received if the consumer has opted in. These advertisers have been offered the opportunity to reach their audience in a more personal and intimate sort of way. Beyond that, this is a quantifiable media that has measured results. Gone are the antiquated media metrics of reach and frequency.

Over the next few years, it is predicted that there will be an explosive leap in mobile usage. There will be an exponential increase in mobile advertising based on the following facts: 1) RFID chips will be embedded not only in out of home advertising such as store boards, but will be used with broadcast television as well. 2) There has been an astonishing rise in the number of mobile apps that are being developed every day. 3) The launch of new and improved advertising platforms like adneedle.com that are specifically engineered to blend mobile, digital, search and social all on one dashboard. It will become easier and easier to place ads and direct where they will be offered.

What started out as a simple way to make a call, send an email or text is quickly becoming your mobile entertainment, news and business source of information. Sooner than you think you will be able to do so much more than just make a call and send text messages. You’ll be able to check your stocks, program your DVR, download coupons, make a bank deposit and even book a trip. The world will literally be in the palm of your hand.

Media Bites November 8 2010

What to Expect from a “Real” Advertising Career

The field of advertising has received quite a bit of notice through the years in television dramas like the current hit “Mad Men”. These fictitious characters spend long hours working with clients to develop ad campaigns and promote business and certainly experience their share of drama. It looks sexy, doesn’t it? In the real world it can certainly be all of that but it can also be a grind and many times brutal. The upside, though, is that there are plenty of career opportunities for the well-rounded, maybe even a little quirky individuals out there. You may feel advertising is a fit for you but you really like structure and a steady work flow and you’re wondering if there’s a place for you in this industry. Don’t worry. The corporate agency may be just the place for you. But if you prefer a constant challenge and you like to feel you’re playing an integral role in making things happen, the smaller boutique agency is probably a better fit for your personality. Either way, the career options are pretty much the same so we’ll start with career positions at the bigger agency.

Most large firms are set up by department or discipline. Those might include 1) Account Services, 2) Creative, 3) Business development 4) Media planners and buyers .

Let’s start by exploring the Account Services department. It is usually headed up a Director or Vice President who is ultimately responsible for the profitability of their portfolio of clients. They will monitor agency costs and vendor expenses, insure brand integrity and creative direction. Account Executives (sometimes called Account Managers) are responsible for a specific pool of clients. Their objective is to serve the same purpose for a smaller pool of clients. They act as a conduit between other departments to manage profitability and all aspects of a client’s campaign. Normally in a corporate agency they will work with a specific industry such as financial, medical or auto. The best candidates for this role would have a background in business or communications, be well organized and work well either independently or with a team.

The Creative team is headed up by a Creative Director. It is the primary responsibility of the director to oversee all design, production, copy development and campaign integration for clients. They will work with the Account Executives to make sure the clients’ needs are being met and the creative goals are on track. Generally working directly under the creative director is the Art Director who will transform the creative vision into reality with the assistance of a creative team. The team would be comprised of designers, artists, writers, production staff and more. Best candidates for these jobs would have a background in art, design, writing or production.

The Business Development team is the lifeblood of any company and the advertising business is no exception. Through networking, event sponsorships, sales calls, referrals and many other creative channels, this group finds advertisers looking for representation. During a fact finding meeting with the new prospect, they perform needs assessment. From information gathered and insight garnered through strategic questioning, they will return with a proposal for a scope of work. The proposal will include work to be performed, estimate of time to completion and the all-important cost. Best candidates for these jobs would have a degree in business, liberal arts or marketing. They need the ability to ask the right questions at the right time and also should have no fear of rejection.

Media Planners and Buyers integrate with account services, creative and brand planning. Usually there is a media director or VP of Media Services that oversees and manages the group. There will be a media planner whose primary role it is to take the allocated media budgets and determine how the funds will be spent. Planners are responsible for developing strategic campaigns by applying various media platforms such as interactive and traditional. As a media planner, you should have a keen understanding not only of the client’s goals but also of their competition. Media Buyers, on the other hand, are mainly responsible for negotiating media space or time. They should also be well versed in researching how and where media placements will yield the highest return on investment (ROI) for the client. It is the goal of the media buyer to find the most cost effective combination of mediums that will best enable the client to get the right message to the right people at the right time. These media buyers are kept sane by Media Assistants who are those detail oriented people responsible for the monumental task of gathering the details and keeping everything organized. Information they may be responsible for are such items as media kits, market analyses, rate cards and rating sheets to name a few. If you have a degree in business, communications or liberal arts and enjoy learning about outdoor, television, radio, mobile and more, this could be a great career for you.

So this is how a large regional or global firm might be structured. As we said earlier, if you enjoy structure and a steady work flow, this could be a good fit for you. But if you like not knowing what you’ll be doing any day, a small boutique agency might be the place for you. A boutique agency is generally much smaller and may focus on media planning and buying or creative services or brand planning or a combination of those services. With a boutique agency, you might find yourself in a new business development meeting in the morning and on the phone buying media right after lunch. The following morning you might be working against a deadline writing copy for a radio ad and by the afternoon you could be assisting in storyboarding a television spot. Every day will be different in this type of environment but the jobs to be completed are pretty much the same.

There are some great sites that cater specifically to anyone looking for a position in the advertising business.

http://www.mediapost.com Lists positions in their classified section.

http://adage.com/talentworks Detailed descriptions, positions and blogs

http://www.varietymediacareers.com/ Media and entertainment positions

http://www.mediajobmarket.com/jobs/index.jsp Marketing, advertising and media positions

This is one of the few industries where change is part of the landscape and having a business head and a creative heart is actually welcomed.

Michael J Massey michael@youradherethebook.com

Chrissie Van Wormer chrissie@youradherethebook.com