Article Link:  http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=109038

Article Author: Laurie Sullivan

Article Date: 1-Jul-09

From the Article:

“Geier recalls how Laura Christine, vice president of direct marketing and e-commerce at shoemaker Skechers USA, told attendees at the Internet Retailer 2009 conference in June that she put 94% of the company’s entire online budget into retargeting. Christine reduced Skechers’ partnerships to seven ad networks from 20. While Geier couldn’t recall her exact return on investment, he says the ROI exceeded 200% on more than $2 million in revenue.”

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=109038

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Why Interactive Advertising Needs a Creative Revolution

Article Link: Adage

Article Author: Hernan Lopez

Article Date: 15-June-09

From the Article:

Maybe online is more than making up what it lacks in creative with better targeting. Maybe it’s working its magic in conjunction with TV, by letting brands with smaller budgets afford continuity, or by acting as a “reminder” of a TV ad. Maybe online is working on its own, by adding leverage to a “weak force” and making it stronger. But this much is clear: Online advertising will work even better if there is an interactive creative revolution.

Microsoft Hopes Bing’s Richer Results Will Drive Ad Dollars

Article Link: ClickZ

Article Author: Jack Marshall

Article Date: 03 -June-09

From the Article:

Microsoft says its new ad offerings will “go beyond the blue links.” The engine will integrate results from other Microsoft properties, such as shopping information from Ciao, and mapping content from Multimap, and offer display and cost-per-lead ad products in addition to keyword-driven sponsored search listings.

For example, a search for shoes will return Web results, sponsored listings, and cost-per-lead driven shopping results on the same page. Likewise, searches for geographic destinations will return sponsored location listings within mapping information. In addition, Microsoft plans to offer demographic and geographic search targeting capabilities, alongside location specific content and results.

Move Over, Q Scores

Article Link: Adage

Article Author: Wayne Arnold

Article Date: 01 -June-09

From the Article:

As Simon Clift of Unilever made clear at the Ad Age Digital Conference recently, brands no longer have total control of the communications surrounding their products or even the positioning of them. That power is now in the hands of the digital consumer. Ford agrees. It’s just asked 100 bloggers to launch the Fiesta in the U.S.

Every week I read about a campaign headed in that direction. Skittles and Land Rover had their respective Twitter experiments, and while we are yet to find out if candy flew off the shelves and more 4x4s hit the road, I applaud their willingness and bravery in stress testing what I, too, think are the new rules.

TV’s 2009 Branded Entertainment Deal Style: Crew Cut Or Mullet?

Article Link:  Media Post

Article Author: WAYNE FRIEDMAN

Article Date: 4-May-09

 

From the Article :

“I don’t feel that we really are in the hands of the sponsors,” Cowell recently told The Hollywood Reporter. “Let’s put it this way: We don’t get any orders. So I’ve got a Coke cup in front of me. Who cares? I don’t like Coca-Cola.”

But here’s the deal: If more TV networks take on more reality shows — due to reining in TV production costs — you can bet there’ll be more product placement this fall. That’s just a fact.”

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=105323

SupersonicAds Building Virtual Currency Monetization Platform for European App Developers

As the number of social apps and games making money through virtual currency continues to grow, the number of companies helping those developers monetize their apps continues to increase as well. Today, Inside Facebook has the exclusive first look at a new company focused on helping European social app and game developers monetize through virtual currency.

New startup SupersonicAds is coming out of stealth mode for the first time today. The company, based outside Tel Aviv, Israel, is focusing its efforts exclusively on the European social app and game developer market, founder and CEO Gil Shoham tells Inside Facebook.

Shoham, most recently a VP at AdsMarket, started SupersonicAds late last year with many former teammates from video sharing site Metacafe, where he served as general manager and head of international sales for several years. Arik Czerniak, a co-founder of Metacafe, is also a partner in SupersonicAds.

“Over the last couple of years, people have discovered that CPM performs pretty poorly in social media,” Shoham says. “But if you integrate the advertising in the right way for the right audience, it works well.”

Shoham says the company chose to focus on Europe because that is where it has experience working with advertisers and publishers. It has spent the last few months developing and scaling its technology infrastructure, putting tracking and customer service functions into place, and optimizing performance.

In addition, Shoham says the company has localized its service for every language in Europe, including French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Dutch.

SupersonicAds is now live on Honesty Box on Facebook, whose lead developer Dan Peguine is also coming on board as a strategic partner for the company, as well as on Save An Alien, a popular virtual pet website.

While SupersonicAds is open to any and all advertisers, Shoham said he expects offers related to mobile content, gaming, and dating will work well for European users. The company plans to add a mobile payment option as well, but hasn’t finalized its choice of SMS partners yet.

For now, the company is focused on building out its core platform. It is self funded, but may raise money later this year, according to Shoham.

As virtual currency monetization space continues to grow, we’ll have all the details for you here on IF and ISG.

http://www.insidefacebook.com/2009/04/22/supersonicads-building-virtual-currency-monetization-platform-for-european-app-developers/

Do You Know Where Your Data Are?

Article Link: WSJ

Article Author: BRUCE SCHNEIER  

Article Date: 28-Apr-09

From the Article :

Do you know what your data did last night? Almost none of more than 27 million people who took the RealAge quiz realized that their personal health data was soldto drug companies, who in turned used that information for targeted e-mail marketing campaigns.

There’s a basic consumer protection principle at work here, and it’s the concept of “unfair and deceptive” trade practices. Basically, a company shouldn’t be able to say one thing and do another: sell used goods as new, lie on ingredients lists, advertise prices that aren’t generally available, claim features that don’t exist, and so on.

Disney Expert Uses Science to Draw Boy Viewers

Article Source: New York Times

Article Link: NYTimes – Disney

Article Author: Brook Barnes

Article Date: 14-Apr-09

From the Article :

“LOS ANGELES — Kelly Peña, or “the kid whisperer,” as some Hollywood producers call her, was digging through a 12-year-old boy’s dresser drawer here on a recent afternoon. Her undercover mission: to unearth what makes him tick and use the findings to help the Walt Disney Company reassert itself as a cultural force among boys.”

Ad network Collective Media raises $20M more, targets the big three

Article Source: http://venturebeat.com/

Article Link: http://venturebeat.com/2009/04/12/ad-network-collective-media-raises-20m-more-targets-the-big-three/

Article Author: Matt Marshall

Article Date: 12-Apr-09

“Collective Media, an ad network you probably haven’t heard of, has been slowly rising through the ranks of ad networks. It is the 19th largest ad network, according to the most recent Comscore data (February), up from 21st last year.

It has just raised $20 million more in a financing round led by Accel Partners, with iNovia Capital participating.”

Needed: a mobile advertising, marketing model

Article Source: http://www.adotas.com

Article Link: http://www.adotas.com/2009/02/needed-a-mobile-advertising-marketing-model/

Article Author: Simeon Simeonov

Article Date: 25-Feb-09

“Advertisers want to reach a highly-targeted audience at scale. Effective targeting outside of search requires tracking consumer behavior and carries serious privacy concerns. With mobile devices, consumers feel more violated when bad things happen, and the limitations of such devices further complicate the situation.

Why should you care? Because this is going to get worse before it gets better. Consumers are having an unprecedentedly personal relationship with devices, from PCs to iPhones. The technologies for targeting and tracking of consumers are getting more sophisticated. The advertising value chain across all channels is getting longer and more complex.”