POST DIGITAL

Interactive spending to outpace Olympic, election growth

ZenithOptimedia predicts that Internet ad spending will increase of 16% through 2014, adding that it will constitute more than half of the industry's growth for the first time. GroupM's Adam Smith said digital should represent 22% of spending in "Western economies" in 2012, adding that just-maturing markets are catching up fast. The "quadrennial effect" of the U.S. elections, the Olympics and other events in 2012 is expected to boost global advertising spending 4.7%.

[Source: MediaPost Communications/MediaDailyNews (12/5), The New York Times (tiered subscription model)]

 

on: uniqlo's lucky switch

Who says banner ads don't work? UNIQLO proves we may be doing it wrong! Uniqlo developed a banner ad campaign so compelling, unique and interesting that bloggers and viewers actually took ownership of the campaign and made it a viral success – in terms of both brand impressions and sales. The banners are actually blog badges or widgets, that work like instant-win lottery tickets. Clicking the ’switch’ turned the images on any site - including other retail sites - into Uniqlo instant win tickets, with losing tickets remaining as banner ads.

The campaign ultimately generated almost 3 Million clicks, with over 4,00 blog badges installed, and a retail sales increase of 120%. This in contrast to the usually low click-through rates associated with traditional banner ads.

[ via Brandflakes for Breakfast ]

ON: Direct Response Video

Last week I sat on a panel at a digi-day conference on video.  Our topic was DRTV in the digital space.  

For those of you digi-rati that don't do TV, DRTV stands for Direct Response Television. In general awareness advertising, the spot usually gets your attention and answers "Why this product?".  A DRTV spot answers "Why this product right now?".  DRTV comes in a few flavors. It can be anywhere from 30 seconds to 5 minutes long.  Most DRTV spots ask for the sale, give you a reasonable offer and then flash up a toll free number to redeem the offer.  It is a very effective way to sell products via television.

If you were born in the digital space, like me, the thought of a DRTV spot online seems like an epic waste of media space.  As a matter of fact it is an improper use of the digital medium.

This line of thought lead me to sit and draw up how I would take the power of video and combine digital direct response and social media.   Here is a prototype of a portable direct response video player.

 

A "how-to" or demonstration video may be a great way to show HOW your product or service can benefit the consumer.  This would work much better than the 15 & 30 second awareness pre-roll. You could also tie consumer comments and or ratings to the video.  The entire ad module could be shared in social networks.

Within the video player you could put in 3D imagery with a written description along with a full up shopping cart.

The consumer could complete the entire purchase process in the video unit by using overlapping modal windows.

A click to chat feature would let a customer service rep help you or even connect you to others who are using the product now.

The Big Idea Still Counts
As a true believer in the big insightful idea, I am especially keen on tailoring the message to the medium. You would not dare put a banner ad on TV. Why would you throw your 30 second ad on the web and then never ask for the click or the sale? 

No matter what your big advertising idea is, you must customize it to the medium for the best results.

ON: Diesel's Dirty Thirty

I opened in ON:InBox and found this invite to the Diesel SFW XXX event.  Even I was stunned by this one.

Diesel SFW XXX - Watch more free videos

So does it sell?  Are you going?

ON: Wario Lands YouTube Shake

 

Check it out at http://www.youtube.com/experiencewii

ON: The IAB's Rich Media Measurement Guidelines

After a 30-day period of public comment and review, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has published the Rich Media Measurement Guidelines.  IAB "Rich media" ads are online ads with elements that users can interact with. Formats include transitional (interstitial) and over-the-page units (floating ads, page tear-backs and take-overs).

The new measurement guidelines determine the point at which a rich media ad impression is counted. Generally, a measurement will be considered legitimate when an ad counter receives and responds to an HTTP request for a tracking asset from a user's browser.  This is considered as late as possible in "the delivery of creative material to the user’s browser and therefore closest to the actual opportunity to see by the user."

Ad counters are also required to employ standard headers on the response, to minimize caching.

Wireless, offline cached media, interactive television, "flash tracking" and flash sites were not covered in the guidelines.  To help educate practitioners and others about rich media measurement, the IAB is hosting a webinar on Wednesday, January 23rd, between 4-5 PM Eastern.

Download the Rich Media Measurement Guidelines. Those inclined may register for the webinar at the same URL.

The standards, which cover online browser or browser-equivale nt based internet activity, are positioned as addendum to existing IAB Ad Impression Measurement Guidelines, which were published in 2004.  The addendum was facilitated by the Media Rating Council, and the final product was warmly applauded by the Association of National Advertisers.

ON: MTV's Think

MTV has recruited 51 youngsters - one from every state, plus another from Washington, D.C. - to cover the 2008 election.  The 08 Digital Democracy is ramping up and Viacom properties are leading the charge.

The youths are equipped with laptops, cell phones and video cameras, and are being asked to find political stories that resonate with young people, according to Yahoo News.

The news reports will be distributed through Think.MTV.com, a political and community website run by MTV. It will also be distributed through an upcoming service called MTV Mobile to mobile devices, and via the Associated Press’s Online Video Network.

ON: The PoughkeepsieTapes

As most of you know, I have grown up as a digital creative. (we need not rehash that crap)  In order for me to have gained the creative Sherpa status by my peers and colleagues I have carried the wear with all of a good experience designer. What has kept me driven has been the study or obsession with human behavior. 

When I was younger I was more than fascinated by groups of people who are defined by their defiant behaviors such as serial killers.  Yup, I am a serial killer junkie. I am one of those idiot consumers who bought into the TimeLife series after a late night working in front of the TV.  So now that you know that about me, you will understand why I was completely intrigued by a rich media ad in face book for the Poughkeepsie Tapes. I immediately clicked-through to find a site that looked like a production company site who had stumbled on to tapes that a serial killer made in September of 2001.

All of the sudden I felt a rush, and not it was not my morning coffee!  It was a rush of curiosity that lead me to believe for about 20 minutes that I was so occupied during September of 2001 that I would not have heard about this very violent series of murders caught on tape.  It appeared as though a horrific series of consumer generated videos that brought you close to a consumer that you or I would not want to know. 

After about another 5 seconds of disbelief and anguish (over the fact I would have to give up my serial murderer guru status) I began running the Google searches and WALA... my mind was put at ease.  It was a hoax. A Mocumentary ala The Blair Witch Project! (whew…can still wear the crown at parties)

The Poughkeepsie Tapes is a fictional documentary horror film released in 2007 at the Tribeca Film Festival. The narrative is presented as a documentary pieced together from a fictional serial killer's amateur footage. Most of the filming was done in upstate New York. The film was directed by John Dowdle and produced by Brothers Dowdle Productions.  Check out the site at documentaryfilmpartners.com seems like it could be a fun horror flick!  Needless to say their creative got me to behave in a way that put one more rental on the cue.

ON: EyeWonder + Adobe = The Future of Rich Media

  Joanna + Jay = TracyLocke Digital 
  Originally uploaded by joannapenabickley

It was a night of learning, seeing my digital comrades and finding the power in CS3, Flex and AdWonder 9.0.  It was nothing but the digital worlds A listers.

EyeWonder,  the "it" rich media company has quickly become digital video’s fastest-growing technology innovator.  The event @ the Shoreham was to teach the digital community about the power of its AdWonder 9.0 Flash Component, the latest version of its revolutionary video and rich media advertising authoring tool.

After mingling a bit with the Adobe rep. and marketing team I found that  EyeWonder is the first Adobe solutions partner to take the lead in the digital advertising community using Adobe® Flash® CS3 Professional and Flash Media server solutions.  (Where is PointRoll and EyeBlaster now?)

After walking through the Flex demo, I was jumping out of my skin.  It has become a streamlined process to create a flash application outside the web browser.  The XP Designer in me was like a kid in a candy store.  Then the gurus @ EyeWonder took us through the upgrades in AdWonder 9.0 which is sure to streamline our production, trafficking and tracking our rich media units created using Adobe Flash CS3. 

I was thoroughly impressed with CS3 mobile application development suite.  It gives you the ability to create flash lite apps and test them on thousands of handsets.  The night was not all presentations and tech talk.  It was great night of sharing drinks, jokes and digital chatter.  Check out the photos here

ON: A Slow To OLA Spending?.?.

Yahoo today predicted a slowdown in online advertising growth, prompting a sell-off of technology stocks including its own. CEO Terry Semel, speaking at a Goldman Sachs conference in New York, pointed to automotive and financial services as particularly weak growth areas.

Contradicts research
The Yahoo warning runs contrary to present research indicating a robust online ad market. U.S. online advertising spending is expected to reach $8 billion this year, up from $7.2 billion last year, according to e-commerce-analysis firm eMarketer.

Yahoo now expects third-quarter sales to come "in the bottom half" of $1.1 billion to $1.2 billion estimates given in July, according to Yahoo Chief Financial Officer Sue Decker.

"We are starting to see some advertising weakness in some of the most economically sensitive categories,'' Yahoo said in a regulatory filing released Tuesday afternoon. "Growth is still positive, but it is slower in Q3 than it was in the first half of the year."

Bad day for category
By midday, shares of Yahoo were down nearly 13% at $25.10 from $29.09. Rivals, who themselves rely heavily on ad revenue, were also hit hard. Shares of Google were off by 4%, and InterActiveCorp traded down 1.8%. Worse still, CNET Networks shares suffered a nasty 7.4% hit.   In July, Yahoo said it expected third-quarter revenue between $1.11 billion and $1.22 billion, excluding commissions paid to marketing partners. Analysts at the time were projecting revenue of about $1.2 billion for the quarter.

It's been a rough year for Yahoo investors. The company's shares -- down 35% this year from a 52-week high of $43.66 -- plummeted in January after Yahoo's fourth-quarter profit missed analysts' expectations. Then in July, the internet giant postponed the release of much-anticipated improvements to its search-advertisement system.

Dominance over MySpace
In August, about four in 10 online display ads were placed within Yahoo Mail, according to Nielsen/NetRatings AdRelevance. That's nearly three times the ad volume pulled in by its closest challenger, MySpace. And who's buying that ad space? Nielsen reported that financial-services companies were the largest online advertisers last month, accounting for 28% of online display ads.

The internet's share of global online-advertising budgets is expected to rise to 8.3% in 2012 from 3.7% in 2005, Merrill Lynch & Co. Analyst Justin Post wrote in a Sept. 12 report.