Archive for July, 2010
Google is watching you…and sending ads your way
Jul 30th
Google has launched location-aware display advertisements for internet enabled mobile phones including the Android and iPhone handsets. Is it what we’ve all been waiting for?
Yes. It is what we’ve been waiting for, frankly. For years, I have visited companies and sat at press launches listening to announcements time and time again that tout ‘the year of mobile’ and go one about location based advertising.
Now it’s here and available to the masses. And best of all, Google will only charge advertisers when users tap to call the business or visit the advertiser’s mobile site.
Through Google’s “location extension” feature, advertisers can now include their location and phone numbers to appear in display ads on iPhone and Android mobile websites.
Announced on its Mobile Ads blog, Google said the feature – previously available only on search ads – will appear as banner text advertising and will pinpoint business locations on a small map as well as a “click-to-call” phone number. Consumers will also have the option for generate directions if needed.
Giving consumers the option of viewing businesses in their area increases Google’s chance that the consumer will call the business or click to its website, which are the two ways Google makes money on the service.
The move shows Google’s increased investment in mobile and display advertising – two areas that have traditionally played second-fiddle to regular search advertising.
The only catch is, rival Apple forbids application developers from collecting location data only for advertising purposes, which could set back some advertisers. Google faces massive competition from Apple’s iAds platform which has already generated $60 million. But the location extenstion feature at least launches Google onto the playing field finally.
To use the service, advertisers have to opt-in to the Google Ad Network and make sure they check the “Display Network” option. From there, the advertiser includes its number and address as well as the option to upload a logo. The last step is to check the box for iPhones and other mobile devices will full internet browsers.
Here’s some pointers to get you started from Google:
1. Ensure your campaigns are opted into the Google Display Network. As a best practice, we recommend setting up separate location extensions campaigns for Search and Display networks.
2. Set up location extensions and add your business phone number and address. Be sure to also upload your business logo or icon, or choose from the set of icons available. Your ad will display a default icon if none is chosen.
3. Check that you’ve chosen to show your ads on iPhones and other mobile devices with full Internet browsers.
That’s it! You don’t need any special programming skills to create the map, Google will automatically generate it for you based on your business location.
Are you targeting the right audience with the right tactics?
Jul 29th
Audience targeting is now the cornerstone of most online ad campaigns, helping to boost revenue for both branding and direct response – but what targets should you be aiming for?
A new survey reveals the most effective basis for ad targeting, and it could see your campaigns performing better with higher levels of ROI.
As the advertising industry continues to evolve and grow, audience targeting is emerging as the forgotten marketing channel and a lost science.
But the Audience Targeting State of the Industry survey from AudienceScience reveals that advertisers, agencies and publishers are all seeing an increase in online display this year of +27.4%, +20% and +60%, respectively.
Almost three quarters (72%) of online publishers now use audience targeting methods with a third saying it enables them to sell inventory at a higher cost and delivers better campaign performance for their advertisers.
Agencies lead the three sectors in their knowledge of and favourability towards audience targeting and are most likely to employ the fullest array of audience targeting capabilities – with 80% using behavioural, 76% using geographic and 75% using demographic selections. In particular, behavioural and demographic targeting were rated as “effective” or “very effective” by this group.
Advertisers show less familiarity with audience targeting methods and are more traditional in their approach with the majority preferring to use demographic targeting (62%) followed by behavioural and geographic – 52% and 53%, respectively.
Almost half (46%) of publishers also said that audience targeting is being equally used for both branding and direct response advertising. Read the rest of this entry »
What’s the difference between a sponsorship and an ad campaign? Ask Levi’s…
Jul 28th
There’s a new viral sensation doing the rounds on YouTube, question is, is it a viral ‘advertising’ campaign if the brand is just a sponsor?
Levi’s jeans has been incredibly lucky this past week. ‘Walk Across America’ has attracted more than 1 million YouTube views since July 20. And it turns out, the stop-motion video wasn’t even its idea.
If I was going to walk across America (2,967 miles from New Yor to San Francisco) I would approach a sports brand to sponsor me, or one of those sports drinks brands. Perhaps even a sunglasses brand. But a jeans brand…denim is hot. And it chaffs.
Levi’s sounds an unlikely sponsor. But the brand has been in somewhat of a disarray of late. A few years ago it decided to sell its premium jeans brand in K-Mart stores (a department store in both Australia and the US).
All of a sudden, a brand that you could buy that could custom make your jeans was selling pairs for no less than $12.99 (£8.30).
I haven’t seen a pair of Levi’s around for a while. So could this sponsorship coup bring Levi’s back from brand wilderness?
Here’s the ‘Walk Across America’ YouTube post:
The young filmmakers at Conscious Minds say that they came up with the concept and idea for the viral and then pitched it to Levi’s to get a sponsor to help fund the project.
Apparently, Levi’s loved the authenticity of the project and the agency’s “pioneering spirit” so therefore provided the team with a sponsorship that included money for petrol, food and production resources – and of course 501s for the whole crew.
One of the best things about this project is the digital channels it has used in order to get people involved in the project.
The team made a Google Map with photos pinned at points of interest. Another YouTube video that described their experiences traveling across the country was also posted and explains how they achieved the visual effects in the video.
The team used a combination of stop-motion and time-lapse video, something that has proved popular in the past and still intrigues thousands of viewers across the globe.
I love these videos. They really grab the attention of all because of their ability to tell a long story in a bite sized piece of time. And sponsorship isn’t a bad thing at all, but I can’t help but think that Levi’s is getting a bit too much credit for this.
The so-called viral is in a very similar vein to Cadbury’s sponsorship of “Where the Hell is Matt” via its Stride gum brand, which was about a guy who danced all over the world. You can see it here.
Stop motion virals became popular when that guy, Noah, took a picture of himself everyday for eight years and then played them together in stop motion on YouTube. You can see that one by clicking here. It was probably among the first of its kind and garnered mass popularity when the Simpsons did a version with Homer Simpson (you can see that one here)
The video certainly has seen buzz around the Levi’s brand, but as I said earlier, we still aren’t sure what a jeans brand has to do with walking across America, or video production.
If Levi’s wants this sponsorship attempt to look at all genuine, it must now leverage its brand further with the ‘walk’ video by creating – at least – a further ad campaign to go with it. At the moment, this sponsorship looks a bit soulless.
Twitter still evolving and experimenting with digital media ad space
Jul 27th
Twitter has unveiled a whole host of new features over the past six months, but could this new surprise be the icing on the cake?
Remember about a year ago when Twitter co-founder and CEO Biz Stone said that 2010 would be the micro-blogging site’s revenue year?
Finally the site has delivered something compelling enough that could see that wish, I mean, assertion, come to fruition.
The social site has just added a new feature that will allow Twitter users to upload videos and other media to their tweets. That also could mean video advertising…
‘Tweet Media’, is: “By default, you’ll only see images and videos shared by people you’re following, and reveal those by people you’re not. Check this box to see media from everyone on Twitter,” describes Twitter.
The feature will enable the embedding of multimedia into the stream. It comes after a string of other innovations this year such as Promoted Tweets – which is already earning the site much need advertising revenues.
The ‘media’ approach is though contrary to the ethos of the site. Adding embeddable media to the stream has the potential to complicate the traditionally simple, 140-characters-of-text aesthetic of the network. This may have something to do with why Twitter has now removed the feature.
Mashable unearthered ‘Tweet Media’ earlier today. But when we went poking around we discovered the feature no longer existed.
Here’s the line from Twitter (from Mashable) “We’re constantly exploring features and settings. What you saw was a small test of a potential consumption setting for inline media.”
Twitter also notes that this feature is already a part of both the official apps for iPhone and Android, as well as for certain third-party Twitter apps.
But it’s worth remembering that many users already share photos and videos – either via TwitPic or their other more ‘social’ networks such as Facebook. However, it could be a golden opportunity for advertisers looking for cut-through on the site.
Does the Twitter feed need media? Or, an even better question is, who is still using Twitter anyway?
With so many users, Twitter needs to do something more compelling not just to attract revenues, but to attract creative ads that get people to stop and watch.
Switching on to social media’s new challenges
Jul 26th
Simon Robinson, marketing and alliances director, EMEA, Responsys, explains the challenge that the astronomical growth of social media sites poses to marketers.
Last week, Facebook reached its much sought after milestone of reaching 500 million users – that represents 8% of the world’s entire population.
There is no denying the impact that social media tools are having on the way in which we communicate, both at a business and a personal level. From micro-blogging sites such as Twitter to professional networks like LinkedIn and of course, the force that is Facebook, social media is now as big a part of our daily lives as drinking a cup of coffee or taking the tube to work.
For marketers, this presents an interesting challenge but also one that cannot be ignored. The trick lies in finding the most effective way of communicating with your target audience. However, this is complicated by the fact that consumers now expect to find relevant information not just in their inbox or on a web site, but in whatever channel they decide to use, whenever they feel like using it.
Against this backdrop, the businesses that succeed will be those that can switch on to social media in the same way they have embraced more traditional approaches to marketing such as direct mail and email marketing. They must also appreciate that all consumers are different and social media has helped to harness and grow this individuality, it is here that the secret to success lies. Savvy marketers can take this knowledge and use it to power more personalised and targeted communications.
Now is the time to for marketing teams to evaluate how they can integrate social media into their marketing campaigns in order to drive engagement and ultimately business profit.
How digital and interactive advertising has come of age
Jul 23rd
In a saturated advertising and consumer market, brands are constantly battling against each other for airspace. So what’s the best way to stand out through digital channels? One beer brand has proved itself with the ‘experience’ route…
First, appeal to your ‘fans’, the consumers you already have.
Secondly, reward them by inspiring them to act in the favour of your brand.
One such brand that has done brilliantly at both is Tooheys – an Australian beer brand that was last night crowned as ‘Best in Show’ for its ‘Six Beers of Separation’ campaign.
Here’s a video of the initial campaign:
Aussie agency Lion Nathan and ZenithOptimedia created a campaign that saw four Tooheys fans travel across the world to find how they are connected to their idols…with six beers.
The project included a number of TV episodes that aired on pay-TV channel Foxtel and online. Digital, print, FTA TV and cinema activity also supported the long form ads.
The episodes showed participants travelling more than 150,000km between them, across three continents. The brand gave each of the four $12,000 and 18 days to find their idol.
There’s a micro site here if you’re interested in the journey and a dedicated YouTube channel here.
Mark Uncles, professor of marketing and judge at the 2010 IAB Australia Awards, said, “If there was ever any doubt, digital and interactive advertising truly has come of age. Many of Australia’s biggest mainstream advertisers have had text book success using online to excellent effect.
“Key to this coming of age, are campaigns that engage consumers in the longer term. This is essential if advertising is to build brands and not simply secure immediate promotional benefits.”
The Tooheys campaign makes use of multiple platforms to deliver a insightful and witty messages that build significantly Tooheys Extra Dry as a strong brand.
The campaign is reminiscent of another Aussie campaign, The Best Job in the World. However, where the ‘Best Job’ campaign succeeded was on the global stage.
A simple YouTube competition catapulted the northern Australian state of Queensland onto the world map and it will certainly be a while before anyone forget the media frenzy it caused. Out of the campaign, the Queensland brand managed a true brand advocate (who is now actually employed as Queensland Tourism’s Ambassador and is travelling all over the world).
That goes to prove that advertising and a lot of money can buy you promotions…but there is more to it than that.
These campaigns both play on the ‘experience’. It shows the audience its consumers having a fantastic experience with their brand. That experience is so great they blog about, they talk about, the even put it on video and that is what resonates with consumers in this age of social media and ‘recommendations’.
These campaigns have won out (‘Best Job’ won a few Cannes Lion’s awards!)because of their innovative use of a number of different digital channels to build an experience and total immersion of the brand.
Yes, digital has come of age, so has marketers’ use of it. The opportunities are endless and I hope these examples give you inspiration. There’s also a great case study at mcn.com.au. Click here to watch it.
How new innovation in music marketing is getting a backstage pass
Jul 22nd
What do you get when you cross iTunes with social media? Clue: it actually has nothing to do with Apple or MySpace…
Steam Republic, a mobile tech firm from Finland, has just launched a new social music application called Mobile Backstage that aims to enables record labels and musicians to build vibrant communities around their fans’ smartphones.
The Mobile Backstage app helps artists to quickly and easily create a unique mobile presence that fans can download for free from either a website or mobile app store.
Once loaded, fans can begin communicating directly with the artist and other fans, sharing their experiences by uploading content and ‘checking in’ to gigs using GPS. Mobile Backstage also integrates with major social networks and digital music stores.
The app integrates with social media services such as Facebook and Twitter, reducing the overheads required associated with maintaining a cross-platform digital presence. It also generates vital demographic and analytic data that provides insights into how fans are interacting with the artist, the content and each other.
Janne Airo, CEO of Steam Republic, said, “Rather than merely aggregating passive content from third party websites, Mobile Backstage facilitates real social interactions between artists and fans. Our recent trials have generated data that clearly demonstrates that fans visit and interact with Mobile Backstage app vastly more often than the artist ‘s own website or social page. In some cases hundreds of times more often.”
The innovative app bridges will give back some personality when it comes to buying music and also helps to forge a relationship between the artist and fans.
If you cast your mind back to what seems like a million years ago, people used to line up outside of music stores when their favourite artists’ CDs would go on sale. Some wanted to get their hands on signed copies, others just couldn’t wait to hear the sweet tunes of Kylie Minogue…I mean, their favourite artist. Read the rest of this entry »
Why marketing campaigns work best over summer
Jul 22nd
Marketers should consider weather patterns when executing email campaigns, according to new research from Pure360.
The email marketing company’s research analysed open and click through rates on over 7 million emails to reveal that hot, sunny weather increased the effectiveness of the vast majority of campaigns promoting summer related products such as festivals and UK based holidays, as well sporting events such as cricket and tennis.
Furthermore, the recent hot spell has definitely been a coup for the UK holiday industry – open rates on campaigns promoting these were five times higher (15% compared to 3%) on hot days. Click through rates also rose from 12% in bad weather to 27% in good weather.
Not surprisingly, the hot weather also seems to be encouraging the nation to get out and explore the country in their cars.
The results indicate that consumers are almost twice as likely to engage (measured by click-throughs) with campaigns promoting SatNavs in good weather (48%) than in bad (23%).
Good weather dramatically increases the effectiveness of B2B campaigns too. Click through rates on campaigns promoting business related events and products increased from 12% when it was raining to 27% in the sunshine.
Wet and cold weather does however have its benefits – it seems that consumers are far more likely to be thinking about life changing purchases, such as cars and homes on a bad day. For example, consumers are twice as likely to engage with property related emails on a rainy (8% open rate) than sunny day (4% open rate).
Campaigns promoting restaurants are twice as effective in bad weather. A fact that might be explained by the recent rise in barbecue products, salads and ready meals, which indicate that consumers have opted to stay at home and BBQ during the recent sunny spell.
More intuitively, campaigns promoting winter ski holidays will do far better in poor weather than good. This might be because the cold makes them makes them more receptive to wintry products – which are often the last thing people want to think about on a beautiful sunny day.
But marketers cannot simply rely on gut instinct when it comes to email marketing. Counter-intuitively, consumers are more likely to open emails promoting some summer related products, such as camping equipment, when the weather is gloomy.
Adam Bambrough, Product and Experience Manager at Pure360, said, “By monitoring how emails perform after being opened, marketers can respond to campaign specific trends and gain further insights into the effectiveness and overall value of their email marketing campaign.”
The power of customer profiling in the marketing mix
Jul 20th
The pedestrian old postcode can represent a remarkably powerful tool for the modern marketer.
Postcode Anywhere takes advantage of the increasing value of data to provide “cutting-edge” web services.
Property marketing agency ThinkBDW is a happy customer and an example of a business using smart marketing tools to improve the effectiveness of their marketing across the mix, and save money.
It reports savings of “thousands of pounds” using an innovative customer profiling service from Postcode Anywhere to qualify sales leads and target marketing activities.
ThinkBDW used the service in the marketing of housing projects including the new development on the old Highbury football ground.
“We’ve used Postcode Anywhere for years for address auto-fill on websites. Right from the word go it saves us money, even if we’re just looking at the postage,” said ThinkBDW’s Internet Director, Chris Hughes.
“Then we thought, while we’re getting the postcode, why not get the demographic information in the background?
“We’re one of the biggest advertisers in local newspapers around the country. Rather than randomly targeting 20 or 30 papers, demographic profiling tells us the type of paper people read. We found in some circumstances we were actually targeting the wrong area and the wrong people. Account managers even mapped out sales areas to visualise where buyers come from.
“The money saved can be pretty big. It stops us putting thousands of pounds into a campaign and getting nothing back. We use quite a lot of call centres to follow up on contacts through the website, and though we still contact everyone, using demographics to profile people can better qualify leads – and we can allot the time we send with each lead accordingly. The data is pretty spot-on.
“We also change the type of message we put out to different demographics through text messages and emails. Customers are impressed with the effect Customer Profiling has – they’re amazed we can get that kind of information. Having actual statistics and tangible evidence to guide marketing decisions is brilliant.”
Postcode Anywhere’s sales and marketing director Phil Rothwell said: “In this age of austerity, you just can’t afford not to know which activity works and which doesn’t – or to say ‘I don’t know where the budget is going’. Fortunately, you can now also get the best return on every penny spent without breaking the bank.
“The pedestrian old postcode can represent a remarkably powerful tool for the modern marketer. Irrespective of size or resources, any organisation can use this kind of service to take their marketing to the next level. There is no better example of this than ThinkBDW.”
The evolution of email marketing
Jul 20th
Simon Robinson, marketing and alliances director, EMEA, Responsys, explains why all marketers need to understand the evolution of email marketing medium.
Like anything, email marketing is evolving and so it’s important that marketers respond to this change updating their strategies accordingly. We recently surveyed 150 marketing professionals and found that the vast majority of those we spoke to are now asked to perform cross-channel campaigns.
Over 90% of respondents say their role now includes mobile, social media and/or web channels. Of these, social media was one of the most popular channels with 53% already using it and another 21% planning to before the end of this year.
So, the question is, as social media continues to dominate the way in which we communicate and cross-channel becomes day-to-day practice, what steps should marketers be following?
Whether it is by adopting programme automation to cross-channel campaign management to ensure you get the most out of each channel, you should also ensure the data that underpins your campaigns is accurate and collected from multiple sources.
Beyond this, it’s also vital that all your data is captured an integrated into a single system in order to effectively manage the wealth of customer insight you have collected.
Finally, cross channel marketing, particularly those tactics involving social media, require appropriate levels of reporting and analysis so it is possible to track results back into campaign metrics to ensure that effective results are being delivered.
Cross channel marketing has evolved leaps and bounds in the past 12 months alone and with the rise of social media getting stronger and stronger each day, it’s important that marketers take heed to these changes and act now, or risk falling behind the competition and jeopardising their market share.
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