Love ‘em or hate ‘em, ad networks are here to stay and will continue to contribute to the revenue streams of all but the largest online publishers. Media companies are learning how to manage their various sales channels, network partnerships and inventory to optimize the value of their real estate and their audiences. This how-to panel brings together sales and management executives who are figuring out how to do the math. How can you find and work with networks that will abide by channel sales rules, and what sort of rules are working best to avoid channel conflict? Is there such a thing as “secondary premium” inventory at your site, and who really should be selling it in a way that protects your premium space? Are ad optimization technologies really adding value for publishers? And how can publishers use the ad net inventory to expand their own reach and sell more product to their own clients? Truce is declared. Now it is time for both the nets and the brands to make money.
Social media took top spot in 2009 and 2010 looks to be more of the same. The problem is there are lots of companies professing to make social media work, but many do it with smoke and mirrors. Social media requires time, technology, creativity and patience and you need a roadmap for finding the right partners that can achieve all of the above. In this session media agencies will find insights and advice for how to navigate the highway of social media companies and pick the best partners to work with. Without naming names, learn the questions you should ask and the things you should look for when picking a partner or building your own strategy and hear some of the mistakes that other people have made so you can avoid them yourself.
Everyone seems to agree: marketing metrics do not live up to their potential. You optimistically allot a budget for measurement tools to collect precious data, but then there seems to be a breakdown when it comes to training people to use the tools and paying analysts to interpret and communicate the findings. Why is this proving to be so hard? This panel will take a clear-eyed look at who is really at fault for this breakdown. Is it your agencies, the consultants, the economy or you? Or, is it all of the above? By realistically discussing the mistakes and faulty assumptions across the industry, our experts will uncover the ways you can fix your metrics efforts. We’ll show how you can adjust your approach to metrics so at long last your data can give you the timely insights you need.
While digital video has created endless opportunities as a more relevant and immersive form of advertising, it seems the recycling of TV spots still dominates the webwaves. It’s not that we didn’t try. Fake YouTube videos had their long run. The idea of long-form content doesn’t always catch on (blame our shorter attention span and the fact that most people outside the client’s marketing department don’t really want to watch a 30-minute commercial). So what’s next? As more and more viewers timeshift their attention to small screens and portable devices become smarter, creative thinkers debate the missed and upcoming opportunities for video content on the web.
After all of the debates over online privacy and who should be regulating whom, the user ultimately holds their trusted publishers accountable for how their media habits are tagged and tracked across sites. The content provider really owns the primary relationships with the consumers -- not the advertiser, the ad network or even the FTC – so your site is where the privacy conversation will begin. But where are publishers, their ad partners and the online marketing associations in developing better ways to breach the topic and create mature opt-in/opt-out programs, privacy policies, and ad labeling? How will pending legislation and regulations affect the publisher? We bring together publishers who are trying to get ahead of the issue as well as the key industry groups trying to crack the code of having the big data talk with their users.
In the past year there have been significant strides made in tracking post-purchase behavior by companies like Nielsen, Comscore and Catalina Marketing. Many CPG brands are starting to track how their online ads are driving actual sales lift or new or repeat customers. This session will start to lay out the path for understanding how to use this data, what the pitfalls are for each of the methodologies and how a good CPG buyer can start to increase the effectiveness of their ads using this data.
With a significant number of mobile phone contracts expiring by the end of 2010, the mobile industry is reaching an inflection point. Experts anticipate a radical shift from feature phones to smartphones, making it a challenge for marketers to calculate how much and where to put their mobile marketing investment. This panel will discuss how you can get ahead of the curve and will offer insights on the best way to allot budgets and track your mobile efforts. For instance, apps may be getting most of the hype, but some say it’s far more important for brands to have a mobile web presence. Plus, many marketers will still need SMS for scale and to grow email lists. Find out what works best for which types of brands and how to make more realistic mobile forecasts.
Travel Channel wanted a viral application that brought the romance and intrigue of global adventure to the digital realm. The daring strategy was to launch still another game into the crowded territory of Facebook apps. In this treacherous marketplace, Kidnap! became the most popular branded application on Facebook, growing to more than 2.5 million users in three months. Peter Dorogoff, Travel Channel’s VP of digital marketing, and Kevin Barenblatt, CEO of social media marketing agency Context Optional, will reveal best practices when major media brands get social and how to make sure your social media campaign doesn’t fly off in the wrong direction.
Agreed, mobile is the “next big thing.” Yes, media brands really do “have to be there.” But who is running the numbers on what revenues even will be possible on this platform and from what sources? Publishers need to know how much money and people-power to invest and where and when it might pay off. We bring together some of the most evolved mobile content brands to discuss not only revenue streams but cost management, resource sharing across offline and Web sales and editorial staffs, and platform development costs. What role will app fees, advertising, m-commerce, and carrier deals play in your mobile P & L? Once they get beyond the hype and sheer fear of missing out on the next great platform, publishers need to determine where mobile really fits in their businesses.
Behavioral targeting is now integrated into all aspects of online marketing, for a price. Some media planners and buyers have adopted it and some haven’t, but where does it go from here? What strides are being made to pull together more relevant data? How are media planners and buyers using it. Does BT work for branding or is it purely in the realm of performance marketing? Are brand media planners and buyers using it or is it still the realm of direct response advertisers? This session will provide some answers and lay out some goals for BT media planning in 2010 by tapping into the leaders in the category.
Streamed video is probably the most powerful creative tool for you to market your brand online, yet many marketers avoid it. But the time for excuses is past. In the Hulu era, your targets are watching TV content on computer screens and sending online programming to their living-room TV screens. As the Web becomes a lean-back medium and video content is everywhere, how can you use video to reach consumers on their screens of choice? Our panelists will help you – poring into your creative options and providing useful examples of what works and what is passé. What kinds of content support linear and interactive pre-roll? Should you make your message entertaining or utilitarian? How can publishers enhance the video ad experience they offer? Join us for an insiders’ course on the latest creative tactics, formats and execution in video so you don’t miss a step.
While Networks are losing their captive audiences and newspapers and magazines struggle to keep afloat, the video game industry continues its record-breaking growth streak. The unparallel innovations of the last 10 years will pale in comparison to what’s to come. Full motion based control, 3D games and mobile phones as powerful platforms promise to take the industry where no Mario has gone before. The question is, will in-game advertising come along for the ride or be left in the dust? Beyond display ads, what are the opportunities for in-game integration? And, between advertisers, agencies, game publishers, in-game ad networks, platforms, and gamers; who will lead the change?
E-Mail marketing and E-Newsletters have been mainstays for all serious content publishers, but the platform continues to be under-utilized as a rich source of more than just traffic and e-mail blasts. As our panel of e-mail publishers will show there are many ways to get more value out of the in-box. From lead generation to embedded multimedia, data collection to personalization, there are a range of approaches to monetization that many content providers overlook. When do advanced targeting techniques like behavioral analysis, event triggering and dynamically generated personal content make economic sense for a publisher? How important is mobile delivery to your audience and advertisers? How should e-mail and Web analytics be linked to maximize performance, and how are publishers pricing sponsorships and cross-platform ad buys? Our panel will show you how selling sponsorships and driving eyeballs to Web site is only the beginning of an e-mail strategy.
Real Time Search is still a hot button and a number of companies are starting to launch new ad models that take into account real time results from sites like Twitter and MySpace. These streams of consciousness provide insights into the user making the inquiries and provide media planners and buyers with the ability to combine content search with behavioral targeting for an even more effective marketing opportunity, but will it work? Will this model scale to present planners and buyers with a true way to reach audiences efficiently or are we cutting the cake into too many pieces? Participate in an open discussion about whether or not real time search will be a viable marketing tool for your clients in 2010.
Hoping for your content to "go viral" as a marketing strategy is about as responsible as buying scratch tickets would be for a financial strategy. More brands and agencies are discovering there is a formula for success in social media. But to get past the hit-and-miss mentality of "viral marketing" you must commit your brand to a solid presence in social media through programs that scale. Savvy companies, such as Colgate, have found that treating social as another media channel is far more effective than treating it like an experiment. In this panel discussion, experts will break down the social media formula, banish your need for a lucky break, and give an inside look at the what the best social media programs of 2010 will look like.
Winter sports thrill-seekers keep their iPhones close to their chest so they can find out where the powder is sweetest and check out their favorite runs with ski cams. PowerBar’s sponsorship of this top iPhone app let the active nutrition products maker offer nutritional information, athlete profiles, videos and free product samples. Strategists from PowerBar, OIC, its agency, and social application broker Appssavvy explain why going mobile made sense and describe how next-generation devices extend the creative and functional possibilities of mobile media.
What was a great opportunity last year to generate traffic and new audiences from social networks has suddenly become a potential threat for publishers. The mind share dedicated to social networks, blogs and Twitter has grown exponentially in the last year as your visitors are spending more time on these sites and less on content destinations like yours. Getting your content brand into the social media bloodstream is now a necessity. But how can publishers pull the right levers and create a social presence on Twitter, on Facebook and in the blogosphere? Being there is not enough. Social media now requires a strategy that maps well against your particular audience, their social media usage and your own brand. Some of the more successful and sociable content providers and consultants will reveal their secrets to smart social popularity.
Social Media Gaming is a hot topic in Silicon Valley, but is it resonating on Madison Avenue? Games like Mobsters and Farmville are attracting millions of players each month and these users spend lots of time interacting with other users, but will this translate to a medium for media planners? Traditional gaming is hit or miss with media planners because of the lead times, lack of standards and the baggage associated with it (audience, relevance). Social Gaming professes to deal with all of that, but is it scalable? If marketers rush in, will it lead to the death of Social Gaming? Listen to some expert opinions on whether or not Social Gaming can emerge, survive and thrive as a advertising medium in the new decade.
Search may be the last click for customers who are buying what you have to sell. But that click often comes at the end of the consumer’s online marketing journey -- which includes exposure to banners, video ads, mobile messages and various other marketing techniques. Up to now, search has gotten much of the credit -- and the budget -- for making the sale. Smart search experts, however, recognize they don’t operate in a void, and more of them are studying and reporting how their discipline works in conjunction with other forms of marketing. They believe that by showing you the impact of marketing dollars spent "upstream," they can accurately address if your company is spending too much or too little on search. Others, however, are not so sure. This panel will discuss the unpredictable effects of search’s evolving upstream approach. Could it be a minefield for the search industry or will search finally step into the role as your strategic adviser? Find out what you have to gain either way.
Best practices are by definition the antithesis of innovation. In the metrics-driven world of online advertising, what makes a successful ad doesn’t guarantee an exceptional campaign. Remember, Subservient Chicken wasn’t the product of pure optimization. Innovation is about doing something that hasn’t been done before; it’s about defining best practices rather than following them. It involves taking risks and all the discomfort that comes with it. If you had 3 wishes, what would you ask agencies, clients and publishers to foster online innovation? (No, you can’t ask for infinite wishes). Seasoned industry creatives discuss the issues that prevent better work and wish for a better future.
An “app” is not a Web site. Some of the most successful “extensions” of publisher brands onto the mobile platform offer useful functionality, on-the-go life enhancement, and information that is contextually relevant. We bring together publishers who have re-thought and re-worked their brands to be more than just mobile media. From on-the-go workout trainers to local product finders, personalized stock monitors to sex position guides, content is becoming a service in the application format. It is time for old media to learn new tricks.
Media planners and buyers across the board are coming to terms with the concept that last-click attribution is not the correct way to measure online impact, but what can take its place? Are buyers finally and sincerely latching onto metrics of awareness and intent or are we entering into the age of post-purchase data integration and moving even further from the branding world. This session will try to provide a framework for the marketer of the present and the marketer of the future as they lay the groundwork for the expanded role of online in their marketing landscape.
Streamed video ads have remarkable potential–providing the key to unlocking a vast amount of free content. The right video in the right environment can prompt consumers to say “thank you” to your brand, while the wrong one can make them shun you. But where to start? The huge variety of online environments can be overwhelming and frustratingly inefficient. Not to worry. Our panel of experts will simplify strategic planning for video and discuss the smartest ways to harness the myriad of possibilities. Is it better to come up with a video idea and then find the appropriate environment? What is the right placement for full-screen video, a 5-second video or an overlay? What is best way to use video in other ad formats? Join us to nail down some answers and see if your strategies align with the latest industry data.
Big brands are fortunate to have large amounts of data about customer behavior and preferences, but harnessing that data and making it actionable in email marketing campaigns is no easy task. This session will take a deep dive into the strategy and real-life implementation challenges that InterContinental Hotels Group has faced on their quest to achieve a single view of the customer, and how they emerged on top. Key takeaways will include how to consolidate and cleanse cross-channel data, create behavioral based targeting strategies and establish standards for cross-channel attribution and measurement.
Editorial content is where most purchase decisions start, whether it is a product review or a trend that inspires audiences to buy. And yet publishers never get proper credit for the role their content plays in the buy cycle. Digital platforms change all of that. Publishers like Salon, Lucky Magazine, Martha Stewart Omnimedia, Style.com, and NBC have gotten their content closer to the buy buttons and are realizing new revenue streams from direct and affiliate sales. These branded media e-stores also offer marketers new promotional opportunities and ad inventory. But how does a publisher turn into a shopkeep? Where does commerce have a place amidst content and how do publishers sell the goods while protecting their impartiality and editorial integrity? Is the content/e-commerce relationship built to last or a dalliance until other models come along?
Video is starting to have the same outlook as mobile; next year will be the year! Maybe 2010 is the year when online video finally starts to achieve its promise. The three questions that keep coming up are definition,scale, and measurement. What is the true definition of "online video"? Online video needs to scale in order to truly take dollars from traditional broadcast and it needs to be measured in a way that provides a true comparison to traditional broadcast. Whether we standardize an eGRP or not, online video has to be comparable. Hear what leading online video execs think about the right way to play and the path to success.
The Holy Grail for Email Marketing is personalized, targeted campaigns in which an email is created once and dynamically customized for hundreds of people. Done right, minimal resources are needed for exceptional results -- it’s a marketer’s dream that still eludes most of us. The good news is that automation is promising an answer. Please join a panel of leading email marketers who have made this dream a reality. We’ll offer an active discussion about the trials and tribulations of creating relevant, targeted communications and the hurdles they overcame to achieve top results. You’ll come away with a better understanding of the realities of targeting, which triggers should be standard fare, and which are great to test. You’ll also see the future of email automation and the pros/cons of dynamic image rendering and user-gen content. Your email may never be the same.
Social media has elected our president, become part of most companies’ marketing plan and overtaken porn as the number one activity on the web. And while most companies try to catch up, the landscape is changing faster than your Twitter followers are dropping you (okay, maybe not you). Social media is a quid pro quo game. Unless you’re Apple or Harley Davidson, companies can’t expect their customers to engage without getting them something in exchange. In this panel, 4 social media futurologists discuss how advertisers can take better advantage of this ever-changing space without being dismissed as, well, just advertising.
The rise of the content farm and automated assignment desks at companies like Answer.com and DemandMedia have flooded the Web with millions of pieces of search-engine-friendly content this year. Every publisher wants his content to be visible on search, but what happens to the content economy when algorithms and SEO are deployed up front in the editorial process to determine which content gets made? Should traditional publishers fight the new demand-driven media or learn from it? How is this emerging publishing system affecting the way all content, including yours, is not only being discovered but being created?
Mobile marketing is like any relationship; if you rush into it without knowing what you want, you may not end up where you want to be. The landscape is littered with missed opportunities and failed ideas because of a lack of planning, so this session will provide some insights into how media planners and buyers are creating a path for mobile to integrate into their marketing efforts. Understand in advance what you expect your mobile initiatives to do; are they driving users to a site or is mobile a remote access point for distributing content? Is it a CRM platform for you? Do applications make sense or is it just an advertising platform? Should mobile couponing be considered in the mix? There are lots of questions, and our panelists will help you find the answers.
Up to now behavioral targeting techniques have generally relied on Web surfing, search, or social media activity to create audience profiles. However, new companies have emerged with platforms can take you a step closer to your consumer base by targeting people based on their actual transactions. In this session, we’ll take a careful look at the efficacy of these transactional targeting channels and the best ways to successfully leverage this gold mine of consumer data. We’ll also give you a preview of the privacy concerns and solutions that arise when transactional data comes into play. Join us for an insider view of how a new form of BT could be applied to your needs with minimal risk.
For the launch of Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2 and Exchange Server 2010, Microsoft wanted to reach influencers and tech decision-makers as it stoked the excitement. Wunderman developed Feeds, an aggregation engine that surfaced user-generated videos, YouTube channels and other social media. Whenever a YouTube video creator, Twitter user or blogger posted information about their own experience of the products or launch events, it was captured and surfaced by Feeds to their professional peers. The app engaged the key audience of IT pros and developers with a highly functional and interactive way to track the conversation and join in. Michael Joseph, Wunderman group account director, and a Microsoft creative strategist will explain how digital video plays a central role in B2B communications and why user-generated videos are the next wave of product information.
AdNets
Behavioral
Email
Gaming
Metrics
Mobile
Performance
Publish
Search
Social
Video
