| Friday, Jun 27, 2008 |
What's inside:
Today's Online News
1. The Plan Behind Ad Planner: Trusted Tool Or Trojan Horse? by Tameka Kee
2. Yahoo Reorganizes, Yet Again by Mark Walsh
3. Old School Bling Comes To MySpace by Gavin O'Malley
4. Judge: Complaint Web Site Protected From Suit by Wendy Davis
5. Southwest Gets Behind Gaming To Connect With Future Flyers by Laurie Sullivan
Commentary
6. 99 Bottles Of Beer On The Wall by George Simpson
News Briefs
7. MySpace, NBC Join For '08 Convention Contest
8. Go Daddy Hits 30 Million Domain Mark
9. Hitwise: YouTube Tops In May Followed By MySpace
10. Peer39 Gets $8 Mill, Debuts Semantic Ad Platform
11. Social Media's Vitrue Acquires UGENmedia
12. Toyota Hosts AOL Program To Tout Camry
13. Greystripe Unveils New Ad Platform
14. Viator Joins Travel Ad Network
Today's News
1. The Plan Behind Ad Planner: Trusted Tool Or Trojan Horse?
by Tameka Kee
While Google's new Ad Planner tool was designed "with media planners in mind," the free service--which pulls audience measurement data from search traffic, Google Analytics, panels and third-party research, and allows users to save their media plans--has been met with mixed reviews from both large and small agencies.
For example, a source familiar with the GroupM infrastructure said that planners within the group's U.S. division were warned to stay away from the tool. The reservations stemmed from the perception that companies using Google's Ad Planner could not be sure that the search giant wouldn't share their campaign planning data with competitors.
But according to Alan Schanzer, managing partner, MEC Interaction, North America, no such order has been given. "That's not true," Schanzer said. "The system is being evaluated, but that's as much as we're willing to elaborate on right now. It's too early to make any definitive statements."
A spokesperson from sister shop MindShare Interaction echoed Schanzer's response. "No one has been forbidden to use it," the spokesperson said. "We're evaluating it just like everyone else. After all, the tool has just been released."
Still, some insiders can see why Google's Ad Planner might be met with tempered interest. "I can understand the concern that an agency might have with Google having more access to their and their clients' info," said Noah Elkin, VP of corporate strategy at Steak Media. "At the same time, it provides access to more data, and it's free. I wouldn't recommend relying solely on it, particularly because it's so new and the store of data is limited relative to a comScore or Nielsen, but it could be one of the many tools to use in the toolset."
Ben Kunz, director of strategic planning at Mediassociates, agreed. "We're open to any tool that leads to more effective planning," Kunz said. "With the best planning, you triangulate and weigh your data sources against each other. On one hand, the panel approach is a little archaic, so Ad Planner has the edge. But from a quick scan of the tool, the consumer profiling isn't very sophisticated. With a panel, you can find out if your target would purchase x, y, or z, and with Google you can't do that."
Kunz said that with time, Ad Planner could become a trusted resource, much like Nielsen, comScore, or even Quantcast. "I don't think it will replace any of the other data sources right now," he said. "It's not there yet. But it may be the Holy Grail in a year, and if so, I wouldn't want to be on the measurement side of things watching this come out. It must have some people concerned."
Indeed, comScore's stock took a 23% dive--its largest one-day drop since the company went public about a year ago--in the wake of Google's Ad Planner announcement on Tuesday. The Web traffic and audience reporting firm's CEO Magid Abraham went on the record with finance types on Thursday morning, and said comScore would eventually give its proprietary Plan Metrix data to agencies for free, if it felt like Google's new offering was really cutting into its bottom line.
But Elkin said that he didn't think Google was out to muscle its way to the top of the audience measurement heap. "I doubt that it's the intention behind releasing this product," he said. "It's possible that it could be an outcome, but the thing about Google, relative to the other companies, is that they're still relatively new. So all the tools they release have a lot of catching up to do."
2. Yahoo Reorganizes, Yet Again
by Mark Walsh
Facing ongoing turmoil after rejecting Microsoft's acquisition bid, Yahoo on Thursday announced its latest reorganization with the aim of accelerating efforts to launch Internet products, grow audiences and improve operations.
The overhaul leaves CEO Jerry Yang and President Sue Decker in place atop the company hierarchy, but expands responsibilities for products and sales under Ash Patel and Hilary Schneider.
Specifically, the new structure creates three teams reporting to Decker: An audience products division led by Ash Patel, previously head of platforms and infrastructure; a U.S. regional division headed by Hilary Schneider, formerly head of the global partner solutions group; and an insights strategy unit, charged with centralizing and executing company-wide strategy for using data and analytics.
A leader for that division will be named in the next few weeks, Yahoo said.
The internal overhaul also makes changes on Yahoo's technology side. One new group will focus on cloud computing and data infrastructure while an audience technology group under Venkat Panchapakesan will oversee all consumer-facing platforms.
The shakeup marks the fourth reorganization for Yahoo since November 2006, including a year ago when Yang replaced Terry Semel as CEO and Decker was promoted to president.
While those two are staying put, Thursday's restructuring comes partly in response to an upper management exodus at Yahoo in recent weeks. The flood of departures included top search executives Vish Makhijani and Qi Lu last week in the wake of Yahoo's deal to outsource search advertising to Google.
To help fill the vacuum, Yahoo named Prabhakar Raghavan as director of search strategy and Tuoc Luong as interim head of the search product team. David Ku will lead the advertising technology group within search.
Yahoo is also under pressure from activist investor Carl Icahn, who is seeking to install an alternate slate of board directors and push out Yang as CEO. The company on Wednesday issued a letter to stockholders urging them to support the current board, including Yang, and reject Icahn's board candidates.
Icahn launched the proxy fight in order to try to force Yahoo to accept Microsoft $47.5 billion takeover bid. Since Microsoft withdrew its offer earlier this month, Yahoo argues that Icahn's campaign to remove the board has lost its purpose.
Shareholders will vote whether to support the existing board or Icahn's candidates at Yahoo's annual meeting on August 1.
Investors appeared unimpressed with the Yahoo reorganization as shares fell almost 3% to close at $21.61.
3. Old School Bling Comes To MySpace
by Gavin O'Malley
Branded MySpace pages are old hat, but the latest marketer to set up shop in the Web's largest social network is not like the others.
Famed French jeweler and watchmaker Cartier has chosen to kick off an online campaign for its latest collection, Love by Cartier, on MySpace.
For the next year, the campaign is running in five languages across eight countries, including France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Japan, China, the United Kingdom and the U.S., at www.myspace.com/lovebycartier.
As incongruous as the partnership might appear, cultural trends demanded that Cartier respond with such a campaign, according to its director of international communications, Corinne Delattre.
"Blogs, group(s) or individual Web sites are no longer the signs of a new era, but are an established reality for a whole new generation," Delattre said. "As a large brand, we must be able to communicate to this new generation of adepts of the digital world."
Dedicated to love, Cartier's online experience includes 12 exclusive songs--composed especially for the occasion by artists such as Lou Reed, Marion Cotillard, Grand National and Phoenix--along with exclusive interviews and photos. The global Cartier campaign also highlights several charities, in particular Action Against Hunger.
According to a recent Forrester Research study, only a third of the world's premium brands sell their goods online. But that's a mistake, Forrester concluded, as about 80% of high-net-worth consumers--with annual gross income and assets of at least $500,000--use the Internet daily, and regularly buy products online.
Some analysts, however, are finding the venture hard to swallow.
"This is the digital platform version of when Wal-Mart advertised in Vogue, because that's where their audience was," recalled Robert Passikoff, president of New York market-research firm Brand Keys. "You know what they got? Laughed at."
If nothing else, MySpace is using the deal to highlight its global reach.
"Cartier's international campaign is a great representation of how an international brand can create relevant and local experiences," said Travis Katz, international managing director for MySpace.
In its first few days of existence, Cartier's MySpace campaign has attracted some 100,000 visits, and "friends" like Sting.
4. Judge: Complaint Web Site Protected From Suit
by Wendy Davis
A federal court has thrown out a defamation lawsuit against the site ConsumerAffairs.com, which posts people's complaints about retailers.
Judge Gerald Bruce Lee of Alexandria, Va., ruled that the site is protected from suit based on user comments under the federal Communications Decency Act.
The case involved a franchise of car dealers--Nemet Chevrolet of Jamaica, N.Y., and Thomas Nemet, the proprietor of Nemet Motors--who sued the Fairfax, Va.-based site in March after users complained about the dealerships.
Nemet listed seven examples of posts to the site that were allegedly defamatory. For instance, one unhappy buyer wrote: "We were trying to lease a car. Unfortunately, we got too excited so they took advantage by adding a lot of extras to the car without informing us."
But Nemet alleged that the author of that post had "signed a valid, binding retail agreement with the plaintiffs and then attempted to back out of the contract."
ConsumerAffairs.com argued that the case should be dismissed under the Communications Decency Act, which generally holds that Web sites are immune from liability for comments posted by users. The court agreed and dismissed the lawsuit last week.
Other complaint sites like RipOff Report.com have prevailed in similar lawsuits, but this case was one of the first since a federal appellate court chipped away at the Communications Decency Act in the Roomates.com case.
There, the court ruled that Roommates.com could be sued for civil rights violations because the site helped create the unlawful ads. When the opinion came out, some digital rights advocates warned that the decision could make it easier to sue publishers in general.
In the ConsumerAffairs.com case, Nemet argued that the Communications Decency Act did not shield the site because it allegedly helped users to create the posts by supplying titles, headings and categories. But the court declined to consider that argument because Nemet had not raised it in the initial complaint.
The dismissal seems to signal that some judges are still willing to give Web publishers wide protection from lawsuits based on user comments even after a federal appellate court ruled that the Web site Roommates.com could be sued for discriminatory ads posted by users. "Every defense win after Roomates.com provides further clarity about the limits of that ruling," said Eric Goldman, director of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University.
5. Southwest Gets Behind Gaming To Connect With Future Flyers
by Laurie Sullivan
Southwest Airlines is thinking ahead. The progressive carrier that built its 37-year-old business on affordable flights and customer service has signed on to sponsor the Midnight Gaming Championship (MGC) 2008 video gaming season to capture mindshare from tomorrow's professionals, now ages 16 through 25.
The "Southwest Airlines Ultimate Gamer" promotion and MGC sponsorship speak to young adults and gaming enthusiasts--a demographic far removed from the traditional frequent business traveler that Southwest typically targets with low airfares and timely plane departures and arrivals.
The marketing message tied to the sponsorship focuses on educating consumers about several Southwest services such as the downloadable computer desktop widget "Ding" that offers exclusive fares on flights --along with the company's weekly email, Click 'n' Save, that reaches 6.9 million subscribers, and Rapid Rewards.
Another perk for Southwest: the sponsorship drives traffic to the airline's Web site, southwest.com/mgc, where gamers must register to participate. Tom Lyons, online promotions specialist at Southwest Airlines, hopes that consumers will check out weekly specials and perks while on the site. For instance, at a time when carriers like American Airlines choose to charge consumers to check luggage, Southwest's Web site promotes freedom from fees by offering two checked bags, window or aisle seats and curbside check-in for free.
"We like the audience and passion for video games and that the events are held at McDonald's and Wal-Mart in some of our focus markets like Denver," Lyons says. "The amount of exposure to young adults for the investment makes sense."
Southwest's decision to reach out to video gamers represents a long-term investment in the brand--a strategy not all companies can afford to do because many want to see a return on investment tomorrow, according to Irvine Clarke III, professor and head of the marketing department at James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Va.
"The challenge is that many things will happen between now and the time when this generation reaches the age to frequently travel," Clarke says. "Their memory of this brand will erode throughout the years, so you continually have to remind them, but you can build loyalty if you start early because it becomes part of their natural choice set."
Clarke says automotive manufacturers Toyota and Chevrolet are notorious for marketing to children through toy cars, which continue to reinforce the brands throughout their lives.
Southwest will rely on MGC and producer Affinity Sports & Entertainment Marketing to promote and publicize the games. Local radio stations and newspapers in the towns where the games take place will run advertisements as tournaments make their way through the country.
The 2008 MGC games are held under a tent in the parking lot of numerous McDonald's and Wal-Mart locations around the country. The 34 tournaments this year kick off in Houston and Oklahoma City on July 12, followed by Salt Lake City and Dallas in August, and Lubbock, Texas, in September with more locations to come through Oct. 17.
Two grand-prize winners each receive two roundtrip tickets on Southwest to Las Vegas, tickets to the video game awards, a Sony PlayStation 3, a Microsoft Xbox and a Nintendo Wii.
For sponsorships, Southwest Airlines invested $200,601 in 2006; $246,842 in 2007; and $90,316 between January and March this year, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus. The research firm says that overall, the carrier spent $180 million in 2006; nearly $172 million in 2007, and $55.3 million year-to-date in 2008 on advertising.
Commentary
6. 99 Bottles Of Beer On The Wall
by George Simpson
Georgetown University's Center for Alcohol Marketing & Youth (CAMY)--in a last gasp before imploding, saying naively "We're hoping the government picks up the slack from here"-- issued a report that claims youth exposure to alcohol advertising climbed sharply between 2001 and 2007. The primary culprit, according to CAMY, was cable advertising, particularly on niche channels like Comedy Central, E!, Oxygen, FX and VH1. The alcohol brands most seen by youth, in order, were: Miller Lite (Miller Brewing), Corona Extra (Crown Imports), Coors Light (Coors Brewing), Hennessy cognac (Moet-Hennessy), Guinness (Diageo), Samuel Adams (Boston Beer), Bud Light (Anheuser-Busch), Smirnoff vodka (Diageo), Disaronno amaretto (Bacardi), Miller Chill (Miller) and Mike's Hard Lemonade.
The booze industry trade group Distilled Spirits Council of the United States countered by noting that, in spite of increased cable advertising by its members, "underage drinking is down significantly by all major measures during the same period." Which must make for some very interesting discussions about ad effectiveness between agencies and clients whose spots are running on cable.
Nowhere in the press reports I've plagiarized is there any mention of the fact that in all probability teen viewing of TV of any source and scope has fallen at the expense of a lifestyle built almost entirely around online and mobile. Most of the kids I know who have developed any loyalty to cable shows like "South Park" or net shows like 'Grey's Anatomy" download them and watch them generally without commercial interruption on mobile phones or some iteration of iPod. Teen premium cable favorites "Californication" and "Weeds" don't have ads. In our house, nearly everything is recorded to DVR, and ads run past at 78 rpm if not skipped over entirely.
Alcohol brands emerge as "musts" through word of mouth or in code posted to social sites or in IMs. Often it is an economic decision, with teens even in affluent communities defaulting to the least expensive or easiest to obtain brands. A lot of it is packaging. It is cool to drink a "40," no matter what the brand. When you are binge drinking, brands seem not to matter.
NONE of the brands said by CAMY to be the worst offenders are mentioned by any of the kids I eavesdrop on talking about drinking. It is amazing what you can learn when you are treated as invisible. Of course the soon-to-be-no-more CAMY would argue that exposure to alcohol advertising encourages drinking by glamorizing it. I don't see any marijuana advertising in any medium, yet kids still find their way to pot and are pretty conversant on the various "brands" of ganja out there.
It is not the advertising that is driving teen drinking. Rather, it is, I fear (at least in part) the content they consume. Listen to their music, watch their shows and movies aimed at them, surf their online sites and social pages and you will see that it is all about sex, drugs and rock and roll. No different than every generation for the past 50 years. Yes, some things have changed. Now, the weed is stronger and there are alcoholic beverages disguised as soft drinks or energy drinks.
I don't want my kids to drink. I don't want them to take drugs. But those are my responsibilities, not the booze or cable industries. Have both crossed the line at times? Yes, indeed. But they are not the drivers of teen alcohol and drug use, which are the same as when we were marching against the war in Vietnam and listening to Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young: boredom, peer pressure, foreplay, and temporary escape from pressures that we don't fully appreciate as adults.
You survived it. With any luck, so will your kids.
News Briefs
7. MySpace, NBC Join For '08 Convention Contest
MySpace has teamed with NBC News and msnbc.com on a citizen journalism project that will send two MySpace users to cover the Democratic and Republican conventions, respectively.
The Decision '08 Contest launched through the social network's IMPACT channel, focusing on politics, will invite people to submit short videos answering one of three questions: "Why do you vote?" and "Why are you the best person for this job?" and "How will you stand out in the crowd and get the scoop no one else can?"
A panel of judges from NBC and MySpace will judge the entries and select five finalists to be announced on July 18. MySpace members will then be asked to vote for their favorite finalist between July 21 and July 28, with the two winners named on July 29.
Their video and text reports will be featured on the Decision '08 site and MSNBC's convention coverage.
--Mark Walsh
8. Go Daddy Hits 30 Million Domain Mark
Go Daddy has registered more than 30 million domains. The Web site registration and hosting division of the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Go Daddy Group said that www.rulesofsaving.com was its 30 millionth registered Web address.
Established as a simple domain registrar in 1997, Go Daddy has since expanded to offer services including e-commerce platforms, online security and podcasting tools. The company, which has a 45% market share of active, new domain names, and registers, transfers or renews a domain name every second, according to Name Intelligence, Inc.
--Tameka Kee
9. Hitwise: YouTube Tops In May Followed By MySpace
YouTube accounted for 75.43% of all U.S. visits in May 2008, according to new data from Hitwise. Among a custom category of 63 online video websites, MySpaceTV received the second highest percentage of visits with 9.01%, followed by Google Video with 3.73%.
The Online Video category accounted for 1.14% of all U.S. Internet visits in May 2008, a decline of 9% compared to May 2007. Despite the decrease in U.S. visits, the amount of time spent on the Web sites increased 6% for the week ending May 31.
In May 2008, YouTube received 82% of its visits from returning visitors. Among the top five online video Web sites by market share, MySpaceTV and Google Video followed with 64% and 54%, respectively, of traffic returning from within the previous 30 days.
--Gavin O'Malley
10. Peer39 Gets $8 Mill, Debuts Semantic Ad Platform
Move over, AdSense and AdBrite--there's a new ad platform in town called SemanticMatch, and it's based on semantic targeting. New York-based Peer39, the parent company behind SemanticMatch, has built technology that matches ads to Web pages based on the meanings and sentiment behind the content, not just keywords.
The company recently closed an $8 million Series B funding round led by Canaan Partners, and has also named Matthew S. Goldstein COO. Goldstein comes to Peer39 from TACODA, where he most recently served as senior vice president of revenue operations.
"Semantic targeting is widely seen to be the next stage of advertising technology, beyond contextual or behavioral," Goldstein said. "What makes Peer39 different is that ads are targeted to the meaning of pages rather than to pre-selected keywords. We eliminate the errors that can plague keyword targeting and unlike other forms of online targeting, Peer39's SemanticMatch does not set cookies or track user behavior."
--Tameka Kee
11. Social Media's Vitrue Acquires UGENmedia
Social media company Vitrue has acquired New York-based social media marketer UGENmedia. The deal gives Vitrue access to turnkey social media services, along with a New York presence.
Founded in 2006 by former DoubleClick executives, UGENmedia helps clients develop, deploy and distribute social media marketing programs.
Both Vitrue and UGENmedia are backed by industry experienced leaders. Vitrue CEO Reggie Bradford claims 18 years of industry experience, including his former role as CEO of N2 Broadband, and president of TANDBERG Television, and former CMO of WebMD. UGENmedia CEO and co-founder Adam Benjamin, along with President and Co-founder Roger Jehenson, previously held executive-level positions at DoubleClick, Right Media and PointRoll.
Vitrue, founded in 2006 with more than $15 million of funding from firms including General Catalyst Partners, Dace Ventures, Comcast Interactive Capital and Turner Broadcasting, will retain its headquarters in Atlanta.
--Gavin O'Malley
12. Toyota Hosts AOL Program To Tout Camry
Toyota Motor Sales, USA will sponsor a weekly video recap of top entertainment news hosted by R&B artist and actress Tatyana Ali on AOL's Black Voices channel.
Toyota worked with AOL's Platform A to create "The Black Voices Weekly Wire" which is intended to build awareness of the 2009 Camry V6 XLE. Toyota's new "If Looks Could Kill" campaign for the Camry is aimed at African-American women, and features immersive entertainment elements centered on a new Web site created by Burrell Communications Group.
The three-minute "Weekly Wire" programs will run from today through Aug. 1. AOL describes Black Voices as the top destination for African-American news, culture and community, with 6 million monthly visitors.
--Mark Walsh
13. Greystripe Unveils New Ad Platform
Mobile games service Greystripe has launched a new ad program that offers marketers a wider range of advertising options around its games.
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The company's new Mobile Engagement Platform includes mobile download site sponsorships, full-screen video ads running before and after games, links to an advertisers' site and branded wallpapers. Campaign management and reporting metrics are also part of the ad package.
Through the engagement platform, advertisers that already have a mobile site can also run a branded download site hosted by Greystripe. Instead of charging for games, they can provide them to customers on an ad-supported basis while maintaining a presence on their phones.
Greystripe's core AdWrap Catalog Platform serves ads into more than 800 mobile games across 1,400 handset models.
--Mark Walsh
14. Viator Joins Travel Ad Network
Viator.com, an online resource for booking trip activities and experiences, has joined the Travel Ad Network, adding over 2 million monthly unique visitors and bringing the network's total U.S. and UK audience to more than 17 million.
Viator--which is the Latin word for traveler--sells its products directly to consumers and through its global network of more than 3,500 affiliates that include major hotel and airline companies, online travel agencies, city-specific sites and more. The San Francisco-based company provides access to more than 5,500 tours, attractions and activities in 400-plus destinations in 75 countries.
New York-based Travel Ad Network reaches users through Web site publishers including BBC's Lonely Planet, Rand McNally and 50 other travel Web sites.
--Tanya Irwin
Friday, Jun 27, 2008
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