| Monday, Jun 13, 2005 |
What's inside:
Today's Online News
1. Advocacy Group Makes New Push To Dissuade Companies From Using Spyware by Wendy Davis
2. Mitsubishi To Eclipse Yahoo! Home Page by Gavin O'Malley
3. Gannett Buys PointRoll by Wendy Davis
News Briefs
4. MSN Launches New European Advertising Sites
Today's News
1. Advocacy Group Makes New Push To Dissuade Companies From Using Spyware
by Wendy Davis
As part of an ongoing initiative against spyware, the Center for Democracy and Technology has, in the last month, quietly reached out to ten Fortune 500 businesses which in the past have advertised with companies that have engaged in troubling practices.
The hope, said Ari Schwartz, associate director at the center, is that the companies contacted will develop and implement guidelines that encourage transparency in advertising, and discourage the use of adware/spyware that is installed without users' permission. The center started with ten Fortune 500 companies, from a list of 25 drawn up by adware/spyware consultant Ben Edelman. All 25 have previously advertised online with companies known for questionable practices, said Schwartz.
The initiative is still in its early stages, Schwartz said. "We're seeing how to move forward, and how this will work out over time," he said.
At least a few major companies already follow guidelines that discourage spyware and some forms of adware. For instance, last July, Verizon Communications--after being named as a supporter of adware/spyware by Edelman in June 2004--announced that it would implement new adware guidelines. Among other requirements, the Verizon policies mandate clear branding of the source of pop-ups, easy-to-follow removal instructions, clear and conspicuous notice, and downloading processes that "ensure informed consent from computer users before the software is downloaded."
Some of the companies contacted by the Center for Democracy and Technology also have standards in place that prohibit spyware--but, said Schwartz, the chain of middlemen involved in online advertising makes it difficult for companies to even realize when their guidelines are violated.
2. Mitsubishi To Eclipse Yahoo! Home Page
by Gavin O'Malley
On Wednesday, car company Mitsubishi will blanket Yahoo!'s home page with ads to kick off an online campaign for the 2006 Eclipse. The ads will tempt users with an inch-long Eclipse--shown from an overhead view--which they'll be urged to race around the page.
Omnicom Group's creative shop Organic is piloting the effort with the help of rich media provider Eyeblaster. (Atmosphere, the New York-based digital arm of Omnicom's BBDO North America, was involved in the initial brainstorming, said an Organic spokeswoman.)
Ray Atkin, group account director at the San Francisco-based Organic, said the shop had arranged previous takeovers of Yahoo!'s home page for several Sprint campaigns.
The flash-based campaign is intended to drive Yahoo! visitors to a branded racing interactive game, "Thrill Ride Challenge," where users can select from different car colors and race courses to drive. The top-scoring participant each week, as well as one randomly drawn, will win either a Mitsubishi flat-screen TV or an Apple iPod, through August 15.
The game's micro-site has links to Mitsubishi's Web site, showcasing the Eclipse and encouraging potential buyers to "build" their own Eclipse, controlling colors and accessories, and then get a price quote. To coincide with the campaign, Organic overhauled the Mitsubishi site to reflect the branding of the campaign, Atkin said.
Mitsubishi hopes to generate some 20,000 leads for local dealerships through the campaign, which will also run on ESPN.com, MSN, and AOL Autos, among others, said Chris Marshall, marketing manager, Mitsubishi North America.
TV spots for the Eclipse began airing about two weeks ago, over a million direct mailings are scheduled, and a paid search marketing campaign will run throughout the summer, Marshall added.
This campaign will mark Mitsubishi's first big marketing push since officially parting ways with its prior agency, Deutsch, several months ago.
"This is an extremely important launch for us," said Marshall. "The whole effort is a complicated integration of a number of BBDO's different groups, and it will be critical that they can work together seamlessly." Marshall added that things were on track thus far.
Mitsubishi Motors North America formally named Omnicom Group's BBDO as its creative agency of record in March. This decision followed an intense, months-long review in which players such as Interpublic's TM and two Publicis divisions vied for the $200 million account.
Interpublic's Deutsch, which never officially contested the review, had a seven-year relationship with Mitsubishi that produced such buzz-generating campaigns as the 2004 Super Bowl "See What Happens" crossover spot.
The TV ad ended with a cliffhanger that directed viewers to a Web site where the "Galant" takes on a Toyota Camry in an "accident avoidance" test.
The ad boosted traffic to Mitsubishi's brand site by 200 percent above previous averages the day after the game, and drew 170,000 visitors to the site for the finale, according to comScore Media Metrix. Visitor traffic held at about 47,000 for days following the innovative stunt, comScore reported.
Organic's next project with Mitsubishi will be the fall launch of the Raider, a midsize truck, said Atkin.
3. Gannett Buys PointRoll
by Wendy Davis
Newspaper publishing company Gannett Co. Friday purchased online ad technology company PointRoll Inc. The terms were not disclosed, but it was widely reported that Gannett paid $100 million for PointRoll, known for creating ad banners that expand when users roll a mouse over them.
The move came about five months after PointRoll tapped investment firm Jordan, Edmiston Group Inc. to explore a possible sale. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that PointRoll, based in Fort Washington, Pa., expects sales to reach at least $35 million this year.
PointRoll Chief Executive Jules Gardner will leave the company he founded in 2000, while Chris Saridakis, PointRoll's chief operating officer and a former executive at DoubleClick Inc., will become CEO.
Gannett, which owns 101 daily newspapers, including USA Today, and 21 television stations, plans to put PointRoll technology to use on its 120-plus Web sites, said a company spokeswoman.
The acquisition is the latest example of a traditional media company purchasing Internet-oriented businesses. Last week, E.W. Scripps Co. announced it was buying comparison shopping site Shopzilla for $525 million; several months ago, Gannett, along with Knight Ridder Inc. and the Tribune Co., purchased a majority share of online news aggregator Topix.net; and last year The New York Times Co. announced it had agreed to buy About.com from Primedia for $410 million, while Dow Jones purchased MarketWatch for more than $500 million.
The move also is an example of a publisher beefing up its Internet ad capabilities. Last year, America Online purchased online ad business Advertising.com for $435 million; earlier this year, AOL tapped DoubleClick to handle online ad serving, inventory management, and other duties.
News Briefs
4. MSN Launches New European Advertising Sites
MSN today launched 11 newly rebranded and redesigned pages for advertisers for its European portals, providing functionality similar to that offered for the U.S. advertising page. The markets include the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. The sites replace those that were previously branded with the name "Advantage Marketing," and add new functions like an audience profiler tool and a creative spec finder tool.
--Shankar Gupta
Monday, Jun 13, 2005
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/