Omnicom Media Group said it is rolling its digital expertise into one unit, OMG Digital, which will oversee $2 billion in worldwide media spending. Sean Finnegan has been appointed CEO of the new group, reporting to Daryl Simm, chairman and CEO of Omnicom Media Group. Finnegan previously led digital media at OMD USA. OMG stressed, however, that the current digital units at both of its media/planning agencies--OMD Digital and PHDiq--will continue to provide digital media services to their respective clients. Challenging the agency world's self-seeking image, Finnegan said that OMG Digital is all about sharing and cooperation. "OMG Digital opens the door for clients to tap into the trends and insights gleaned across Omnicom's entire network," he explained. OMG Digital plans to coordinate digital media buying scale globally to give Omnicom clients greater negotiating leverage. Also, Omnicom Media Group has already begun developing a proprietary media intelligence platform to track consumers' interaction with digital advertising in order to provide better behavioral and targeting insights. The new OMG Digital structure will extend beyond North America, with managing directors in Asia Pacific, EMEA and Latin America. The unit also includes NEXT, Omnicom Media Group's media futures practice. The restructuring raises the profile of Jeff Minsky, director of NEXT, who will now be expected to extend his digital expertise and guidance to clients on a global level.
U.S. advertisers believe the most effective online marketing tool is their own Web site, according to Outsell Inc.'s Annual Ad Spending Study--and they'll spend almost 12% of their total 2007 advertising budgets on their own home pages. The research firm surveyed more than 1,000 advertisers and found that email and search marketing came in second and third for effectiveness, although almost half (49%) of the companies viewed click-fraud as "a serious issue" and "planned to reduce, or had already reduced" spending on pay-per-click ads. Still, Outsell found that advertisers' search budgets are slated to increase by 40% overall this year, although "small, medium, and large companies exhibit major differences in where they allocate their budgets and what strategies they find most effective," said Leigh Watson Healy, chief analyst, Outsell. For example, 58% of small firms (less than 100 employees) ranked Google's keyword search as effective, versus 32% for Yahoo. The trend continued with medium businesses (100-1000 employees), as 75% rated Google effective, and just under half for Yahoo. Large companies (1000+ employees), however, had the two neck and neck, with Google found effective by 63% and Yahoo by 63%. The survey was conducted before Yahoo migrated U.S. advertisers to the Panama platform, a factor that Outsell acknowledged could have skewed the effectiveness rates. "For the next survey, we'll definitely be paying attention to any pre- and post-Panama differences," said Chuck Richard, vice president and lead analyst, Outsell. "The feedback we've been receiving from advertisers has been positive with regards to its effect on keyword search effectiveness." The study found that medium-sized advertisers represent the greatest opportunity for online publishers--as they are forecast to spend 63% more on online advertising this year, compared to 14% and 19% for small and large businesses, respectively. Overall, Outsell found that U.S. advertisers are slated to allocate almost 22% of their marketing budgets to online media this year, to spending nearly 18% more than in 2006.
Minyanville.com hit an important milestone this week in its mission to become a financial media company that serves every rung of the ladder from the sophisticated professional trader down to families and kids with a mix of "content, community and critters." In addition to a redesigned Web site, the company Wednesday launched its animated "Hoofy & Boo's News & Views" videos on Yahoo Finance, exponentially extending the reach of its distinctive trademarked "bulls and bears" brand beyond the several thousand traders who know it through paid subscriptions to its daily "Buzz & Banter" newsletter. The weekly video vignettes are part of a content syndication deal that puts Minyanville's blend of financial news and commentary mixed with entertainment on the Yahoo Finance home page. (An upcoming not-to-be-missed installment features the "Mr. T. Gold Indicator" charting the correlation between the price of gold and the status of the actor's career.) Now officially onboard to exploit Minyanville's "brandwidth" as chief marketing officer is Charles Mangano, the former worldwide brand head who established Merrill Lynch and its bull as a leading global brand. Mangano rounds out the executive team consisting of Minyanville founder and CEO Todd Harrison, the former head trader of $400 million New York-based hedge fund Cramer Berkowitz; and President Kevin Wassong, who built and led digital@jwt for seven years within J. Walter Thompson. In an interview with Online Media Daily, Mangano said the company is ready to hire its first official ad sales executive, and is actively working with Kaboose.com to create a version of the Minyanville community for families and children that is expected to launch in October. With characters created by John Bell, the creative director at EA who designed "Ants," Minyanville will also be exploiting the numerous merchandising opportunities for the brand. Mangano said the online/offline model of the Webkinz is the strategy. "We will definitely be at the Licensing Show next year," said Wassong. Bootstrapped as a hobby in 2002 by Harrison, an early writer for TheStreet.com, Minyanville has since secured private investment to fund the vision of becoming the "Discovery Channel" of the financial services sector. Wassong came on board in 2005 when the company officially formed, and the first Web site launched in February 2006. "The chasm between what people know about finance and what they need to know has never been greater--be it individual ideas, underlying themes or macro trends," Harrison said. Harrison aims to create a helping community of Minyans who learn from each others' financial and investing experiences. Onboard are 30 contributors Minyanville dubs its "professors" to distinguish them from pontificating "experts." Minyanville's advertising base to date has drawn on the founders' relationships, including Dreyfus, TD Ameritrade and other financial services firms. Cayman Air has just come on board, and the company seeks to expand to more lifestyle categories attracted to the high-income demographic the site draws. "Madison Avenue is part of our plan this year," Wassong said. Also in place is a partnership with the National Council on Economic Education, which regulates financial education in schools. A sponsor is being sought to underwrite an in-school program, along the lines of PBS.
Blaming a weak ad market, Gannett Co. reported lower second-quarter earnings Wednesday. Excluding a $73.8 million gain from the sale of several newspapers and earnings from discontinued operations, the largest U.S. newspaper publisher earned $289.9 million during the quarter--down 4.8% from $304.5 million in the same period year-over-year. Revenues fell 3.4% to $1.93 billion. Newspaper ad revenues fell 5.3%. But, as is now customary for newspaper publishers, Gannett cited online operations as a bright spot in all the darkness. "The performance of our online initiatives and Internet investments and partnerships also were positives," Craig Dubow, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Gannett, said. "There are a significant number of efforts going on at Gannett as we execute our strategic plan, continue our transformation and focus on potential opportunities." In June, Gannett-owned Web properties attracted 21.8 million unique visitors, or 13.6% of all U.S. Web surfers, according to Nielsen//NetRatings. As of the second quarter, Gannett owned 100 domestic publishing Web sites, including USAToday.com and sites in all of the company's 19 television markets. Within Gannett's broadcasting segment, online revenue grew 33.5%. If nothing else, Gannett is clearly benefiting from a booming local online ad market--which will climb 31.6% this year to $7.5 billion, according to a report released last month by media consultants Borrell Associates. By contrast, national online ad sales are expected to grow just 20%. By Borrell's estimates, Gannett will see about $480 million in online revenue this year generated through Web sites operated by 85 daily newspapers, 23 TV stations and more than 1,000 non-daily publications. Gannett and other newspaper publishers, however, face new competition for local Web advertising. While newspapers--with 35.9% of the market--still control the bulk of the market, Web companies like Google and Monster.com are approaching fast, with 33.2% percent. And Yellow Pages operators have 11.7%, according to Borrell. Newsquest, Gannett's U.K. publishing subsidiary, attracted 76.9 million page impressions in June from approximately 5.1 million unique users. There was no word Wednesday regarding the national ad network being jointly developed by Tribune Co. and Gannett. The two publishers are also the largest owners of CareerBuilder, along with McClatchy, which owns a minority stake in the job site.
Stepping up its efforts in a delivery platform also being eyed by Google, Microsoft has selected mobile ad network JiWire to deliver ads to municipal WiFi networks in Portland, OR and Oakland County, MI. For these and other municipal networks, Microsoft will provide local content, including a customized MSN landing page and search capabilities, and also share in the ad revenues. The Oakland network, run by MichTel Communications, is said to be the nation's largest planned WiFi deployment, covering 910 square miles and 1.2 million people. MetroFi operates the Portland system. Users will get free service in exchange for viewing full-screen ads from Ultramercial before they hit the MSN landing page. JiWire said it will also provide other ad formats. JiWire said its hotspot registry allows it to target ads by location. The company plans to charge CPMs between $35 and $150, according to reports on Computerworld.com and news.com. Google has teamed up with the WiFi network planned for San Francisco, where JiWire is based.
Shares of Yahoo weakened after the release of its quarterly earnings this week and analysts openly speculated Wednesday whether the online giant could be a potential buyout candidate. Yahoo's stock price has dropped nearly 20% in the past three months, and slipped 5% after quarterly earnings and a modest outlook were released on Tuesday. In a research note, Youssef Squali of Jefferies said investors will likely give the new management team 12-18 months to turn the business around, after which pressure may grow for a sale. "We continue to view Yahoo as a 'value' pick, given its valuation, its strong brand and its unique set of assets that make it an attractive acquisition target," wrote Squali, who has a buy rating with a $34 price target on the stock. Google and Microsoft are scheduled to release earnings today. Meanwhile, shares of ValueClick have climbed more than 5%, and are back over $30 on positive analyst reaction to Monday's announcement that the company plans to acquire comparison shopping site operator MeziMedia for up to $352 million. Stanford Group analyst Clayton Moran increased his price target for the stock to $40 from $35, calling MeziMedia "a high-margin business with strong growth ... complementary to ValueClick's existing assets."