Preaching accountability, MSNBC Digital on Monday rolled out a new ad rendering system across its entire network of sites. Christened ServeView, the system counts ads as delivered impressions only when they're visible to site visitors, said Charlie Tillinghast, president and publisher of the MSNBC Digital Network. "We're only selling ads that are rendered in the viewable area," said Tillinghast. "Why should marketers pay for ads that no one sees? ... We support other publishers to do the same thing." When a story page loads, consumers interact with video, text, photos and other content on the page. As that is happening, the ServeView technology runs on the page and will only render the ad once the ad location is within the viewable area of the consumer's display. Only then is the ad counted as a delivered impression. According to Tillinghast, ServeView works for each individual ad on every browser and every screen size. In addition to better-performing ads, he added, marketers will benefit from improved ad views without any effects or changes to standard ad delivery practices. ServeView is in full compliance with the Interactive Advertising Bureau's impression measurement guidelines, and improves upon its baseline recommendations, according to Kyoo Kim, VP of sales at the MSNBC Digital Network. "We've been working with partners such as RealVu and the Media Rating Council to advance the notion of a true ad view," said Kim. During trials, Kim reports seeing click-through rates increasing anywhere from 30% to 100% based on the location of specific ads. The MSNBC Digital Network includes MSNBC.com, TODAYshow.com, Nightly.msnbc.com, TV.MSNBC.com, NBCSports.com and EveryBlock. De-emphasizing the page-view, MSNBC.com's recently redesigned site touts a single-page-only format, which favors large, customizable ads. The site always vowed to reduce the use of stand-alone slide shows -- which many news sites use to drive page-view counts -- in favor of "integrated" slideshows, which are actually part of the page.
Disney, Chevrolet, Sprint and T-Mobile are banking on Microsoft Xbox 360 and controller-free games through Kinect to connect with video game players. Disney Pictures signed a deal with Microsoft to promote its movie "Tron," scheduled for release in December, through the Xbox Live network and Kinect hub. The campaign, which begins in November, will feature either a long-form theatrical clip or a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the movie, Sean Alexander, director of interactive entertainment at Microsoft, told MediaPost. The details are still being worked out. Kinect, the Xbox 360 controller-free add on, hits U.S. stores Nov. 4, followed by the United Kingdom the following week. Advertisers are attracted to the 24 million Xbox 360 members worldwide. On average, Microsoft sees between 3% and 9% click-through rates (CTRs) on campaigns, Alexander says. "We recently did a campaign with Porsche where they chose to launch the Panamera, and they saw a 6% click-through rate on their campaign. According to their own internal metrics, about 20% of those who explored the experience on Xbox Live went into a dealership." Despite a lag in advertisers adopting videos games and consoles as a method to reach consumers, it appears that more than movie studios have latched on to the medium. Chevrolet, Sprint and T-Mobile also plan to roll out campaigns on Microsoft Kinect in November. The companies announced the move Monday. The agreement puts Chevrolet's Cruze, Camaro and Corvette cars in the game, literally. It allows consumers to test-drive the vehicles in "Kinect Joy Ride," making it the first controller-free racing game from Microsoft Game Studios. Chevrolet's campaign, which Microsoft demoed at The 2010 Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival in June, runs across PC, mobile and TV screens. Stepping in to sponsor a co-branded retail play on Xbox LIVE, Sprint launches "Kinect Adventures" with a contest that gives video game players a chance to have their picture featured on the LIVE platform. T-Mobile chose to give gamers an immersive experience in "Kinect Sports" with fixed product placement throughout the games including volleyball net signage, custom bowling balls and foam fingers held by the arena audience. The telecom company also supports the platform through a sponsorship on the Xbox 360 console. Xbox members can visit a Web site on the dashboard to access exclusive video content and participate in the first launch weekend Play & Win contest. For Chevy's campaign, Kinect users will be able to test-drive the Chevrolet Volt in the game Kinect Joy Ride. In addition to this, after viewing a video ad on Xbox LIVE or on the Web, users will be able to unlock and download Chevrolet Cruze, Camaro and Corvette cars to drive in the game. Chevy will follow that up with a New Year campaign in the Kinect Hub showcasing the same vehicles. Alexander expects Microsoft also will roll out an ad campaign that supports the launch of Kinect. And it doesn't seem to matter that the video game industry's months-long slump continued into August, with retailers having their worst sales month in years, according to NPD Group. Revenue from the retail sales of games and consoles in the U.S. fell 10% to $818.9 million in August. Year-to-date sales revenue dropped 8% to $8.37 billion, compared with the year-ago month, the research firm revealed. Hardware sales fell 5% to $282.9 million for the month, but Microsoft execs took NPD numbers in stride. After all, the Xbox 360 came in as the No. 1 game console for the third consecutive month, selling 356,700 units, according to NPD. That compares with Nintendo's Wii at 244,300 units sold; and Sony's PlayStation 3 (PS3) console with 226,000 units sold. There's a lot of enthusiasm in the industry for both the Move and Kinect controllers from Sony and Microsoft, respectively, according to Anita Frazier, analyst at The NPD Group, but it's really too early to tell if it will influence sales and advertising. "Move launched in September, so we'll see some of its early sales when we release sales figures in October for September," she says. Sales continue to rise for the Xbox 360 as Microsoft adds features and options. There has also been some chatter in the blogosphere about a deal between Microsoft and Sky Player, an online TV service, to connect with the entertainment console that would enable users in the U.K. to operate the service with hand gestures, rather than a remote control. It would let consumers use hand gestures to pause, rewind, fast forward and play television programs. For techies that want to get their geek on, GoRumors points to a Kinect patent application from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that describes the Webcam-based technology. Microsoft's announcement beats out the release of Google TV, which Sony plans to unveil in New York on Oct. 12.
One thing no one seems to dispute about Apple's iAd is that the hype surrounding the mobile ad platform has lifted awareness about mobile advertising to the benefit of all players in the space. The halo effect of the iAd's launch earlier this year was underscored by a panel of mobile ad experts at the OMMA Global conference Monday in New York that included some Apple competitors. "iAd has done a very good job of bringing mobile advertising to a different level," said Kevin Granath, vice president of sales for mobile ad network Greystripe, which offers rich media units that compete with the interactive, in-app iAd. "We've been doing this for two years, but there's never been more interest in our platform than after Apple introduced iAd." Panelists on the agency side agreed. Jaspreet Singh, mobile strategist and mobile lead at SapientNitro in New York, liked iAd's rollout to the impact of the iPhone itself in raising the bar for mobile advertising. "It's elevated everyone's game and raised awareness from a client standpoint," he said. That's not to say the discussion turned into a 45-minute iAd lovefest. Both Granath and Crisp Wireless CEO Boris Fridman took Apple to task for a tightly-controlled approach to both developing iAd campaigns on behalf of big brands and in setting strict rules for developers and advertisers to use the format for apps. As companies that supply competing mobile ad technologies to the market, their criticism was hardly surprising. But it echoes reports in recent weeks that Apple's hands-on involvement in the creative process of iAd efforts has left many brands and agencies frustrated and campaigns slow to roll out after the ad system's splashy April launch. Chanel was one of the high-profile launch partners that has since put their iAd campaign plans on hold. "There's not as much for agencies to do because Apple controls the process more," said David Berkowitz, who heads the emerging media practice for digital agency 360i. "That's why you haven't seen so many iAds in the wild yet." Apple has also come under fire this spring after adding provisions to its updated rules for developers that banned them from using Adobe's Flash in creating apps and appeared to effectively block third-party ad networks like Greystripe from serving ads on the iPhone or other iOS devices. Bowing to pressure, Apple earlier this month announced that it was relaxing some of the restrictions it imposed on developers, including making clear that the iPhone was open to outside ad providers. Nevertheless, the reported $60 million in 2010 iAd commitments that Apple received helped vault the company into a tie with Google atop the U.S. mobile ad market, with each company having a 21% share, according to technology research firm IDC. Whether Apple can maintain its leading position after the initial burst of advertiser enthusiasm subsides is another question. Fridman suggested that iAd will never take off as a brand advertising vehicle because of Apple's closed mobile ecosystem, but instead would find success mainly as a way for developers to promote their iPhone apps. (In addition to the much-touted version for brands, Apple also provides a lower-cost, self-service iAd option to help developers monetize their apps.) For his part, Ben Winkler, director of digital at Initiative, expressed skepticism at Apple CEO Steve Jobs' early promise that iAd would deliver 1 billion impressions a day. "We think that's a little aggressive," he said. Because of the limited audience of iPhone apps, Winkler also noted that users could end up seeing the same iAd over and over as advertisers sought to fulfill impression goals by increasing frequency. "That's a big concern for us at Initiative," he said. Winkler, however, was a strong supporter of iAd's ability to let users interact with an ad unit without having to leave the app they're in to go to another site. "Despite what some folks think, people will never click on ads unless can they do so without leaving the app," he said. An app developer in the audience also asked the panel about one of iAd's other big selling points -- providing advertisers or developers with app usage data to help them target ads more precisely. Granath acknowledged that Greystripe couldn't also supply that data but also didn't charge as much as Apple for its corresponding ad units. "It's a question of cost, frankly," he said. "Apple charges for that targeting." Whether marketers will be willing to pay a premium for that user information will become more clear over the next year.
George Bell, best known as chief executive of pioneering search engine Excite and its cable broadband offshoot Excite@Home, has replaced Dan Olschwang as CEO of mobile ad network JumpTap. Bell, who is taking an indefinite leave as managing partner at venture firm General Catalyst to run the company, will also join its board. General Catalyst was a lead investor in JumpTap's first-round funding in 2005 and has participated in each subsequent round totaling nearly $70 million in venture backing to date. The New York-based startup has been rumored as a possible acquisition target in the wake of Google's $750 million purchase of rival ad network AdMob and Apple's reported $240 million deal for Quattro Wireless. Bell stepping in as chief executive could signal that JumpTap will accelerate efforts to find a buyer. As CEO of Excite in the 1990s, Bell oversaw the early Web portal's rapid growth via acquisition and 1996 IPO as well as the company's $6.7 billion merger with high-speed Internet service @Home to create to create Excite@Home. That company ultimately filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2001. Prior to joining General Catalyst, Bell was CEO of Upromise, a college funding service sold to Sallie Mae in 2006. Previously, he also founded the cable Outdoor Life Network, now known as Versus. Given Bell's background as a seasoned manager and investor, and the amount that General Catalyst has poured into JumpTap, mobile ad executive Phuc Truong said it wouldn't be surprising if Bell came on board to help speed up efforts to sell the company. "VCs put money in and they need an exit," said Truong, who leads Mobext, the mobile marketing unit of Havas Digital, and served as an OMMA Global panelist on Monday. In addition to the deals for Ad Mob and Quattro, mobile ad network Millennial Media has recently been rumored as an acquisition target. BlackBerry maker Research in Motion was reportedly in talks to buy Millennial, but balked at the asking price of $400 million to $500 million. In its announcement, JumpTap highlighted Bell's background as a CEO and said only that he will "advance the company's growing future as a platform agnostic mobile advertising network." It also credited Olschwang, who will join JumpTap's board, for helping to build the company's network, which now draws 62 million monthly unique visitors. For his part, Bell said in the statement that JumpTap will continue to forge new partnerships and that he's "looking forward to leading the company to even greater heights." JumpTap could see its share of the U.S. mobile advertising market increase to 13% from 10% this year, according to a new forecast from technology research firm IDC. That would rank the company third behind Google and Apple, which each hold a 21% share. IDC predicts the overall mobile ad market could double in 2010 to $500 million. In contrast to competitors like Millennial, JumpTap has tried to position itself as a network geared to premium publishers such as the NBA, Fox Mobile, Hearst Magazines and E! Online.
Where's that social media manager your company's been looking for? "Most likely in your office," Frank Eliason, SVP of Social Media at Citi, said Monday at OMMA Global. Indeed, a company's top brand influencer often works for the company in question, according to Pauline Ores, Enterprise Market Engagement Consultant. Where in the company, exactly? In marketing or PR, perhaps? Well, "PR people understand how to communicate," said Marcy Cohen, senior manager at Sony Electronics. Seeming to side with Cohen, Ores said: "Marketers know about pushing out." "It's not marketing, it's not PR," Eliason said of social media. "It's about the customer -- it's about what they want." Either way, "Everything is changing so fast -- You need someone who craves that," insisted Josh Karpf, senior manager, Digital Media Communications at PepsiCo -- "someone who understands and appreciates technology." According to Eliason, however, the greatest challenges that social specialists are likely to face will come from within the company. The "struggle point" comes from internal politics, he said -- "getting that internal buy-in." Sony Electronics, for its part, presently has two different agencies managing two different Facebook pages for the company -- a model that didn't always sit well with Cohen, who "wasn't a fan of anyone creating content for us." Karpf said Pepsi prefers to keep the creation of social media internal, because "no agency can do everything well." Eliason also said Citi preferred to keep "real-time" conversations in-house. For agencies that are handling their client's social strategies, what's the surest path to success? Take the focus off the client, Eliason suggests, and put it on the client's customers. "If you want to be successful in the space, listen to [your client's] customer." Also, be prepared to make a long-term investment, adds Ores. 'If you're going to do 'community,'" she said, referring to a total social strategy, "that's like adopting a baby."
The voice of the social community will guide the direction for a portal and business consortium that Hoover's and contributors Outsell, Selling Power, and Shore Communications plan to launch Tuesday. For the first six months the group will focus on building and sharing its collective expertise on marketing and sales, along with a variety of business topics for entrepreneurs. The aim is to launch the site with seeds of information and have the community run with the topics from there. This content delivered through training sessions, events, videos, blogs and other social media will support the site. Similar to American Express OPEN Forum, Hoover's and partners will design processes and best practices to maximize the effectiveness and value of execution for small businesses. The focus to create community and a place where ideas are shared will allow people to learn from each other rather than "try and reinvent the wheel," according to James Rogers, Hoover's EVP of marketing. "The community will become a place where people can benefit from the experience of others." Initially, the consortium will focus on the creation of a Business Information Adoption Path. The site, www.B2Bbuzz.org, will provide a platform to foster dialog, where people can exchange ideas. Rogers says Hoover's has been in talks with American Express to "potentially consider becoming a partner." Allbusiness.com, a Hoover site geared toward small businesses, could lend content to the new site. The details have not been worked out, but the site will tap Twitter and YouTube to contribute content, including video. "We intend to invest in video product, so some of the pieces are done in the YouTube style," he says. "It's not about promoting Hoover's product, but rather bring content." Rogers will measure success with page views, unique visitors and adoption, meaning participation and contributions from members and those visiting the site. We know the business information people need and the life cycles," he says. "If you're a salesperson, you get a contact list and identify customers for the product. Then you run an industry and segment analysis. Who are the decision makers in the company you want to sell to, and what is the company's financial situation? These are things you might need to know for a prep call." A community moderator will attempt to foster conversation among site members to identify best practices not listed or previously talked about. It's about finding an in through social media, Rogers says. Marketers and sales reps have found social media tools like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter manage to get the attention or test ideas of prospective clients. It is one idea contributors have yet to work out.
A federal judge in Manhattan is slated to hear arguments on Thursday about wireless carriers' ability to prevent companies from using short codes. The case could lead to the first judicial ruling addressing whether companies have a legal right to use short codes. The lawsuit, a dispute between T-Mobile and mobile marketing company EZ Texting, began earlier this month when T-Mobile started blocking EZ Texting's access to short codes. EZ Texting alleges that T-Mobile did so because it learned that EZ Texting delivered messages for the site www.legalmarijuanadispensary.com, which gives users information about obtaining medical marijuana in California and other states. EZ Texting alleges that it ended its relationship with that site earlier this month, but that T-Mobile nonetheless refused to restore EZ Texting's short code. The company is seeking an injunction ordering T-Mobile to stop blocking EZ Texting's short code. It says that T-Mobile's actions have put the company at risk of going out of business. "A mobile marketer's business is not marketable if it cannot promise access to at least the customers of the four major carriers," the company argues in papers filed with the court late last week. "EZ Texting therefore cannot attract new business or retain existing business if it is cut off from such a large portion of the market." T-Mobile says that it discontinued EZ Texting's short code because it learned that the company did not submit new campaigns for T-Mobile's prior review, in violation of T-Mobile's rules and of recommendations by the industry trade group Mobile Marketing Association. EZ Texting responds that "numerous mobile marketing companies use shared short codes without ever asking T-Mobile for permission for each program." "The best example is the Web site Twitter, which allows anyone to sign up for a Twitter account, including businesses and non-profits, and instantly sends text messages to T-Mobile users over T-Mobile's short code ... without Twitter ever seeking approval for T-Mobile or any other carrier." T-Mobile also argues that it has the right to block EZ Texting's short code because no law prohibits that. The wireless carrier says that text messages are classified as "information services" by the Federal Communications Commission, and information services are not subject to common carrier rules. EZ Texting disagrees, arguing that the FCC previously said that text messages should be treated as phone calls for purposes of a consumer protection law. The company points to a 9th Circuit ruling that sending unsolicited SMS messages potentially violates the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which prohibits companies from using automatic telephone dialing systems to make calls to cell phones unless the owners have consented. Some consumer advocates argue that this dispute highlights the need for the FCC to get inovlved. Three years ago, after Verizon Wireless briefly refused to allow abortion rights group NARAL Pro-Choice to use a short code, the groups Free Press and Public Knowledge filed a petition asking the FCC to declare that texting was a "telecommunications" service, subject to common carrier rules.