AudienceScience shut down its ad network, laid off 33 employees and reassigned others to positions focused on the company's advertising platform business to better support brands. Jeff Pullen, AudienceScience CEO, told MediaPost that trying to run an ad network while working to build out a platform stifles innovation and creates conflicts in resources. After several years, the ad network business became less significant to AudienceScience's overall strategy. "We felt it was time to make a definitive statement on our growth opportunity," he said. "Being out of the ad network business allows us to squarely align ourselves with the goals of advertisers." Pullen said the complexities of the digital marketing supply chain through margins, fees, unknown margins and other costs made it difficult to support advertisers. The focus now points to brands. The company will not buy inventory from various locations, from publishers and exchanges, and resell the inventory to agencies on behalf of their clients on an IO basis. AudienceScience will work directly with advertisers, execute campaigns on behalf of those advertisers, and make inventory purchases, Pullen explains. The fee becomes a technology, rather than a services fee. It's a different model than an ad network, he said. "The decision to move away from an ad network is a logical and consistent evolution of the way the business has grown in the past couple of years," he said. "The advertisers need more efficient processes that give them insight into the way they spend money, especially if more money is to find its way online." The strategy also expands into integrating social data and targeting. Earlier this month, AudienceScience introduced social targeting through its Gateway platform. Advertisers can tap social targeting data and ad inventory to support campaigns. The social features allows advertisers to create custom segments from a variety of social sources, including their own assets, as well as AudienceScience's data and third-party data and content partners. The Gateway's first-party data technology creates custom audiences from their properties, such as Facebook "likes," posts to community pages and ratings and reviews. Brands can customize segments using AudienceScience's social data and segments. The strategy starts to combine inventory on major social media sites through real-time bidding. It also supports private exchange technology enabling real-time buys with specific publisher partners, and social channels within the premium publisher network.
Tags on Web sites can provide marketing benefits but also pose privacy risks, the Interactive Advertising Bureau said on Thursday in a draft guide to best practices for site tagging. The use of tags (also called pixels or beacons) has grown in recent years, as more and more sites rely on third parties for ad targeting, personalization and analytics. That development has pluses and minuses, according to the IAB. "While tags can add value to a site, increased tagging may also create technical and operational challenges for the site," the draft best-practices guide states. "Common challenges include: operational strain, unintentional transfer of data, user abandonment, negative impact to customer experience (including performance issues), and increased privacy concerns." To minimize the privacy risks, the IAB is recommending that site owners flag tags for legal review if they collect personally identifiable information, such as including address, phone number, or email address. The IAB says that legal experts also should review data collection of sensitive data -- including "any data collection that relates to actual or inferred information about medical conditions, sexual orientation, political affiliations, children, or children-related interest segments." Steve Sullivan, IAB vice president of advertising technology, says no tags should gather that type of personally identifiable or sensitive data. "That kind of thing isn't acceptable," he says. The IAB best practices guide adds that most tags will collect anonymous clickstream data and browser features. Sullivan also says site owners need to monitor their sites to know which companies are placing tags there, and should give contracts spelling out what type of data will be collected. The IAB's best practices guide advises publishers to ensure that any data collection complies with self-regulatory principles, which require notifying consumers about how their data is collected and used. The IAB is accepting comments on the draft document until Jan. 4, 2013.
With a growing share of Web sites’ traffic coming from mobile devices, the need for tracking a media property’s full digital audience has become increasingly acute. To that end, comScore on Thursday unveiled a beta version of its cross-platform measurement system offering consolidated audience metrics across Web sites, apps and video content on PCs, tablets and smartphones. The rollout of Media Metrix Multi-Platform reporting will give a boost to more mobile-centric sites, like Pandora, Twitter, Yelp and Instagram. Pandora, in particular, would benefit from the change, vaulting from No. 61 in the current Media Metrix rankings, based only on desktop traffic, to No. 23 under the new Multi-Platform accounting. That’s because the vast majority of the Internet radio service’s total unduplicated audience of 60 million comes through mobile. A side-by-side comparison of the top 30 sites for September under the existing and new, combined measurement approach showed large audience gains for Twitter and Yelp, too, but much less dramatic moves as most of their users are still on the desktop Web. Twitter’s audience, for example, increased 54%, but it only moved up one spot, to 26th. Among other Multi-Platform rankings changes highlighted by comScore: -Google Sites remained the No. 1 property -- the only one to surpass 100 million unique visitors across both desktop and mobile channels. -Facebook moved up one spot to No. 3 in the multiplatform rankings, the top property in terms of total engagement in the mobile channel. -Amazon, eBay and Walmart each reached at least 20% more visitors across platforms than via desktop alone. -ESPN had the second-biggest jump in the rankings, moving up four places to No. 19, with an incremental mobile audience of 36%. The Weather Channel also went up four notches, to No. 20. There were also some losers. Craigslist, with just 16 million mobile users compared to 49 million on the desktop, dropped five spots to No. 25. Similarly, music video hub Vevo dropped from 19th in the rankings to 24th because it has just 5 million mobile users versus 55 million on the traditional Web. (Yes, Vevo does have a mobile app.) Regardless of ranking, audiences are bigger across the board. Under multiplatform tracking, 10 properties are now reaching an audience of 100 million, compared to six before. Another 28 are reaching 50 million, up from 19, and 77 are reaching 25 million, up from 51. Among the top 30 sites, the average audience increase is 26% over desktop-only tracking. ComScore took a step toward combined mobile and desktop reporting in June 2011 with the release of its Total Universe report, but that effort relied on publishers’ tagging their digital content. A comScore spokesperson said the Multi-Platform system requires no tagging, similar to current Media Metrix reporting. Following beta testing with clients over the next several months, comScore plans to transition to cross-platform measurement as the standard for reporting of audience size and rankings by the second quarter of 2013. "Mobile devices from Shutterstock"
While smartphones gave new meaning to the word "multitask," 76% of single consumers use a tablet to get more information about a product or service seen on TV, compared with 63% of those married, according to a study released Thursday. Those age 55+ are adopting the trend at a greater speed. Tracking the conversion path across multiple devices has become the norm, according to The Search Agency (TSA) study conducted online in August by Harris Interactive among 2,006 adults. While more consumers 18 to 34 own tablets, more people 55+ use their tablet while watching TV. Young people tend to make purchases more often during the day, while older people buy at night. When survey participants were asked about using two screens to complete a transaction, 59% of survey participants use their smartphone even when they have a computer nearby. It's even more prevalent -- at 74% -- with consumers ages 18 to 34. Millennials do not separate work and play as much as their older counterparts. Some 53% of consumers age 18 to 34 are more likely to purchase something online during the day than at night. Only 42% of those age 55 and older are more likely to purchase during the workday. Some 52% of respondents age 18 to 34 are more likely to browse social networks during the day than at night versus 41% of those age 35 to 44, 30% among age 45 to 54, and 30% age 55 and older. Tablets and smartphones are the hottest consumer electronics items this year, and consumers tend to reach more often for Apple's iPad and iPhone, according to Parks Associates. Research released Thursday suggests U.S. consumers plan to spend 33% more on consumer electronic devices this holiday season, compared with last year. The total amount is increasing from $793 per household in 2011 to $1,058 in 2012. The survey of 2,500 U.S. broadband households, fielded in October and November 2012, found 63% of households plan to make a CE purchase, up 37% in the same year-ago period. Married and single adults also have a preference on mobile device. The TSA study found more single people, at 49%, own a smartphone, compared with married people, at 43% -- but more married people, at 45%, own tablets than single people, at 36%.
Equal parts gatekeeper and insider, bartenders hold a special position among nightlife habitués. When Absolut wanted to reach young males, it enlisted lifestyle brand Thrillist to help it befriend barkeeps nationwide. To do that, Thrillist hosted a competition, “Thrillist's Search for the Best Bloody,” which was sponsored by the Swedish vodka sold by Pernod Ricard. Thrillist challenged bartenders to create the top Bloody Mary for a chance to win a trip to Sweden. The media surrounding the campaign -- through email sponsorships and Web banners -- involved three phases, the first being a call to bartenders to submit recipes. Next, Thrillist announced the competition and encouraged users to vote -- and finally, this Friday, it plans to announce the winner.According to Jody Rones, vice president of sales at Thrillist, mobile optimization was a big driver of engagement as many of the bartenders were encouraging people to vote in their bars -- where the ability to vote on your phone was key. So was “building a responsive site which allowed for easy voting within venues,” said Rones. Also, bartenders this year were given the ability to upload their own recipe and photo. As a result, submissions from bartenders rose year-over-year from 250 entries to more than 800, according to Rones. Allowing users to enter themselves tripled the number of entries and provided us with 800 ambassadors for the campaign. The campaign’s Facebook page allowed people to "like" their favorite Bloody Mary last year, driving 6,500 votes. This year, by contrast, the page allowed people to either "drink it" in favor of their bloody mary of choice, or "sink it." The result? Roughly 28,000 votes, or a 400% improvement year-over-year. Visits to Absolut’s Facebook page increased from about 10,000 users last year to more than 30,000, this year.
If you’re a gamer, you'd like working at PHD. The Omnicom media shop is installing a global “operating system” for internal communications and client planning that utilizes the same type of technology platform used by so-called massively multiplayer online games, known as MMOs. The platform will be fully deployed by Jan. 1, 2013, the shop said.According to Mark Holden, worldwide strategy and planning director of PHD, the new platform, called Source, is designed to facilitate better collaboration and communication among PHD staffers worldwide and allow employees to share ideas across client teams -- not just within them. At the same time, it’s designed to maximize employee output and could be seen as a sorting tool for the human resources department.For employees, the new system will give them a different way to shine. They will be ranked by the system, depending on their input, and career advancement will depend on those rankings, said Holden. Just like the commercial games, the scores of the players -- or in this case the rankings of PHD staffers worldwide -- will be displayed for all to see.“Over the last year, we have become increasingly fascinated by the power of game-experiences to encourage full immersion,” said Holden. “Play culture has been shown to take engagement higher,” he added. “Source is our attempt to leverage this in order to tap into the rich potential of the PHD collective mind."The platform has been in development for two years at a cost of millions; it is said to have been one of several key influences on Unilever’s recent decision to award the shop the bulk of its global communications planning assignment. The consumer goods giant spends upwards of $6 billion on global ads annually.Mike Cooper, worldwide CEO of PHD, stated: “Implementing a gamified system is of huge benefit to our clients, with the best thinking rising to the top. It also fosters strategic planning and promotes the function by implementing it into daily activity.”PHD teams will have complete access to the work and tools necessary to do work on their client assignments and limited access to other client projects. As an example, Holden noted that a team might solicit ideas agencywide for a particular brand. The system provides a way for all clients to chime in. “We really believe this is the next-generation system for client planning,” Holden said.
Triton Digital is teaming up with Microsoft to provide a number of services for Xbox Music, a new streaming digital audio platform available on Xbox 360 consoles, as well as Windows 8 and Windows RT tablets and PCs, and Windows Phone 8 devices. Triton will serve audio advertising in Xbox Music’s free streaming service on Windows 8 and Windows RT devices. It will also provide measurement, campaign management and ad insertion technology to allow delivery of contextually-appropriate ads. Advertisers will be able to target listeners by geographic, demographic, and other criteria for more personalized and relevant audio advertising. The new Xbox Music service, unveiled in June of this year, appears intended to compete with other major digital audio platforms like Pandora, with customizable playlists, a “Smart DJ” option, and both free, ad-supported and paid audio content options. A number of potentially competing digital audio platforms have also been integrated into the Xbox network. This past June, Microsoft announced a deal to offer the Slacker Radio app for free via the Xbox Live Marketplace for Gold subscribers, giving users access to Slacker’s portfolio of over 200 curated and hosted stations, including ESPN Radio and ABC News and official stations for music festivals, like Lollapalooza and Bonnaroo. In October of last year, Clear Channel struck a deal with Microsoft that brought its iHeartRadio application to the Xbox Network, where it is available for free to members of Xbox Live Gold, Xbox 360's online entertainment service.
It was recently reported in the New York Daily News that the eldest children of Donald Trump staged an “intervention” last month in an effort to get their increasingly unhinged Pops to stop ranting about President Obama’s background. A “source close to the family” is quoted as saying: “The three of them met, and went to see their dad in his Fifth Ave. office. They showed a lot of respect, but told him he’s worked too long and too hard to build up the reputation he has. They understand completely he’s always been outspoken and that he likes attention, but this is too much." As awful as Trump is, his kids do seem okay. I imagined this scene: The Donald tells his receptionist to let the visitors in. Tentatively, they approach him on his cardboard throne. He’s wearing a blue fleece zip-up hoodie with “The Donald” embroidered on his shoulder. (He thinks it works for Chris Christie.) Ivanka and Don speak. As he wipes away some Whopper grease and ketchup from his mouth, he smacks his full lips a bit. “Who sent you?” he asks. No answer. “I demand to see your birth certificates!” Ba-da-bum. No? Okay -- scenario number 2: Trump stabs his short pointer finger in the air. “You’re fired!”Huh? How about, “I have no children!” Feel free to make up your own response along with mine -- as this story, although it appeared in the Daily News and then was picked up all over the interwebs, is clearly apocryphal.In response, Trump actually tweeted: “The dying NY Daily News put out a false report about my kids not wanting me to criticize Obama...totally false!” He further chided that his kids would never tell him that, because “it’s not in their nature.” Get a guy with a bird’s nest on his head all over Twitter, and there will be blood. But let’s look more closely at the language of this news report. It includes the words, “Fifth Ave., respect, reputation, outspoken.” Wait a minute! Sounds like the Donald crafted it himself! Who else would put the address of Trump Tower, “respect” and his name together in the same sentence? You recall that Trump teased his own presidential candidacy to get more viewers for the last “Apprentice” finale. He was running based on his ability to do business; he has successfully manipulated the laws surrounding Chapter 11 bankruptcy (four times) to cover his personal fortune -- if that makes him a good businessman/politician. He also built an ice rink for New York City once, and it doesn’t leak. Still, he’s got his Macy’s deal, and his name leased to those buildings and casinos, so initially, his obsession with the birther stuff was a surprise. But the fact that he rode it to such a level of deluded buffoonery seemed beneath even him. The coup de grace was his “October surprise” -- the “bombshell announcement” that he unleashed via a You Tube video and painful appearance on "David Letterman." Jumping off his tremendous success in obtaining Obama’s release of his birth certificate, yada yada, he said, he now demanded that the President release his college transcripts, applications and passport applications. “If he does that to my satisfaction, and if it’s complete,” Trump said, he would write a $5 million check to charity. "Will someone tell Donald Trump we don't live in Gotham City?" tweeted Maroon 5 singer and "The Voice" coach Adam Levine. You could say it was a Bat Signal, or a ransom note. (Or that he was treating the President like a contestant on “Let’s Make a Deal.”) The funniest part, while sitting with the bits of fiber attached to Velcro on his head, was that he said he was doing it “for the sake of transparency.” Letterman must have been especially pissed when Obama later appeared on Leno and addressed the bizarre pseudo-feud. O’s response allowed him to present one of his funniest and winningest pre-election moments ever: “"This all dates back to when we were growing up together in Kenya," he smiled, explaining that they played together as boys on the soccer fields, and Trump “wasn’t very good.” The cool customer response, swatting Trump away like a fly, perhaps earned him a few more votes.Poor Donald. He’s fallen off the fame cliff, and he can’t get up. (He fell off the follicular cliff long ago.)His mainstay for income (and the center from which all the other deals, like Trump Water, flows) is NBC’s "The Apprentice," which no longer exists in young-person acolyte form. In this economy, getting fired isn’t funny. That whole go-go comb-over mogul thing, with the real-estate deals, the chopper, the marble palaces and the three wives, is so old-school, after all. Although it did give Trump the chance to show off his digs to the swooning would-be interns. He only shows his home to “presidents and heads of state,” he admitted in one of the early seasons. “If you’re really successful, you’ll live like this,” he said to one young female contestant, gesturing to the waterfall and massive gold doors, installed in the early ‘80s by first-wife Ivana. I wanted the woman to respond: “You mean like the dictator of an Iron Curtain country from the 1960s?” The only famous Apprentice to come out of all of those shows is Bill Rancic, and he used the opportunity to marry a star on E! and do more reality shows. One thing that show was great for, though, was advertising: So many of the competitions revolved around creating ads, and the level of work was so amateurish that it served as its own ad for the importance of professionals who work at actual agencies. "The Apprentice" is still on, but as "Celebrity Apprentice." It comes back in March with an All-Star Edition. Ratings were down last year; but the network is giving the freak show another go. (La Toya Jackson is back, and so is Gary Busey!) I believe even Lindsay Lohan said she was busy. We are deep into the age of “reality” TV, which gives “real” people hugely amplified lives as fake stars, who then get to interact with actual stars who crave a career comeback via “reality” TV. And the cycle continues. Indeed, the reality genre has gone from spotlighting kitschy opulence and richness, to the Housewives all going bankrupt, losing their homes, or getting divorced, to focusing on rednecks, abandoned storage lockers and hoarders. In that same underground genre, though, Intervention is still huge. Wait a minute. A narcissist like The Donald insanely and desperately craves the mirrors and the cameras, and he’ll do anything to keep it going. Even if it means staging a phony intervention to float the idea of future interventions.
A few weeks ago Mike Shields wrote a lengthy story concluding for the most part that too much VC money chasing too many ad tech companies, especially those focused on exchange-like activity, will never be successful at improving the online ad business. Zach Coelius, CEO of Triggit, countered with the argument that "advertising technology companies bring fairness, efficiency, scale and value to the process through automated ad exchanges and real time bidding (RTB). Four years ago, less than 20 million ad impressions were available each day through RTB. Today that number is more than fifty billion a day, as millions of individual publishers have chosen to sell through the exchanges, moving to where they see the best value.... the automation of the buying process enables advertisers to buy more efficiently at larger scale. More of their growing ad budgets can be passed to publishers, rather than being spent shuffling paper. By improving the infrastructure of our industry, we are laying the groundwork for future growth that will fund a more diverse, useful and prosperous Internet." Neither Shields or Coelius seem to focus on what to me is a larger problem: the declining ability of those whom these new ad tech developments are supposed to benefit -- advertisers and their agencies -- to understand and adopt these incremental "improvements" to online advertising. When, as I often am, you are called to listen to an early-stage ad-tech company principal explain what they do and how it will change the world, you are quickly struck dumb by how niche the new technology is -- and how fanciful the expectations are that it will make a profound difference in ad targeting, efficiency, ROI or whatever. Moreover, increasingly the developers of said companies are unable to explain in terms that, say, a 22-year-old media buyer who knows there are no Knicks tickets coming at the end of the pitch, can understand. With the trend toward automated buying and selling, future captains of the ad-tech industry throw around "Wall Street" terms like "liquidity," and "buy-side," and use head-aching descriptors like "iterate the current stack" to explain their businesses. All this is fine if they are talking to each other -- or some potential VC who also thinks that kind of language makes you seem really cool and smart. But that 22-year-old kid (or her boss) who has to sit through about 15 more equally obfuscated pitches before the sun sets sits yearning only to check email on her iPhone or respond to Words With Friends, hoping you won't notice and take offense. Even if you take the smart route and explain your new ad-tech business in terms a 12-year-old can understand (which, by the way, is what I would recommend) you are still cursed by hyperbolic promises of changing the game in ways that will disgustingly enrich all within earshot. History has already proven to potential buyers of your new tech that almost nothing since the advent of Google Ad Words has truly changed the game except in the most minor ways. And for everything that has, such as RTB, there have been unintended consequences, like the freefall of CPM rates. This is not to discourage anyone from coming up with the next big thing in ad technology -- just a reminder that sooner or later you are going to have to sell it to folks who have heard it all before, are at best jaded or highly skeptical, and don't really want you in their office. That is a good place to start thinking about how to position your business.
A few weeks ago, I went with my daughter and son to sell nuts and magazines for the Girl Scouts, as well as popcorn for the Boy Scouts. We were armed with our refined sales pitches, order forms and a wagon full of popcorn. In addition, to make transactions as seamless as possible, we brought along the Square, a credit card reader for smartphones. The pitch was clear, as my daughter pointed out, “if you'd like to support the Girl Scouts, please consider some nuts and/or magazines -- we take cash or credit cards.” What I came to realize is that an eight-year-old looks at mobile marketing in a more advanced way than most marketers. My daughter had no issue seeing her phone as a means for commerce. And it is clear that the next generation of power purchasers already considers mobile devices as more than phones -- they see them as an experience to engage with, from entertainment to search and shopping. With my daughter's generation becoming more mobile-centric, I am perplexed when marketers approach mobile with a "wait and see" attitude as if it is a trend that will fade. eMarketer estimates that in 2012, U.S. consumers will spend an average 82 minutes per day on their mobile device -- a 51.9% increase from 2010. PayPal announced a 193% increase in mobile payments on Black Friday, and IBM reported 24% of consumers using a mobile device to visit a retailer's site, up from 14.3 percent in 2011. With evidence like this, it is imperative for every marketer to enact a mobile vision for their business, and do so immediately. One of the greatest advantages that mobile marketing offers is the ability to influence consumer engagement at every stage across the purchase funnel. For many marketers, the purchase funnel is a linear path. They believe consumers travel through awareness, consideration, preference, transaction, support, loyalty and advocacy, as if they must stop at each milestone for a layover. However, the purchase funnel is anything but linear. Consumers may start with preference based on what they heard from a friend, or at transaction on a whim -- or they may go directly from awareness straight to advocacy. Considering that many consumers at the point of purchase will use their mobile device to check a product review, compare prices or even search for similar products, the path to purchase is more like a spaghetti bowl, with numerous paths intertwined, requiring marketers to be agile across the entire purchase funnel. Target, Toys R’ Us, Amazon and Walmart are just a few brands that are slated to reap the benefits of the holiday season predominantly because they have an agile mobile strategy to engage at every stage along the path to purchase. Through their mobile app, Target offers awareness about their products, recommendations and comparisons, mobile coupons, the ability to find a store -- and of course, the ability to purchase via mobile or in-store. Target's mobile strategy -- to provide a compelling consumer experience at every stage of the purchase funnel -- does not require consumers to proceed on a linear path. The app allows consumers to bounce around the purchase funnel, and Target reaps the benefits by learning about their consumers' buying habits and preferences. Mobile marketing has created an expedited route across the path to purchase and changed the face of commerce altogether. A recent study prepared by Sybase 365 and the MMA found that 87% of respondents expect to use their mobile device to help make purchasing decisions this holiday season. Beyond the holidays, mobile devices are influencing consumer purchases all year round. Forty-two percent reported that their mobile device influenced their decision the last time they made a purchase. In addition, 30 percent stated that the last time they were at the point of sale, they used their mobile device to compare prices, search for reviews, and even venture to a different physical or online store for the product or purchased a different brand altogether. However, while mobile commerce represents an unprecedented advantage for brands, many marketers simply miss the opportunity altogether. Most mobile marketing spend is allocated to upper-funnel or awareness tactics. Velti recently issued a white paper that interviewed marketing executives, and while 90% used mobile advertising tactics, only 48% used mobile marketing tactics to move beyond awareness and aim for engagement. Mobile is undoubtedly a strong vehicle for brand awareness; however, missing the entire latter portion of the purchase funnel is investing in only half of what mobile offers to marketers to interact with consumers. In only a few years, a generation that considers mobile a necessity for commerce, entertainment, communication and engagement will come to assume the power purchaser position. My advice to those marketers that are still unsure about mobile marketing is to consider the eight-year-old using Square to sell for the Girl Scouts. Can you afford to wait with mobile? The answer is no -- there is no time to wait when the world expects a mobile experience along the path to purchase.