Digital audience targeting firm Collective is among the latest companies to plug its ad technology into the Facebook Ad Exchange (FBX). Through Collective on Facebook, clients will be able to apply its data and audience-targeting tools to FBX campaigns as part of broader digital ad buys. “With the addition of Facebook Exchange, Collective further eliminates silos associated with channels such as social, TV, and display, resulting in less audience duplication and better attribution,” stated a company page dedicated to FBX. The company says clients can use Collective to control reach and frequency across Facebook and existing display buys. It can optimize campaigns on the fly and extend sequential ad efforts involving TV, online and mobile to social. Launched in September with an initial group of 16 ad partners, including AdRoll, Criteo, Kenshoo and Turn, the FBX retargeting platform has quickly become a key part of Facebook’s growth strategy. FBX ads for now appear only on the right side of Facebook pages, but could be added to the news feed over time.
Changes in Google's search engine ranking algorithm, which many know as Panda and Penguin, have some brand marketers giving up on optimization strategies. Google announced another Panda update earlier this week, suggesting only 1.2% of English queries were affected -- this time. Many companies affected by the 24 Google algorithm updates never recovered. An upcoming PM Digital study literally dissects passages in Google's guidelines to provides 30 tactics to improve today's SEO techniques through off-page signals, location, relevance and recent information. "I've heard marketers tell me, 'we've given up on Google organic'," said Clay Cazier, senior director of natural search strategy at PM Digital. "Everyone's really freaked out about Penguin, but I don't know why. Google's been telling us about this for the past 10 years." Cazier analyzes passages in Google's guidelines to define principles that will drive better performance from Google's algorithm in 2013. He attempts to clarify the ongoing value of traditional link-building and explore ways to supply the off-page signals of social previously supplied by links alone. Pay more attention to incoming links that are immune to future updates, such as the Better Business Bureau or the Chamber of Commerce, Cazier said. He also suggests that marketers monitor Google Alerts for authoritative people who may blog about the brand but forgot the link. Marketers need to begin thinking differently when optimizing pages because Google has changed the search game by bringing off-page factors to bear on organic rankings. They should target links found through what Cazier calls competitive coincidence -- a mention of the brand along with relative keywords -- rather than focusing on directories that are "free," a word that inherently remains flawed. Compile a list of sources of incoming links for sites that already rank well in Google for your top keyword. Marketers working on sites in the U.K., for example, need to focus on local U.K. links, according to the report. That made the difference for search engine query ranking when working on the site for Berks Beads. While the guidelines don't measure link quantity, Cazier plans to analyze that next.
In a bid to help clients develop content and maximize its impact, Havas Worldwide New York is launching a new media unit called SOE (for Shared Owned and Earned) that combines the agency’s analytics, community management and content strategy capabilities under a single practice. Initial clients include Dos Equis and Reckitt Benckiser, although the agency declined to provide specifics about the work that SOE is doing for them.The new unit is launching with 21 employees and will be led by Richard Notarianni, executive director of engagement planning and performance at the agency.“With the launch of SOE, Havas Worldwide New York will host a new team of talent for the networked world,” stated Tom Morton, Chief Strategy Officer Havas Worldwide New York. Under Notarianni’s leadership, Morton said, “we're putting shared, owned and earned content specialists at the center of the agency.”As part of the offering, SOE will build a system enabling clients to publish content to the Web, mobile and social channels. The company has hired Jennifer Bassett as content strategy director to help in that effort. Previously, Bassett was senior manager global brand communications with Omnicom branding agency Interbrand. Notarianni said the SOE would house analytics and planning groups alongside social, content and community specials “to address our clients’ need to understand the business impact of network communications.”The creation of SOE is the latest in a series of reorganizational moves at Havas designed to reinforce integration efforts in the digital era. Last week, it said it was rebranding its MPG and Media Contacts agencies as Havas Media properties. As a brand, Havas Worldwide is just a few months old—the agency was previously known as Euro RSCG.
Omnicom Media Group’s Resolution Media has appointed Gerry Bavaro global chief strategy officer, a new position at the shop. The appointment marks Bavaro's return to Resolution after a stint at Publicis Groupe’s Digitas, where he was senior vice president, performance media. In his new role, Bavaro will focus on expanding Resolution's service offering, including product and business development and acquisitions. He will also help lead the agency's ongoing consolidation of OMG's global search operations under the Resolution banner -- an effort that began last year and is expected to be completed in 2013. Bavaro’s stint at Digitas was brief, having joined that agency in June 2012. But when he was offered the chance to return to Resolution he took it, he said -- largely because he felt that the agency and the organizational setup at OMG were a better fit. “The big task of consolidating globally and having that kind of scale and footprint really excited me,” he said. “We manage huge global brands like Pepsi, Levi’s and Visa that want that kind of scale in executing search, real-time buying and content management,” Bavaro added. Globally, Resolution now has billings in excess of $1 billion and more than 500 staffers worldwide. "The knock on search agencies is they don't have feet on the street," said Bavaro. "You don't have people sitting in a local market like Singapore who can translate and localize campaigns and understand the nuances. We have that." On the product development front, Bavaro said that expanding ClearTarget globally is a top priority. “That's a differentiator for us,” he said of ClearTarget, currently a U.S.-focused offering that combines search query stats with client Web analytics and third-party segmentation data. Another top task is “rounding out our approach to content marketing.” Client-owned content that is relevant and “share worthy” is often the best-performing ad unit, he said, citing the success Old Spice has had with a series of viral videos. Resolution handles search and related media chores for sister media shops OMD and PHD, as well as for other agencies within Omnicom. Bavaro said another key focus will be to further develop business for Resolution as a standalone brand in the digital agency market. Bavaro reports to Alan Osetek, President, Resolution Media. In his first stint at Resolution, Bavaro was managing director of East and West Coast Operations. Earlier, he was general manager at MediaWhiz Holdings.
Just about everything these days involves some degree of computer-based automation. My coffee machine starts brewing while I am still snoozing. The subway that I ride glides into my stop as a robotic voice announces the station. Even as I compose this on my flight back from the Consumer Electronics Show I realize that we are largely on autopilot, connected to a central computer system that dictates our takeoff, flight path, speed, altitude and landing. And of course, media and advertising are becoming increasingly driven by computer algorithms, statistical optimization, and data-driven marketing equations. In many ways, this technological infusion offers benefits to both buyers and sellers. Speed, efficiency and cost savings can make a big impact on a marketer’s bottom line. And while it is estimated that 30% of all online ads are now bought “programmatically” through automated marketplaces, some predict that the number could go as high as 90% in the coming years. Plug in your target audience, your performance metrics, and your budget and press “go.” But the reality is that programmatic advertising will always be limited to the inventory that is "programmable" -- the standard placements with the standard dimensions on the standard sites. It is understandable that this media is becoming commoditized. But marketers want more, and expect more in this ever fragmented ecosystem such as customized marketing programs that integrate brands in unique ways throughout a site. Native advertising is a good example that incorporates special content from marketers and delivers something new and valuable to consumers. Interactive media and gaming experiences can also deliver brand messages in engaging ways. No two of these out-of-the-box media solutions ever look the same. And what about the issue of “scale”? Some proponents of programmatic advertising criticize native advertising for its inability to reach huge swaths of audience cheaply. To that I reply that scale is not the goal -- impact is the goal. Efficiency should be measured by cost-per-point-of-impact, not by tonnage -- and less overall reach can actually be more efficient if the marketing is intimate and engaging. And relevant, contextual marketing is the stuff that is read, watched, and shared. And if certain elements of more "native’" approaches start to become programmatic, they will cease to be "custom" and will therefore lose a degree of value to both consumers and marketers. So while sometimes it feels like the advertising world is headed for a future connected by a Matrix and filled with Terminator machines, human creativity still plays a vital role in creating emotional connections between brands and consumers. And at least we program the machines. For now.
Aaron Levie @levie If you a miss a cycle in tech, it's basically over. If you hit a cycle, you've only earned admission to the next round. If the whole Box.com thing doesn’t work out, Aaron Levie definitely has a career in startup fortune cookie writing. Seriously though, that was one of those Tweets that just smacked me upside my head and, given its retweet and “favorite” stats, I wasn’t alone. As it pertains to display advertising, owning RTB infrastructure is quickly emerging as the ticket to the “next round.” This means having the bidders, cookie stores, and big-data chops to earn a seat on an exchange and respond to bid requests within 50 ms, without having to use a middleman or license another DSP’s technology. The launch of Facebook Exchange particularly highlighted the distinction between owning and just licensing RTB. There are folks with the tech that have a seat on the exchange (listed here) and there are those who don’t. To those who are truly able to fulfill the above RTB requirements, congrats and welcome to the “next round.” However, as Aaron Levie’s tweet conveys, there’s no time to pat yourself on the back in the fast-moving tech sector. The first round was really just about building the underlying infrastructure. As an analogy, take buying a new camera--merely owning a camera doesn’t make you a great photographer. The next round is all about options: where to point your camera, how to focus it, and how to adjust your aperture and shutter speed to take fascinating pictures. The algorithm that powers said camera is one clear opportunity for customization, versus the one-size-fits-all options that are commonly offered today. There are some underlying truths that any RTB algorithm should incorporate: pacing, performance-based learning, cadence modification, viewability, etc. However, as each advertisers’ objectives are slightly different, the key is to create both a flexible algorithm and platform that are capable of accommodating these various requirements. For example, it’s popular to talk about customer quality scoring today. Unfortunately, there is no universal customer quality scoring methodology for every advertiser. If an advertiser is interested in clicks, people who are “clicky,” showing a history of clicking on ads, should get a higher score. If an advertiser is interested in measuring incremental conversions, “clicky” people might not get a strong weighting if they’re likely to convert regardless of the ad impressions they’re seeing. Dynamic creative is another area where owning the RTB infrastructure is important. It’s only natural that how much you bid on an impression depends on what kind of ad you can show. For instance, it’s smart to bid higher on an impression if you can match a user intent signal with a strong personalized product recommendation or offer. Unfortunately, creative is often overlooked in the programmatic advertising world, but connecting bidding and ad presentation often accounts for more than half of the performance of campaign. if you don’t do this, you risk running lobotomized campaigns. The winners of the “next round” will be those that can accommodate all of these different objectives: the ability to shape the algorithm to weight different variables more or less depending on the campaign, the ability to customize audiences and targeting criteria, and the ability to tie bidding strategy to dynamic creative. Without the infrastructure investment in round one, there’s no way to jump to round two.
Perhaps it's because MediaPost Editor In Chief Joe Mandese and I are the same sort of ink-stained humanists predisposed to suspicion about too much automation. But at the end of our back to back OMMA DDM (Data Driven Marketing) and OMMA RTB shows, there was one panelist observation that kept echoing in our heads: a point about the danger of marketers being too relevant all the time. On the first panel of brand marketers (see full video here) at OMMA DDM on Wednesday, executives from Hearst, Macy’s, JP Morgan Chase and Starwood Hotels drove home the importance of relevance to the consumer. Macy’s marketer Julie Bernard, however, called out an important exception to that rule. Personalization and customizability can be overdone, she warned. If the brand hones in too tightly and exclusively only on the things for which a user has shown an interest, then “You’re only ever showing me apparel and handbags,” she said. This technique eliminates the important process of discovery. Who better to understand the value of discovery than a classic retailer? The modern department store is pretty much based on the principle of browsing and happening upon the stuff you didn’t know you wanted or needed. And for women, who still do more shopping for others than most men, getting outside one’s own shopping zone is even more important. “Maybe I want to buy something for my husband once in a while,” Bernard said. How is your personal purchase history going to help the algorithms there? To be sure, her point has to be couched within the larger value of relevance and what we really mean when we use the term. Macy’s has pioneered a number of projects that used data for one-to-one marketing efforts. The point is not that a marketer shouldn’t leverage data to be as relevant to the consumer as possible, but that relevance too tightly defined and too obsessively pursued feels mechanical and can miss a larger branding goal. As Julie shared with me later, Macy’s uses advanced modeling to target its physical and email communications to the households most likely to want them. The company especially focused now on using these data points to understand what form of communication to make to the right customer. Macy’s is also trying to figure out if delivering more pages of relevant content to an interested consumer has a net productive effect. The retailer found in these tests not only that relevance matters, but is a key driver of sales -- and that limiting a mailing to the categories that scored as relevant did not negatively impact overall store sales. But Macy’s is also trying to determine how to encourage cross-shopping. I asked Julie to reflect on her insight further on what it means to be too doggedly relevant. She tells me, “So, if we see that a customer has only ever purchased red lipsticks, it doesn't mean we should only serve her content and offers around red lipsticks. Certainly, that would be relevant but it wouldn't deliver against our entertainment brand promise to help our customer find their magic through My Macy's.... In our example above, rather than simply serve red lipstick content, we would be sure to serve [other] relevant content, which may be pink lipstick for the seasonal trend, coupled with a fabulous wristlet to carry it in. An over-simplified example, but it gets to the spirit of how we are advancing relevancy for the benefit of our customers.“ So serendipitous discovery is not necessarily “irrelevant” material, as much as content relevant in a way that a single customer profile does not reveal. As Julie puts it, “The wonderful thing about analytics and relevancy is that we can infer a customer's preferences and then model the behavior of other customers to understand propensities for interest in other categories, thereby introducing the discovery element for the customer." I would argue that a certain tedium sets in when we get targeted the same kinds of items from the same source. For example, while I still regard Amazon's recommendation engine as the gold standard for personalized experiences, it has become so well tuned to the patterns I have established over the last dozen or more years of buying that the items it suggests are predictable to the point of invisibility. I am dwelling on the very human responses to machine-made “personalization” because that is one of the biggest takeaways for me from both drafting the OMMA DDM show and watching the discussions unfold Wednesday. The chief irony of DDM is that these highly technical, complex, algorithmically driven mechanisms behind “big data” actually force marketers to think about their customers in more rounded human terms. That is the key message I got from the brand marketers on that first panel. I compare the massive number of new inputs available to a brand about their customer to a pointillist painting. There are so many dots, each of which alone is without meaning, but when ordered correctly and in such huge numbers create a recognizable impression of a person in her context. It doesn’t seem to me coincidental that the cold, technical terminology around “data,” “modeling” and “algorithms” emerges at the same time as much more poetic references to a consumer “journey” or “path.” The technology helps render a more poetic, lyrical understanding of the consumer. But that also means that the machines that interface with humans need to seem more human. For instance, my personalized Amazon page now confronts me with an uncomfortable mirror of only a slice of my reading habits. That is not “personalized” in the richer sense, so much as deftly targeted. At some point I wonder if data-driven marketing has to start building into the system either randomness, or a smarter kind of tangential relevance or targeted serendipity.