He may not sport the traditional cozy cardigan or the salt-and-pepper beard, but people still insist on calling today's
In the Trenches subject "The Professor." Execs across the ad industry
study under the tutelage of Eyeblaster's Julian Zilberbrand, learning how to integrate rich media into their campaigns.
Zilberbrand started his career as an online production assistant at MTV, although he'd hoped to get into film and television.
He's now able to get his cinematic kicks at Eyeblaster, where a new streaming video ad format is a primary focus.
At the ad technology firm, Zilberbrand is a Product Specialist--attending to
Eyeblaster's East Coast and Midwest agency clients, including Carat Worldwide, Deutsch, Digitas, and McCann-Erickson. In addition to assisting clients with the technological aspects of campaign
development and reporting, Professor Z is headmaster at Eyeblaster University, the company's educational certification program.
What are your favorite online destinations in the a.m.? Why?
I typically read the paper on my way to work. The daily reporting [for Eyeblaster campaigns] typically takes up most of my mornings.
I read press releases, anything involving Eyeblaster.
I also read MediaPost and ClickZ. I try to know what's going on in the industry as much as possible to be informed for clients.
What other sites do you visit frequently? Why?
Sports sites like ESPN, FoxSports.com. ... news, entertainment, baseball.
There's an insider subscription service to ESPN for all the mad soap opera details; I like to read up on rumors
and things going on in sports.
What is the most challenging part of your job?
I'm very responsible to the clients I deal with. Because of the volume of people I deal with, I find it
challenging to make sure I have enough time to answer everybody's questions and provide the proper support.
I do it by managing time. As soon as you call me, I call back right away.
What do
you like best about your job; what keeps you interested?
The people I work with. It's a family environment here. I tend to have a very close relationship with most of the clients I work
with; we hang out on a personal basis, go for drinks. I take pride in the fact that I can help them with their jobs, and then they can help me with mine by helping me enjoy my job.
When will
true media integration take place for advertisers?
A lot of advertisers are traditional, and don't see the ability and reach of online marketing. That's changing greatly. The number of video
ads, even in the last six months, has increased twofold.
It's a slow progression because of what happened with the boom and the bust. Within the last year, that has essentially begun to change.
You can see how people are translating their offline marketing campaigns to the online media. It's just another way to extend your brand or product.
Unlike TV, the online world provides you with
so many more metrics. I dare say it's a more effective medium than television.
What's the most divisive online policy issue right now?
There are a lot of different ways to use video,
and people haven't decided the best way to use video yet. ... People aren't sure about the amount of time a video ad should play. The attention span for online users is shorter than that of someone
watching TV.
People should start thinking about creating footage for the Web. It's just a matter of understanding that you have the ability and choice and option to do it all. The biggest
challenge is getting them to try it. I haven't experienced a situation where someone tried it and didn't want to do it again.
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