The rollout of you-are-being-targeted icons is hitting some snags, Steve Minichini, president, interactive marketing, Targetcast, said today at OMMA Behavioral. Some icons are being shown in the upper right hand corner, some on the bottom of the ads, and some icons -- including ones shown on AOL -- are colliding with other links on the ads.

Most digital video at publishers sites can pretty well nearly sold out. (Display advertising is another thing). Amy Richards, chief marketing officer of TubeMogul, says some publishers rather let some video avails go unsold than give their digital video inventory to the likes of the ad exchanges -- which can drive prices down. "Really?", asks Jason Krebs, senior vp and chief media officer for Tremor Video. "They let inventory go unsold?" Richards: "Yes. Or they put in house ads." "Wow", says Krebs. "'It's not unsold. It's strategic perishability.'"

Traditional marketers still like the idea of standardization when it comes to digital video. But standards may not be for everyone. "There is a problem with scale," says Kat Chung, supervisor of digital for Initiative, when it comes from different video formats for certain marketers. Jason Krebs, senior vp/chief media officer of Tremor Video, says for some TV sellers might say, "Thank goodness there isn't a 33-second spot or a 28 second spot." Krebs believe standardization will evolve -- but there should be no rush. "Standardization is overblown in a lot of ways." Brian Mandelbaum, vp …

Joshua Wepman, vp of investment banking concern GCA Savvian, speaking at the OMMA Ad Nets event says "we are in the decade of the CMO [chief marketing officer]. They want someone to make their job easier." In the digital age, a multitude of channel options has made their job too difficult. In that light Wepman says the CMO is going to be in the driver's seat, pushing digital businesses to work together or merge. He says consolidation of the business is inevitable. "The current landscape is too fragmented and too confusing." Concerning the ad exchanges, he says …

Technology is increasingly taking away the mundane work of the digital media planner. What happens then? "It removes the busy work, so they can think," says Dave Marsey, senior vp of media for Digitas, speaking at OMMA Ad Nets. For example, a junior staffer can be trained for they don't have to worry about billing. Marsey say this can lower fees in some areas for clients. He adds that media planners can then turn into channel managers who can create communities that drive earned media -- and be more strategic.

At the OMMA Ad Nets event, moderator Jason Lehmbeck, chief executive officer of DataPop, wondered about the ad exchanges -- specifically their automative way of doing things. Can robots manage brands? Melissa Goodis, Associate Media Director, CP+B, says "robots don't do strategy." David D'Alleva, media director for SapientNitro, added "You need the human lens." For instance, he says new data can shed a new light on things. So, he says, questions arise: "Do we have to retrench our strategy." Still, on the other side of things, Dave Marsey, senior vp of media for Digitas, says ad …

Horizon Media's Donnie Williams speaking at the OMMA Ad Net event says what opens his eyes -- and that of his clients -- is research that gleans from traditional media to help sell new digital media. Williams says Collective Media, the ad network company, is getting research data at set-top boxes which looks to push online media. "This gets us excited," he says. Williams feels this will get clients attention because it takes data from the big media platform, TV -- still highly valued for marketers -- and turns the focus for Internet platforms.

Los Angeles, Calif. -- Speaking at OMMA's Ad Net event here, Donnie Williams, executive vp and chief digital officer at Horizon Media, in a keynote address, says the upfront market -- traditional and new media - was a big one for his agency. "We were moving so much money," he said, with digital premium video and through ad networks. "But with that we got a lot more questions from our clients." Those include accountability and more understanding. He didn't go into specific details. "We are trying to accomplish the best for our clients."

He may be a British knight, but Sir John Hegarty is a bit of a lech. He proved by laughing not once, but two times when he showed different versions of a campaign featuring hot babes cleaning "balls" (the first was two rugby balls, the second was two golf balls, but you get the joke). Okay, so the campaign is hilarious, and I was guffawing too, but I wasn't live on stage, and I'm certainly not a British knight.

I'm getting a real kick out of watching Sir John Hegarty presenting the new creative for the Haagen-Dazs ice cream brand at a global creative showcase like the Cannes Lions Festival. The reason this moves me, is that contrary to its exotic, international image, Haagen-Dazs's roots were from the Bronx in New York City, where I grew up. I remember stumbling on the brand in the early 1970s, when it was only distributed via local bakeries in the Bronx, and thinking where in the world did this amazing ice cream come from. I had never tasted a super premium …