• Brands and Social Media Stars: Watch A Lot; Give Creative Freedom
    How should brands connect with a social media talent? Know lots about influencers, as well as giving them creative freedom. Pamela Naumes, senior director of brand engagement for Bolthouse Farms, in speaking at OMMA Art & Science: “The biggest fear is not knowing.” Concerning how brands look at these connections, she says: “We don’t treat them like a paid-campaigns; we treat it like something new.” Shaun McBride, a Snapchat producer/influencer, says a well-working agency can be a good go-between, knowing what the brand wants, as well as what an influencer needs to be creative. In that …
  • At Long Last, The Power Of Snapchat Explained (Hint: It's A Lot Like Text)
    That's what Snapchat superstar and social media persona Shaun McBride said when asked, "Why Snapchat?," during a panel at OMMA Art & Science in Los Angeles today. The query came from "So You Want to Partner with a Social Media Star... Really?" panel moderator Jon-Michael Herrmann, director of strategy at Giant Spoon, and it was one that was on the mind of many attendees. (Well, at least one other). "When you get a snapchat from someone, it's almost similar to receiving a text message," explained McBride, who snapchats under the handle @Shonduras. Interesting insight, but it sort of made me …
  • Dick Pics Mix? Ick!
    What's the new media mix evolving out of programmatic creative? According some agency creative experts speaking on a panel at OMMA Art & Science in Los Angeles this morning, the answer to that question may be harder than you think? Or, for that matter, far more flaccid than you might want to think. Citing a recent infamous incident in which Twitter served sponsored tweets for Nielsen adjacent to "dick pics" in users' news feeds, Wolfman Group Co-Founder Ian Wolfman noted, "If Twitter is having issues targeting" programmatically, then what can conventional brand marketers expect? Actually, the Nielsen promos showed up …
  • 'Days Of Future Compressed'
    That could well be the title of the prequel to 20th Century Fox's digital marketing strategy leading up to the release of blockbuster "X-Men" franchise's "Days Of Future Past." "We were under a very compressed timeframe to do this," said Julie Ryan, executive director of digital marketing for the studio's home entertainment division, adding that the campaign caused her to lose some of her presence -- vis a vis her ability to sleep nights while gearing up for it.
  • Wag The Torso
    As far as body part metaphors go, it looks like the online video marketplace is moving beyond the so-called "long-tail" and beginning to think about the rest of the ad marketplace's anatomy. "We view the world in terms of a head, a torso and a tail," Charlie Echeverrey, CRO of mitu, during the opening "New TV" panel at OMMA Art & Science in Los Angeles this morning. He said that while the industry tends to focus on the big head propositions of content and creativity, it may only account for "10-20% of the people driving engagement." "When we create a …
  • Publishers' Love-Hate Take On Facebook
    Publishers love to bash Facebook, its unpredictable algorithm changes, and what they perceive to be its disregard for their distribution strategies. But -- as some admitted at OMMA Los Angeles, on Wednesday -- they also just love Facebook. "Facebook is a huge, huge traffic driver," said Charlie Echeverry, CRO at Latino-focus tech media startup mit. "Huge," agreed Jeff Browning, Senior Vice-President of Sales for Endemol Beyond USA. Facebook's command over audiences has become so great that some publishers question the rationale for running their own Websites. "What do I even need an [owned and operated Web site] for anymore," Echeverry …
  • Digital branded entertainment: Safe or Unsafe?
    Brand safety can be a problem when it comes to branded entertainment video -- especially when being associated with high profile social media talent. Speaking at the OMMA Art & Science, Charlie Echeverrey, chief revenue officer of Mitú. says he has seen some marketers trying to “control” specific social media “influencers”. Echeverrey has seen this especially with consumer products marketers. And in most cases he says “the performance of that piece of content is going to be far inferiority.” His recommendation is to have “guard rails” -- offering up parameters, including having a core of social media …
  • How Mobile Is Reshaping Viewership
    How is the mobile revolution reshaping publishers' viewership trends? At PopSugar, a full 72% of its young, mostly female audience is now consuming video via mobile devices -- which represents an 89% rise, year-over-year - according to Kirbie Johnson, a Reporter/Producer at the media brand. Those rates wowed fellow panelists at OMMA Los Angeles, on Wednesday. "Those rates are super impressive," said Vaino Leskinen, Global Director of Mobile at TBWA\CHIAT\DAY. Across its client roster, Leskinen said he was seeing rates closer to 50%, if a little higher. Yet, desktop still serves its purpose, other panelists noted. In particular, gaming audiences …
  • Programmatic's future? Not using the word "programmatic"
    Programmatic media has a future -- but the actual word made not be around. Speaking at the OMMA Art & Science, Tim Bagwell, vp of Ad Labs for Xaxis says: “I think the term of programmatic will disappear. It’s kind of like someone who might say ‘I bought retail online.’ Well, Welcome to the 90s.” Colette Dill-Lerner, executive vp of demand generation for The DuMont Project, believes a lot of programmatic issues will revolve “sight, sound and motion... in what video means.” She says this is especially true because o kids now watching much TV and video on …
  • Long Live Content On Any Device
    "The device in which we experience the delivery is over," said Colette Dill-Lerner EVP of demand generation at The Dumont Project, during a panel on programmatic titled Are We Branding Yet? at the MediaPost OMMA LA conference Tuesday.
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