Embracing the evolution of digital advertising is a necessity. Programmatic buying is a relatively new approach to the market; it presents a great opportunity for a more transparent and efficient way of selling vast amounts of digital space. Using premium display alongside automated services can increase revenue for all publishers.

It is important for publishers to have an in-depth understanding of how both bespoke sales teams and automated trading can enhance their digital offering; truly understanding these options is the first step. In order to use these complementary options efficiently, every publisher needs to determine what their unique proposition is and what they want to be known for as a publisher. Read More »

Facebook clearly know that they are suffering in terms of driving people to purchase as a result of seeing a link/post on the site. They are looking at every angle which turns out to include using the button “want”.

“I want that” will replace “I like that”. Sounds like petulance will replace affection. Do we really want people to go around “wanting” rather than “liking” ? It’s a tactic employed by rival Pinterest and is a way to encourage shared “wanted” items to be bought for/by friends.

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Despite some recent success enjoyed by big brand advertisers—like Ford’s spokespuppet ‘Doug’ campaign—Facebook is forecast to capture only 6.4% of total online ad spending this year.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Ford spent more than $95m promoting its ‘Doug’ campaign on TV and print, but less than 5% of that was spent on Facebook, which garnered 43,000 “likes”. Of ‘Doug’s’ Facebook fans, 61% said they were more likely to consider buying a Ford Focus, the car it was advertising. Read More »

I was chatting with our Innovation Director, Rob Meldrum, the other day about what might happen if Google decides to officially make a play for developing a brain implant. As I tore an almond croissant into miniature chunks to enjoy with my yummington hot beverage, I began to wonder what the implications would be for digital advertising and permission-based marketing.

The Google brain implant is something that Eric Schmidt has spoken about before (or, at least, been asked about, to which he replied: ‘there’s what I call the creepy line. And the Google policy about a lot of these things is to get right up to the creepy line, but not cross it. I would argue that implanting things in your brain is beyond the creepy line…at least for the moment, until the technology gets better’.  He has to say that, doesn’t he, especially with things around such as H+, a new web series on a similar theme, produced by Brian Singer). Have a gander at the trailer here.
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According to the UN’s telecommunications agency, The ITU, the number of worldwide internet users has reached over two billion people. Just imagine how many slices of cheese on Ryvita that lot gets through.

Add the two-billion internet users statistic to a quote from science writer Matt Ridley that ‘The internet is the latest and best expression of the collective nature of human intelligence’, and it would seem to hold exciting possibilities for digital marketing that uses ‘collective brain’-based insight. Read More »

Chatting to my good friend Jo recently, who is a primary school teacher, about methods of learning, it struck me that there are some clear parallels between classroom teaching methods and digital marketing.

As I took another gazzolop of sweet tea, I considered the fact that as education continues to gravitate towards increasingly stimulatory learning techniques, so digital advertising – whether it be online ads, social media campaigns or mobile marketing – also calls for similar measures to cut through and resonate. After all, success in both professions is essentially determined by how well you have inspired your audience to engage with the points you are trying to get across. Read More »

So, if you don’t need to have technical knowledge, what do you need to have? I think you need to have an empathy with the digital world and an understanding of the possibilities the technology gives us, if not the actual mechanics. I’ve had many clients who simply refused to believe that real people had the time to customize sites, upload pictures, comment on blogs, post tweets, and so on.

As marketers, they spent their whole days in front of computers so that they couldn’t see that for someone who works outside of our little clique, actually coming home and getting an email about a YouTube clip or mucking about on Facebook is fun. It’s relaxing after a hard day’s work; it’s entertainment. I took some clients away for a day and forced them to make their own blogs. Yes, even a Luddite like me knows how to set up a blog – and that’s the point. Read More »

I have a confession to make. I have been a creative director for three different internationally admired digital agencies, won lots of awards and worked with the biggest brands in the world, and I couldn’t tell you what the difference between a JPEG and a GIF is.

I have spoken at conferences around the world and written for the most high-profile publications about digital and websites, but I wouldn’t know how to actually make a website if my life depended it. I also have a blog and write frequently about the future of digital marketing when, truth be told, I have no idea what is going to happen next. Read More »

The music industry is not well, we all know it, and for the most part, likely contributed to the grandiose, well-publicised downfall.

While digital innovation — a la Radiohead’s now canonised In Rainbow’s — have put power in the hands of the consumer, the question needs to be asked: who is looking out for the little ol’ musicians, who now have more pressure than ever to produce money-making albums to appease beleaguered music labels?

A company called Blink TV has come up with a plan.

While Blink TV can’t really help musicians on the album quality side of things, it can help bands put together a kick-ass live show, an increasingly important stream of revenue for the labels, and all at a reduced cost.

It’s an interesting business model, Blink TV supplies video screens and visual content for the live music industry, however the company subsidises the hiring costs of the giant screens, and the production costs of the live shows in exchange for media rights and some onscreen advertising.

The company is currently on tour with indie-band Snow Patrol, and has created pre-show entertainment, customized by the band, including music selected by the band set to time-lapse photography of the stage being set up.

Blink TV says the resulting imagery builds anticipation within the crowd prior to the band’s arrival on stage. The package includes targeted advertising which helps offset the significant rental costs of the video equipment and allows the band to incorporate more visual elements into its show.

The company is expanding as well, recently hiring former NME and Uncut live advertising manager Alex Wright as its business development manager.

It’s an interesting partnership, but hopefully the company can sign on with more indie acts, recently adding Keane to its client roster. But whatever helps drive ticket sales is something that bands and labels alike can welcome with arms wide open.

Some interesting innovations going on at Mixx, the social networking/news ranking website that’s like Digg, but probably a little better.

Mixx is offering advertisers the chance to get direct feedback for their creatives from its heavyweight users with a new service called Mixx Sifter.

Advertisers can upload their creatives to the website, which will then be voted on and ranked by Mixx users, with the most popular ads awarded prominent location (and preternatural hype) on the Mixx homepage.

There’s incentive for the users too, called Karma Points, which can be exchanged for prizes and such.

So advertisers need not fear unwarranted backlash from those in power, well, in theory, as the Mixx users voting on the ads are those trusted resources who have spent many hours logged on and contributing to the site.

Techcrunch reports that the service will typically costs advertisers $8,000 to upload their creatives to the site — which can be in any format, banner ads, video, etc. — and will compete against four other ads, which are then ranked 1-5.

It’s a good idea, appealing to both advertisers and users, and even the uninitiated — as a frequent Digg user, I’m suffering from Mixx-remorse, as the number of hours spent on Digg could have meant exciting prizes and notoriety on Mixx.

Let’s see if Digg responds, well not ‘if’, but when, as it has been long speculated that Digg was working on something similar to Mixx Sifter.