Category Archives: Personalities

by MarCom

A Look Into RTB’s Quality, Ad Impressions, Data & Future

Some call it real-time bidding (RTB) 2.0, and others simply believe that RTB has not yet reached a level of maturity satisfying for brands and agencies. In a recent panel at OMMA RTB in New York City, debates broke out over issues surrounding metrics, content, quality of inventory, and how the world of RTB has actually evolved.

With digital advertising’s adoption of audience targeting, it’s become common to hear the phrase, “reach the right audience, with the right message, at the right time and in the right place.” However, there has been a lot of debate over the value of “place” or “content and context” within RTB.  If you are reaching the right audience at an optimal time, does inventory matter? Does media placement make much of a difference in RTB — or is it just the data?

On the one hand, as long as agencies are meeting KPIs, they don’t care about controlling content, as long as it’s not anything offensive. On the flip side, many marketers disagree and say that the context of the placement and publisher that an agency works with is critical – but in a way where you can still pick the user. Rob Griffin, EVP/director of product development at Havas Media, and Joel Nierman, marketing and media director at Critical Mass, later noted that there really are no bad impressions, only bad valuations. You are either willing to pay a higher rate for selective content and/or you are willing to pay more on an RTB platform for a specific user.

Another hot-button topic for the panel was viewability. Anne Hunter, SVP advertising effectiveness at comScore, stated that the average percent of viewable ad impressions is between 60%-70% on premium inventory and 40%-50% on non-premium/exchange inventory. The problem here is that any ads that were not viewable by the user still placed an exposure pixel, even if the user never actually saw the ad. Thus, if that user proceeds to fill out a survey or buy a product, the non-viewable ad will appear to have had real business value for the brand and will be given credit, when in fact it was never seen by the user.

In order to get an accurate account of performance and set pricing according to market demands, marketers and publishers should focus on only counting ads that are seen. At the publisher level, the infinite amount of pixel dropping hurts a publisher’s price, since it shows a massive number of impressions available for cheap, making it harder to price the real quality inventory. Therefore, publishers providing quality inventory still might not look as if they’re performing.

Peter Naylor shared NBC Universal’s story of adapting to the viewable impression. As an early adopter, NBC Universal began making changes for viewability back in 2010. Initially, there was a 30% reduction in inventory, but also a substantial increase in ad effectiveness, which in turn led to higher pricing opportunities, according to Naylor.

For marketers, the viewability issue affects performance and spend. If a high percentage of ads are not even seen, then there’s a large amount of money spent on wasted impressions. Additionally, since agencies rely on what the conversion data tells them in order to determine what an impression is actually worth, they may be allocating money and optimizing to a bot vs. an actual end user.

The overall sentiment on OMMA’s panel was that issues of inventory quality, ad impressions and the use of data will remain top-of-mind for marketers. However, depending on a client’s goals, some will care more about some issues than others. As Griffin said, “History does repeat itself.” The reality is that we are now solving the next stage of challenges for RTB 2.0.

Originally published on MediaPost RTB Insider on 2/22/13

by James Green

The Truth About Big Data

In today’s increasingly data-driven world, it’s interesting that there remain a number of misconceptions and hesitations surrounding big data. The most significant misconception is that many marketers refer to big data as a thing when it is simply a trend. While some marketers are wary of it, others are excited and ready to use the insights that big data can offer.

It’s not far off to say that big data has forever changed the advertising industry. Data touches every channel – TV, social, mobile, video, display, search and so on. And as it’s produced on an ongoing basis, marketers should look to big data to help to determine what a target demographic cares about, as well as how to use data across channels.

Using Data Across Channels

Aaron Fetters, director of insights and analytics solutions at Kellogg, recently stated “The digital strategy group uses the data to figure out how social media should play a role with Kellogg’s other digital touch-points.” Fetters’ comment shows that knowing what data to use is critical. In this case, the Kellogg team seems to focus on how information derived from social media can influence other digital channels.

The ability to track everything down to an individual, product, sale and behavior is something that was not available prior to the growth of big data. However, the one thing we all must realize is that you don’t necessarily need to track everything. Today, marketers need to focus on what data matters to your own brand and business. Relying too much on data is never a good thing.

Ad Targeting Fail

For example, a Notre Dame fan recently visited the sports site ndnation.com to read up on the hard loss of the national title. Upon his visit, he was welcomed by ads for Alabama featuring, “Congrats Alabama State Champs.” As he clicked through the adchoices icon, he found that Google was behind the ad targeting.

In this case, there was too much reliance on automation and data, and therefore, the information was not mined correctly. Sure, the content of the page included Alabama and Notre Dame, and the user probably was identified as a football fan and may have even searched for information about football. But, in the end, thanks to relying solely on data and machines, the Alabama ad was targeted to a Notre Dame fan on a Notre Dame site-specific page.

The key takeaway here is that we don’t want to end up relying on data for all decisions and great ideas. The human eye and big ideas are still needed today, and sometimes, they can’t be driven by data alone.

Data For Optimization

At the end of day, the main use of the data is to help marketers to identity what is working and what isn’t worth dedicating a marketing budget to moving forward. Data help adjust, refine and optimize campaigns and complete strategies in a way that benefits both the brands and the consumers. These benefits help foster a deeper relationship between the advertiser and their audiences.

When it comes to search retargeting, big data is a major part of how retargeters reach their target consumer. From keyword lists to word optimization and creative, search retargeting uses tremendous amounts of big data to first identify a brand’s target audience and then determine where the audience is located across the Web. As a result, the best ads are served to the right audiences at the correct time.

Marketers are sitting on a gold mine of information that’s just waiting to be unearthed. The amount of data we have access to is going to grow exponentially for the foreseeable future. Use it or lose.

Originally published in Marketing Land on 1/21/2013

 

by James Green

5 Ways to Push Your Company Past the Startup Phase

Any entrepreneur who has launched a company will tell you that running a startup is stressful, time-consuming and full of high risk. Before a company is truly able to transition into the growth stage of its business, it must pass through many ups and downs. But while roughly 80 percent of startups fail in the first five years, there are a number of things that entrepreneurs can do internally, to help push their company past startup and into phase two. Here are the most important things to keep in mind.

1. Start with a great idea. It might seem simple, but having a great idea—either a groundbreaking new product or an innovative service—is half the battle. If you have a great idea and are able to identify the appropriate market, then the company will grow organically and investors will line up to obtain a piece of the business. But if you find that you’re having trouble securing interest from investors, then something is simply not clicking. Either your idea isn’t as great as you thought it was, or there isn’t enough market potential for it. If this happens, it’s time to take your idea in a slightly different direction. You’ll have to keep doing this until you hit something that works, or run out of money.

2. Find the best people. The team behind the idea is essential to making the business stick. During your company’s time as a startup, the first 10 employees are often people who are specially fit for this phase: They’re well-rounded, flexible and extremely innovative. During the startup phase, you want a team of aggressive generalists who are able to pitch in and do anything necessary at the drop of a hat.

But as the company develops and expands over time, you’ll need fewer generalists and more specialists. You’ll need people who create the technology behind your product, a separate salesforce, an operations department and a management team. And all these people must be excellent within their given area because there’s no room for error.

If a startup idea isn’t compelling enough to secure funding but the team behind the idea is solid, your chance for investment increases. But keep in mind that the first employees who you hire very likely will not be the same ones that you’ll end up with 10 years later.

3. An MBA education is not necessary. At best, an education can be an indicator of ability. However, it’s important to understand that a lack of education is not an indication of the lack of ability. While hiring from top universities is an easy way to identify promising employees, there are plenty of high-caliber individuals who may not have a Harvard Business School degree.

This is especially true in entrepreneurship. Some of the most successful entrepreneurs–such as Bill Gates and Steve Jobs–did not receive degrees from undergraduate or graduate programs. And your clients will not care where you went to school; what they will care about is whether you’re smart, capable and have a great team supporting the idea.

4. Don’t get too attached. Once you have a working product and a few clients, it’s then time to scale your company. As mentioned, this may take different types of people than those you started with, as specialists will be essential to the company’s long-term success and growth. Some of your original employees will be able make this transition and some won’t. It’s a simple fact.

While it may sound counterintuitive, it’s important to remain unattached to both your company and employees. If one of the original 10 people is no longer an asset to the company, you need to sit down with him or her, talk through it and fix the issue. Sometimes the issue can be fixed and sometimes it can’t. If it can’t, it’s best to sever ties as soon as possible for the sake of the company.

Sometimes good people have to be let go because they no longer fit with the company’s mission or needs—this is something that must be accepted. A company is not a living and breathing organism that will love you back; it exists solely to make money. So if it isn’t making money, then what’s the point?

5. Always be transparent. This last point is important. A team should know the truth about what’s going on at any company and this is especially true at a startup. Your employees are (hopefully) fully invested—living and breathing your company’s mantra day in and day out. They deserve access to information from the management team and will expect an honest working environment. Since startup companies are already high-risk, employees should be provided with a constant sense of security and transparency wherever and whenever possible. And in the worst-case scenario—when there’s bad news to share—it at least will not come as a complete shock to employees.

Launching a start-up is tough, but moving past start-up and into phase two can be even tougher. If you have a great idea and the right team behind your product, there’s always potential. And if you’re also a good manager on top of having a great idea and team, then your company should be well on its way to long-term success.

 

Article originally published on AMEX Open Forum

by James Green

Wall Street Journal Interview: Saying ‘No’ to Steve Jobs

Recent Interview With The Wall Street Journal:

WSJ: You started off as a cellist, majoring in music at McGill University. How did you get into the business world?

Green: I said to myself, ‘If I haven’t made it big by the time I’m 24, I’m going to quit and do something else.’ I knew tons of talented musicians who were playing in hotel lobbies and bar mitzvahs, and I did not want to do that. I wanted to be a rock star. So I went to UCLA business school at 24.

WSJ: What was your goal?

Green: I wanted to go into the music industry before business school, but the best job I could find was as an intern at RCA Canada. Then, in the first week of school, I got a summer job offer from Salomon Brothers for $1,000 a week. How amazing is that? What that taught me was marketing and positioning — that if you reposition something, suddenly someone sees so much more value.

WSJ: Describe your path after B-school.

Green: I went to New York and worked for a couple startups. None of those companies really worked. I interviewed at a bunch of large companies and joined Walt Disney. I helped build up its international film distribution, opening 20 offices across Europe and Asia in five years. It was fantastic – like being at a startup with unlimited funds.

After I opened the European offices, my boss let me open offices in Asia. I asked to run the Japan office, which was losing money. I turned an $8 million loss into an $8 million profit in the first few months just by reorganizing the office. In Japan, they don’t like breaking rules, and I sort of love breaking rules. I consolidated advertising buying and let some people go. When I finished, I asked for another job. They didn’t have one and my contract was up, so I left with nowhere to go.

WSJ: This was 1997. What did you do next?

 Green: During my time at Disney, I met and became friends with John Lasseter, founder of Pixar – and through him, ended up meeting Steve Jobs. He was looking to hire someone at Pixar to liaise with Disney. Jobs interviewed me at his house in Palo Alto.

WSJ: What was the interview like?

Green: There was a very awkward moment when he said, ‘You know, James, I really love these new things called DVDs and I want to show you how amazing Pixar movies look on them.’ So he took me into his bedroom to show me, and I was thinking, ‘Okay, now I’m in Steve Jobs’ bedroom watching a DVD with him. Awkward.’

WSJ: Did you get the job?

Green: He offered me a job then and there, and I said ‘No.’ Pixar had a distribution deal with Disney, and he wanted someone to manage their relationship. I felt it was a no-win job. So he offered me another job, doing new business development and marketing for Pixar. But after I started, he slowly but surely moved me back to the liaison position, and I started messing up. I was there for three or four months. I resigned before Steve could fire me, basically.

 WSJ: So then you got into the turnaround business?

Green: By then, the internet was taking off. I started an online ad server with some Australians I met through my girlfriend. We launched Sabela Media, a competitor to DoubleClick, in 1998, and sold it in 2000 for $75 million. The investors were happy with the results and hired me to turn around three companies after that.

Turnarounds are some of the hardest things you ever have to do. In each, I had to lay off people and reposition the company. All of them were sold. I ended up doing this for 10 years, and I got really burned out. So I went sailing for a year [from 2010 to 2011].

WSJ: How do you lay off workers?

Green: The easiest is when it’s got nothing to do with them. Say, ‘You’re fantastic, but here’s how the company is doing, and we’ll have to let some people go.’ Ask how they want to handle it: Do they want to say they resigned? Do they want to keep their email address for awhile so they can look for a job? It’s tougher when they’re no good. I avoid talking about their lack of performance, and try to focus on the future while being as gentle as humanly possible.

WSJ: But you don’t think staffing turnover is always a bad thing. Why?

Green:  You need different kinds of people at different stages of a company’s growth. In the beginning, you just need a finance person who can be a bookkeeper. As you get bigger, you need someone who can manage cash flow, and as you get even bigger, someone who can raise capital. Sometimes your No. 1 becomes your No. 2 because you hire people above them.

WSJ: How do you demote someone without creating resentment?

Green: Try not to position it as a demotion. Give them a raise, tell them what a good job they’re doing. At Magnetic, I’ve hired a new chief revenue officer, VP of data and chief technology officer – and all these positions have people under them who are still with the company in No. 2 roles. Be open and honest. It’s hard to hurt people when there are no surprises.

WSJ: You’ve told employees that getting attached to a company can backfire. Why?

Green:  I tell them not to get attached, because companies have no feelings or loyalty. The only reason a company exists is to make money. When you start having some emotional connection, you make irrational decisions. What you need to focus on is what you need, and what the company can do for you.

by James Green

What Kids Can Teach us About Marketing’s Future

Here are some events from my children’s lives that illustrate the future of marketing:

  • We moved into a new place and chose not to sign up for cable. Neither my 12-year-old daughter nor my 9-year-old son seems to care. Instead, we have a big fat Internet connection, and they buy what they want from Netflix, Amazon, iTunes, and others.
  • Neither of my kids “own” music. My daughter, the family’s music aficionado, loves to use Spotify.
  • My son is more interested in watching videos about games than watching TV shows. This year, he requested a video-game birthday party.

These trends make me believe in a data-driven audience, and that distribution and consumption have fractured into niches. No matter what my kids are consuming, you want to know what they want to buy.

** Originally posted on Yahoo’s Advertising Blog on  10/18/12

by James Green

Will Search Engines One Day Be Overcome With Display Ads?

Last month, Google’s famously streamlined white homepage was plastered with something different: an animated banner ad.

Since Google has been credited as an ad-free (or, at least, display-ad-free) search engine, the animated banner ad for the Nexus 7 Android tablet came as a bit of a shock to both Google users and the wider industry. While this wasn’t the first time Google used its homepage to showcase products, was it a smart move by Google?

In today’s shareholder-value-centric paradigm, companies are principally run by profitability. Whenever a company says that it will never do something, that never ultimately restricts its ability to generate revenue and increase profits.

Google’s Change Of Heart

In Google’s case, its promise to put user experience above profitability was broken long ago. Good examples of Google’s change of heart include when the search engine included Google+ within search results, at the expense of other social networks, and when it decided to feature Zagat results at the expense of Yelp or other local search providers.

Search for the term [tablet] and there’s a chance Google will include a sponsored section at the top of each search page, which features its products alongside those of RIM but excludes Apple, presumably because Apple doesn’t pay to be included. As a result, when one searches on Google for [tablet,] results related to Apple’s iPad are barely visible at the very bottom of the screen. Given Apple’s huge market share in the tablet market, its products should really be showing up at the top of any search screen.

But this whole strategy isn’t entirely wrong. Despite its famous Don’t Be Evil slogan, Google is ultimately a major, publicly-traded company – albeit one that brings immense utility and pleasure to its users.

Return Of The Portal?

Like any other big company, Google is trying to make as much money as possible for its shareholders, and sometimes accomplishing this requires the application of a degree of strategy. Here, the strategy requires locking users within Google’s platform to as great a degree as possible.

Google is not alone in pursuing this strategy. Each of the big media players (Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft) are doing everything within their power to keep consumers within their publisher network and away from their competitors’ sites.

The real trend here is that these companies are all attempting to win the war by monetizing eyeballs, clicks, shares and recommendations, creating a virtuous circle of user engagement and revenue generation.

So how will Google’s move to animated banner ads on search pages affect the industry? One thing to remember is that this isn’t the first time that Google has done something of this nature, and it certainly won’t be the last.

Less Is More

While Google is generally held to higher standards than other search engines, consumers and the industry should expect that the company will move forward with plans that promote its own products. However, Google’s strategy to use display ads rarely is key; pushing ads out on a regular basis would hurt both its reputation and its products. Google is tactical when placing ads on its prime white real estate and is aware that people wouldn’t use Google as often if it were bursting with ads.

Of course, from my point of view, there is a little bit of irony in this most recent example: the search giant reverting to display ads to push its products. Because that’s what search retargeting is: remembering what consumers search for and then serving display ads based on those searches as consumers move around the web. Now, whom should I call to buy inventory on the Google home page?

Article originally published on MarketingLand on 10/1/12

by James Green

Data Hunting Season: Most Effective Times Of The Year To Add Data To Your Media Plan

As with buying stocks, timing is everything when it comes to leveraging data to reach your target audience.

Today, brands have the opportunity to capitalize on the abundance of inventory and data available to plan their marketing initiatives. When combined with media, these ingredients create the perfect recipe to apply targeted advertising to seasonal events.

From the Super Bowl to holiday shopping and political events, there are a multitude of seasonal opportunities for marketers to strategize against. Below, I have highlighted the most effective times during the year for marketers to add data to their media plans.

1. Seasonal Shopping Periods

Consumers spent more than $35.3 billion online in 2011 between November 1st and December 26th alone. Marketers planning a holiday retail strategy must look closely at consumer behavior from the previous year. This will help to determine the most optimal time to reach their intended audience and which strategies to implement.

While big picture marketing strategies differ by brand, all retail brands share a common goal in this seasonal period: to drive conversions and sell products.

Retargeting is the best method to drive sales because it leverages display advertising for performance marketing in two effective ways:

  1. Site retargeting enables brands to reach consumers who have indicated interest through website behavior.
  2. Search retargeting helps brands to scale their display targeting strategies by focusing on consumers who have searched for specific keywords. These keywords might be specific brand terms, lifestyle terms or even competitive terms that signal a consumer is in-market for a product.

Retail brands should also consider additional online marketing opportunities such as Valentine’s Day, back-to-school, President’s Day sales and more.

2. Entertainment/Lifestyle Activities

The 2012 Summer Olympics was a great example of a global event where a variety of brands had the opportunity to apply data to their media buys. In the case of the Olympics, and other major, live events such as the World Series, Super Bowl, Grammys and Oscars, brands can utilize data to amplify their branding campaigns and forge deeper connections with their audiences.

According to David Elms, head of media at KPMG, “The demand from the public for online coverage and other digital offerings during the Games (Olympics) was overwhelming. It has given a huge boost to advertisers in this area and shows that the various growth predictions we have seen over the last few months are probably not far off the mark.”

Data-driven marketing can also be extended across seasonal campaigns during sports seasons. An example of this was seen in last year’s Jack in the Box promotion, which incorporated a Twitter hashtag #marrybacon and a display campaign encouraging consumers to visit a dedicated microsite, www.Marrybacon.com.

Mobile and tablet components were also part of the quick service restaurant’s digital strategy. John Gross, strategist and account director at StruckAxiom, said Jack in The Box’s digital campaign “focuses on extending the TV ad’s story line,” to drive users to other platforms. Of course, all of this digital activity produced additional data points for Jack in the Box to optimize against and leverage for future multi-channel campaigns.

3. Other Notable Seasonal Events: Tax Season & Political Events

We all know that April is an important month for Americans preparing tax returns and budgeting for the forthcoming fiscal year. Brands such as Turbo Tax and H&R Block should incorporate targeting strategies, such as retargeting, demographic targeting and even behavioral targeting into their marketing campaigns. This will allow them to build consumer awareness and locate those customers in need of tax assistance.

For instance, a brand might choose to target consumers who have searched for specific terms like “online tax prep.” To further leverage the data points available to marketers, they should personalize these messages according to additional data relevant to income and geographic location.

These techniques are equally powerful in the political sphere. Applying data to online campaigns is a great way for politicians to tap into areas of the country that need additional exposure. For instance, candidates can apply additional ad dollars to target a specific demographic in particular swing states.

Candidates can also choose to target voters based on their interest in a particular campaign issue. For instance, fiscal voters could be targeted with banner ads advertising a candidate’s tax plans, while social-based voters would receive similarly appropriate ads. By applying a variety of data-driven advertising to these particular events, brands can cost-effectively drive response and increase brand visibility amongst specific, yet highly relevant, audiences.

The bottom line is that to remain competitive, brands must plan their campaigns with seasonal opportunities in mind to drive conversions and increase brand awareness.

Search retargeting and site retargeting are two powerful strategies that can be augmented by other data-driven opportunities within digital advertising, and even other areas of display media such as mobile, social and video.

To capitalize on the endless opportunities available, marketers must utilize strategies that balance precision with scale. With the largest shopping season around the corner, as well as other huge events like Halloween, Valentine’s Day and the Super Bowl, the most successful brands will be those that tap into big data and media in the digital space.

 

Article originally published on Marketing Land on 9/4/12

by James Green

Targeted Advertising: Gaining Ground For Branding Campaigns

To date, branding has often been associated with billboards, magazine spreads and million-dollar TV spots. In online advertising, this translates to large media buys with premium publishers, including spots such as site sponsorships and homepage takeovers.

However, where do data and ad targeting fit into the branding equation? Is there a place for branding campaigns within the world of ad targeting and real-time media buying? The answer is yes.

Large brands such as Proctor & Gamble (P&G) and Unilever have already commented publicly about moving brand dollars to digital — crediting their shift in ad spend to the cost savings and ability to have more 1:1 conversations with target consumers.

Other brands, both large and small, will likely follow suit and spend more of their advertising budgets on digital. We have already started to see this trend come alive in search retargeting — especially as more brands begin to couple data with more engaging ad formats, such as rich media and online video.

The truth is, branding campaigns have an opportunity to tap into digital channels and take advantage of the data revolution, which we typically refer to as “targeted awareness.”

Let’s first begin by clearly defining the online world of branding, targeted awareness and direct response:

There are two distinct catalysts for brands choosing to integrate ad targeting into their online advertising strategy:

  1. Data: The rise of data has created an opportunity for marketers to couple data and media together. With an improved access to data, brands can now leverage search retargeting and behavioral ad targeting for their branding campaigns.
  2. Digital Innovation: The innovation behind digital display allows brands to reach consumers with high-impact advertising in real time. This includes the integration of online video, rich media and interactive ad formats with data intelligence.

How To Tame Targeted Advertising For A Brand Campaign

So, how can advertisers leverage targeted awareness for their branding campaigns? Targeted awareness is all about using data to complement branding initiatives.

For starters, there is a lot of content being consumed beyond the large publishers. With this in mind, when brands purchase site buys or sponsorships, it’s imperative that they also immediately consider ways to amplify their reach.

For example, a brand may choose to align with ESPN.com for sporting content. However, the same consumers who read and visit ESPN.com may also be found cruising sites such as nbcsports.com, allsports.com or menshealth.com.

To extend the scale beyond what a single publisher can offer, brands should consider purchasing access to audiences through ad exchanges in real-time. Doing so allows brands to reach and target consumers throughout their experiences across a multitude of publisher channels, and at a lower price.

Let’s take our example one step further and consider that Under Armour is running a large ad buy on ESPN.com. To augment their reach, Under Armour should consider additional ways to increase its media exposure amongst relevant audiences.

By leveraging data, Under Armour could target consumers who have previously searched for sports-related keywords or who have indicated interest in key categories such as sports and fitness.

One way to accomplish this strategy would be to purchase audiences and ad placements on remnant inventory via the ad exchanges. Such ads might be video, standard banners or rich media — and could re-direct consumers to Under Armour’s larger media buy on ESPN.com or to a specific landing page for the brand.

Measuring Branding Success

Another key component to consider when running a targeted awareness campaign is measurement. Measurement for branding campaigns might be based on clicks, driving new traffic to the brand’s website, site activity or ad engagement.

Before testing targeted awareness, marketers must define their goals and work with their partner on the best targeting strategy for the campaign. A great way to test if a campaign has performed well in the targeted awareness bucket is to conduct a short-term brand study, through which you are able to measure brand lift. Companies like Vizu and comScore are great partners to consider for brand studies.

Ultimately, times are changing and brands now have many more options when moving ad dollars to digital. Ad targeting, real-time media buying and data are no longer just for performance campaigns — brands do have a place within the targeting arena.

With this in mind, consider how ad targeting can magnify your brand’s exposure and strengthen reach amongst relevant audiences for your next branding campaign.

 

Article originally published on Marketing Land on 8/6/12