Home › iMedia Connection Blog › August, 2009

Archive for August, 2009

Will Online Video Ever Be Taken Seriously?

Posted by Jay Friedman on August 31st, 2009 at 12:00 am

Online video and its "growth" sure is all the rage lately.  Article after article are written about its weed-like growth.  A real problem for the growth of this aspect of online is that most of the videos being viewed are, well, garbage.  Garbage that most brands don't want to be associated with.
Look at these two graphs:

 
14.2% growth is huge when the base was already over 100MM users.  The problem is that the number of users watching good quality content suitable for most advertisers rather than people jumping off houses into trampolines is not anywhere near 100MM.
In fact, the second graph shows that YouTube streamed more than four times the number of videos that the next nine largest sites streamed combined.  YouTube also had more uniques than all the others combined.  What's on YouTube?  Some quality, but mostly videos of people doing things like jumping off trampolines into houses.
For online video to become a larger part of most brand marketers' plans rather than just a small number of brand marketers' plans, studios and content owners might pay attention to the "figure out the revenue model later" adopted by so many successful online companies.Facebook, Twitter, even Quantcast on the B2B... Read more

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Video | No Comments »

As Digital Marketers, We're Only One Day Old!

Posted by Rob Rose on August 30th, 2009 at 12:00 am

The Internet turns forty on Tuesday.  I hear it's getting a divorce and trading us in for a younger crowd. And, for its birthday maybe we should all pitch in and give it a new, flashy muscle car and a bottle of Rogaine.
So, I know that this date - September 2nd (or even 1969) - as the "birthday" of the Internet is up for debate.  Some people would cite 1961 when the first paper on packet-switching technology was written. Or, others (and I would agree), hold to 1969 when the Defense Department commissioned ARPANet to research a "communication and command network".  Or, some others would hold to the 1970's or even wait to the 1980's when the TCP and IP protocols were brought to the forefront.  
But in any event, the 40th "birthday" got me to thinking about how extraordinarily young and inexperienced we really are with this whole Online Marketing thing.   I thought it would be interesting (and mostly just fun and hopefully humorous) to look at the 40 year history of Digital marketing through the context of one day at work.
So, you've all seen the charts of earth's history as one showing modern human existence and comparing it to one day.   So, let's look... Read more

Posted in Opinions | No Comments »

Creativing :: The IRS and LAPD give social media the stamp of approval

Posted by Doug Schumacher on August 28th, 2009 at 12:00 am

My weekly update of what's going on in new media marketing, pulled from social bookmarking site Creativing.com:
Scale: The Importance of Cafe-Shaped Experiences
A good excerpt from Chris Brogan's new book "Trust Agents". It speaks to how the scope of much product development and it's related marketing is downsizing, or going niche. And with both products and marketing going less mass, it requires a more personal touch. That effects profitability for sales and cost-effectiveness for marketing. The challenge of doing more for less is all-too-familiar in marketing circles today. This article is a bet that won't be changing any time soon. It's an interesting dilemma, because the big question many marketers have for social media is its scalability. Companies accustomed to running national mass media campaigns who then try social media as a more personal approach to marketing often report the lack of a blip on the radar screen of sales or traffic. Perhaps the mass media model will need to take further hits in acceptance or credibility for this trend to completely play out. Or, maybe social media will find new ways to scale the impact of more personal conversations. Whatever the case, a more personalized approach takes time and diligence.... Read more

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Creative Best Practices | No Comments »

No 'Apocalypse', but Ad Network landscape flattening

Posted by Mario Sgambelluri on August 28th, 2009 at 12:00 am

A year ago, there was a lot of buzz about how many ad networks there were and how the market couldn't possibly support so many. "Shakeout threatens to thin out web-ad brokers," warned the Wall Street Journal. But "no apocalyptic shakeout has hit yet," according to a recent Ad Age op-ed.
Why? For one, Ad Networks are riding $1.5 billion in venture capitol raised over the past five years, says the Ad Age op-ed. Also, as the web continues to grow and fracture, Ad Networks are the cheapest, easiest way for some advertisers to reach the most people.
Of course, whether or not ad networks are the most effective way to reach people is currently under hot debate.
What next for the ad network space? From the Ad Age op-ed: "Continued commoditization of pricing and tighter margins" will create a world where "many ad networks will survive but relatively few will flourish and become great businesses."

Posted in Ad Networks | No Comments »

Attention Retailers: Are You Looking Beyond the Research?

Posted by Zephrin Lasker on August 27th, 2009 at 12:00 am

On the surface, the latest research in retail marketing paves a clear road to success. According to an article in ClickZ, back to school searches on Google are significantly up. Specifically, searches that reflect more cautious spending: searches for "coupon" are up 40% over last year; "buy one get one free" are up 30%; "free shipping" are up 20%.
Some more retail research: Based on Deloitte's latest Consumer Spending Index, consumer spending is on the rise (an increase of 2.15% in July, the second straight month of growth). At the same time, shoppers continue to be extremely price-sensitive. The National Retail Federation's recent study conducted by BIGresearch found that over 50% of holiday shoppers consider price to be the most important factor when determining where to shop.
What this looks like for retailers is that for the two major upcoming shopping seasons – back to school and the Holidays – there may be a very straightforward opportunity: shoppers are more comfortable spending, but they need to be motivated though special deals and discounts.
It would be easy to conclude then, that with the right call to action, your problems are solved. If you're offering free shipping, just say so. If you... Read more

Posted in Media Planning & Buying | No Comments »

« Older Entries