iMedia Connection Blog

During her Insight Presentation at the iMedia InFocus Summit in Chicago, Maureen Sullivan, the SVP & GM Lifestyle Brands & Women’s Content of AOL, wowed attendees by detailing the inspirational ways AOL speaks to women via branded content. However, before providing examples of AOL’s partnership with Unilever and PBS to create amazing content, Sullivan explained the new rules of branded content.
Firstly, Sullivan advised attendees to “Get ready for the new line.” The old line separating brands and content was tantamount to the divide between church and state. However, the future is about moving forward and understanding the crowded content space. In Sullivan’s mind, the dividing line has become a “quality bar,” and only powerful, relevant branded content will “cut through the clutter.”
The second rule of branded content is to “Commit to being a publisher.” According to Sullivan, “Whether you want to be or not, you are a publisher now. You have to embrace it.” Although brands may feel like fish out of water when entering the content arena, they need to “recognize that [they] are fish” and start swimming. In order to do so, brands need to enter into great partnerships to stay competitive (or afloat -- if you will).... Read more

Facebook's mission is to make the world open and connected. To a marketer, this means data. At the iMedia Agency Summit, Facebook's Erin Hunter explored how big data is dramatically changing the game.

Erin Hunter is Facebook's global head of CPG marketing. In a nutshell, she works with global advertisers to best leverage the world's largest social platform. She pairs her colossal day job with motorcycle racing -- holding two Guinness Book World Records for high-speed racing. So, when she speaks, you listen.

At the iMedia agency Summit in Austin, Texas, Hunter delivered an insight address entitled "Real people, the right people, connected people: How big data drives better marketing in a connected world." In her talk, hunter discussed how savvy marketers are reaching their customers on the right device at the right place and time. In addition, she detailed the powerful new ways marketers can reach and engage consumers as a result of large data sets.

Hunter began by discussing the ideal marketing system. What does this Utopian system look like? First, you reach the right people. Second, you reach all of the right people. And lastly, you have to engage them and make them love your brand. But, as Hunter asked, "How do... Read more

At the (ridiculously beautiful) Terranea Resort, during the iMedia Video Summit, Randall Beard, the global head of advertising solutions at Nielsen, shared some fascinating insights in his address entitled, "Cross-Platform Measurement: The Current State and Future Opportunities."

In today's multi-device world, where consumers view content on several platforms, a marketer's ability to understand who is viewing ads and how the ads resonate with viewers is becoming more and more of a challenge. To begin to address this issue, Nielsen identified the top three questions clients ask regarding cross-platform campaign management, also known as "client pain points":

How much should I spend?
How do I allocate across platforms?
How do I optimize in real time?

To provide the information necessary to answer these questions, Beard discussed Nielsen's "3R framework" -- a simple formula to evaluate marketing success. The "3Rs" consist of reach, resonance, and reaction:

Reach: The initial goal of advertising is to reach the intended audience.
Resonance: After delivering the impression, the advertisement must break through to actually communicate with the audience and influence opinion.
Reaction: If the advertisement reaches and resonates with the consumer, a behavior change will occur likely resulting in an increase in sales.

By measuring the 3Rs across all screens and devices, Nielsen believes it... Read more

The constant flow of inspirational ideas paired with the beautiful grounds, amazing food, and friendly atmosphere of the iMedia Breakthrough Summit provide a goldmine of potential blog topics.
I could go on and on about the Colorado River hiking trail, the hotel’s lazy river, or the sheer beauty of the resort, but during Tuesday’s keynote presentation, “Shaping the Future of Marketing Innovation,” a key summit theme emerged that deserves a post of its own.
The keynote’s speaker, Stephanie Bauer Marshall, is the director of precision marketing insights at Verizon Wireless -- a business segment Marshall launched this year that provides brands with custom solutions powered by insights based on customer mobile engagement, location, and demographic information. The revolutionary rise of mobile allows marketers to make smart data-driven decisions by understanding the constantly connected consumer’s behavior. In other words, Verizon’s new business line helps brands better understand the customer’s relationship with their mobile device by distilling valuable behavioral data.
The existence of Verizon’s precision marketing division points to an overarching theme that has clearly emerged from the Breakthrough Summit: The key to mobile is understanding the new connected consumer.
During her speech, Marshall treated summit attendees to a glimpse into Verizon’s mobile strategy and offered... Read more

Today, the IAB released its internet advertising revenue report prepared by PwC U.S. In the first half of 2012, internet advertising revenue reached an all-time high: $17 billion -- up 14 percent year-over-year. Q1 2012 accounted for approximately $8.3 billion and Q2 2012 totaled roughly $8.7 billion (up from the $7.7 billion Q2 of 2011).
The big star of IAB's report is Mobile, which, according to David Silverman, a partner at PwC, experienced "revolutionary growth." Nearly doubling its year-over-year numbers, Mobile hit 1.2 billion in the first half of 2012, up 95 percent. Silverman attributes the staggering growth of mobile advertising revenue to "the importance of location to advertisers and mobility to consumers. Bringing the power of the internet to mobile devices has opened up a world of possibilities to both consumers and marketers." As a result, mobile spending currently accounts for 7 percent of internet advertising.
In addition, digital video advertising experienced an increase of 18 percent year-over-year, bringing in more than $1 billion in revenue for the first half of 2012. Interestingly, video's market share remained stagnant, accounting for a total of 6 percent. In addition, up 19 percent to $8.1 billion, search retains the largest share of the revenue.... Read more