iMedia Connection Blog

Our friends over at BlueKai have done it -- they've taken the nerdiness that all digital marketers wear as a badge of honor and elevated it to a new level. You really must check out its ad-tech parody of "Gangnam Style." In fact, you have to check it out twice -- once to giggle dorkily at all the industry inside jokes in the captions. And a second time to appreciate the dance moves.
Bonus: Check out the iMedia Summit team's cameo at 2:43!

Long-form branded video content isn't the easiest nut to crack. Asking for even 30 seconds of a person's time online is asking -- well -- quite a lot. But five minutes? Ten minutes? Good luck.
But on Monday morning at the iMedia Brand Summit in Coronado, attendees got a glimpse behind the curtain of Intel and HP's groundbreaking music video campaign "Tiësto: In the Booth." For the campaign, the two companies sponsored a dynamic YouTube series of long-form videos that delivered a behind-the-scenes look at the world tour of electronic music superstar Tiësto.
Mark Vaiciulis, global marketing manager for Intel, noted that the videos showcased the ways in which Tiësto employs technology to create his music and communicate with his legions of fans. The videos incorporated HP and Intel technology in an authentic way, and that authenticity came through -- in the form of more than 230 million press impressions. And beyond just pulling in eyeballs, the campaign exceeded goals when it came to increases in both brand favorability and purchase intent.
As a part of the campaign, HP and Intel partnered with Sharethrough to generate viewership and sharing of the videos. Mike Gaffney, CRO of Sharethrough, noted that the distribution of such... Read more

iMedia's audience asked for it, and we listened. Back by popular demand, iMedia is proud to kick off the 2nd Annual iMedia Next Wave Startup Challenge and Showcase.
Nominations are now open! Submit yours here by July 6.

Next Wave offers an opportunity for early stage start-ups across media and marketing categories to garner the attention and consideration of the world's leading brands and agencies. This year, our focus is on all things mobile, with the nomination categories spanning mobile entertainment, mobile shopping and commerce, and mobile campaign management and analysis.
Nominated companies will be vetted by an iMedia mobile advisory board, and 30 companies will move on to vie for votes on iMedia Connection this summer. Through the voting process, 12 companies (four in each category) will get the chance to pitch more than 300 digital marketing, venture capital, and agency elite during the iMedia Breakthrough Summit Showcase held at the iMedia Breakthrough Summit in October. An onsite vote will determine the Next Wave winner.
Think this is just another startup contest? Think again. Last year's winner, Viddy, recently scored $30 million in funding and has been called "the Instagram of video." As evidenced by Viddy and other finalists from last year, Next... Read more

In the culmination of a nearly two-month quest to identify the hottest new tech startups, attendees of the iMedia Breakthrough Summit named their top picks for the companies that digital marketers need to be watching.
On Tuesday night, nine companies -- three each in the categories of brand engagement and awareness, digital commerce and digital signage, and shopper marketing -- took to the stage to present their unique value propositions in the world of digital technology. These nine finalists were hand-selected among nearly 30 candidates by you, the iMedia audience, during a several-week voting period leading up to the event.
The winners, as selected by Breakthrough attendees, are:
Brand Engagement and Awareness

Winner: Viddy
Runners-up: GetThis, TopVoice

Digital Commerce and Digital Signage
Winner: Keepio
Runners-up: Adaptly, TapIt!

Shopper Marketing
Winner: Receept
Receept is an online platform for receipt aggregation and digital delivery.
Receipts are a hassle. Consumers struggle to organize the thousands of receipts that they receive each year, each one either on a different paper size and type or adding to an already-crowded email inbox. Receept members can finally put all of their receipts in one secure location using their web browser or smartphone. By having all of this purchase data organized and easily available, returns and exchanges, expense... Read more