While in NYC last week, I attended a digital conference at which there was tremendous buzz about Facebook—it’s rampant growth, the value of the Facebook ad exchange, and about their mobile and attribution products. No one can argue the transformation that has occurred globally, in terms of both a cultural shift and an enormous user base.
I also spent some time with my two daughters and their friends while in town. One daughter is 24, a young professional living in Manhattan. The other is 19, a sophomore at NYU. They each have extensive groups of friends, both in their immediate vicinity and around the country. What is their take on Facebook? Meh. Especially since their parents and grandparents are on it.
The juxtaposition of these two groups—media professionals vs. young adults—as it pertains to Facebook led me to look deeper at organic trends. Facebook started as a private means by which groups of people could communicate. This originated with school groups, then expanded to like-age groups, and now covers almost any group that can be imagined. The uniqueness and closed-community notion have disappeared.
My kids and their friends are moving quickly to other platforms. Instagram is a prevalent instrument (with no thought to... Read more
Tagged 'audience targeting' 
Don't Let Your Content Become Orphaned: The Story of Little Orphan Appy
Do you ever wonder where old apps go when you stop using them? I have this theory that they all work for Miss Hannigan at the app orphanage still scrubbing floors and sporadically breaking into song. Stop and think about how many branded apps are sitting in the ibis of applandia like orphans waiting to be downloaded again.
I still remember the days when it was considered leading edge to have a corporate website and now brand names are decided based on whether the url is readily available. Unlike websites that remain searchable, how much money has been wasted on branded apps that were once a big idea?
“Making money was all I ever cared about.” – Daddy Warbucks
As a marketer myself, I understand the pressure to create an app and having a “mobile strategy.” There is nothing like the feeling of seeing your app placed in an App Store for the first time. But there is a difference between creating an app just for the sake of it and creating an app that promotes your brand image and builds preference. Once you build an app you are truly proud of, the next struggle is determining how to generate a steady stream... Read more
The Sprint and the Marathon: 2 Ways to Look at Your Audiences and Campaigns
As an agency, my team and I are brought in to help brands and organizations with a variety of challenges. These range from the short-term (“We need help launching a campaign to introduce a new initiative this Spring”) to the long-term (“We need help aligning our digital strategy with a shift in organizational goals”).
The Challenge:
As head of digital strategy at my agency, I am frequently brought in to help with a variety of goals and objectives for my clients – some short-term, some long-term. The challenge is then to determine the proper strategy and tactics that should be used for each. Over the years, we’ve come to define these as two distinct types of campaigns. I like to think of them as sprints and marathons.
Welcome to the NAI, Marc Groman: Celebrating the Conversations
Congratulations and welcome to the NAI, Marc Groman. The news that the FTC’s bright star is going to be the NAI’s next executive director and general counsel has resonated well with the ad community. Soon, most brand marketers and agency executives will grasp just how positive this move is in terms of affecting the dialogue that has been taking place around online privacy, ad targeting and industry regulation. It is a tremendous tipping point for our business.
I speak from the standpoint of a company that has been an active member of the NAI since 2003. The operational word there is “active.” This is not the kind of trade organization that waits for things to happen. It is an advocacy group in the best sense of the word. The NAI has been one of our most profound conduits towards communicating the positive elements of using audience targeting technology from the beginning. It has been a unifying factor for all the serious companies in this business. It has kept us on message and focused on best practices while various Washington agencies have taken their shots at ad technology in the name of privacy. It would have been easy to look at the... Read more
