Cross Platform Targeting – The Next Phase of Digital Media
I was sitting in a mobile advertising meeting a few weeks ago and we chatted for awhile about mobile targeting techniques. As you know, advertisers can target by geography, demographic, content, etc. You can even “geo-fence” which means drawing a radius around a particular location or event to serve your ads. Most Mobile vendors own or are part of some type of network to reach a mass audience through mobile website and application banners. We do a lot of retargeting here at Howard Merrell to prequalify our clients’ audience based on their visit to the landing page other industry trade sites. This subject brought up a great question which I couldn’t wait to explore. Is it possible to serve an ad to someone on their computer and then serve an ad to that same person on their phone or iPad? After a little research the answer is Yes. New technology companies have been popping up across the country within the last few months that do just this. Exciting!
So now that we know it’s possible, how does it work? The linking is done through your home modem. Right now companies are able to link your personal devices through your home internet connection. For example, if you access the internet via your iPhone, then use your laptop, these companies determine that both devices are owned by the same person and then serve you ads based on your user profile.
This in turn opens up a whole new world of brand frequency across the internet. Searching for shoes online? Visit Zappos.com, browse around a bit, get bored and move onto local news. There’s a Zappos ad! A few hours later, you’re on your iPad looking at reviews for restaurants in the area, and you see another Zappos ad. This is no longer a coincidence. This of course does spur some questions. What if a user connects to multiple modems throughout the day? What happens if you connect to a public Wi-Fi service at the coffee shop? The technology is still being flushed out and as of now this process has some holes. But all-in-all it’s the future of digital. Some say its “Big Brother”, I say its smart advertising!
Mouse Hovering and Heat Mapping
I came across this killing the click article two weeks ago. The gist of the article is that heat-mapping metrics seek to eliminate engagement rates measured in clicks. Attribution by source is difficult enough (last click attribution etc). There is nothing wrong with banners; at least Google provides exposure to conversions reports that allow you to how impressions and clicks contributed to a conversion. Moat now claims that people looking at ads is a viable metric without providing any measurable action.
Engagement is not a conversion; throughout the article conversions are never mentioned. For all online marketing campaign there needs to be some sort of measurable action. Heat-mapping is simply a metric with a Cost-Per-Engagement (CPE) pricing model.
Heat-mapping doesn’t distinguish between interest and disinterest, and likely counts a lot of false positives. While hovering is a way to detect links, this strategy does not work with banner ads, as everyone knows ads have links. The heat mapping metric is only a valid metric when you are looking to discern call to action effectiveness, for example click here or learn more. The article does not provide any insights on how mouse hovering will work on Smartphones or Tablets.
Why introduce a new metric that doesn’t scale to the fastest growing devices?
Heat-mapping is not a new technology, we’ve been using various tools to track heat maps for several years. Just because you add color to a map doesn’t make new technology.
See…
Original Picture
Heat-Mapping Picture
New Account Executive: Kayla Bourgeois
We have a new addition to the Account Management department, Kayla Bourgeois. In her role as an AE, she will develop and implement marketing strategies as well as manage the day-to-day advertising and communications activities for several clients, including Georgia-Pacific Professional and Barton College.
Kayla brings with her comprehensive experience in project management and digital media – a great combination. Before joining the agency, Kayla served as a project manager at Centerline Digital where she gained extensive knowledge across all media. She also worked as a broadcast technician at WRAL-TV and a video editor and quality assurance engineer at Oasys Mobile. Most recently, Kayla developed an initiative called “Rebuild Raleigh” to help raise money for the rebuilding efforts of Raleigh after the April 2011 tornadoes.
Please welcome this Appalachian State grad to the Howard, Merrell & Partners family! Check out the release on Kayla.
The Sports Fanatic’s Daily Deal
Let’s be honest, how many daily deals are you ever truly interested in purchasing? Today, I opened up my inbox to find a discount on salon services, custom framing and horseback riding – not my cup of tea. While some people find themselves impulse buying from their inbox, others struggle to justify buying something they don’t need just because it’s cheaper than usual.
Well, here’s an idea that just might catch on: a daily deal with a niche focus. I recently stumbled across Crowd Seats, the sports fan’s dream daily deal.
Crowd Seats offers deals on sports tickets and is featured in select cities. Its founder and CEO has plans to expand to all major cities in the United States. Is this a daily deal that you would consider subscribing to?
Here’s an infographic from Tech Crunch on the business premise behind this new kind of daily deal:
Read more about Crowd Seats and learn how this deal might be the next big thing!
Adweek: The Ad Agency Bloodline
For all the advertising nerds out there (and if you’re reading our blog, I bet that means you!), Adweek published an article on what they’ve dubbed “the mother of all advertising infographics.”
Take a spin through advertising history, and while HM&P doesn’t show up on the timeline, we were part of The Interpublic Group in the early 2000s.
Click the image to view it larger. It may open in a reduced size in your browser, but you should be able to click to expand it.
Interview: Role of the Creative Technologist
Check out this video of Edward Boches, Chief Innovation Officer at Mullen, interviewing Scott Prindle, VP / Executive Creative Technology Director at CP+B, on the role of the creative technologist at Making Digital Work 4 in Boulder. In this blog post, Boches posits that the role of the Creative Technologist is the most important in advertising.
We are Looking for a Top Notch Account Exec
At Howard, Merrell & Partners, we’ve created an environment based on the belief that there are no challenges that can’t be met, no problems that can’t be solved, and no conventions that can’t be broken. Our drive, determination and unique methodology and approaches have created solutions that have sustained our agency for over sixty-five years.
Creating groundbreaking work that drives sales (and has resulted in more Addy wins than any other regional agency) is what we strive for – on every project, on every brand and on every client.
Does this sound interesting? Then we should talk. We currently have an Account Executive position open. More »
New Client: Southwest Windpower
We have been named the agency of record for Southwest Windpower, the world’s leading supplier of distributed wind systems. Southwest Windpower’s CEO Dixon Thayer “handpicked” us because we are “more than a typical ad agency”. Our full-service capabilities are exactly what Southwest Windpower needs.
We have been tasked with providing Southwest Windpower with strategic, integrated brand support and tactical execution in advertising, tradeshow coordination, collateral development, media planning and buying, website development, public relations, event planning, social media marketing and market research.
We have started by helping Southwest Windpower understand buyer emotions, and helped establish the importance of wind energy to a growing homeowner segment that wants both clean energy and independence from rising utility rates.
Check out the release for more information Southwest Windpower Announcement
Interested in Tapping into the U.S. Hispanic Market?
Why Market to Hispanics?
Have you ever looked at the U.S. Hispanic consumer base’s lifetime profit margin contribution? (That’s the impact U.S. Latino consumers can have on a company’s bottom line over the course of their lifetime.)
Because the median age of Hispanic consumers in this country is only 27 (vs. 40 for non-Hispanics) and they live to a median age of 83 (compared to 81 for non-Hispanics), the Latino consumer group contributes 56 years of spending, the longest of all consumer groups in the U.S.
And although they don’t yet spend the most, Hispanic consumers already spend longer and are therefore especially valuable.* More »
When has advertising gone too far?
Advertisements. Logos. Promotions. We see them everywhere we go and branding continues to get bigger, more frequent and more intrusive.
I recently saw this picture and it sent me over the edge. As you can see, this lady has restaurants names and logos painted on her fingernails. This was one example of extreme branding that I had to share with everyone for its outlandishness. Now even our fingernails are not safe!
