Archive for May, 2009
Stating the Obvious
So, sometimes, stating the obvious, or reiterating the obvious is good practice. For example, Brian Morrissey, in an article titled “Real-Time, The Web’s New Prime Time” says that feedback loops are good, and even better, if the feedback is fast, or in “real-time” it’s even better. Hmm. I guess I could be sarcastic at this point, but I won’t.
I will, however, state that being able to change and alter ads (including video) to run A/B tests, to customise to the user watching and make incremental alterations to the advert while the ad campaign is running will by definition provide better results. We are still not seeing the industry take heavy advantage of this in video, which we attribute to the fact that video is a very nascent.
- Jayant Kadambi
Upfronts and Infronts
Well, it seems as if every year around this time there is the usual flurry of articles about TV broadcast advertising, the effect of video online on the TV broadcasts, etc., etc., And in the midst of a recession, we get the usual articles about how the market is down. Not to say that it’s not true or anything. I couldn’t figure out what this article “Never Mind Online Video – Networks Rally Around TV” was really trying to say, but the heading at the end about Online Scarcity caught my eye. We continue to believe that there is no online scarcity for TV online. The article actually goes on to contradict itself by saying Hulu is putting PSAs and I guess therefore is not sold out.
We’ve said fairly consistently that scarcity is not the issue. There is plenty of TV and TV-quality content online for advertisers. There needs to be additional work done to target the demographics of people watching the content, and make the available content consistent with the TV demos and buying strategies and plans. And of course, it’d be really nice to know if the online consumer had seen an ad offline. Not easy, but would be great.
- Jayant Kadambi
Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics
Benjamin Disraeli, the 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, who incidentally also held the post of Prime Minister of England is attributed to making the statement “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” The sentence refers to the use of statistics to bolster weak arguments, and the tendency of people to disparage statistics that do not support their positions.
In the advertising business, data and metrics are key. Ad data, including impressions, unique viewers, ads streamed, ads delivered, click-through-rate, engagement, and a myriad of other metrics are analysed, counter-analysed and then used in hundreds of powerpoint decks to show clients and customers why the advert campaign did or didn’t do well.
One set of data that is often quoted, (and I still can’t figure out what the data really means), is the “potential” reach and “actual” reach in terms of unique viewers and impressions for both display and video ads.
In general, people and companies like to be at the top of lists, not in the middle or at the end. Go figure. And when the being at the top of the list may feel as if it’s material to the business or the reputation, the data is often manipulated, and if not manipulated on purpose, then by benign neglect. Take video impressions. Reporting agencies have a list of the “top” video ad networks. So, it’s in everyone’s interest to be at the top of the list. One probably should define what a video ad is before we start making statistics about video ad networks.
So, while I pause before the next blog, the question to think about is what is a video ad? Is it a flash file in a banner, a pre-roll video in a player, a post-roll video in a player, a swf that expands in a banner slot? There are other choices, but let’s chew on these for a while.
Stay tuned…
- Jayant Kadambi
Spending Money
If one lives in the US and spends US dollars, then, over a period of time, one instinctively understands the value of the US currency. What $1 is worth, what $100 is worth, etc. There are a myriad of “metrics” that help in that understanding, from one’s take home salary, the price they pay for an apple, to the price of the apple the next day, even the price of a so-called organic apple to one from Nob Hill.
So, if one’s spending US currency daily, and lots of it and travels to the UK and is required to spend UK Sterling, what’s the immediate reaction? Convert the Pounds Sterling into the native currency and compare. Obvious eh?
Well, a joint study by the 4A’s and the ANA that can be found here, titled Marketers Need Metrics to Understand Digital Media says that on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the biggest problem, the biggest problem is having metrics to properly allocate media spend among traditional and digital media.
At this point, I’d normally lace in some sarcasm, followed by some humour, but I’ll just point you to our iGRP whitepaper on our site.
- Jayant Kadambi
Online Focus Groups
Testing whether an ad works or not, engages the viewer or not, etc.,, has been a favourite past-time of focus groups. People gather focus groups, panels, take surveys, and then based on the focus group, use that feedback to either create, or alter an advert that has already been created. Take a look at Mixx creates service to allow marketers to test ad campaigns.
I like the idea. In fact, we do it all the time. We never marketed it as online focus groups though. We regularly ask agencies to give us multiple creatives and then run the one that is more engaging, has more clicks, or generally performs better, whatever the performance metric may be. And we feel, it’s far better to do this on-the-fly or in real-time than after the fact. Save’s money, save’s time and while the ad spend is occurring, you can actually improve the campaign results.
We should all encourage more of this.
- Jayant Kadambi
Vote for YuMe – TiE50 Finalist
YuMe has been selected as a finalist for a TiE50 Award for the Internet Infrastructure category. We were selected from among 1,200 nominated companies and now we need your help to win. Go to www.tie50.net/polling to vote for YuMe.
What is TiE50? The TiE50 Awards recognize the hottest emerging startups in five focus segments: Consumer Web, Internet Infrastructure, Cleantech, Wireless and Software. The selection process for TiE50 winners will be based on a combination of a public poll and private judges’ vote. Voting is open to the public beginning Tuesday, April 28, 2009 and closes on Thursday, May 7, 2009.
Vote now!
- Molly Glover Gallatin
