New Native Format For LinkedIn; Facebook Talks Video

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More Native

LinkedIn is coming out of stealth with a new take on native, and Mercedes is behind the wheel to test drive what is described as a new ad format. On Thursday, Mercedes introduced a contest via the professional networking website: “Unlike typical giveaways, users will not enter the contest on their own behalf, but rather will nominate someone in their LinkedIn network.” Read more via The New York Times. Success metrics for the campaign are unclear.

Video Storytelling

VentureBeat vetted some input from two anonymous Facebook employees, who spoke openly about the company’s swerve towards video advertising. “Video is where it’s going,” said one source, purportedly a Facebook advertising executive. “With unique profile IDs, you have the ability to better sequentially target content for users as they embark on their journey through the social media funnel.” “Sequential content delivery in ads sends a top-level message to consumers that brands know who they are,” said another source. “The reach and frequency of video ads allows Facebook the ability to reach out to users more effectively. Video is very powerful, and Facebook is committed to that pipeline of direct response.” Read on.

As The Publisher Turns

Forbes Media announced on Friday plans to sell a majority stake of the company to a consortium of Hong Kong investors. The deal follows a nine-month-long sales process. “The Web has smashed all the boundaries of traditional media. Everyone is scrambling,” Steve Forbes told Digiday. “We think the possibilities are very real in media, but what we did today also lets us do brand extensions to areas like tech, real-estate, and financial services,” he said, adding, “Just pining for the good old days is not the way to move ahead in the new days. Read the interview.

Post-Kick Rebrand

On the heels of its somewhat ignominious fall-out with Facebook over violating certain of the social network’s data collection policies, mobile attribution startup HasOffers is rebranding itself as Tune, which will now act as a parent company for HasOffers.com and MobileAppTracking.com. Back in February, HasOffers was kicked out of Facebook’s Mobile Measurement Partner (MMP) program for, among other things, giving its customers access to device-level performance and attribution data. Mobile analytics firm Kontagent, which ended up on Facebook’s MMP blacklist for similar reasons, changed its name to Upsight back in March. Read more.

Upfronts Down

A handful of advertisers are shying away from cable TV ad spend, according to The Wall Street Journal. With dollars dwindling in this year’s upfronts, companies such as GM, P&G and others may contribute to the first upfront ad decline on record since the recession. Read more (subscription).

Television’s Changing Tides

“Programmatic TV advertising as a long-term strategy is being evaluated by all of the major TV media owners and media agency TV buyers,” Dave Morgan writes for AdAge. “And audience-based TV ad buying, while nascent, is now being tested by virtually every TV media owner and TV ad buyer.” Morgan says three factors are responsible for the shift: audience fragmentation, a lack of accountability tied to ROI and an appetite for digital offerings. Of course, change won’t happen overnight. Addressable, programmatic and audience-based strategies could hit the industry in waves. Read more.

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