Apple, Amazon And Madison Ave.; Formvertise

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Ads, Apple And Amazon

In Ad Age, Kate Kaye looks at how Amazon and Apple are faring with Madison Avenue when it comes to advertising sales. Kaye finds challenges and writes, “Apple’s and Amazon’s arrogance in mobile and e-commerce, respectively, is earned. But neither has developed a strong b-to-b sales or service culture. Another media-agency exec contrasted Amazon’s style during quarterly sales meetings with the more energetic pitches from Twitter and Facebook.” Read more.

Light Up The Data

A new wave of LED lighting systems in airports and other public locations are doubling as camera networks. The New York Times notes such lighting “pipes” can support data collection – in both good and bad ways. “The system could, once software is developed … make shopping more convenient — a potential boon for malls losing business to the Internet. Sensing a shopper pulling into a parking lot, the system could send an alert to a smartphone, showing empty spaces, or a coupon.” Says Sensity’s CEO, “We see outdoor lighting as the perfect infrastructure to build a brand new network.” Privacy concerns abound, of course. More.

SaaS Ads

Formvertise. The name says it all. PandoDaily’s James Robinson delivers a feature on the startup, Formvertise, and reports, “A $2,500 annual commitment to a campaign reportedly guarantees a brand 750 sign ups. For $5,000 they get 150-300 new customers. At $20,000, a customer can set their own demands. It’s advertising done on a ‘software as a service’ pricing model…” Read more about the form ads.

The Native Question

Native advertising is lauded by some and despised by others, and the question of where it’s heading is still up in the air. Ryan Skinner, an analyst at Forrester, explored this discrepancy and concluded that a lot of it centers around the ambiguity of the term “native.” The main factor that may ultimately decide the fate of native advertising is user response, but there is no clear data on consumer perception just yet. Read the rest.

Going All In

Although some publisher networks have taken the plunge to being exclusively programmatic, Mike Kisseberth, CRO at TechMedia Network, warns that this approach will not work for all publishers. In a column for Folio, Kisseberth notes that publishers that offer customized or native placements will not be able to go fully programmatic, but that doesn’t mean they can’t mix it in as part of the larger strategy. He writes, “The technological infrastructure simply isn’t there to leverage programmatic for high-engagement custom or native programs, so it will be some time, if ever, until we see publishers that offer this deeper mix of inventory going all-programmatic.” Read more.

The Next Programmatic Wave

Although RTB led the programmatic wave, there has been a shift in perception that has advertisers thinking of different ways to use programmatic tech, according to Tim Cadogan, CEO of OpenX. In a column for MediaPost, Skip Brand, CEO of Martini Media, relays Cadogan’s thoughts about programmatic and where it’s going in the future. According to Cadogan, advertisers are entering a phase of programmatic sophistication. Read on.

Piracy Battles

A new report from the Digital Citizens Alliance found that piracy sites brought in around $227 million in ad revenue in 2013. There is pressure mounting from multiple sources to stop advertisers from supporting these sites, even if they are doing it unwittingly. “These premium ads are on sites that are stealing content, which gives the content the incentive to keep going, and at [the] same time, it damages the credibility of the brands,” Tom Galvin, executive director of the alliance, told Adweek. Read more.

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