Marketers

“Marketer’s Note” is a regular column informing marketers about the rapidly evolving, digital marketing technology ecosystem. This week it is written by Catherine Oddenino, Analyst, AdExchanger Research. I’m currently working on a new piece of research focused on how marketers distribute the content they create. Content marketing is agrowing focus for many marketers, so the […]

Best practice No. 1: A tiny burger on a tiny screen isn’t going to convince anyone of anything. When Opera House, the creative strategy arm and ad lab under mobile ad platform Opera Mediaworks, consults with a brand or an agency on a mobile campaign, developing the right creative is the big thing – especially when […]

Consumer packaged goods companies, historically big TV spenders, are moving money to digital video. MyWebGrocer, an ecommerce platform and ad network for grocers and CPGs, is witnessing this shift. The company, which manages $40 million in digital media spend and which helps CPG advertisers target ads based on its retail partners’ first-party data, has built […]

Kinetic Social is choosing growth over profitability. The social ads company, which announced $17.5 million in venture cash from Multiplier Capital and Bridge Bank on Tuesday, will use the bulk of its funding to ramp up its content management and creative services through an internal outfit the company is calling Creative Studio. The infusion brings […]

A year after embracing programmatic technology, Live Nation is planning another major expansion of its ad tech capabilities, this time by connecting its many online and offline properties into a holistic marketing platform. With its “Fan Connect programmatic platform,” the entertainment company is continuing its evolution into a “digital publisher” – not in the sense […]

Consumer packaged-goods startup Hello Products is combining TV with offline activations to create a competitive edge for its oral care products. As a challenger to household names like Crest and Colgate, Hello aims to differentiate its ethos through natural formulas and bright and alluring packaging. The brand is now activating digital video and TV with […]

Outdoor gear retailer Cabela’s has a fairly straightforward approach to content marketing: “If it doesn’t add value, then we don’t produce it,” said the brand’s SEO manager, Jesse Farley. But the content landscape itself is anything but simple, and one of the core challenges is figuring out what’s relevant and how it’s resonating before even […]

iProspect is best known for its heritage in search marketing. But the Dentsu Aegis-owned digital performance agency, which first opened its doors in 1996, is changing with the times. Today, content is where it’s at. “There’s a tendency in the industry at the moment to split down two different paths,” said iProspect global President Ben […]

Change or die. The smart brands acknowledge this. It’s one of the reasons why ad tech cabanas and beach houses have taken over the sandbars surrounding the Cannes Lions festival, and why ad tech yachts almost exclusively line the port. “It’s important to us to understand what will change in the future and what will […]

Since Yahoo’s maligned acquisition of Tumblr, many insiders have questioned its value as a marketing tool. Yahoo has made some overtures toward answering that. Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer said during the company’s Q3 2014 call last October that she expected Tumblr to drive $100 million in 2015 revenue, and that users increased 40% in 15 […]

When Alison Lewis joined Johnson & Johnson as its first-ever consumer marketing chief in 2013, the purveyor of popular baby-care products like No More Tears and the ubiquitous Band-Aid, was at a crossroads as a company. “We had really great marketers and agency partners, but we realized we needed a unified approach to brand-building for […]

“Data-Driven Thinking” is written by members of the media community and contains fresh ideas on the digital revolution in media. Today’s column is written by Jay Stocki, vice president of digital services at Experian Marketing Services. You won’t get fired for buying age and gender gross rating points (GRPs) at this year’s upfronts. But mark […]

Percolate, which has been compared to social publishing platforms like Buddy Media, has raised $40 million to take on enterprise marketing cloud acquirers and standalone social point solutions. The Series C round, led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, brings Percolate’s total funding to $74.5 million. It raised $24 million in Series B last spring, which the company’s co-founder, James Gross, said is […]

“On TV And Video” is a column exploring opportunities and challenges in programmatic TV and video. Today’s column is written by Bob Rupczynski, vice president of media, data and CRM at Kraft Foods Group. You can’t fool me. I see you there. You’re reading this on your phone in the middle of another NewFront (or […]

The viewability standard may be better served by saying what it isn’t, rather than what it is. “Viewability does not guarantee that an ad will be looked at, or that an ad will be appealing, or have an impact or generate awareness or change brand perception,” said Sherrill Mane, SVP of research, analytics and measurement at […]

Oil changes are not slushies. Even the most passionate car enthusiast isn’t going to buy motor oil more than two or three times a year – and that’s a challenge for a motor oil brand like Shell-owned Pennzoil, especially on the mobile front. It’s a matter of figuring out what your consumers are looking for and […]

Advanced audience targeting is taking a seat at this year’s TV upfronts. Sellers are lining their arsenals with new products promising cross-platform reach, partially out of necessity. Viewer attention is fragmenting and advertisers want assurance that if they commit an upfront buy, there will be multiple points of execution. It’s unclear the extent to which buyers […]

The Association of National Advertisers has distanced itself from comments former Mediacom CEO Jon Mandel made onstage at its Media Leadership conference last week. In his presentation, Mandel alleged that the practice of rebates or “kickbacks” demanded by agencies from media suppliers and tech partners – common overseas – has in recent years become widespread […]

Programmatic ad buying is an inexorable and positive progression for the marketing industry, according to Global Marketing Officer Marc Pritchard of Procter & Gamble, the world’s largest advertiser. “[Programmatic] is inevitable, and we’re definitely interested,” Pritchard told AdExchanger on Thursday. “It enables you to more precisely target, and do it at a very valuable price, and […]

Data, to the marketing organization, is like a vitamin – good for your overall health, but sometimes an afterthought (or you forget to take it entirely). That was a core theme at The Economist’s Big Rethink conference in New York City Thursday, where marketers gathered for a day of discussion at the Time Warner Center. […]

Depending on how you frame it, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Pinterest are either disintermediating the influencer marketing ecosystem or “wrapping their arms more tightly around it,” as Lisa Weinstein, president of global digital, data and analytics at Starcom MediaVest Group, puts it. Circa 2011, brands threw money at social marketing agencies with one goal: “Go […]

The company formerly known as Yellow Pages has worked hard in recent years to transfer its historical strength – helping consumers find local businesses via large printed books – into a business that’s now booking more than $1 billion in digital revenue. YP acquired mobile ad firm Sense Networks one year ago and continues to refine and experiment with […]

With all the recent talk about automating the ad-buying process, it’s easy to forget about content. But Drew Panayiotou, president and CEO of BBDO’s Atlanta division, thinks agencies will sink or swim depending on their ability to produce the “next generation of content.” “Content is dramatically changing as media is changing,” Panayiotou told AdExchanger. Panayiotou […]

If CES 2015 has a theme – at least, one relevant to marketers – it’s the way the Internet of Things (IoT) phenomena opens up new data channels. Whereas 2014’s event focused on the surface – Wow! A texting washing machine! – interest this year has revolved around the way these devices and appliances might one […]

Last year at CES, Yahoo’s CEO Marissa Mayer presented on stage and revealed Yahoo Advertising as the umbrella housing the company’s ad products. At CES 2015, the company was less central. Simon Khalaf, CEO of Yahoo’s July acquisition of Flurry, gave a “state of mobile” keynote at the APPNATION conference, held at the same time […]

CPG giant Kimberly-Clark is one of the more progressive companies when it comes to digital strategy, largely for the way it adapted programmatic advertising way back in 2011, eventually setting up its own internal trading desk with the help of WPP agency Mindshare. It’s in this spirit that the manufacturer of Kleenex, Kotex and Huggies established a […]

CPGs are starting to spend more on digital – and that makes Snuggle Bear very happy. “It’s no secret that we’re all dealing with ongoing media fragmentation,” said Brendan O’Marra, director of digital and promotion for the fabric softener’s parent company, Sun Products Corporation, the laundry conglomerate also responsible for Wisk and Surf. “It might […]

Content promotion startup inPowered said Wednesday it has rebuilt its platform so marketers pay for engagement, not clicks, because the company believes optimizing for clicks encourages clickbait. “For native advertising to work for all, it needs to focus on the end consumer,” CEO and co-founder Peyman Nilforoush said. “Otherwise it will go the way of […]

A new report from Interpublic Group’s MAGNA Global media research and buying arm reinforces earlier predictions that consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands would invest as much as $7 billion in digital advertising by 2018. According to MAGNA’s 2015 Global Advertising Revenue Forecast, released Monday, verticals like CPG and pharmaceuticals, which once invested more heavily in […]

Intel dove deep into content marketing to connect with millennials. For two and a half years, it’s used the IQ website to reach consumers through articles connecting technology to everyday life. In addition to using homegrown pieces, Intel places articles on sites like BuzzFeed and Mashable. All receive extra pushes to drive traffic. That’s where […]