AdBrite's PPC Model Eliminates "Premium" Inventory

[Posted by Shar VanBoskirk]

Just before the Christmas holiday, I spoke to Iggy Fanlo, CEO of AdBrite -- an ad network specializing in helping advertisers access niche content.  A few constant signatures of AdBrite:

1) It aggregates volumes of niche and user-generated content.  It has 114 million impressions daily across thousands of sites including some branded publishers (Boston.com, ellegirl.com, eBay) as well as a lot of blogs, images, trade pubs.
2) It functions as a marketplace.  Advertisers set a bid for the type of impression they want, AdBrite finds the highest yielding ad that matches the parameters of an advertiser's bid and charges the advertiser one penny more than the highest current bid.
3) Advertisers have transparency into where their ads run.  Advertisers can either select certain publishers at the time of the buy, or they can set up their buy and then de-select any publishers whom they don't want to advertise with.
4) It is self service.  Any advertiser, regardless of size can set up a buy through adbrite.com

On top of these fundamentals, AdBrite is trialing a new pay-for-performance option where advertisers pay only when their ad generates a desired return (clicks, sales, conversions).  PPC is not new, so I suppose you are asking what is different about AdBrite's new model.  Well, think about paying for performance that is optimized algorithmically and rolls all targeting factors (like demographics, context, behavior) into a single effor to optimize click through.  The short take away here is that with this approach, you stop worrying about what magic combination of targeting will generate the greatest response, and you let the algorithm find that combination for you.

In my mind this does two primary things for advertising: 1) It normalizes all inventory against one factor: performance.  Today, "premium" publishers charge rate card prices based on the reach and composition of their audience.  But what if that audience doesn't actually convert as well as audiences on a less premier site?  Then premium inventory is actually not worth its asking price; 2) It introduces competition for Google AdSense.  AdBrite's system does the same thing AdSense has been doing for years. Now advertisers have some flexibility: more places to try to convert their audience, more ad formats, and access to PPC on larger sites than typical AdSense publishers; 3) Lastly I think this hastens the need for publishers to become audience-aggregators, not content creators.  Sites that serve advertisers highly converting audiences will end up being more successful than those winning the Pulitzer.

How European Social Marketers Should Choose a Social Network

[Posted by Nate Elliott]

Since this is my first post here, let me begin with an introduction: I've worked at JupiterResearch — now a division of Forrester — for almost six years, first in New York, then in London, and now Berlin. During that time my research has focused primarily on video and rich media advertising, social marketing, and search marketing. I joined Forrester via their acquisition of Jupiter in July 2008, and I'm excited to announce that starting in January I'll be working as a Forrester Principal Analyst serving Interactive Marketers, and that I'll be based out of Vancouver.

Over the past year, I've had a number of European clients ask me which social network they should use for their social marketing campaigns. When they ask that question, the first thing I do is make sure that marketing on a social network is the best strategy for them — something that can be achieved by using Forrester's POST methodology. For many advertisers, marketing on a social network does fit their objectives and strategies, and so the question remains: how can they choose the best social network for them? To answer that question, I recently published a report called 'Social Selection: Choosing the Best Social Network for Your European Social Marketing Efforts.'

First, I should explain how I chose which social networks to discuss in this report. MySpace and Facebook were obvious choices — although many people still think of them as 'American' social networks, they're clearly the two largest networks in Europe as well, and the first two networks we're usually asked about by marketers in any country. I also discuss Bebo in the report; their only real European presence is in the UK and Ireland, but they're strong enough in those markets to make them a key player — and they're usually the third network European marketers ask about. There are many other notable European social networks, of course, but some of them accept only limited advertising (e.g., StudiVZ), some are strong only in very small markets (e.g., Hyves), some focus on specialized niches (e.g., Stardoll), and some simply don't attract as much attention from the advertisers I speak with.

Second, just to be clear, there is no single "best" choice for all European marketers, and the report specifically doesn't pick a "winner." Instead, it walks advertisers through a number of different considerations they should keep in mind when choosing a network, based upon their objectives and strategies, and then gives our opinions on how well Facebook, MySpace and Bebo perform on those criteria. Only by evaluating which considerations are most important to them can advertisers choose the network that's best-suited to their marketing efforts. 

Here are the things I encourage advertisers to think about when choosing a network, and an overview of which network I think performs best on each of those criteria in Europe:

• Target demographic and behaviors. This is perhaps the most important consideration, since you can't reach your audience if they're not there to be reached. Bebo's average age is under 17, while the average European user on both Facebook and MySpace is in their mid-20's. Not only are the age ranges different on each network, but so are the users' motivations for networking, and therefore the activities they engage in on the networks — all of which, thinking back to the POST methodology, means you need to pick a network only after you've examined the people you're targeting and chosen your strategy.
• Opportunities to engage users. 'Engagement' is something I get asked about a lot, but advertisers have to think about whether it's really one of their goals: will they be measuring success on getting users to talk to or about their brand, or will they actually be focusing on clicks, impressions/reach, or other classic online metrics? If advertisers really are interested in engagement, then I think Facebook has the best tools to make that happen (such as their new 'engagement ads').
• Sponsorship opportunities. For advertisers who are interested in reaching lots of users and making sure their own brand messaging gets through, rather than generating engagement, the sponsored pages on MySpace and video sponsorships on Bebo may be more appropriate. 
• Ad targeting. Banners may not be the most exciting way to market on social networks, but they're still a key part of each network's ad offerings — and they're very useful for driving engagement and visits to sponsored pages. I was very impressed with how Facebook and MySpace use member-contributed data for ad targeting — but unfortunately MySpace hasn't rolled out that targeting across Europe yet. 
• Flexibility for experimentation. We know that most advertisers are still experimenting with social marketing to see if it works for them, and that social marketing budgets today are typically very small. I think Facebook, with its free branded pages and no minimum spend on display ads, makes it easiest for most marketers to experiment with this channel. And for more advanced marketers, Facebook Platform and Facebook Connect, as well as the OpenSocial initiative being supported by Bebo and MySpace, make it relatively easy to experiment with applications and bringing social behavior back to marketers' own sites. 
• Ad reporting capabilities. Measurement is often overlooked by social marketers, but it's absolutely vital — especially given this is a new medium and marketers will be challenged to prove it works. Again I was very impressed with both Facebook's and MySpace's reporting features, but again Facebook edged it.
• Pan-European reach. For advertisers who want to reach users in more than just one market, it's important to work with a network that can help them reach a large number of users in each country. MySpace is the only network with a strong presence across all the key European markets.

If you're a European advertiser interested in marketing on social networks, think about which activities your target audience is ready to engage in and what your own objectives and strategies are. Once you answer that question, then have a look through this list — and I think it'll be a lot clearer which social network is the right one for you.

I'd love to hear your opinions — which of these considerations are most important to you? Are there any key ones I've missed? Do you agree with my assessments of which network is strongest for each criteria in Europe? And are there other networks I didn't talk about that excel in helping marketers reach their goals?

NFC Made Me Believe In Mobile Marketing

The last day of Nokia World, I interviewed Jeremy Belostock, the Head of NFC for Nokia's Device Experiences group.

NFC -- for those of you non-gadget types, like myself -- stands for "near field communication."  And it is basically a functionality which allows mobile handsets to have "contactless" communication with other handsets, ear pieces, keyboards, other devices, even with out of home media, product packaging, kiosks, turnstiles, or anything where you can enbed an NFC-smartcard.  Think of NFC as a tooll which allows you to use your mobile phone as your subway pass, your credit card, your change at a vending machine, or as a way to interact with media for additional information or promotions. 

There are a few hurdles keeping NFC from becoming a mainstream application:

1) First, users have to buy NFC-enabled phones. This of course is Nokia's big push.  It wants to increase sales of NFC phones by showing users value in some very personal applications of NFC -- like sharing photos, games, videos phone to phone.
2) Second there needs to be a development of access points which allow consumers to transact using their NFC phones.  NFC phones are only good for phone to phone sharing until someone (retailers, mass transit authorities, movie ticket kiosks) enables an access point which will process NFC transactions
3) Finally, I learned that NFC is one of those things where the value of having it increases exponetially the more other users and access points there are.  So the last hurdle is getting wireless carriers, banks, other handset manufacturers on board to help users get value out of NFC.

Per my previous blog post, nothing in mobile marketing is working itself out quickly, and NFC isn't going to either.  But I came away from my conversation with Jeremy much more bullish on NFC than on many of the other mobile marketing applications I've seen.  NFC, although a new and sort of "Jetson's like" delivery mechanism, can easily be treated as an extension of the types of marketing you are already doing.

*You have couponing/promotional relationships in place with supermarkets already.  NFC lets you deliver those coupons direct to a mobile phone instead of to a dedicated loyalty card or cicular
*You are doing direct mailers, NFC lets you include a smart card in the mailer which downloads an offer, video, product demo to a mobile handset
*You are a merchant looking to close the loop on out of home or even in-store marketing.  Now users can transact at point of message via their mobile.

Trials of NFC today are mostly in Shanghai, Germany, Austria and New York, through applications like vending machines and mass transit passes.  But you don't have to wait for mass adoption or a lot of new technology infrastructure to give it a whirl.

Nokia, Sony and Ericsson are part of the NFC Forum and are eager to develop NFC applications with marketers to help gain traction for their handsets.  I actually think a conversation about NFC could have more affordable, more immediate results than alot of other mobile marketing experiments I've seen.

Still Nothing Happening in Mobile Marketing

[Posted by Shar VanBoskirk]

I'm at an event in Europe.

Sponsored by Nokia.

And still only talk about the "eventual opportunity" of mobile marketing. 

A panel moderated by Tom Henriksson, Head of Nokia Interactive, starring Ethan Stock, CEO of Zvents -- a local online promotions enabler, Mark Reed, Director of Strategy at WPP, and Prinz Pinkatt, Manager of interactive marketing at Coca Cola EU was happy to discuss the existing challenges with mobile marketing:

Handsets --  Their size, ability to facilitate interactivity limit marketer applications
Data -- Ownership and structure of consumer data is still in flux
Operators -- Operator cooperation with manufacturers, media firms and advertisers is still inconsistent
Standards -- Definitions of ad formats, impressions, metrics, costs are all still under development

We've heard these challenges before.  (See also this post from my colleague Nate Elliott ).  But I'm still waiting for some real grit around progress made toward knocking off some of these issues.  The panel sentiment was that it would just "take time" to overcome these hurdles.  And that starting small with SMS or MMS based messaging programs can be a great place to start with mobile.  (Prinz said Coke EU has seen a strong 4% opt in to My Coke Rewards via text response to invites on product packaging).

I believe in the promise of mobile marketing.  In fact, some one on one conversations at this event have quickened my pulse around mobile applications that I think will transform consumer relationships with marketers and financial institutions (see upcoming blog post on NFC).  But I'm still waiting for mobile to become a primetime marketing tool.  Thirteen months after my 2009 IM Forecast, it feels like mobile marketing adoption is still two years out.

Prove me wrong!  What progress do you see toward tackling present challenges to mobile marketing adoption?  What mobile campaigns have you tried that have worked well for you?  What did you do that made mobile work?  When do you think mobile will matter as a mainstream marketing tool?

The Future of Mobile Devices: Services?

[Posted by Shar VanBoskirk]

This morning finds me still one of the five women at Nokia World (ok, slight exaggeration) and certainly one of the few non-gadget geeks here.  But based on what I now know about Nokia (one day into the event, and frankly much smarter about context for many of the product announcements made yesterday), I actually think they are quite interested in connecting with the non-gadget types going forward.  In fact, many of the mainstage presentations yesterday as well as the small group breakouts conducted just for Forrester talk about Nokia's goal to be both a product and services company.  In this case, services means providing wireless services -- music, games, messaging, and media sharing -- to consumers via their Nokia handsets.  Nokia calls its "suite" of services (mentioned above) "Ovi."  Ovi is sort of a platform, sort of a set of products. 

Here is how it works: A consumer buys an Ovi-enabled Nokia handset, and they have immediate and embedded access to navigation systems, music downloads, connectivity to their email and IM inboxes, and the ability to share/curate images, videos, etc with others.  This happens without a carrier's involvement -- these services are hardwired into the phone.  And the business model is usually without a subscription -- consumers pay a premium for the handset which is Ovi-enabled.

I'm not going to pretend to be the mobile device expert, here. There are other analysts at Forrester who know alot more about Ovi than I.  But I wanted to introduce it to talk about the marketing implications of handset manufacturer as service provider. 

I think this blend of services bundled with device could actually change consumer behavior in a way that makes the mobile handset a consumer life utility and not just a tool for making calls, sending texts and checking email.  This would be a crucial turning point for mobile marketing .  It would 1) Increase adoption and tolerance for multiple functions/content on a mobile; 2) It would increase consumer facility with using their phone for transactions; 3) It would foster consumers using their mobile to continue experiences they initiate via Web or email.  All steps that would aid the development of smarter mobile marketing programs.

Do you agree?

   

Nokia Creates The Personal Internet

[Posted by Shar VanBoskirk]

In this morning's opening remarks and keynote sessions, Olli-Pekka Kallasvio introduced the theme for Nokia World and the primary driver of Nokia's:  To translate the internet into *your* internet.  This means not only enabling customization of sites or content, but of course literally getting any information *you* need to live your life directly into your pocket.

Phrased differently, Nokia wants to put in your hand the power to be more in tune to the world around you.

Toward this mission, Nokia announced today three new products:
1) The Nokia n97 -- a 48 GB, 3.5 inch pocket computer complete with touchsreen that tilts up to reveal a full keyboard. 
2) A new Nokia Maps -- a mobile mapping technology which provides global navigation, travel guides, multiple mapping types and location-based content.  It is intended to have dedicated utilities for drivers and walkers, and links to Nokia Ovi to allow for collaboration with any of the management activities consumers conduct via Ovi.
3) Advanced messaging -- Nokia will now support mobile email and text messaging via Yahoo, MSN, Google, AOL and thousands of smaller or local ISPs.

The buzz around the event is that people are enamored with the n97, and I will admit (non-gadget person that I am) I thought it was pretty cool.  But, not as a substiturte for my laptop (which is how Nokia introduced it).  The n97's value is that it enables the types of socal and entertainment behaviors consumers inherently value.  It introduces the concept of 'social location' ("So-Lo") -- that is it can identify where its user is and where contacts of that user are.  It also is specifically designed for social networking, email, messaging, music, photos, video playing and content sharing. 

The mapping capability is less splashy than the n97, but indicates another strategic priority of Nokia's: to provide rich content to consumers, as well as devices.  This device also revolves around tying location to communities and social activities; its not just another GPS tool.  And, as a pedestrian commuter, I loved the special features for walkers.  For example, walking directions are based on wifi location sensors and will direct you through buildings, parks, on pedestrian pathways...not just on the main roads of an area.

Messaging came off as the most altruistic of the three announcements.  Nokia's mission: "to bring messaging to developing nations."  Conversation got a little carried away (Specifically Lee Williams Nominated Director of the Symbian Foundation -- an organization focused on managing and launching an opensource mobile operating system) -- described Nokia's announcements as applications that will bring communications to "people in developing nations who spend their days searching for clean water for their family") around the political and social cure-all that this tool could be.  But, cutting through all of that (unnessary) loftiness, it does seem a practical and simple utility that will aid business and consumer messaging -- regardless of your existing messaging platform.

Live From Nokia World

[Posted by Shar VanBoskirk]

This week, I join my colleagues Ben Gray, Chris Silva, Simon Yates and Jaap Favier in Barcelona at Nokia World 2008.  The event is Nokia's annual showcase to announce new products, demo existing capabilities, and share innovations in mobillity to clients, partners, media, and industry analysts.

I'll be blogging from the event to share my take on Nokia's announcements and ideas pertain to interactive marketers.

You can also follow a Webcast of the live event here.

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